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text: Rashi on Job
  רש"י על איוב
  merged
  
  This file contains merged sections from the following text versions:
  -Job, English translation by Victor E. Reichert, Soncino Press, 1946
  -
  
  Rashi on Job
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  There was a man in the land of Uz This means in the land of Aram, as it is written (Gen. 22: 21): “Uz, his firstborn,” of the sons of Nahor.
  and that man was Although that is a future expression, that is the style of the Hebrew language, and the proper expression for it is “Now that man was greater than all the children of the land of the East”; the children of the land of the East, for Aram is in the east of the world, as it is stated (Num. 23:7): “From Aram has Balak, king of Moab, brought me, from the mountains of the East.” Another explanation: Uz is Job. Buz is Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite. This is what Job said (31:34): “and the most contemptible of families shatters me.” This one (the Buzite) who shatters my words is of my family. This is what people say: “From the very forest, the ax handle is formed.” Another explanation: in the land of Uz In the land whence they take evil counsels against the Holy One, blessed be He. As it is stated (Gen. 10:11): “Out of that land Asshur went forth.” Now what counsel did they take? “He has no right to take the upper worlds and to give us the lower world.” Instead, come to the land of Shinar, where there are many gods, concerning which it is stated: “for it is a land of graven images” (Jer. 50:38): “And let us make a tower whose top shall reach to the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves” (Gen. 11:4). The word “name” stated here refers only to idolatry, as it is stated (Exod. 23:13): “You shall not make mention of the name of other gods.” What did the Holy One, blessed be He, do? He sat in judgment over them and stood up witnesses against them, as it is stated (Gen. 11:5): “And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower.” Now does the Omnipresent have to come down to see? Is it not written: “The eyes of the Lord are roving to and fro throughout the entire earth”? Rather, it is to teach a ruling to future generations, that judges may not pass judgment except with eyewitnesses, as it is stated (Lev.5:1): “Having seen or known.”
  was Heb. והיה. According to its simple meaning, it is like ויהי, and its meaning is both past and future.
  sincere and upright But [I could think] that as regards matters between him and his Maker, he was not righteous. Therefore, it is stated: God- fearing and shunning evil.
  
  Verse 2
  
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  seven thousand sheep He counted the largest number first.
  greater than all the children of the East Than the generation of the division, as it is written (Gen. 11:2): “And it came to pass as they migrated from the east.” But concerning Abraham, it is not so, for concerning Abraham, it is written הגדול, the greatest, as it is stated (Josh. 14:15): “And the name of Hebron before was Kirjath-Arba; he was the greatest man among the “Anakim.” It should have said אדם גדול, a great man. Why did he write האדם הגדול, the greatest man? By this, Scripture hinted that he was a great man who passed ten tests. Therefore, his title is written with two “heys”, the numerical value of which is ten. Job, however, described by the word גדול, greater, passed only one [test], as it is stated: sincere and upright, etc., that out of that entire generation, he was not apprehended for that iniquity.
  
  Verse 4
  
  Now his sons would go and make a feast in each one’s house on his day In the house of each one on his day.
  and they would send and invite Heb. ושלחו וקראו, like ושולחים וקוראים, that they would do so constantly.
  
  Verse 5
  
  Now it would come about when the cycle of the feasting days would be over When the days of the feasting would be over, Job would act in this manner; upon every termination of the seven days on which the days of feasting rotated, he would send and summon them (ויקדשם) ; i.e., he would prepare them and summon them, as in (Num. 11:18). “Prepare yourselves for tommorow.”
  and offer up... early in the morning The meaning is that he would offer up burnt-offerings early. Therefore, Scripture wrote in the future tense, that he was wont to do so always at the end of every seven days.
  the number of all of them The sons and the daughters.
  and blasphemed Heb. וברכו, lit. will do. A euphemism [used in] referring to the Most High.
  So would Job do Heb. יעשה, lit. will do. He would always do in this manner. When Scripture writes about a constant occurrence, sometimes it writes in the past tense, and sometimes in the future tense.
  
  Verse 6
  
  Now the day came about That day which was Rosh Hashanah, (known as a day of sounding the shofar, and the Holy One, blessed be He, commanded the Adversary to bring the merit and the guilt of all creatures. This is the meaning of “from going to and fro on the earth.”)
  and the angels of God came to stand beside the Lord to contend with Him, because the expression of standing refers only to judgment, as it is stated (Isa. 3:13): “The Lord stands to plead.”
  and the Adversary, too, came among them to accuse the people.
  
  Verse 7
  
  “Where are you coming from?” Scripture speaks of etiquette, that the greater one speaks first and permits the smaller one to reply.
  “From going to and fro on the earth” As is explained above, and it is in the homiletic section of the chapter [that begins], “The partners.”
  “From going to and fro on the earth and from walking in it.” So is my wont to go to and fro, to see the evil ones and the good ones. Now I went to and fro throughout the entire earth and I did not find anyone like Abraham, about whom it is said (Gen. 13:17): “Rise, go to and fro in the land.” The Sages of blessed memory (Baba Bathra 16a) said that the Adversary meant this for the sake of Heaven, in order that Abraham’s merit not be forgotten by our God.
  
  Verse 8
  
  Have you paid attention to My servant Job that you should desire to denounce him?
  “Have you paid, etc.” An expression of a wonder.
  sincere and upright Perfect in his deeds.
  
  Verse 9
  
  “Does Job fear God for nothing?” This is a question.
  
  Verse 10
  
  Haven’t You made a hedge around him Because he knows that You visit him frequently to perform miracles for him, and he is fruitful and multiplies; therefore he performs all these righteous deeds—but You have not tested him.
  made a hedge around him You protected him like a wall, as in (Isa. 5:5) “I will remove its hedge (משוכתו),” its wall. Every expression of בעד stated in the Hebrew language is only an expression of “opposite and before him,” as in (Lev.16:6), “and he shall effect atonement for himself (וכפר בעדו),” he shall wipe away the sin from opposite you and before you (sic), so that the atonement shall be a shield about you. Similarly (Ps. 3:4), “[But You,] O Lord, are a shield about me (בעדי) .”
  spread out in the land Heb. פרץ, gained strength, as in (Exod. 1:12), “So would they gain strength (יפרץ), which the Targum renders: And so would they become strong. This is its simple meaning, but our Sages of blessed memory stated in the Aggadah (Baba Bathra 15b, 16a) that they broke the fence of the world, for the goats would slay the wolves.
  
  Verse 11
  
  But were you to touch all that he has, would he not blaspheme You to Your face immediately? This is a question. And then, the Lord said to the Adversary, “Behold, all that he has is in your hands.”
  
  Verse 12
  
  “Behold, all that he has etc. Another explanation: Now the day came about That day when they recommenced the cycle [and were] to eat at the house of their eldest brother.
  the angels of God The heavenly hosts, which are near the Divine Presence, to be the members of His household, and were therefore called His children.
  to stand beside the Lord Heb. Around Him, as (Gen. 45:1) “all who stood around him (עליו).”
  
  Verse 13
  
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  beside them Heb. על ידיהם lit. on their hands. This is an expression of a place only because it is prepared and available at his hand. Our Sages of blessed memory said in the Aggadah (Baba Bathra 15b, 16a), that the Holy One, blessed be He, gave them a taste of the world to come; for after the plowing by the she-donkeys, they would sow with the plowing, and the she-donkeys would immediately graze on the young greens from the furrow.
  
  Verse 15
  
  And Sheba The kingdom of Sheba fell upon them and encamped beside them, as in (Gen. 25: 18), “before all his brethren he settled.”
  the youths Your servants who were guarding them.
  and I... escaped Heb. ואמלטה. The word מליטה is only an expression of withdrawal, that one withdrew from trouble.
  
  Verse 16
  
  and the youths Scripture speaks of the guards of the flocks.
  
  Verse 17
  
  spread out on the camels This is an expression of plundering plunder according to their custom that as long as they are walking, they stick together and walk stealthily lest people recognize them and drive the cattle away. When they reach the place of the cattle, they spread out in the width of the herd, one on each side, in order to gather the cattle. Now these messengers were messengers of the Adversary, and in order to provoke him [Job] and cause him to sin, they first informed him of a small loss and later of a larger one. So is the sequence of all of them.
  
  Verse 18
  
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  from the other side of the desert From the other side of the desert, for the house was on this side. This is the meaning of עֵבֶר, as it is found in Scriptures.
  upon the youths The sons, but it is unnecessary to mention the daughters.
  (to tell you He was permitted only to tell, and at that moment, he died. Not found in certain editions.)
  
