Then Job answered, and said:

“Job, answering, said: How long do you afflict my soul, etc. In these opening words Baldad seems to have intended two things: first, to refute Job for folly and pride and fury, by which he intended to afflict him just as his other friends did; and therefore he says, How long do you afflict my soul? Second, to confirm his own opinion that the adversities of the present life come upon men for their sins — an opinion which he had pursued at length by enumerating various adversities without adducing any other proof; and as to this Job adds, and bruise me with words, that is, you wear me out with words, you do not convince me with proofs. Now it is tolerable if someone speaks once against his friend, but if a man multiplies words of this kind it seems to be a sign of settled malice; hence he adds, behold, ten times you have confounded me, both by speaking yourselves and by hearing me with a certain indignation. Now before this reply Job is found to have spoken five times, if we begin from where he said, Let the day perish in which I was born, and his friends are found to have answered him five times; but at least out of shame, even if not out of friendship, they ought to have ceased afflicting one already afflicted; hence he adds, and are you not ashamed to oppress me, namely, weighing me down both with reproaches and with the length of your words. Among the other reproaches, Baldad seems to have taxed him with ignorance, when he said, understand first, and so let us speak — an ignorance which ought to have been tolerated by friends and excused on that account, and ought not to have been thrown in his face, especially in a time of adversity; and therefore he adds, and if indeed I have been ignorant, my ignorance shall be with myself, as if to say: it burdens no one but me, and so it was not your business, amid my adversities, to reproach me with ignorance; and therefore he adds, but you rise up against me, namely, displaying your own excellence, and you argue against me with my reproaches, that is, with things that pertain to me alone and burden no others. Having premised these things pertaining to the refutation of his friends, he proceeds to pursue his principal proposal, intending to show that what they said is false — that present adversities always come on account of past sins. From this supposition he immediately, from the very outset, draws out an absurdity, saying, at least now understand that God has not afflicted me with an equal judgment, as if to say: if adversities do not come except for sins, then God's judgment is not equitable, by which he has afflicted me grievously when I have not sinned grievously; and he says at least now, because up to this point he had not enumerated his adversities so particularly as now. Now he says that he is not only afflicted by adversities but also hemmed in by them so that he cannot find a way of escape; hence there follows, and has encompassed me with his scourges, because, namely, these very scourges have cut off the way of remedies; and he begins to pursue this in the following order. Now a remedy can be found in adversities, first through human help, and this in two ways: in one way, in the very deed, as when someone is violently oppressed by another and receives aid from a third party; and to exclude this he says, behold, I will cry out suffering violence, and no one will hear, as if to say: if I should cry out against those who oppress me violently, no one would hear so as to bring help. In another way, after the deed, as when someone who has suffered an injury complains to a judge who restores and vindicates him by sentence; and excluding this he adds, I will cry aloud, and there is none to judge, that is, if I should cry out complaining, there would be no judge present to free me by his judgment. Second, a remedy in adversities is found in the man himself who escapes the adversities, and this in two ways: in one way through power, and this he excludes, saying, he has hedged in my path round about, and I cannot pass, as if to say: he has placed so many obstacles in the way of my progress that I cannot remove them. In another way through prudence, and to exclude this he adds, and he has set darkness in my path, namely, so that I cannot see how I ought to proceed. Then, the remedies having been excluded, he goes on to add the adversities, beginning from the external goods which he lost. Among these he first places the loss of honor and glory, when he says, he has stripped me of my glory, because whereas before he had been held in honor and reverence, then even the younger men mocked him in time, as is said below in chapter 30. Second, he places the loss of dignity, when he adds, and has taken the crown from my head, because he who before sat as it were a king with the army standing about him, as is said below in chapter 29, now sitting on a dunghill scraped his sores with a potsherd, as was said above in chapter 2. Third, he places the loss of external goods when he says, he has destroyed me on every side, namely, all his external goods having been laid waste, and I perish, the adversity enduring, because there is no hope of recovery; hence he adds, and he has