CHAPTER 42
1Then Job answered the LORD and said:
2I know that you can do all things,*
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.”
5By hearsay I had heard of you,
but now my eye has seen you.*
6Therefore I disown what I have said,
and repent in dust and ashes.*
IX. EPILOGUE
Job’s Restoration. 7And 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!* You have not spoken rightly concerning me, as has my servant Job. 8So 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.* To him I will show favor, and not punish your folly, for you have not spoken rightly concerning me, as has my servant Job.” 9Then 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.
10The LORD also restored the prosperity of Job, after he had prayed for his friends; the LORD even gave to Job twice* as much as he had before. 11Then 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* and a gold ring.
12b 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. 13He also had seven sons and three daughters: 14the first daughter he called Jemimah, the second Keziah, and the third Keren-happuch.* 15In all the land no other women were as beautiful as the daughters of Job; and their father gave them an inheritance* among their brothers.
16After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years; and he saw his children, his grandchildren, and even his great-grandchildren.c 17Then Job died, old and full of years.
* [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.
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