  Verse 20
  
  tore Heb. ויגז, tore out, as in (Jer. 7:29), “Tear out (גזי) your hair for your great men,” which Jonathan renders: תלישה tear out, and like (Ps. 71:6) “From my mother’s womb You pull me (גוזי),” pull me.
  
  Verse 21
  
  From my mother’s womb the earth, “whence I was taken,” or actually, “my mother.”
  and I will return there naked He is not referring to the womb. What then is the meaning of “there”? To the place of his return, for which he is destined, and he will not change the law, to return anywhere but to the earth. Therefore, it was not necessary to mention it.
  
  Verse 22
  
  unseemliness Heb. תפלה. He did not ascribe any blemish or unseemliness to the Holy One, Blessed be He. Similarly (Jer. 23:13), “And in the prophets of Samaria I saw unseemliness (תפלה).”
  neither did he ascribe Heb. נתן lit. gave, to ascribe unseemliness and injustice to the Holy One, blessed be He, like (I Sam. 18:8) “They ascribed (נתנו) to David ten thousands, and to me they ascribed (נתנו) the thousands.”
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  “Where are you coming from?” Where is the place about which you may say, “From this place I come”?
  
  Verse 3
  
  maintains Heb. מחזיק, holds, as in (Exod. 4:4) “and he held (ויחזק) onto it”; (Prov. 26:17), “One who holds (מחזיק) onto a dog’s ears.”
  Yet you enticed Me against him You enticed Me to destroy him. Every expression of הֲסָתָה is only an expression of attracting a person to his counsel.
  
  Verse 4
  
  Skin for skin One limb for another limb. It is human nature that, when one sees a sword coming toward his head, he protects it with his arm in front of it. Surely a person will give all the money he has.
  for his life For his life to protect it. Because this person knows that he is liable to lose his life, he does not worry about his money.
  
  Verse 5
  
  But Heb. אולם, but.
  will he not Will You not see immediately that he will blaspheme You to Your face?
  
  Verse 6
  
  but preserve his life that it does not go out. From here the Sages said, “The Adversary’s pain was greater than Job’s. This is analogous to one saying to his friend, ‘Break this barrel but preserve its wine.’”
  
  Verse 7
  
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  to scratch himself with Heb. להתגרד.This word is spelled with a “dalet.” It is a Mishnaic expression (Rosh Hashanah 27b): “If he scraped it (גרדו) and reduced it to its normal size,” but גורר with a “reish” is only an expression of dragging, like (Shabbath 29b), “A person may drag a bed or a bench.”
  
  Verse 9
  
  maintain Heb. מחזיק, hold.
  and die Heb. ומת. This is an imperative expression, as (Deut. 32: 50), “And die on the mountain.”
  
  Verse 10
  
  also Is it not enough that He created us? Should we also accept the good, but not accept the evil? This is a wonder.
  with his lips but in his heart he did sin.
  
  Verse 11
  
  Job’s three friends Heb. רעי, those who loved him.
  to bemoan Heb. לנוד, as in (Isa. 51:19): “who will lament (ינוד) for you?”; (Jer. 22:10), “neither bemoan (תנדו) him.”
  
  Verse 12
  
  but they did not recognize him because his face had changed as a result of the agonies.
  towards heaven i.e., high over their heads. That was their mourning custom.
  
  Verse 13
  
  on the ground On the ground, to share his pain.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  Job’s AddressNow Job raised his voice Heb. ויען, he cried out, for every expression of עניה in the Torah is only an expression of raising the voice, and the “father” of them all is (Deut. 27:14): “The Levites shall raise their voices (וענו) etc. with a loud voice.”
  
  Verse 3
  
  in which I was to be born This is a future expression, that he was saying, “Would that the day in which I was destined to be born be lost, and then I would not have been born.”
  and the night That too should have been lost.
  when one said that the reporter, upon whom it was incumbent [to report] would say.
  “A man has impregnated.” That my father impregnated my mother. Concerning a female, it is customary to say הרתה, she conceived, and concerning a male, it is customary to say, הורה, he impregnated the female.
  and the night when one said This is one of the places where Scripture abbreviates its words because it is unnecessary to explain who [the subject] is, and the expression means, “the sayer said.” [Similar to this is (Amos. 6:12), “Will horses run on the rock, or will one plow with cattle?” He should have said, “Will a man plow with cattle?”] However, our Sages said, “The angel appointed over conception is named Laylah.”
  
  Verse 4
  
  May that day be dark constantly; every year, when that day arrives.
  let God not seek it from above for good.
  and let no light shine upon it Heb. נהרה,light, like צהר, which is translated נהור.
  
  Verse 5
  
  defile it Heb. יגאלהו, like (Malachi 1:7), “defiled (מגאל) bread”; “How have we defiled You (גאלנוך)?” an expression of contamination.
  the shadow of death Heb. צלמות, the shadow of death, darkness that never lights up.
  
  like demons of the day Heb. כמרירי, demons who rule at noon, like (Deut. 32: 34), “Ketev Meriri,” who rules at noon; as it is stated (Ps. 91:6): “from Ketev, who rules at noontime.”
  
  Verse 6
  
  it shall not rejoice among the days Heb. אל יחד, it shall not rejoice, as in (Exod. 18:9), “And Jethro rejoiced (וַיִחַד).” (Another explanation is: It shall not join. This does not appear in certain editions.)
  
  Verse 7
  
  lonely Alone and lacking any man or creature.
  
  Verse 8
  
  curse it Heb. יקבהו, curse it, as in (Num. 22:17), “curse (קבה) for me.”
  those who curse the day Those who curse their days, since they intend to pronounce a curse because of their anguish.
  those destined to be childless in their union Heb. ערר לויתן, to be childless (ערירים) in their union; to join their mate in the union of man and wife, without children. And I saw in the Jerusalem Talmud (Moed Katan 1:5) that עֹרֵר means, to lament their mate when he dies, as in (Moed Katan 1:6): A person may not inspire lamentations (יערער) for his dead relative.
  
  Verse 9
  
  its evening Heb. נשפו, the darkness of its night.
  the rays of Heb. עפעפי, rays of, like (Jer. 9:17), “and our eyelids (or pupils) (ועפעפינו) gush water.”
  
  Verse 10
  
  For He did not shut He Who was able to shut. This too is one of the verses that resemble “the night when one said” (verse 2).
  the doors of my womb from which I emerged, for had He done so, He would have hidden trouble from my eyes.
  
  Verse 11
  
  Why did I not die from the womb? why was I not ready to die immediately upon my emergence from the womb? He speaks in the future tense, as though he were standing now on the day of his emergence from the womb and saying, “Why will I not die now, and why did I not... emerge from the belly and perish?” Why was my death not imminent?
  
  Verse 12
  
  Why did knees receive me Why did the knees of my mother receive me before my death?
  that I should suck [Why] was it decreed upon me to suck them? As he is speaking on the day of his birth, he mentions those subsequent events in the future tense.
  
  Verse 13
  
  I would be lying Heb. ושכבתי, I would be lying in the grave.
  
  Verse 14
  
  who build ruins for themselves It is customary for those who seek fame to rebuild ruined cities as a memorial for themselves, as in (Isa. 58: 12), “And those coming from you shall be called the repairer of the breaches.” That is to say, with princes and famous people. Or, would that I was unknown, and I would be like a stillborn. What Scripture states: I was not like a hidden stillborn, is because it continues with the language with which it started to speak, viz. in the interrogative, and it refers to “Why did knees receive me...or why was I not like a hidden stillborn child?”
  
  Verse 15
  
  
  
  Verse 16
  
  like infants Heb. כעוללים, infants. He calls them עוללים because they are all play and dirt, like (below 16:15), “And I sullied (ועללתי) with dust,” and like (Jud. 19:25), “and abused (ויתעללו) her the entire night.”
  
  Verse 17
  
  cease from anger They restrain their anger, with which they were accustomed and wont to cause anger in the earth.
  and there...rest Heb. ינוחו, and there rested. Something that occurs regularly is written in the future tense.
  
  Verse 18
  
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  Small and great are there There it is obvious who is esteemed and who is humble, and since that greatness is perpetual greatness, and that humility is perpetual humility...
  
  Verse 20
  
  Why does He give (the giver, i.e., the Holy One, blessed be He.)
  the toiler light He who grew up with toil and trouble—why did He give him perpetual light and not slay him at birth?
  