taken away my hope like a tree torn up: for a tree, as long as it clings to the earth by its roots, has hope, if its branches are cut off, of growing green again; but if its roots are torn out of the ground, it must necessarily dry up and perish; so too he himself, his roots as it were torn out, had no hope of recovering temporal prosperity. Now the root of hope is twofold: one on the side of divine help, the other on the side of human help. The root of hope that is on the side of divine help seemed to have been torn out by this, that God seemed to be gravely angry with him, according to the opinion of those who located divine punishment solely in the adversities of this life; hence he says, his fury is enraged against me, which he says to designate the vehemence of the anger: for fury is inflamed anger. Now the more vehement fury is, the sooner it is wont to pass, and so hope can remain for the future concerning one who is angry; but if anger passes over into hatred, then no hope at all seems to remain; and to signify this he adds, and thus he has treated me as his enemy: for no remedy is hoped for from an enemy. Now he places a sign of divine anger and hatred when he adds, his robbers have come together at once: he calls the Sabeans and the Chaldeans and the demons robbers, who had laid waste his goods all at once as if by agreement; and he calls them God's robbers, as though this had happened by divine ordinance, just as Job's friends also said. Now these aforesaid robbers plundered Job publicly, without any reverence or fear; hence he adds, and they have made themselves a way over me, as if to say: they have plundered me just as an enemy who is found on the road plunders. They also assailed him universally and persistently, and as to this he adds, and they have besieged, namely persistently, round about, that is, universally in every respect, my tabernacle, that is, the goods of my household. Then he shows that the root of hope which is on the side of human help has been torn out, showing that he could expect no help from those from whom it seemed most likely, and he enumerates first those who are separated from him in the dwelling of the house, beginning with his brothers, saying, he has made my brothers to be far from me, namely so that they either are unwilling or unable to bring me help; then he sets down familiar friends, when he adds, and my acquaintances have withdrawn from me like strangers, namely, not bringing me help; and as to blood relations, or those joined by any other tie of kinship, he adds, my kinsmen have forsaken me, not bringing help; and as to those with whom he had at some time associated, he adds, and they who knew me, namely formerly as a familiar friend, have now in my tribulation forgotten me, namely, not caring about me. After these he goes on to enumerate the members of his household, saying, the tenants of my house, namely those who used to be accustomed to serve me, and my maidservants have held me as a stranger, namely, not caring about my afflictions, and I was as a stranger in their eyes, namely, utterly despising me. Then, concerning the disobedience of his servants, he adds, I called my servant, and he did not answer me; and he adds also a proud contempt: I entreated him with my own mouth, that is, I had to deal with him not by command but by entreaties, because he despised me. Then he enumerates the persons most closely joined to him, namely his wife and children. Now the presence of a husband is wont to be most pleasing to a wife, unless perhaps he is rendered horrible by some grave corruption; and to signify this he adds, my wife has abhorred my breath, namely on account of the stench of the ulcers by which he was rendered horrible to her. Now it belongs to children to fulfill the parent's will at his mere nod; but it comes from a great contempt of the parent that the father, to whom reverence ought to be shown by the son, should have to entreat the son suppliantly; and to show this he adds, and I begged the sons of my own body. But this seems to be against what was said above in chapter 1, verse 19, that his sons and daughters were crushed by the collapse of the house; but it can be said that some little ones had remained who had not been present at that feast, or perhaps some children of his sons, who, imputing the death of their own parents to their own sins, held Job himself in contempt for it because of his sins. After he has said, therefore, that he was despised by his household and by outsiders, he next shows that he was despised also by fools and by the wise. Now it is proper to fools to despise those whom they see in miseries, because they think only earthly goods are to be honored; and therefore he says, even fools also despised me, namely while present in their sight, and when I had withdrawn from them they spoke against me, namely, pronouncing with their mouth what they were afraid to say in my presence. Then he also says he was despised by wise men whom he had once held as intimates, hence he says, they that were once my counselors have abhorred me, namely, whom I used to admit to my counsel on account of their wisdom, and he whom I loved most has turned against me: and perhaps he says