Job 42
New English Translation
Job’s Confession
42 Then Job answered the Lord:
2 “I know that you can do all things;
no purpose of yours can be thwarted;
3 you asked,[a] ‘Who is this who darkens counsel without knowledge?’
But[b] I have declared without understanding[c]
things too wonderful for me to know.[d]
4 You said,[e] ‘Pay attention, and I will speak;
I will question you, and you will answer me.’
5 I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,
but now my eye has seen you.[f]
6 Therefore I despise myself,[g]
and I repent in dust and ashes!”
VII. The Epilogue (42:7-17)
Job’s Restoration
7 After the Lord had spoken these things to Job, he[h] said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My anger is stirred up[i] against you and your two friends, because you have not spoken about me what is right,[j] as my servant Job has. 8 So now take[k] seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer a burnt offering for yourselves. And my servant Job will intercede[l] for you, and I will respect him,[m] so that I do not deal with you[n] according to your folly,[o] because you have not spoken about me what is right, as my servant Job has.”[p]
9 So they went, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite, and did just as the Lord had told them; and the Lord had respect for Job.[q]
10 So the Lord[r] restored what Job had lost[s] after he prayed for his friends,[t] and the Lord doubled[u] all that had belonged to Job. 11 So they came to him, all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and they dined[v] with him in his house. They comforted him and consoled him for all the trouble the Lord had brought on him, and each one gave him a piece of silver[w] and a gold ring.[x]
12 So the Lord blessed the second part of Job’s life more than the first. He had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys. 13 And he also had seven sons[y] and three daughters. 14 The first daughter he named Jemimah,[z] the second Keziah,[aa] and the third Keren-Happuch.[ab] 15 Nowhere in all the land could women be found who were as beautiful as Job’s daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance alongside their brothers.
16 After this Job lived 140 years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. 17 And so Job died, old and full of days.
Footnotes
- Job 42:3 tn The expression “you asked” is added here to clarify the presence of the line to follow. Many commentators delete it as a gloss from Job 38:2. If it is retained, then Job has to be recalling God’s question before he answers it.
- Job 42:3 tn The word לָכֵן (lakhen) is simply “but,” as in Job 31:37.
- Job 42:3 tn Heb “and I do not understand.” The expression serves here in an adverbial capacity. It also could be subordinated as a complement: “I have declared [things that] I do not understand.”
- Job 42:3 tn The last clause is “and I do not know.” This is also subordinated to become a dependent clause.
- Job 42:4 tn This phrase, “you said,” is supplied in the translation to introduce the recollection of God’s words.
- Job 42:5 sn This statement does not imply there was a vision. He is simply saying that this experience of God was real and personal. In the past his knowledge of God was what he had heard—hearsay. This was real.
- Job 42:6 tn Or “despise what I said.” There is no object on the verb; Job could be despising himself or the things he said (see L. J. Kuyper, “Repentance of Job,” VT 9 [1959]: 91-94).
- Job 42:7 tn Heb “the Lord.” The title has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
- Job 42:7 tn Heb “is kindled.”
- Job 42:7 tn The form נְכוֹנָה (nekhonah) is from כּוּן (kun, “to be firm; to be fixed; to be established”). Here it means “the right thing” or “truth.” The Akkadian cognate kīnu means “true, just, honest, firm” (CAD K: 389).
- Job 42:8 tn The imperatives in this verse are plural, so all three had to do this together.
- Job 42:8 tn The verb “pray” is the Hitpael from the root פָּלַל (palal). That root has the main idea of arbitration; so in this stem it means “to seek arbitration [for oneself],” or “to pray,” or “to intercede.”
- Job 42:8 tn Heb “I will lift up his face,” meaning, “I will regard him.”
- Job 42:8 tn This clause is a result clause, using the negated infinitive construct.
- Job 42:8 tn The word “folly” can also be taken in the sense of “disgrace.” If the latter is chosen, the word serves as the direct object. If the former, then it is an adverbial accusative.
- Job 42:8 sn The difference between what they said and what Job said, therefore, has to do with truth. Job was honest, spoke the truth, poured out his complaints, but never blasphemed God. For his words God said he told the truth. He did so with incomplete understanding, and with all the impatience and frustration one might expect. Now the friends, however, did not tell what was right about God. They were not honest; rather, they were self-righteous and condescending. They were saying what they thought should be said, but it was wrong.