  Verse 21
  
  Who await death to those of bitter spirit, who long for and desire death and complain, saying, “it is not here.”
  and they spy after it Heb. ויתפרהו, and they spy after it.
  more than after hidden treasures More than people spy after hidden treasures.
  
  Verse 22
  
  Those who are happy over joyous occurrences and rejoice if they find a grave.
  over joyous occurrences Because of the joy and the happiness of finding a grave.
  
  Verse 23
  
  for a man whose way is hidden All the good deeds that he performed were hidden from the Great Recompenser, and He did not look at them.
  and God hedged him in He made a wall in front of him to shut him up in a prison, as in (Hos. 2:8) “Behold I will close off your way.”
  
  Verse 24
  
  comes Heb. תבא, lit. shall come.
  pour An expression of (Exod. 9:33) “pour (נתך) to the ground.” They run and descend like water. The word ויתכו may also be interpreted as an expression denoting abundance.
  
  Verse 25
  
  the thing I feared All my life, I stood in fear of this, as I said (1:5): “Now it would come about, when the cycle of the feasting would days be over, etc.” 
  What I dreaded—Behold!
  
  Verse 26
  
  I was not at ease from this worry, and behold, trouble has come.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  Eliphaz’s AddressEliphaz He was Esau’s son, and because he was nurtured in Isaac’s bosom, he merited that the Shechinah rest upon him.
  the Temanite From the land of Tema, Esau’s country. (Not found in some editions.)
  
  Verse 2
  
  Because He tested This is an expression of wonder. Because He tested you with one thing, should you weary? With one rest that the Holy One, blessed be He, tested you, you have become weary. From now on, who will be able to withhold his words from answering you?
  
  Verse 3
  
  Behold, you have chastised many who multiplied words; you admonished them and chastised them.
  and...weak hands of those who feared the retribution that came upon them. You used to strengthen [them] and say, “Fear not, for that is the Divine Standard of Justice.”
  
  Verse 4
  
  would pick up Your words were wont to pick up the stumbler.
  
  Verse 5
  
  
  
  Verse 6
  
  Surely now, your end reveals your beginning, that your fear, that you feared heaven...
  your foolishness is due to foolishness and not to full understanding, and so are your hope and the sincerity of your ways all foolishness.
  
  Verse 7
  
  destroyed Heb. נכחדו, disappeared and perished, like (Exod. 9:15), “and you would vanish (ותכחד) from the earth.”
  
  Verse 8
  
  As I have seen that those who plow violence and prepare the iniquity in their thoughts, like a plower who prepares [the field] before sowing, afterwards they sow mischief with their deeds. And I saw that they will reap it—i.e., their evil that comes upon them, and I saw that.
  
  Verse 9
  
  From the breath of God they will perish From the blowing of His stormwind and His anger.
  and from the wind of His nostrils they are always destroyed, and he spoke of the Generation of the Flood.
  
  Verse 10
  
  The roar of an old lion, the voice of a young lion The אריה is the old one, the שַׁחַל the middle one, and the כפיר the cub; all of them were misled, i.e., the kings, the princes and the slaves; all these names are names of the lion.
  
  Verse 11
  
  A lion perishes without prey The princes perished like a lion who perishes without food; so did their strength to commit violence dissipate. The word אֹבֵד is not an expression of a man who loses something, but [of a man who has] himself become lost, like (Ps. 119.176), “I have gone astray like a lost (אבד) sheep.” and like (ibid. 31:13), “I was like a lost (אבד) vessel.”
  and the young of the lion will scatter He is speaking of the Generation of the Dispersion, who were scattered from there [Babel] over the face of the entire earth.
  
  Verse 12
  
  Now a word was conveyed secretly to me He returns to his rebuke with which he has been chastising him till now: Why are you crying? “Remember now who was innocent that perished...As I have seen, etc.” And concerning you a word of prophecy was secretly conveyed to me, [lit. was stolen to me], from the expression like a stolen thing, because the Holy Spirit does not reveal itself to the prophets of the heathens in public. This is analogous to a king who had a wife and a mistress. When he would go to his wife, he would go in public, but to his mistress, he would go clandestinely and stealthily. So it is with the Holy One, blessed be He. Regarding the prophets of the heathens [Scripture states:] (Gen. 20:3), “And God came to Abimelech in the dream of the night,” and similarly (ibid. 31: 24), “And God came to Laban the Aramean in the dream of the night”; to Balaam (Num. 24:4), “who falls, but his eyes are open” [in Gen. Rabbah 52:5 (Num. 22:20), “And God came to Balaam at night”]; to Eliphaz, “in the visions of the night.” But concerning the prophets of Israel it is written (ibid. 12:8): “With him I speak mouth to mouth manifestly and not with riddles.” In Midrash Tanchuma, I found it emended [See Tanchuma Balak 8, Tanchuma Buber Vayishlach 24.] 
  Now [in] the expression, “And my ear grasped a bit of it,” שֶׁמֶץ, means a bit of the spirit of understanding.
  
  Verse 13
  
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  terror befell me from the spirit that came to me. and the spirit was an angel. as it is stated (Ps. 104:4): “He makes his angels spirits.”
  
  Verse 15
  
  it made stand on end The spirit made the hair of my flesh (stand on end].
  תסמר. That is an expression of a man whose hair stood on end.
  
  Verse 16
  
  It was standing It was standing before me, but I did not recognize its appearance.
  a faint voice I heard the sound of faint words. Another explanation: I heard silence and a voice. I heard the voice of the silence, but the silence I did not hear. “Silence” denotes angels reciting praise silently, as [Jonathan] renders (I Kings 19:12): “a still small voice” as: a voice of those praising quietly. Moses heard the silence [i.e., the voice of the angels praising]—from here we deduce that the early prophets heard [lit. used] the voice, whereas the later ones heard an echo, like a man who hits with a hammer, and the echo resounds far away. From here... far away. Here it is written: silence and a voice, whereas concerning Elijah it is written: a still small voice; because Eliphaz heard only the silencing of the voice, like a person who shouts into a barrel, that the voice of the barrel shouts toward him. That is an echo, not the voice itself, but concerning Elijah if is written: a still, small voice, for he heard the voice itself] And this is what it said.
  
  Verse 17
  
  Can a mortal be more righteous than God? This is a wonder.
  or can a man be purer than his Maker? Or can a man be more pure than his Maker?
  
  Verse 18
  
  Behold...His servants the righteous. He does not trust that they will not sin against Him, and He takes them out of the world before their time.
  reproach Heb. תהלה, an expression of folly.
  
  Verse 19
  
  Surely Surely.
  those who dwell in mud houses, whose foundation is in dust, meaning their graves.
  they crush them before the worms From heaven, their strength is sapped until they are humble and crushed before the worms that eat them in death.
  
  Verse 20
  
  From morning to evening they are crushed in one day, they are crushed and subdued.
  without giving [a thought] lit. without putting it upon their heart to return to their Maker.
  they perish to eternity This too is an elliptical verse.
  
  Verse 21
  
  Their haughtiness, which is absorbed within them does it not leave [them]? Heb. יתרם בם, like (Isa. 15:7), “Because of haughty things (יתרה) they did.” Their haughtiness and their wisdom, which is absorbed into their body—behold it will move away and be uprooted from them, like (ibid. 33: 20), “whose pegs shall never be moved (יסע).”
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  Now call Up to here are words of prophecy. From here on, he returns to his rebuke: Cry out to your utmost, who will answer you?
  To which of the holy ones [i.e., of the angels] who decrees this upon you will you turn, to strive with him?
  
  Verse 2
  
  a fool like you, anger will kill him, for had you remained silent, perhaps the Divine standard of clemency would return upon you.
  wrath That is anger and fury, as in (Deut. 32:21), “They have provoked Me (קנאוני) to wrath.”
  
  Verse 3
  
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  May his sons distance themselves from salvation This is the curse with which I cursed him.
  and may they be crushed It is punctuated with a dagesh: וְיִדַּכְּאוּ, and may they be crushed, but if it was punctuated without a dagesh (וִידַכְּאוּ), it would mean that they should crush others.
  
  Verse 5
  
  his harvest of the wicked man.
  The hungry shall eat When the wicked man dies, the hungry whom he cut off during his lifetime shall come and take payment from his property.
  and he will take it for the one saved from his weapons Like (Exod. 27:20), “and they shall take to you”; for the benefit of the poor man who was saved from the weapons of this wicked man, the judge who is appointed for that purpose shall take it [the estate of the wicked man].
  shall swallow One of the thirsty ones whom he robbed during his lifetime shall swallow.
  their riches Their money that this one stole during his lifetime.
  