this on account of one of them who was present, who was opposing him more grievously. Thus, then, the adversities pertaining to external things having been set forth, he adds concerning the wasting away of his own body, saying, my bone has cleaved to my skin, my flesh being consumed, because, namely, on account of the severity of his sickness his flesh had been consumed so that his skin cleaved to his bones. But because the lips are fleshy parts which cleave to the teeth as to bones, therefore, to except these, he adds, and only my lips are left around my teeth, by which he seems covertly to intimate that, all the other functions of his members having ceased, only the function of speech remained to him. His adversities having thus been enumerated, he invites them to compassion, doubling the petition for mercy on account of the multitude of his miseries, saying, have pity on me, have pity on me, at least you, my friends, since I have been forsaken by others; now the cause of pitying is misery, which is the graver the more forcibly it is brought on; and therefore he adds, because the hand of the Lord has touched me: for he understood himself to have been struck by God. Now it does not seem fitting that a man should add affliction to one already afflicted; and therefore he adds, why do you persecute me as God does? As if to say: the persecution that comes from God is enough for me; but it would be more fitting for you to offer consolation instead. And how they were persecuting him he shows by adding, and are you filled with my flesh? Which properly pertains to detractors, who are said to feed on human flesh insofar as they take delight in the infirmities of others: for the flesh is the weaker part of an animal. Who will grant me that they may be written, etc. Job had said above that his hope had been taken away like that of a tree torn up, which indeed he said referring to the hope of recovering temporal prosperity, to which his friends had incited him in many ways; and that this hope was not to be held he had shown above at length by leading it to various absurdities. But now he openly discloses his intention, showing that he had not said the foregoing as one despairing of God, but because he bore a loftier hope concerning him, referred not indeed to present goods but to future ones. And because he was about to say great and wondrous and certain things, he shows beforehand his desire that the statement he was about to make might be perpetuated in the faith of those who come after; now we transmit our thoughts and words to posterity through the office of writing, and therefore he says, who will grant me that my words may be written — namely, those which I am about to say concerning the hope which I have fixed in God — lest they be blotted out by oblivion? Now things that are written in ink are wont to be effaced through length of time, and therefore, when we wish some writing to be preserved for a long time, we do not merely write it in the manner of ordinary script but by some impression, whether in leather, or in metal, or in stone; and because that which he was hoping for was not to come about in the near future but was reserved to be fulfilled at the end of time, therefore he adds, who will grant that they may be engraved in a book with an iron pen — as it were by some impression made in leather — or, if this is too little, by an impression made more strongly on a sheet of lead, or, if this too seems too little, that they may surely be carved with an iron pen into flint? Now what these words are, which he wished to be preserved with such great care, he shows by adding, for I know that my Redeemer lives, and he pointedly assigns this in the manner of a cause: for we are not careful to commit to memory those things which we do not hold as certain, and therefore he pointedly says, for I know, namely, through the certitude of faith. Now this hope concerns the glory of the future resurrection, regarding which he first assigns the cause when he says, my Redeemer lives. Here it must be considered that man, who had been constituted immortal by God, incurred death through sin, according to that saying of Romans 5:12, by one man sin entered into this world, and by sin, death — from which sin indeed the human race was to be redeemed through Christ, which Job foresaw through the spirit of faith. Now Christ redeemed us from sin through death, dying for us; but he did not die in such a way that death swallowed him up, because although he died according to his humanity, he could not die according to his divinity; and from the life of the divinity even the humanity was restored to life by rising again, according to that saying of 2 Corinthians, the last chapter, for although he was crucified out of our weakness, yet he lives by the power of God; and the life of Christ rising will be diffused to all men in the common resurrection, whence the Apostle adds in the same place: for we also are weak in him, but we shall live with him by the power of God in us; whence also the Lord says in Job 5:25 — the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they who hear shall live: for as the Father has life in himself, so has he given to the Son also to have