- Job 42:9 tn The expression “had respect for Job” means God answered his prayer.
- Job 42:10 tn The paragraph begins with the disjunctive vav, “Now as for the Lord, he….”
- Job 42:10 sn The expression here is interesting: “he returned the captivity of Job,” a clause used elsewhere in the Bible of Israel (see e.g., Ps 126). Here it must mean “the fortunes of Job,” i.e., what he had lost. There is a good deal of literature on this; for example, see R. Borger, “Zu šub šb(ī)t,” ZAW 25 (1954): 315-16; and E. Baumann, ZAW 6 (1929): 17ff.
- Job 42:10 tn This is a temporal clause, using the infinitive construct with the subject genitive suffix. By this it seems that this act of Job was also something of a prerequisite for restoration—to pray for them.
- Job 42:10 tn The construction uses the verb “and he added” with the word “repeat” (or “twice”).
- Job 42:11 tn Heb “ate bread.”
- Job 42:11 tn The Hebrew word קְשִׂיטָה (qesitah) is generally understood to refer to a unit of money, but the value is unknown.sn The Hebrew word refers to a piece of silver, yet uncoined. It is the kind used in Gen 33:19 and Josh 24:32. It is what would be expected of a story set in the patriarchal age.
- Job 42:11 sn This gold ring was worn by women in the nose, or men and women in the ear.
- Job 42:13 tn The word for “seven” is spelled in an unusual way. From this some have thought it means “twice seven,” or fourteen sons. Several commentators take this view, but it is probably not warranted.
- Job 42:14 sn The Hebrew name Jemimah means “dove.”
- Job 42:14 sn The Hebrew name Keziah means “cassia.”
- Job 42:14 sn The Hebrew name Keren-Happuch means “horn of eye-paint.”
Job 42
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 42
1 Then Job answered the Lord and said:
2 I know that you can do all things,[a]
and that no purpose of yours can be hindered.
3 “Who is this who obscures counsel with ignorance?”
I have spoken but did not understand;
things too marvelous for me, which I did not know.(A)
4 “Listen, and I will speak;
I will question you, and you tell me the answers.”
5 By hearsay I had heard of you,
but now my eye has seen you.[b]
6 Therefore I disown what I have said,
and repent in dust and ashes.[c]
IX. Epilogue
Job’s Restoration. 7 And after the Lord had spoken these words to Job, the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My anger blazes against you and your two friends![d] You have not spoken rightly concerning me, as has my servant Job. 8 So now take seven bulls and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves, and let my servant Job pray for you.[e] To him I will show favor, and not punish your folly, for you have not spoken rightly concerning me, as has my servant Job.” 9 Then Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite, went and did as the Lord had commanded them. The Lord showed favor to Job.
10 The Lord also restored the prosperity of Job, after he had prayed for his friends; the Lord even gave to Job twice[f] as much as he had before. 11 Then all his brothers and sisters came to him, and all his former acquaintances, and they dined with him in his house. They consoled and comforted him for all the evil the Lord had brought upon him, and each one gave him a piece of money[g] and a gold ring.
12 (B)Thus the Lord blessed the later days of Job more than his earlier ones. Now he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she-donkeys. 13 He also had seven sons and three daughters: 14 the first daughter he called Jemimah, the second Keziah, and the third Keren-happuch.[h] 15 In all the land no other women were as beautiful as the daughters of Job; and their father gave them an inheritance[i] among their brothers.
16 After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years; and he saw his children, his grandchildren, and even his great-grandchildren.(C) 17 Then Job died, old and full of years.
Footnotes
- 42:2–4 In his final speech, Job quotes God’s own words (see 38:2–3; 40:7).
- 42:5 In 19:25–27 Job had affirmed a hope to “see” (three times) his vindicator. Now he has seen the Lord about whom he had heard so much.
- 42:6 A difficult verse. Some doubt, in view of God’s commendation in v. 7, that Job does in fact express repentance, and alternative translations are often given. Along with v. 5, it describes a change in Job, which the encounter with the Lord has brought about. Dust and ashes: an ambiguous phrase. It can refer to the human condition (cf. Gn 18:27; Jb 30:19) or to Job’s ash heap (2:8).