  Verse 6
  
  For not from the dust does ruin emerge A plague that comes upon a person is not for nothing, nor does it spring from the ground.
  ruin Heb. און. It is an expression of ruin.
  
  Verse 7
  
  Because man is born for trouble For it is impossible that he should not sin and receive trouble as punishment for sin. He is not like the flying creatures—the angels and spirits—who fly upward, and are not of the earthly creatures (other editions read: fly upward so as not to be among the earthly creatures), over whom the Adversary and temptation rule.
  flying Heb. רשף, as in (Ps. 76:4), “arrows of (רשפי) a bow.” When the arrow flies, it is called רשפי, an expression of flying. This is what I heard.
  
  Verse 8
  
  But I would seek of God If these pains came over me, I would appeal to the Holy One, blessed be He, with prayer and supplication, and if I would commit my cause to a request.
  
  Verse 9
  
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  Who gives rain upon the face of the land The land of Israel.
  and sends water upon the face of outside places through a messenger to other countries.
  
  Verse 11
  
  to place the humble on high He gives the rain, and He frustrates the plans of the crafty, who intend to raise the prices and buy the fields of the poor for little grain.
  and those blackened whose fares are shriveled from hunger.
  
  Verse 12
  
  so that their hands do not carry out their plans The counsel that they planned to perform.
  
  Verse 13
  
  is hasty Any counsel that is planned hastily is foolishness.
  
  Verse 14
  
  By day, they meet darkness For their counsel is not executed nor accomplished, and the light of their wisdom is converted to darkness.
  
  Verse 15
  
  And He saved the stumblers.
   from the sword. From what sword? From their mouth, for they thought to swallow them and longed to destroy them.
  and... from the hand of the mighty He saves the needy.
  
  Verse 16
  
  and libel Heb. ועלתה. The libel (עלילה) and the wickedness, as (Ps. 64:7), “They search for false charges,” equivalent to עלילות, libels.
  shut Heb. קפצה, shut, as (Deut. 15:7), “nor shut (תקפץ).”
  
  Verse 17
  
  Behold, fortunate is the man etc. with pains, and just as He heals the pain of these [people], so would I [myself] appeal to Him about these pains that would come upon me. So should you accept them and not despise them.
  
  Verse 18
  
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  In six troubles When they come to the world, he will save you through the pains with which you wee tormented, and also with the seventh one, which when it comes will not touch you.
  
  Verse 20
  
  
  
  Verse 21
  
  from the scourging tongue of the Adversary you shall be hidden. These are the seven troubles: 1 famine, 2) the sword, 3) the tongue, 4) plunder etc., and 5) the beasts of the land, which are brigands.
  
  Verse 22
  
  
  
  Verse 23
  
  the stones of the field They are: 6) a type of man.
  and the beasts of the field That is what is known as grouse(?) in Old French, and this is actually a beast of the field. In the language of the Mishnah in Torath Kohanim, they are called “adnei hasadeh.”
  made peace with you will have peace with you.
  
  Verse 24
  
  Then you shall know that there is peace in your tent Then, wherever you are, you will be confident that all is well in your tent.
  and you shall visit your habitation and miss nothing Heb. תחטא, like (Jud. 20:16), “at a hairbreadth and not miss (יחטא).” This is the seventh [trouble] that we counted above.
  
  Verse 25
  
  
  
  Verse 26
  
  You shall come to the grave at a ripe old age Heb. בְכֶלַח. [In other words,] you will be saved from pestilence. As for the word בְכֶלַח: there is no Biblical support to understand its meaning, but according to the context, it can be interpreted as an expression of the completion of the ripening of the grain, when it is completely ripe. Our Rabbis, however, interpret בְכֶלַח as “sixty years,” according to its numerical value.
  as the grain stock is taken away As the grain stack is taken off the ground in its time.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  and my calamity my ruin.
  placed together on a scale with a weight opposite it. even if [this weight] were the sand of the seas, it would outweigh it.
  
  Verse 3
  
  stammer Heb. לעו. They are uncertain, like a person who has no strength to pronounce a word properly. Likewise (Obad. 16), “And they shall drink and stammer (ולעו),” because it is usual for a drunkard to stammer in his speech.
  
  Verse 4
  
  venom Heb. חמתם, their poison. It was the custom of the Persians to apply snake venom to their arrows.
  
  Verse 5
  
  Does a wild donkey bray That is to say, do I cry out for nothing? Even a stupid animal does not bray when it has food, neither does an ox low unless it does not have grain fodder. With a wild donkey, the expression used is נַהַק, braying, and with an ox, the expression of געיה, lowing.
  
  Verse 6
  
  Can bland food be eaten A thing that has no salt and must be salted, but was not salted, is called תָּפֵל in Mishnaic Hebrew (Shabbath 128a, Hullin 113a, Nedarim 51a).
  or is there taste in the saliva that comes from strong tasting foods, for the one who eats a strong-tasting food that increases the saliva, e.g. garlic. That is to say, Do you think their replies that have no substance are acceptable? רִיר [means saliva] as in (I Sam. 2 1:14), “and let his saliva (ריר) run down upon his beard.” 
  חַלָמוּת is like (below 39:4), “Their sons wax strong (יחלמו),” an expression of strength. Some interpret it as an expression of a dream (חלום), but this does not appeal to me because of the dagesh in the “lammed.”
  
  Verse 7
  
  What my body refused to touch That is to say, I have reason to cry increasingly, because things that my body refused [to touch] and was disgusted to touch... [לנגוֹע] is an expression of touching.
  as cloths for my food Now they are prepared for me to touch them like my tablecloths upon which my food is placed. כִּדְוֵי is an expression like (II Sam. 10:4), “and he cut off their garments (מדויהם).” I heard this from Rabbi Meshullam the physician. Another interpretation: Like cloths with which they strain the cooked foods and the food runs out of them. דְוֵי is an expression of דָוֶה, running.
  my food Heb. לחמי, lit. my bread. All food is called לחם, as in (Dan. 5:1), “made a great feast (לחם).” and as in (Jer. 11:19), “Let us destroy his food (בלחמו) with wood.” which Jonathan renders: poison into his food. Another explanation: They are as the sights of my food. That is to say: I am accustomed to looking at them, at the worms, as I look at my food. This is Mishnaic Hebrew: “and they walk when they look (דוי)” in Tractate Shabbath (53b).
  
  Verse 8
  
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  desire and may He want.
  and crush me [This is] an expression of death.
  enlarge his hand May He enlarge His hand with His plague like (Exod. 9:3), “Behold God’s hand is.”
  and finish me off Heb. ויבצעני, and finish me off, as in (Lam. 2:17), “He has carried out (בצע) His word,” and (Zech. 4:9), “and his hands shall finish it (תבצענה).”
  
  Verse 10
  
  Then should I yet have comfort And this shall yet be to me for comfort.
  and I will beg, shuddering, that He should have no pity And I will beg of Him with shuddering (Shem Ephraim) that He not refrain from finishing me off: I cannot find any similar word in Scriptures, except that in Mishnaic Hebrew it is an expression of fear and concern, that the hand fears them lest it be scalded in boiling water. That is to say, I will shudder with concern and with shuddering request this.
  for I have not denied I did not fail to fulfill His words.
  
  Verse 11
  
  What is my strength How strong is it to bear [my pains]?
  that I should wait That I should wait until the day of recovery or until the day of death?
  I should wait Heb. איחל, like (Gen. 8:10), “And he waited (ויחל) again,” concerning Noah.
  and what Of what importance is my end that I should be able to restrain my desire to bear?
  my desire Heb. נפשי. This [word denoting] a person’s temptation toward desire [is used] in many places, as (Gen. 23:8), “If it is truly your will (נפשכם).”
  
  Verse 12
  
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  Have I no help This is an expression of wonder. Will this too come upon me, that I have no help? Those friends that I had to help me are not helping me.
  or is counsel lost The counsel of counselors is lost from me, because you have risen against me to provoke and to reject.
  