life in himself. The primordial cause of human resurrection, therefore, is the life of the Son of God, which did not take its beginning from Mary, as the Ebionites said, but always was, according to that saying of Hebrews, the last chapter, Jesus Christ, yesterday and today, the same also forever; and therefore he pointedly does not say, my Redeemer will live, but lives. And from this cause he foretells the future resurrection, determining its time, when he adds, and on the last day I shall rise again from the earth, where it must be considered that certain persons, positing that the motion of the heavens and this present state of the world will endure forever, held that after certain revolutions of years, the stars returning to the same positions, dead men would be restored to life; but since a day is caused by the motion of the heavens, if the motion of the heavens should endure forever there would be no last day: and therefore, to remove the aforesaid error, he pointedly says, on the last day, and this agrees with the saying of the Lord, who says in John 6:40, I will raise him up on the last day. There were others who said that men will rise again resuming not earthly but certain celestial bodies; but to exclude this he adds, and again I shall be surrounded with my skin, which he says pointedly because he had said above that only the skin remained around his bones; and from this very manner of speaking he assigns the reason for the resurrection, namely, lest the soul should always remain stripped of its own garment. Again, there were others who said that the soul would resume the same body it had laid down, but under the same condition, namely so that it would need food and drink and would carry out the other fleshly works of this life; but this he excludes by adding, and in my flesh I shall see God. For it is manifest that the flesh of man, according to the state of the present life, is corruptible; but the body which is corrupted weighs down the soul, as is said in Wisdom 9:15, and therefore no one living in this mortal flesh can see God; but the flesh which the soul will resume in the resurrection will indeed be the same in substance, but will have incorruption by a divine gift, according to that saying of the Apostle in 1 Corinthians 15:53, this corruptible must put on incorruption; and therefore that flesh will be of such a condition that it will in no way impede the soul from being able to see God, but will be entirely subject to it. Not knowing this, Porphyry said that, in order for the soul to become blessed, every body must be fled from, as though it were the soul that would see God, not the man; and to exclude this he adds, whom I myself shall see, as if to say: not only my soul will see God, but I myself, who subsist from soul and body. And to show that the body too will in its own way be a partaker of that vision, he adds, and my eyes shall behold — not because the eyes of the body will see the divine essence, but because the eyes of the body will see God made man; they will also see the glory of God shining forth in the creature, according to Augustine at the end of the City of God. And so that man might be believed to be restored to see God the same not only in species but in number, he adds, and not another, namely in number, lest it be believed that he expects such a restoration of life as Aristotle describes in the second book of On Generation, saying that whatsoever things are of corruptible substance, when set in motion, are repeated the same in species, not the same in number. These things having thus been premised concerning the cause of the resurrection, its time and manner, and the glory of the one rising and the identity of the same, he adds, this my hope is laid up in my bosom, as if to say: my hope is not in earthly things, which you vainly promise, but in the future glory of the resurrection. He pointedly says, it is laid up in my bosom, to show that he held this hope not merely in words but hidden in his heart — not doubtful but most firm, not as something cheap but as something most precious: for what is hidden in the bosom is kept in secret, and is firmly preserved, and is reckoned dear. Thus, then, the loftiness of his hope which he had concerning God having been shown, he excludes their calumnies which they sought against him, as though he had cast aside hope in God and fear of him because he did not place his hope in temporal things; hence he adds, why then do you now say: let us persecute him, namely, as one despairing of God or not fearing God, and let us find a root of the matter against him — by disproving my words as though I had denied the providence of God? Which I do not deny, but assert, saying that rewards and punishments are prepared by God for men even after this life; and therefore he adds, flee then from the face of the sword, that is, of the divine vengeance reserved for you in the future life, although you flourish in temporal prosperity, since the sword is the avenger of iniquities, that is, the vengeance which he himself will properly bring after death; and know that there is a judgment, not only in this life but also after this life, in the resurrection of the good and the wicked.”

