Table of Contents
Job 23
Job 23
1 Then Job answered and said,
2 Even to day is my complaint bitter: my stroke is heavier than my groaning.
3 Oh that I knew where I might find him! that I might come even to his seat!
4 I would order my cause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments.
5 I would know the words which he would answer me, and understand what he would say unto me.
6 Will he plead against me with his great power? No; but he would put strength in me.
7 There the righteous might dispute with him; so should I be delivered for ever from my judge.
8 Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him:
9 On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him: he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him:
10 But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.
11 My foot hath held his steps, his way have I kept, and not declined.
12 Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.
13 But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth.
14 For he performeth the thing that is appointed for me: and many such things are with him.
15 Therefore am I troubled at his presence: when I consider, I am afraid of him.
16 For God maketh my heart soft, and the Almighty troubleth me:
17 Because I was not cut off before the darkness, neither hath he covered the darkness from my face.
Notes
Cross Reference
Concordance
Commentary
Rashi
Verse 2
<html><b>Job’s Reply</b><br><b>Even today</b> after all these consolations. <b>my speech is bitter</b> [The bitterness of my speech] remains in its place, for there is no consolation in your words. <b>my wound is heavier</b> The wound of my plague is stronger than my sigh, for I do not complain and cry about my wound.</html>
Verse 3
<html><b>and I would find Him</b> My Judge. <b>the place prepared for Him</b> The place prepared for His throne.</html>
Verse 4
<html><b>case</b> [i.e., my] argument.</html>
Verse 5
<html><b>I would know the words that He would answer me</b> Even if He stops me from speaking before Him, perhaps He would speak with me and I would know the words He would answer me.</html>
Verse 6
<html><b>with much power</b> of words and rebukes for His sins [other editions read: my sins] will He contend with me? <b>not…coercion</b> smiting and coercion. He will not cast His coercion and His awe upon me. (It may also be interpreted:) Nothing but [this] will He cast on me, for He will not cast on me anything but the contest of the rebukes for my sins; [that,] but not false accusations.</html>
Verse 7
<html><b>There</b> in the place of our contest. <b>integrity</b> The propriety of my deeds will be proven, revealed, and it will appear with Him, i.e., before Him. <b>proven</b> and there I will extricate [myself] forever because He will find no iniquity in me.</html>
Verse 8
<html><b>Behold…east</b> it refers to the above (verse 3), “Would that I knew etc.” <b>east</b> as it is stated (Exod. 27: 13): “on the east side (קדמה), eastward.” <b>and to the west</b> Heb. ואחור. Since the east is the front of the world (קדמה), the west is found to be the back of the world (אחור).</html>
Verse 9
<html><b>north</b> Heb. שמאוֹל, lit. left. <b>when He made it</b> When He created it, He did not make the place of His throne there, that I should see it there. <b>see</b> Heb. אחז, the Aramaic translation of אֶרְאֶה, I will see. Proof of this is that the accent is under the “aleph.” Now, if it were an expression of holding (אחיזה), the accent would be at the end of the word, under the “cheth.” <b>He wraps up the south</b> He covers the face of the south before me in order that I should not see Him.</html>
Verse 10
<html><b>Because He knows the way</b> that is <b>with me</b> therefore, He does not come to contend with me. <b>He has tested me</b> that <b>I will emerge like gold</b> if He contends with me.</html>
Verse 11
<html><b>to His path</b> Heb. באשרו, to His path, like (below 31:7), “If my foot (אשרי) has turned away from the road”; (Ps. 40:3), “He has established my paths (אשרי).” <b>and do not turn away</b> I am not accustomed to turn away.</html>
Verse 12
<html><b>more than my daily bread I kept the words of His mouth</b> More than my daily food I was eager to keep the words of His mouth. [The expression חקי] is like (Prov. 30:8), “my daily bread (לחם חקי),” my food.</html>
Verse 13
<html><b>But He</b> Since He is One in the world and knows the knowledge and the thoughts of the creatures, and what they have to reply to Him, therefore replies are prepared before Him. <b>and who will answer Him</b> Therefore, what His soul desires, He does.</html>
Verse 14
<html><b>For He will complete my sentence</b> I know that He will not draw back His hand until He completes the sentence of His decrees, the retribution that He has decreed against me. <b>and there are many such things with Him</b> For He did many such things.</html>
Verse 15
<html><b>Therefore</b> Since He does not requite man according to his ways. <b>I am startled by Him</b> and when I ponder His ways, I am frightened of Him.</html>
Verse 17
<html><b>Because I was not cut off from before the darkness</b> Because of this I am startled; because I was not completely cut off and laid permanently in the grave before this darkness that has come upon me, and because He did not cover this thick darkness from before me until my death. <b>and [because He did not] cover the thick darkness from before me</b> This refers back to “because not” at the beginning of the verse.</html>