  Verse 14
  
  By one who withholds kindness from his friend Heb. למס, by one who withholds kindness. The “lammed” is a prefix, as in (Num. 26:54), “to the numerous one (לָרַב)”; “to the one who returns (?) (לָשָב),” and (Isa. 28:10, 13) “for a precept (לצו).” מָס too is an expression of a verb, like בָּא, comes: שָב, returns; גָר, dwells; these also are an expression of doing [i.e., the present tense]:
  who withholds kindness, who destroys it, like (Exod. 16:21), “when the sun grew hot, it melted (ונמס).”
  
  Verse 15
  
  My brethren Those who defend me.
  betrayed me like the stream that betrays [many] betrayals, as is explained in this chapter.
  like the source of streams the source of streams, they pass from the proper trait of friendship. Now what is the betrayal of a stream?
  
  Verse 16
  
  which wrinkle from the ice if ice comes upon them, they wrinkle and become like boards (Shem Ephraim),
  and upon them the snow disappears—it is covered, for it falls with the ice. This is one betrayal, for it [the stream] is hidden from the eye, and a thirsty man does not find water to drink.
  
  Verse 17
  
  At the time they become warm Heb. יזרבו, an expression of יְצֹרָבוּ, they become warm from the heat of the sun.
  they retreat Heb. נצמתו, retrait in Old French, shrink, contract, as “and the vinegar shrinks them (צומתן), (Pesachim 41a) in Talmudic Hebrew. [In the word יְזֹרָבוּ], the “zaddi” is converted to a “zayin,” like צעקה and זעקה, a cry.
  [Therefore,] יְזֹרָבוּ is an expression of (Ezekiel 21:3), “and all faces shall be scorched (ונצרבו),” and like (Prov. 16:27), “searing (צרבת) fire.”
  they jump they jump from their place.
  
  Verse 18
  
  are held Heb. ילפתו. They hold the paths of their way, as in (Jud. 16:29), “And Samson grasped (וילפת),” and similarly (Ruth 3:8), “and the man quaked and was taken around (וילפת),” for the woman embraced him.
  
  Verse 19
  
  They look at the paths of Tema The land of Ishmael, which is low, and the water flows there.
  they make a line Heb. קוו, an expression of an extended line. Another explanation: it is an expression of (Gen. 1:9) “Let the waters...gather (יקוו).”
  
  Verse 20
  
  They are ashamed because they had hoped; they came to it Those who drink it are ashamed because everyone had hoped to drink thereof.
  
  Verse 21
  
  For now you are like it You are compared to that stream
  you fear ruin The fear of the plague, and you are afraid to say the truth, thereby flattering my opponent.
  
  Verse 22
  
  or “Offer a bribe for me from your wealth” [Heb. מכחכם, lit. from your strength.] And from your wealth.
  
  Verse 23
  
  
  
  Verse 24
  
  
  
  Verse 25
  
  How clear Heb. נמרצו, like (I Kings 2:8), “a clear curse (נמרצת),” an expression of (Prov. 25:11) “a word spoken with proper basis.” and similarly (Ps. 119:103), “How clear (נמלצו) are Your words to my palate.” All of them are expressions of clarification (מליצה), and the “lammed” is converted to a “resh.”
  words of uprightness If you were saying words of uprightness, they would be accepted, but now, what does your proof prove? Every expression of תוֹכָחָה in Job means the clarification and verification of matters.
  
  Verse 26
  
  Do you think to clarify words Heb. הלהוכח, Do you think to clarify words?
  They are like wind They are likened [to wind].
  words of futility which have no substance, like (Jer. 2:25), “but you said. I despair (נואש).” I am not concerned with the words of the prophets.
  
  Verse 27
  
  You cast with your judgment, you cast wrath upon a poor man like me, with the line of judgment; and you dig a pit for your friend into which to cast him.
  
  Verse 28
  
  agree Be willing to turn to me and to hear my words. Then you will see whether I lie to your face.
  
  Verse 29
  
  Return now to test, and you will determine that there shall be no more injustice; return to investigate, and behold, my righteousness will be found in it.
  
  Verse 30
  
  or will my palate not understand wickedness? Will it not understand when I speak words of wickedness?
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  Is not man on earth for a limited time This is what I said to you. ‘Agree and turn to me.’ because how can I be silent from crying our about my misfortune? Do you not know that the time a man has to live is limited?
  and...like the days of a hireling and I—that time that is allotted to me...
  
  Verse 2
  
  As a slave who longs for the shadow As a slave, who toils all day through and longs and yearns, “When will the shadow of evening come?” And as a hireling, who hopes for his wages at eventide, because the whole day was to him for toil, and he yearns for the sunset.
  
  Verse 3
  
  So was I made to possess from Heaven months of futility and torments, that limited time that is given to man upon earth.
  and they appointed wearisome nights for me from Heaven
  
  Verse 4
  
  If I would lie down at night, I would hope and say, etc.
  and the evening depart When will it become light and when will the time of arising come, and when will the evening depart? [The word מדד ] is an expression of (Gen. 31:40) “and sleep was banished (ותדד).” The “mem” is a defective radical, as in מאמר, statement; משמר, watch.
  And I was sated with restlessness I was sated with restlessness on my bed by day until twilight, because, due to the torments I could not sleep until the twilight of day, since my flesh was clothed with worms.
  
  Verse 5
  
  and clods of earth Clods of earth (?) Now this is the development of rust, because it is the custom of clods of earth to moisten and cause rust.
  wrinkled Heb. רגע wrinkled, as in (Isa. 51:15), “Who wrinkles (רגע) the sea.” Another explanation: עוֹרִי רָגַע is an expression of resting a wave after a wave, like wrinkles (?).
  
  Verse 6
  
  My days are swifter The days of my prosperity hastened to go away.
  than a weaver’s shuttle Than weaving that is done swiftly. So said Hezekiah (Isa. 38:12), “I severed, like a weaver, my life.”
  without hope I no longer hope for good.
  
  Verse 7
  
  my eye will not return after death. Here Job denies the dogma of the Resurrection of the Dead.
  
  Verse 8
  
  shall see me no more The eye that wishes to see me shall see me no more after I die.
  set Your eyes upon me and I will be here no longer He is addressing the Holy One, blessed be He: “Why did You have to finish me off and crush me with pains? With one look that you set Your eyes on me, I am no longer in the world.”
  
  Verse 9
  
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  Neither will I restrain my mouth Since You do not desist from me, neither will I restrain my speech from complaining about Your ways.
  
  Verse 12
  
  Am I a sea that You placed sand over me as a guard?
  or a sea monster A huge fish that You imprisoned in the depths of the sea, that You place this Adversary as a guard over me, to watch me lest my soul depart?
  
  Verse 13
  
  that my couch shall bear my speech The couch upon which I sleep at night will bear my trouble somewhat, and I will be able to restrain my speech.
  
  Verse 14
  
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  death rather than these my bones I choose death rather than these limbs in my body.
  
  Verse 16
  
  I despised my life, because ultimately I will not live forever.
  desist from me From harming me, because my days are futile and few.
  
  Verse 17
  
  that You should give him importance to pay attention to him, to visit his deeds every morning and test him every moment?
  
  Verse 18
  
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  How long For what length of time will You not desist from me, like (Exod. 5:9), “and let them not turn (ישעו) to false words.” Similarly (below 14:6), “Turn away (שעה) from him and desist.”
  until I swallow my spit long enough to swallow my spit.
  
  Verse 20
  
  as a mark for You As an object that a man strikes when he is angry and vents upon it the entire act of his hatred (other editions: his sin).
  so that I have become a burden to myself [Etz Chayim ms: Like “and I have become a burden to You.”] This is one of the words in which Scripture euphemized, and they are known as the emendation of the scribes.
  
  Verse 21
  
  Now why do You not forgive my transgression What is this matter that You do not forgive my transgression?
  and You shall seek me You shall seek me and not find me.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  Bildad’s Addressa mighty wind Many words.
  mighty Heb. כביר, an expression of multiplicity.
  
  Verse 3
  
  Does God pervert judgment Heb. הא-ל. The “hey” is vowelized with a “patach,” and it means an expression of wonder.
  
  Verse 4
  
  He sent them away in the hands of their transgression Through their transgression. (The transgression) became the agent to carry them off.
  
  Verse 5
  
  If you seek God etc., He will arouse your merit over you.
  
  Verse 6
  
  and will complete your righteous home And He will make your righteous home complete and perfect.
  
  Verse 7
  
  And your beginning shall be small Your beginning, which has passed, shall be small as compared to your end, which shall increase exceedingly.
  
  Verse 8
  
  about the past generation About the past generation, like (Deut. 4:32), “For inquire now about the earlier times.”
  and apply yourself Apply and prepare yourself to understand what their fathers have searched out.
  