“Job's friends had passed a very severe censure upon him as a wicked man because he was so grievously afflicted; now here he tells them how ill he took it to be so censured. Bildad had twice begun with a How long (Job 8:2, Job 18:2), and therefore Job, being now to answer him particularly, begins with a How long too, Job 19:2. What is not liked is commonly thought long; but Job had more reason to think those long who assaulted him than they had to think him long who only vindicated himself. Better cause may be shown for defending ourselves, if we have right on our side, than for offending our brethren, though we have right on our side. Now observe here, I. How he describes their unkindness to him and what account he gives of it. 1. They vexed his soul, and that is more grievous than the vexation of the bones, Psa 6:2, Psa 6:3. They were his friends; they came to comfort him, pretended to counsel him for the best; but with a great deal of gravity, and affectation of wisdom and piety, they set themselves to rob him of the only comfort he had now left him in a good God, a good conscience, and a good name; and this vexed him to his heart. 2. They broke him in pieces with words, and those were surely hard and very cruel words that would break a man to pieces: they grieved him, and so broke him; and therefore there will be a reckoning hereafter for all the hard speeches spoken against Christ and his people, Jde 1:15. 3. They reproached him, (Job 19:3), gave him a bad character and laid to his charge things that he knew not. To an ingenuous mind reproach is a cutting thing. 4. They made themselves strange to him, were shy of him now that he was in his troubles, and seemed as if they did not know him (Job 2:12), were not free with him as they used to be when he was in his prosperity. Those are governed by the spirit of the world, and not by any principles of true honour or love, who make themselves strange to their friends, or God's friends, when they are in trouble. A friend loves at all times. 5. They not only estranged themselves from him, but magnified themselves against him (Job 19:5), not only looked shy of him, but looked big upon him, and insulted over him, magnifying themselves to depress him. It is a mean thing, it is a base thing, thus to trample upon those that are down. 6. They pleaded against him his reproach, that is, they made use of his affliction as an argument against him to prove him a wicked man. They should have pleaded for him his integrity, and helped him to take the comfort of that under his affliction, and so have pleaded that against his reproach (as St. Paul, Co2 1:12); but, instead of that, they pleaded his reproach against his integrity, which was not only unkind, but very unjust; for where shall we find an honest man if reproach may be admitted for a plea against him? II. How he aggravates their unkindness. 1. They had thus abused him often (Job 19:3): These ten times you have reproached me, that is, very often, as Gen 31:7; Num 14:22. Five times they had spoken, and every speech was a double reproach. He spoke as if he had kept a particular account of their reproaches, and could tell just how many they were. It is but a peevish and unfriendly thing to do so, and looks like a design of retaliation and revenge. We better befriend our own peace by forgetting injuries and unkindnesses than by remembering them and scoring them up. 2. They continued still to abuse him, and seemed resolved to persist in it: "How long will you do it?" Job 19:2, Job 19:5. "I see you will magnify yourselves against me, notwithstanding all I have said in my own justification." Those that speak too much seldom think they have said enough; and, when the mouth is opened in passion, the ear is shut to reason. 3. They were not ashamed of what they did, Job 19:3. They had reason to be ashamed of their hard-heartedness, so ill becoming men, of their uncharitableness, so ill becoming good men, and of their deceitfulness, so ill becoming friends: but were they ashamed? No, though they were told of it again and again, yet they could not blush. III. How he answers their harsh censures, by showing them that what they condemned was capable of excuse, which they ought to have considered. 1. The errors of his judgment were excusable (Job 19:4): "Be it indeed that I have erred, that I am in the wrong through ignorance or mistake," which may well be supposed concerning men, concerning good men. Humanum est errare - Error cleaves to humanity; and we must be willing to suppose it concerning ourselves. It is folly to think ourselves infallible. "But be it so," said Job, "my error remaineth with myself," that is, "I speak according to the best of my judgment, with all sincerity, and not from a spirit of contradiction." Or, "If I be in an error, I keep it to myself, and do not impose it upon others as you do. I only prove myself and my own work by it. I meddle not with other people, either to teach them or to judge them." Men's errors are the more excusable if they keep them to themselves, and do not disturb others with them. Hast thou faith? Have it to thyself. Some give this sense of these words: "If I be in an error, it is I that must smart for it; and therefore you need not concern yourselves: nay, it is I that do smart, and smart severely, for it; and therefore you need not add to my misery by your reproaches." 