Job 16:12-14
This is the second of two strophes (see the previous note on vv. 9-11), each with the same metrical pattern: a pair of tricola (vv. 9-10, 12-13) followed by a couplet (v. 11, 14); cf. the arrangement by van der Lugt, p. 193. In this second strophe, the thematic focus on God as a hostile enemy attacker—i.e., the one responsible for the suffering and affliction that has come upon him—is further developed.
Verse 12
“I was at ease, but (now) He has broken me apart!
Indeed, He seized me by (the) neck and shattered me!
Yes—He made me stand, myself, as a target!”
The military images of attack, introduced in the first strophe, take on greater prominence here in the second. A pair of synonymous verbs (“break [apart], shatter”), rr^P* and Jx^P*, in the rare Pilpel stem, describe the severity and brutality of the action (for the latter verb, cf. Hab 3:6; Jer 23:29). The attacker (i.e., God) grabbed hold of his enemy/victim with great strength/force (vb zj^a*) and shattered him—possibly the specific image of throwing/dashing the victim down on the ground is intended (cf. the use of the verb fr^y`, “throw/cast [down]” in v. 11b). On the other hand, the verb rr^P* could also suggest being torn/broken apart by violent shaking (cf. Arabic farfara, and the context of Isa 24:19; Seow, p. 746). In the third line, an attack by archers/bowmen is in view. God makes Job to stand (vb <Wq Hiphil) as a target for the arrows (see v. 13, below); cf. the earlier note on 7:20. The locative noun hr*F*m^ (cf. ar*F*m^) means “place that is (closely) watched”, that is, in this context, the archer’s target (cf. 1 Sam 20:20; Lam 3:12); for poetic concision, this is translated conventionally as “target”.
The initial word in line 1 makes clear that the immediate point of reference is Job’s affliction/suffering. The adjective wl@v* (“at ease/rest”) alludes to the comfort and prosperity that Job had enjoyed, under God’s protection, prior to the sudden arrival of the harsh and terrible afflictions (cf. the Prologue, chaps. 1-2). His previous prosperity stands in stark contrast to his current broken/shattered condition.
I treat the initial w-conjunctions in the second and third lines as emphatic/affirmative, i.e., “Indeed…!”, “Yes!…”.
Verse 13
“They circled round about me, His many (bowmen)—
(so) He split open my kidneys, and did not show mercy!
He poured out to the ground my bitterness!”
The allusive archer/bowmen image in the third line of v. 12 continues here in v. 13, as the <yB!r^ of God circle around (i.e., surround) Job—whom God has set up as their target! The substantive plural <yB!r^ literally means “many” or “mighty (one)s”. However, over time, a secondary meaning for the root bbr/hbr (“be[come] many”), “shoot (arrows)”, developed (cf. Ps 18:15[14]) which most lexicons treat as a separate root (i.e., bbr/hbr II); see the note by Seow (p. 746f) on possible explanations as to this development. For the related substantive br^ (plur. <yB!r^), “bowman/archer”, cf. Jer 50:29; Prov 26:10. On the ancient Near Eastern conception of pestilence and disease as ‘arrows’ shot by a divine bowman, see the earlier note on 5:7; in 6:4, Job describes his afflictions (including his physical ailments/suffering) as arrows shot at him by God.
It is possible to treat v. 12c + 13a properly as a couplet (bicolon), in which case vv. 12-13 would consist of three bicola rather than two tricola; cf. Pope, p. 123.
Through the intermediary of his many ‘archers’, God pierces Job in his vital organs (lit., “he split open [vb. jl^P] my kidneys”); cf. Prov 7:23. While this generally refers to Job’s physical suffering, the sense is that God has struck a fatal blow. This is suggested by the graphic image in the third line of Job’s bile/gall (i.e., from the liver and intestines) being poured out onto the ground; cf. 2 Sam 20:10; Lam 2:11. The noun hr*r@m= (cf. also hr*r)m=, 20:14, 25) denotes the bitterness of the bile and gall-liquid, but also, quite naturally, characterizes Job’s suffering as a whole (cf. 3:20; 7:11; 9:18; 10:1; 13:26, etc.).
The merciless/ruthless cruelty of the attack is emphasized by the passing phrase, “and (He) did not show mercy!”. The verb lm^j* denotes being “gentle”, i.e., in context, showing mercy and compassion; God was, it seems, unwilling to show any mercy to Job, to spare him even a little of the suffering. This, quite understandably, is how Job feels and how he sees the matter.
Verse 14
“He broke me open, break on face of break,
(and then) ran upon me like a mighty warrior!”
The archer/bowman image from vv. 12c and 13 gives way in the final couplet to that of an army breaking through the city walls and the enemy’s fortified defenses. The verb Jr^P* means “break open, break through”, used here with the related noun Jr#P# (“break[through], breach”). The same basic idea from the previous two verses is expressed here—namely, that God has broken Job wide open (cp. the “break” verbs rrp and Jxp in v. 12); and now there are ruptures and breaks all through him (cf. 19:10). The Hebrew idiom is “break on face of break”; in English, we would say “break on top of break”, or “one break on top of another”.
With the city’s defenses breached, the army is able go up through (and over) the fortifications (cf. 30:14). Here, God Himself is described as a “strong/mighty (warrior)” (roBG]) who runs/rushes (vb JWr) upon the broken fortress (i.e., Job); cf. Joel 2:7. In 19:12, the image is of troops under God’s command laying siege (against Job). This broken-fortress motif certainly refers to Job himself (his physical suffering/affliction and loss of family, etc.); but it also likely alludes to the protection that he once enjoyed, but which clearly now has been taken away (1:10ff; 2:4-5ff).
Blommerde (p. 78), following Dahood (in his Commentary on the Psalms [AB], I, pp. 247, 293. 308), divides the couplet differently, parsing MT Jr#P* as the conjunctive/emphatic particle P^ + the infinitive Jr), so that there are four words in each line and the couplet reads: “He breaks me open (with) a breach at (the) face, / and running (through) He runs against me like a mighty warrior!”. Commentators and lexicographers generally express doubt as to the existence of such a p particle in Biblical Hebrew; see HALOT, p. 907; Clines, p. 371, who here cites the article by K. Aartun, “Textüberlieferung und vermeintliche Belege der Konjunktion pV im Alten Testament,” Ugarit-Forschungen [UF] 10 (1978), pp. 1–13 [9–10].
In the next note, we will turn to the next portion of Job’s lament, the two short strophes of vv. 15-18.
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- References above (and throughout these notes) marked “Seow” are to C. L. [Choon Leong] Seow, Job 1-21: Interpretation and Commentary, Illuminations Commentary Series (Eerdmans: 2013).
- Those marked “Clines” are to David J. A. Clines, Job 1–20, Word Biblical Commentary [WBC] vol. 17 (1989).
- Those marked “Pope” are to Marvin H. Pope, Job, Anchor Bible [AB], vol. 15 (1965, 1973).
- Those marked “Blommerde” are to Anton C. M. Blommerde, Northwest Semitic Grammar and Job, Biblica et Orientalia 22 (Rome, Pontifical Biblical Institute: 1969).
- Those marked “van der Lugt” are to Pieter van der Lugt, Rhetorical Criticism and the Poetry of the Book of Job, Oudtestamentische Studiën XXII (Brill: 1995).