  Verse 9
  
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  Can papyrus shoot up They will say this: Papyrus cannot grow except when the marsh is wet with its water and its moisture. בִצָה is marese in Old French, a marsh.
  
  Verse 12
  
  in its greenness In its moisture and with its produce.
  will not be plucked Heb. יקטף, will not be broken or pulled off; like (Deut. 23:26), “you may pluck (וקטפת) ears.”
  but before any other grass it will dry up Before any other grass [does], it will dry up when the water evaporates and the marsh dries up.
  
  Verse 13
  
  So are the ways of all those who forget God to prosper when it goes well with him until his measure [of sin] is full.
  and the hope the end of the flatterer will be lost.
  
  Verse 14
  
  whose confidence shall be cut off His confidence and his trust Will be cut off
  confidence Heb. כסלו. That is the thought of his confidence. like (below 31:24), “If I put my confidence (כסלי) in gold. יקוט is an expression of cutting off; as (Ezek. 16:47): “for after a very little while (קט).”
  a spider’s web which does not last, is his trust.
  
  Verse 15
  
  
  
  Verse 16
  
  It is fresh His fortune is moist and strong before the time of the visitation of the heat plague—which dries him out—comes to him. And because he [Bildad] compares him [the wicked] to the papyrus, he speaks according to that metaphor.
  and on its garden its tender branch emerges Heb. יונקתו, its root that draws sustenance, or a young branch that grows this year, like (Ezek. 17: 22), “I will pluck from the top of his young twigs (ינקותיו).”
  
  Verse 17
  
  are entwined Will be entwined with the branch and with the thicket.
  a stone house He sees a strong place and builds it for himself as a stronghold. Menachem, however explains יֶחֶזֶה as an expression of a border: will border him; he will build it up to his border. [Perlow ed, reads: on his border.] Likewise (Ps. 107:30), “their desired haven.” Likewise (I Kings 7:4), “an edge to an edge (מחזה אל מחזה)” (Machbereth Menachem p. 86). All these are before his plague.
  
  Verse 18
  
  If one destroys him from his place the one who requites him, and this is an elliptical verse.
  then it shall deny him his place [shall deny him].
  ‘I have not seen you,’ For neither root nor branch shall remain of him, and it will be as though he had never existed, for his fall shall not ascend like the downfall of the righteous—for the righteous will fall and rise, but this one will fall without rising.
  
  Verse 19
  
  Behold this is the joy of his way Of the wicked man, for all his joy and also his success will end up without hope.
  and from the earth, others will spring forth And people who were until now bent down to the ground will spring forth.
  others Another man will spring forth to receive the greatness of this one, as we find (Eccles. 2:26): “and to the sinner He has given the task...” Therefore, you should know about yourself, if you were wicked, you will not rise after your downfall. If you were innocent...
  
  Verse 20
  
  Behold God will not reject the innocent and He will not uphold your enemies who are harming you, until He returns to grant you clemency, and [then] He will fill your mouth with laughter.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  Job’s Replyto contend with Him To debate with Him.
  
  Verse 4
  
  He is wise in heart to contend.
  and mighty in strength to requite.
  who hardened his heart and went away whole? Pharaoh hardened [his heart] and was destroyed, and so it is with all who hardened [their hearts].
  
  Verse 5
  
  He Who moved mountains He moved them away when He overturned Sodom.
  and they knew not until He turned them over.
  
  Verse 6
  
  He Who causes the earth to quake when He looks at it, and it trembles.
  
  Verse 7
  
  He Who spoke to the sun Heb. לחרס, to the sun, “Stand still.” and it kept the command of the King and did not shine.
  and He settled up the stars He closed off the stars with a partition and they did not shine.
  
  Verse 8
  
  He Who clone stretched out the heavens and the angels were created on the second day, lest you say that Michael stretched it out in the north and Gabriel in the south.
  on the high places of the sea On the heights of the sea. This was stated regarding the Creation, that the lower waters raised themselves up on high, and He trod them.
  
  Verse 9
  
  Orion, and the Pleiades they are constellations.
  and the chambers of the south into which to bring the tempest, as he states (below 37:9): “From the chamber shall come the tempest.”
  
  Verse 10
  
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  Behold, He goes by me I know that all He wishes, He does.
  He goes by me Before me, but I do not see Him.
  
  Verse 12
  
  Behold, He strikes suddenly Heb. יחתף, He strikes suddenly, like (Prov. 23:28), “She, too, will suddenly (כחתף) lurk,” an expression of suddenness.
  
  Verse 13
  
  will not hold back His wrath because of fear (other editions: righteousness) of a man.
  [all the helpers of Rahab] stoop under Him The celestial host that came to aid the Egyptians. Egypt is called Rahab, as it is said (Isa. 30:7): “Therefore, I called this, ‘They are haughty (רהב) idlers,’” by dint of their haughtiness, for they said, “Who is the Lord? etc.” (Exod. 5:2).
  
  Verse 14
  
  Surely Heb. אַף.
  
  Verse 15
  
  I will not reply I will fear to raise my voice before Him.
  my Judge Heb. למשפטי, like לשופטי.
  
  Verse 16
  
  I will not believe I will be unable to believe out of my fear for Him, for how do I not see Him?
  
  Verse 17
  
  He Who would crush me with a tempest My form was changed (other editions: my status) before Him.
  would crush me Heb. ישופני, would crush me. “I crushed it and ground it” (Deut. 9:21) is translated into Aramaic as: ושפיתיתֵה.
  my wounds Heb. פצעי, a wound that oozes blood and pus.
  
  Verse 18
  
  He Who would not let me He does not let me bring back my breath to myself.
  
  Verse 19
  
  If it is a trial of strength How can I contend with Him? If He comes with strength, behold He is mighty.
  and if of judgment who will be able to summon me before Him and confirm my verdict? Is it not so that...
  
  Verse 20
  
  If I am innocent, my mouth will condemn me because my words will be silenced out of fear, and my mouth will make me crooked.
  
  Verse 21
  
  I am blameless I know of myself that I am blameless; nonetheless, I do not know my rest, how I will find rest.
  
  Verse 22
  
  It is all one in the world, concerning which I said that He destroys both the innocent and the wicked. Now, what is it?...
  
  Verse 23
  
  If the scourge of the Adversary’s tongue suddenly puts the righteous to death.
  at the calamity of the innocent that he put to death he will mock.
  
  Verse 24
  
  into the hands of a wicked one Referring to the Adversary.
  he covers the faces of its judges from discerning and comprehending the truth of the matter.
  If not, then If this [interpretation] is not the truth of the matter, who is it that destroys the innocent?
  
  Verse 25
  
  My days with the destruction of the other innocent people are swifter than a runner.
  
  Verse 26
  
  Ebeh The name of a rushing river.
  swoops Heb. יטוש, flies.
  
  Verse 27
  
  my speech The words of my pain.
  my anger Heb. פני, lit. my face.
  and [I will] restrain myself Heb. ואבליגה, I will strengthen myself, like (Amos 5:9), “Who strengthens (המבליג) the robbed upon the strong.”
  
  Verse 28
  
  I will gather in all my sadness that it not let me cry out.
  I know that You will not declare me innocent of my iniquity, so as not to requite me.
  
  Verse 29
  
  why should I toil in vain to come to judgment?
  
  Verse 30
  
  with purity Heb. בבור, with cleanliness.
  
  Verse 31
  
  You will plunge me into the ditch to be sullied and contaminated; i.e., You will find great iniquity in me.
  
  Verse 32
  
  in debate Heb. במשפט, in words of debate. [The word] משפט is used in three expressions: 1) its beginning, viz. the clarification of the matters, 2) its middle, viz. the verdict, and 3) its end, viz. the meting out of the tortures and the collection of the debt. Sometimes Scripture writes it as referring to the beginning, sometimes to the middle, and sometimes to the end.
  
  Verse 33
  
  arbiter discerner in Old French. He shows each one his guilt and his innocence.
  who will place his hand The ruling of his fear and his power.
  on both of us so that the stronger does not overpower the weaker.
  
  Verse 34
  
  
  
  Verse 35
  
  for I am not so with myself Because I fear [God], I am certain with myself that I will not be found guilty in the trial.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  My soul quarrels Heb. נקטה. My soul quarrels about the fact that I am alive. That is an expression of (Ezek. 20:43), “and you shall quarrel (ונקטתם) with yourselves.
  I will leave my speech i.e., my trouble, to cry and lament, and I cannot forget it or restrain it.
  