2. The breakings out of his passion, though not justifiable, yet were excusable, considering the vastness of his grief and the extremity of his misery. "If you will go on to cavil at every complaining word I speak, will make the worst of it and improve it against me, yet take the cause of the complaint along with you, and weigh that, before you pass a judgment upon the complaint, and turn it to my reproach: Know then that God has overthrown me," Job 19:6. Three things he would have them consider: - (1.) That his trouble was very great. He was overthrown, and could not help himself, enclosed as in a net, and could not get out. (2.) That God was the author of it, and that, in it, he fought against him: "It was his hand that overthrew me; it is in his net that I am enclosed; and therefore you need not appear against me thus. I have enough to do to grapple with God's displeasure; let me not have yours also. Let God's controversy with me be ended before you begin yours." It is barbarous to persecute him whom God hath smitten and to talk to the grief of one whom he hath wounded, Psa 69:26. (3.) That he could not obtain any hope of the redress of his grievances, Job 19:7. He complained of his pain, but got no ease - begged to know the cause of his affliction, but could not discover it - appealed to God's tribunal for the clearing of his innocency, but could not obtain a hearing, much less a judgment, upon his appeal: I cry out of wrong, but I am not heard. God, for a time, may seem to turn away his ear from his people, to be angry at their prayers and overlook their appeals to him, and they must be excused if, in that case, they complain bitterly. Woe unto us if God be against us!”

“Then Job answered and said. Having heard Bildad out, without giving him any interruption; and when he had finished his oration, he rose up in his own defence, and put in his answer as follows. Then Job answered and said. Having heard Bildad out, without giving him any interruption; and when he had finished his oration, he rose up in his own defence, and put in his answer as follows. Job 19:2 job 19:2 job 19:2 job 19:2How long will ye vex my soul,.... Which of all vexation is the worst; not only his bones were vexed, but his soul also, as David's was, Psa 6:2. His body was vexed with boils from head to feet; but now his soul was vexed by his friends, and which denotes extreme vexation, a man's being vexed to his very heart: there are many things vexations to men, especially to good men; they are not only vexed with pains of the body, as others, and with loss of worldly substance; but even all things here below, and the highest enjoyment of them, as wealth, wisdom, honours, and pleasures, are all vanity and vexation of spirit, as they were to Solomon; but more especially truly good men are vexed with the corruptions of their hearts, which are as pricks in their eyes and thorns in their sides, and with the temptations of Satan, which are also thorns in the flesh and fiery darts, and with the conversation of wicked men, as was the soul of righteous Lot, and with the bad principles and practices of professors of religion; and sometimes, as Job was, they are vexed by their own friends, who should be their comforters, but prove miserable ones, as his did, and even vexations, and continued so to the wearing him out almost; and so some render the words, "how long will ye weary my soul" (c)? with repeating their insinuations that he was a wicked and hypocritical man, and therefore was afflicted of God in the manner he was; and which, knowing his own innocency, extremely vexed him: and break me in pieces with words? not his body, but his spirit; which was broken, not by the word of God, which is like an hammer that breaks the rocky heart in pieces; for such a breaking is in mercy, and not an affliction to be complained of; and such as are thus broken are healed again, and bound up by the same hand that breaks; who has great, regard to broken spirits and contrite hearts; looks to them, and dwells with them, in order to revive and comfort them: but by the words of men; Job was smitten with the tongues of men; as Jeremiah was, and was beaten and bruised by them, as anything is beaten and bruised by a pestle in a mortar, as the word (d) signifies, and is sometimes rendered, Isa 53:5; these must be not soft but hard words, not gentle reproofs, which being given and taken in love, will not break the head, but calumnies and reproaches falsely cast, and with great severity, and frequently, which break the heart. See Psa 69:20. (c) "defatigabitis", Schmidt, Michaelis. (d) "obtundetis", Vatablus, Piscator, Schmidt; so Michaelis, Schultens.”