- 42:7 The three friends of Job (Elihu is ignored in the epilogue) are criticized by the Lord because they had “not spoken rightly” (vv. 7–8).
- 42:8 An ironic touch: Job becomes the intercessor for his friends.
- 42:10 Twice: this is the fine for damage inflicted upon another; cf. Ex 22:3. The Lord pays up!
- 42:11 A piece of money: lit., qesitah, value unknown; also used in Gn 33:19; Jos 24:32. Gold ring: for the nose or ear.
- 42:14 Job’s daughters had names symbolic of their charms: Jemimah, dove; Keziah, precious perfume (cf. Ps 45:9); Keren-happuch, cosmetic jar—more precisely, a container for a black powder used like modern mascara.
- 42:15 Ordinarily daughters did not inherit property unless there were no sons; cf. Nm 27:1–11.
Job 42
King James Version
42 Then Job answered the Lord, and said,
2 I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee.
3 Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? therefore have I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not.
4 Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.
5 I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee.
6 Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.
7 And it was so, that after the Lord had spoken these words unto Job, the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends: for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath.
8 Therefore take unto you now seven bullocks and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you: for him will I accept: lest I deal with you after your folly, in that ye have not spoken of me the thing which is right, like my servant Job.
9 So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went, and did according as the Lord commanded them: the Lord also accepted Job.
10 And the Lord turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.
11 Then came there unto him all his brethren, and all his sisters, and all they that had been of his acquaintance before, and did eat bread with him in his house: and they bemoaned him, and comforted him over all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him: every man also gave him a piece of money, and every one an earring of gold.
12 So the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she asses.
13 He had also seven sons and three daughters.
14 And he called the name of the first, Jemima; and the name of the second, Kezia; and the name of the third, Kerenhappuch.
15 And in all the land were no women found so fair as the daughters of Job: and their father gave them inheritance among their brethren.
16 After this lived Job an hundred and forty years, and saw his sons, and his sons' sons, even four generations.
17 So Job died, being old and full of days.
Job 42
Legacy Standard Bible
Job Repents in Dust and Ashes
42 Then Job answered Yahweh and said,
2 “I know that (A)You can do all things,
And that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted.
3 ‘Who is this that (B)hides counsel without knowledge?’
Therefore I have declared that which I did not understand,
Things (C)too marvelous for me, which I did not know.
4 ‘Hear, now, and I will speak;
I will (D)ask You, and You make me know.’
5 I have (E)heard of You by the hearing of the ear;
But now my (F)eye sees You;
6 Therefore I reject myself,
And I repent in dust and ashes.”
Yahweh’s Anger Towards Job’s Friends
7 Now it happened after Yahweh had spoken these words to Job, that Yahweh said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My anger burns against you and against your two friends because you have not spoken of Me what is right (G)as My servant Job has. 8 So now, take for yourselves (H)seven bulls and seven rams, and go to My servant Job, and offer up a (I)burnt offering for yourselves, and My servant Job will (J)pray for you. (K)For I will [a]accept him so that I may not do with you according to your folly, because you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has.” 9 So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did as Yahweh told them; and Yahweh [b]accepted Job.
Yahweh Restores Job’s Fortunes
10 And Yahweh (L)restored the fortunes of Job when he prayed for his friends, and Yahweh increased all that Job had twofold. 11 Then all his (M)brothers and all his sisters and all who had known him before came to him, and they ate bread with him in his house; and they (N)consoled him and comforted him for all the calamity that Yahweh had brought on him. And each one gave him one [c]qesitah, and each a ring of gold. 12 (O)And Yahweh blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; (P)and he had 14,000 sheep and 6,000 camels and 1,000 pairs of oxen and 1,000 female donkeys. 13 (Q)He also had seven sons and three daughters. 14 And he named the first Jemimah and the second Keziah and the third Keren-happuch. 15 Now in all the land no women were found so beautiful as Job’s daughters; and their father gave them inheritance among their brothers. 16 And after this, Job lived 140 years and saw his sons and his grandsons, four generations. 17 (R)Then Job died, an old man and full of days.
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