  Verse 2
  
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  Is it good Heb. הטוב, an interrogative form. [Is it good to You] that You should oppress and rob the righteous man of his righteousness, [while] upon the council of the wicked, who vex You, You shine Your splendor to show them a friendly countenance?
  
  Verse 4
  
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  Are Your days like the days of a mortal to provoke him and pursue [him]?
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  It is in Your knowledge You know.
  
  Verse 8
  
  shaped me Heb. עצבוני, They made me a shape, a mold, like “nor straighten (מעצבין) an infant’s limbs,” in Tractate Shabbath (22:6). But now Your hosts are together round about.
  and You destroy me These are the worms.
  
  Verse 9
  
  You will return me in the end.
  
  Verse 10
  
  Did you not pour me like milk Concerning the drop from which I was born.
  
  Verse 11
  
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  and Your providence The providence of Your watch, for You appointed watchers for me.
  watched my spirit in my mother’s womb, and afterwards...
  
  Verse 13
  
  But You hid these in Your heart to destroy me as though You did not remember them, but...
  I knew that this was with You, everything as it was delineated, and You did not forget.
  
  Verse 14
  
  If I sinned, You watched me You laid Your eyes on me so as not to ignore [my sins] nor to forbear retaliation, and [from now on] You are not cleansing me of my iniquity but are requiting me for everything.
  
  Verse 15
  
  sated with disgrace am I.
  and seeing my affliction Heb. וראה. This is not an expression of the imperative, but is an adjective. וראה עניי is badlace (?) in Old French, “that I see it all the time.” As you say (below, at the end of the Book), “וּשְׂבַע יָמִים, and I am sated with days,” like “וְשָׂבֵעַ יָמִים” (with a “kamatz” under the “sin”) so do you say; וּרְאֵה, like וְרוֹאֶה, “and seeing my affliction.”
  
  Verse 16
  
  And it is so great that You hunt me like a lion And it is so great in Your eyes to be to You as a burden and a disappointment, that You hunt me like a lion; You spread out a net for me as though I was as mighty as a lion.
  and You repeatedly from day to day.
  pronounce a verdict upon me Heb. תתפלא, to exact and to pronounce judgment, an expression of (Num. 6:2). “shall pronounce (יפלא).”
  
  Verse 17
  
  Your witnesses to testify about the changes of the ailments and the pains.
  with set times are with me Times set for these my tortures, which serve (once) and [then] repeatedly shift with changes different from these, and serve again.
  
  Verse 18
  
  Would that I had died and no eye had seen me If only I had died [upon emerging] from the womb.
  
  Verse 19
  
  would that I was brought from the womb to the grave Would that I was brought.
  
  Verse 20
  
  withdraw from me Withdraw Yourself from me and from upon me, like (Isa. 65:5), “Keep to yourself” Remain by yourself and distance yourself from me.
  
  Verse 21
  
  before I go While I am still alive, and the time for me to die has not yet arrived, desist from me and I will rest.
  
  Verse 22
  
  darkness Heb. עפתה. This is a noun meaning darkness, like (Amos 4: 13) “dawn and darkness (ועיפתה).”
  the shadow of death it is, without orders in it (that there are no orders of man; i.e., there are no customs, for there is no civilization, and its light is like darkness).
  and where the light is as darkness The illuminated place [therein] is like darkness.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  Zophar’s AnswerShould not...be answered by others because of the multitude of his words?
  
  Verse 3
  
  Your fabrications that you invent from your heart.
  may silence men Heb. מתים, people.
  
  Verse 4
  
  You said to the Holy One, blessed be He, ‘My doctrine is pure, and I was clean in Your eyes.’
  
  Verse 5
  
  
  
  Verse 6
  
  mysteries of wisdom and you would know that the wisdom is double, i.e., the Torah that you did not fulfill.
  that [God] lends Heb. ישה, like (Deut.24: 10), “If you lend (תשה) your friend.” He has yet a large debt over you in the matters of your iniquity.
  
  Verse 7
  
  Can you find out the mystery of God that you think that you have fulfilled everything?
  
  Verse 8
  
  [In] the heights of heaven [About] something that is as high as the heights of heaven, what can you do? And the wisdom is deeper than the grave.
  
  Verse 9
  
  its measure Heb. מדה, its measure, but here he mentions measure with a masculine noun (since he did not say, מדתה).
  
  Verse 10
  
  If He passes and confines with pains the one He wishes, and He assembles all His divine ministers to justify His act in having confined.
  who among them.
  can hinder Him with words to find injustice in His act? And if because the One being judged is tranquil and silent for many days, that is His way.
  
  Verse 11
  
  For He knows deceitful people; when He sees iniquity, He does not consider it [He sees the iniquity] that they commit for days and years, and it seems as though He does not consider it because He is slow to anger.
  
  Verse 12
  
  But an empty man a hollow man, without a heart [i.e., understanding], who did not understand His way.
  will gain understanding Heb. ילבב, he will gain for himself a heart [i.e., understanding] to return to his Creator and to search through his deeds—or [he will remain] a man who was like a wild donkey, accustomed to the desert, hasty, without sense.
  a man will be born He will teach himself to be a new man according to the order of people, and he will determine his way.
  
  Verse 13
  
  If you would aim your heart after your pains.
  and spread out your hands to Him in supplication.
  
  Verse 14
  
  Distance iniquity from your hand, and do not allow injustice to dwell in your tents.
  
  Verse 15
  
  For then you would be sure that you could lift your face unblemished, for you would cause yourself to lift your face without any blemish. Because of this...
  and you shall be strong Heb. מצק, strong, like (I Sam. 2:8), “the pillars of (מצקי) the earth,”
  
  Verse 16
  
  and you shall forget all your trouble.
  like water that has passed and gone by, so shall be the entire memory of your trouble.
  
  Verse 17
  
  And your luck shall rise more than midday Heb. חלד. More than the light of midday, חֶלֶד shall rise for you, i.e., luck and time, like (Ps. 39:6), “and my age (חלדי) is as nothing before You.” Another explanation: יקום חָלֶד: means, The light of your rust shall rise; i.e., your darkest place shall illuminate more than the light of midday. I heard this, but the first [explanation] does not please me (not found in some editions).
  your darkness Heb. תעפה. Your darkness shall be like the morning. Another explanation: תָּעֻפָה is an expression of (3:8) “the rays of (עפעפי) dawn.” Because, if it is an expression of darkness, he should have said, “תעוּפה” like תנוּפה, waving, תקוּמה rising, תרוּמה, raising, תנוּמה, slumber.
  
  Verse 18
  
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  
  
  Verse 20
  
  And the eyes of the wicked your enemies,
  will fail when they turn to your troubles to see, but will not achieve their desire. Every expression of כליון עינים failure of the eyes, in the holy tongue means one who looks forward to see something but does not achieve [his wish], and as (Deut. 28:32) “and languish (כלות) for them etc.”
  way to flee Heb. מנוס. That is a refuge
  and their hope What they hope to see in you will be intense grief for them.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  wisdom shall perish When you die, all wisdom shall perish with you because all wisdom is in you, but I too have intelligence like you.
  
  Verse 3
  
  and with whom are there none comparable to these? (Who is it who does not know like these) that the Holy One, blessed be He, has power to perform His will and to allow the tranquility of the wicked to last? You are only mocking me, and I am...
  
  Verse 4
  
  a laughingstock to his friend He calls to the Holy One, blessed be He, and He answers him concerning the pain of their provocation. Now what does He answer him? To give the righteous laughter. completely Heb. תָּמִים, perfectly.
  that the completely righteous will have laughter That is the answer that He will reply with, and I know that it is as you said (8:21), (“He will yet fill your mouth with laughter,”) for...
  
  Verse 5
  
  A brand of contempt The fire of Gehinnom stands for one who is tranquil in his thoughts, saying, “I will have peace.”
  prepared The one who is tranquil in his thoughts is destined to be among those who stumble, whose foot slips.
  
  Verse 6
  
  prosper I know that at times tents will prosper, namely those of the Kedarites who dwell in tents in the deserts, and who are robbers, as it is stated (Gen. 16:12): “a free man among men; his hand shall be against every man.”
  are secure Those who provoke God have perfection, anyone to whom the Rock brought peace with His hand, whether he is good or bad.
  
  Verse 7
  
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  Does not the ear discern words So why did the listeners not know this, as the palate tastes to eat?
  