“1 Then began Job, and said: 2 How long will ye vex my soul, And crush me with your words? 3 These ten times have ye reproached me; Without being ashamed ye astound me. 4 And if I have really erred, My error rests with myself. 5 If ye will really magnify yourselves against me, And prove my reproach to me: 6 Know then that Eloah hath wronged me, And hath compassed me with His net. This controversy is torture to Job's spirit; enduring in himself unutterable agony, both bodily and spiritually, and in addition stretched upon the rack by the three friends with their united strength, he begins his answer with a well-justified quousque tandem. תּגיוּן (Norzi: תּוגיוּן) is fut. energicum from הוּגה (יגה), with the retention of the third radical., Ges. 75, rem. 16. And in וּתדכּאוּנני (Norzi: וּתדכּוּנני with quiescent Aleph) the suff. is attached to the n of the fut. energicum, Ges. 60, rem. 3; the connecting vowel is a, and the suff. is ani, without epenthesis, not anni or aneni, Ges. 58, 5. In Job 19:3 Job establishes his How long? Ten times is not to be taken strictly (Saad.), but it is a round number; ten, from being the number of the fingers on the human hand, is the number of human possibility, and from its position at the end of the row of numbers (in the decimal system) is the number of that which is perfected (vid., Genesis, S. 640f.); as not only the Sanskrit daan is traceable to the radical notion "to seize, embrace," but also the Semitic עשר is traceable to the radical notion "to bind, gather together" (cogn. קשׁר). They have already exhausted what is possible in reproaches, they have done their utmost. Renan, in accordance with the Hebr. expression, transl.: Voil (זה, as e.g., Gen 27:36) la dixime fois que vous m'insultez. The ἅπ. γεγρ. תּהכּרוּ is connected by the Targ. with הכּיר (of respect of persons = partiality), by the Syr. with כּרא (to pain, of crvecoeur), by Raschi and Parchon with נכּר (to mistake) or התנכּר (to alienate one's self), by Saadia (vid., Ewald's Beitr. S. 99) with עכר (to dim, grieve); (Note: Reiske interprets according to the Arabic ‛kr, denso et turbido agmine cum impetu ruitis in me.) he, however, compares the Arab. hkr, stupere (which he erroneously regards as differing only in sound from Arab. qhr, to overpower, oppress); and Abulwalid (vid., Rdiger in Thes. p. 84 suppl.) explains Arab. thkrûn mn-nı̂, ye gaze at me, since at the same time he mentions as possible that הכר may be = Arab. khr, to treat indignantly, insultingly (which is only a different shade in sound of Arab. hkr, (Note: In Sur. 93, 9 (oppress not the orphan), the reading Arab. tkhr is found alternating with Arab. tqhr.) and therefore refers to Saadia's interpretation). David Kimchi interprets according to Abulwalid, תתמהו לו; he however remarks at the same time, that his father Jos. Kimchi interprets after the Arab. הכר, which also signifies "shamelessness," תעיזו פניכם לי. Since the idea of dark wild looks is connected with Arab. hkr, he has undoubtedly this verb in his mind, not that compared by Ewald (who translates, "ye are devoid of feeling towards me"), and especially Arab. hkr, to deal unfairly, used of usurious trade in corn (which may also have been thought of by the lxx ἐπίκεισθέ μοι, and Jerome opprimentes), which signifies as intrans. to be obstinate about anything, pertinacious. Gesenius also, Thes. p. 84, suppl., suggests whether תּחכּרוּ may not perhaps be the reading. But the comparison with Arab. hkr is certainly safer, and gives a perfectly satisfactory meaning, only תּהכּרוּ must not be regarded as fut. Kal (as יהלם, Psa 74:6, according to the received text), but as fut. Hiph. for תּהכּירוּ, according to Ges. 53, rem. 4, 5, after which Schultens transl.: quod me ad stuporem redigatis. The connection of the two verbs in Job 19:3 is to be judged of according to Ges. 142, 3, a: ye shamelessly cause me astonishment (by the assurance of your accusations). One need not hesitate because it is תהכרו־לי instead of תהכרוני; this indication of the obj. by ל, which is become a rule in Arabic with the inf. and part.) whence e.g., it would here be muhkerina li), and is still more extended in Aramaic, is also frequent in Hebrew (e.g., Isa 53:11; Psa 116:16; Psa 129:3, and Ch2 32:17, cheereep, after which Olsh. proposes to read תחרפו־לי in the passage before us). Much depends upon the correct perception of the structure of the clauses in Job 19:4. The rendering, e.g., of Olshausen, gained by taking the two halves of the verse as independent clauses, "yea certainly I have erred, I am fully conscious of my error," puts a confession into Job's mouth, which is at present neither mature nor valid. Hirz., Hahn, Schlottm., rightly take Job 19:4 as a hypothetical antecedent clause (comp. Job 7:20; Job 11:18): and if I have really erred (אף־אמנם, as Job 34:12, yea truly; Gen 18:13, and if I should really), my error remains with me, i.e., I shall have to expiate it, without your having on this account any right to take upon yourselves the office of God and to treat me uncharitably; or what still better corresponds with תּלין אתּי: my transgression remains with me, without being communicated to another, i.e., without having any influence over you or others to lead you astray or involve you in participation of the guilt. Job 19:6 stands in a similar relation to Job 19:5. Hirz., Ew., and Hahn take Job 19:5 as a double question: "or will ye really boast against me, and prove to me my fault?" Schlottm., on the contrary, takes אם conditionally, and begins the conclusion with Job 19:5: "if ye will really look proudly down upon me, it rests with you at least, to prove to me by valid reasons, the contempt which ye attach to me." But by both of these interpretations, especially by the latter, Job 19:6 comes in abruptly. Even אפו (written thus in three other passages besides this) indicates in Job 19:5 the conditional antecedent clause (comp. Job 9:24; Job 24:25) of the expressive γνῶστε οὖν (δή): if ye really boast yourselves against me (vid., Psa 55:13., comp. Psa 35:26; Psa 38:17), and prove upon me, i.e., in a way of punishment (as ye think), my shame, i.e., the sins which put me to shame (not: the right of shame, which has come upon me on account of my sins, an interpretation which the conclusion does not justify), therefore: if ye really continue (which is implied by the futt.) to do this, then know, etc. If they really maintain that he is suffering on account of flagrant sins, he meets them on the ground of this assumption with the assertion that God has wronged him (עוּתני short for עוּת משׁפּטי, Job 8:3; Job 34:12, as Lam 3:36), and has cast His net (מצוּדו, with the change of the of מצוד from צוּד, to search, hunt, into the deeper in inflexion, as מנוּסי from מנוס, מצוּרך, Eze 4:8, from מצור) over him, together with his right and his freedom, so that he is indeed obliged to endure punishment. In other words: if his suffering is really not to be regarded otherwise than as the punishment of sin, as they would uncharitably and censoriously persuade him, it urges on his self-consciousness, which rebels against it, to the conclusion which he hurls into their face as one which they themselves have provoked.”