  Verse 12
  
  In elders there is wisdom etc. to know that with Him is wisdom.
  
  Verse 13
  
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  He sends it away and it overturns the earth As His agents, as He did to the generation of Enosh, when He inundated a third of the world.
  
  Verse 16
  
  His are the misled The man who is misled.
  and the misleader The Adversary, who misleads.
  
  Verse 17
  
  madness Heb. שולל. It is a noun, ‘madness.’ He leads them away with madness when He wishes to confuse and destroy their wisdom, as in (Isa. 59: 15), “and he who turns away from evil is considered mad (משתולל)”; (Ps. 76:6), “The stouthearted became mad אשתוללוּ.” The “tav” in משתולל and in אשתוללוּ [is inserted because] so is the structure of the Hebrew language: in a word that has a radical “shin” or “sammech,” and which is used in passive or reflexive conjugation, a “tav” is placed after the first radical, like (Ecc. 8:10), “and they will be forgotten (וישתכחו) in the city”; (Micah 6: 16), “For the statutes of Omri are kept (וישתמר)”; (Exod. 9:17), “You still exalt yourself very high (מסתולל) above My people”; (Ecc. 12:5), “and the grasshopper shall drag himself along (ויסתבל).”
  Me makes...fools Heb. יהולל, He makes mad, an expression of folly and foolishness.
  
  Verse 18
  
  He loosens the bond of kings He removed the bond of the yoke from Nebuchadnezzar and dethroned him.
  and He binds a girdle to their loins At his start, when He desired him, He girded his loins, and imbued him with strength for kingship.
  
  Verse 19
  
  princes Heb. כהנים, like (Exod. 3:1), “the prince (כהן) of Midian”; (Gen. 41:45), “the prince (כהן) of On.”
  
  Verse 20
  
  from trusty men Even from trusty men. (Even to those who believe in Him. Etz Chayim ms.) Sometimes his lips become confused, speaking improper words, e.g. Abraham (about whom it is written:] (Gen. 15:6), And he believed in the Lord.” And later, he stumbled [by saying,] “How will I know?”
  
  Verse 21
  
  and loosens the belt of the strong And He loosens the belt of the strong. He opens their belt to weaken them, like (Ps. 109:19), “and for the girdle (ולמזח) wherewith he is girded continually.”
  the strong Heb. אפיקים, like (below 40:18), “as strong as (אפיקי) copper; (ibid. 41:7), “He is proud of the strength of (אפיקי) His scales.”
  
  Verse 22
  
  
  
  Verse 23
  
  He makes nations great and destroys them Heb. משׂגיא. Some say, as He did to the Egyptians when they overtook Israel before Baal-zephon (Exod. 14:9). They erred and said, “You should know that He agreed with us, to drown them in the sea as we decreed, ‘Every son that is born you shall cast into the river’ (ibid. 1:22), and [they also said] that their deity Baal-zephon is mighty, seeing that no acts of judgment were performed upon it, as [they were upon) all the [other] gods of Egypt, and the Omnipresent caused them to be misled in order to drown them. But this explanation is not the main one, for were it so, it should have been dotted on the right, מַשְׁגִיא like שׁוגֶה, the misled. This is the main explanation: It means making great, an expression of שׂגיא כֹח, having great strength. He makes the nations great and causes them to prosper, and their heart becomes haughty with their prosperity, so that [the fact] that they prosper is their destruction.
  He spreads out He multiplies them to spread them out over the earth and to cover them.
  
  Verse 24
  
  in a wasteland not a road In a wasteland that is not a road.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  But I would speak I wish only to speak to Him and I wish to debate with Him.
  
  Verse 4
  
  combine lies Heb. טפלי שקר,combine false words of falsehood.
  all of you are quacks Heb. רפאי אלל. Every אֱלִיל in Scripture is an expression of אַל, nought. Our Sages, however, explained that this is the cervical ligament, which [if damaged] has no cure, and it is called אֱלָל.
  
  Verse 5
  
  
  
  Verse 6
  
  the contentions The proofs.
  
  Verse 7
  
  Will you speak unjustly for God Since you come to contend in the place of God, it is not good that you should speak unjustly.
  and will you speak deceitfully for Him? Heb. ולו [usually “to him”]. For His sake will you speak deceitfully? As in (below 33:6), “Behold I am like your mouth for God (לאל),” and like (Deut. 9:28), “to the land that He spoke for them (להם),” for their benefit, and like (Exod. 14:14), “will fight for you (לכם)”; (Jud. 6:31), “Will you contend for the Baal (לבעל)?” (I find it difficult to compare these instances to here [this verse]. Rather, this is analogous to [Num. 17: 5], “through Moses concerning him ]לו[,” concerning Korah.)
  
  Verse 8
  
  Will you show Him favor? Have you come to flatter Him by being partial to Him?
  for God will you debate deceitfully?
  
  Verse 9
  
  Will it be good when He searches you out and you are found to be liars?
  Will you mock him as one mocks a mortal by saying, “We made liars of ourselves for Your honor”?
  
  Verse 10
  
  He will surely reprove you Will He not let you know your speech? When you stand before Him in judgment, will you secretly show Him partiality, saying there. “We showed You partiality”?
  
  Verse 11
  
  Will not His majesty Heb. שאתו. [Will not] His exaltation and His awesomeness terrify you? Others define שְׂאֵתוֹ as “His burning fire.” like (II Sam. 5:21), “and David and his men burned them (וישאם),” and like (Jud. 20:38), “a great pillar of (משאת) smoke.”
  
  Verse 12
  
  your memorials are compared to ashes Your memorials are compared to ashes. You expect to be compared to Abraham, who said (Genesis 18:27), “I am only dust and ashes.”
  are like eminences of clay Your eminences ore equal to eminences of clay, compared to Him. The word גביכם means, your height, like (Ezek. 16:24), “and you built for yourself a platform (גב).”
  
  Verse 13
  
  and let come upon me what may Whatever comes upon me because of the sin of my outcry, let it come upon me and do not care. For what reason must I bring up and hold...
  
  Verse 14
  
  my flesh up into my teeth to afflict myself and force myself to silence?
  and take my life into my hand to bring my life close to death with the agonies of silence.
  
  Verse 15
  
  Behold, let Him kill me I will not separate from Him, and I will always hope for Him. Therefore, there is no rebellion or transgression in my words, but I will reason to His face about my way and my character traits with which I have conducted myself, to know of what He will find me guilty.
  
  Verse 16
  
  He is also Just as I am wholehearted with Him, so is He also my salvation, but you will not find favor in His eyes.
  because a hypocrite cannot come before Him This is what was said to them (below 42:7): “because you did not speak to Me properly.”
  
  Verse 17
  
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  I have set up judgement [I have prepared] my case. I have arranged my arguments in my heart viz. what to answer.
  
  Verse 19
  
  I will be silent and perish If I will not contend, I will be silent and perish.
  
  Verse 20
  
  But do not do two things to me viz. Heavenly judgment and earthly judgment. If You come to judgment with one [of these], I will not hide from before You. If with Heavenly judgment, I will say, “I have sinned.” [because] (Prov. 28:13), “He who conceals his sins will not succeed.” If with earthly judgment, even I will not confess to concealing sin. I did not hear this (absent in some editions).
  
  Verse 21
  
  Distance Your compulsion from upon me Heb. כפי, Your compulsion, as Elihu answered him (below 33:7), “and my compulsion (ואכפי) shall not weigh heavily upon you.” Some interpret כפך as “your hand.” However, it is difficult for me to say that, because we do not find כַּף in the sense of evil, but [meaning] to protect, as in (Exod. 33:22), “And I will cover you with My hand (כפי).”
  
  Verse 22
  
  
  
  Verse 23
  
  
  
  Verse 24
  
  Why do You hide Your face from seeing the ways of my uprightness?
  
  Verse 25
  
  Will You frighten Heb. תערוץ, will You scare?
  
  Verse 26
  
  disobediences Heb. מררות. The cases of obstinacy in which I obeyed Your orders, You write [down] but not the good deeds that I performed.
  
  Verse 27
  
  in the stocks Heb. בסד. In Aramaic (Pesachim 28a), “The one who makes the stocks (סדנא) sits in his own stocks (בסדניה).” [This is] a large [block of] wood in which the prisoners’ feet are inserted, and in Greek it is astock(?).
  You engrave Heb. תתחקה. You Yourself engrave my footsteps. So did this one transgress (step—Ed. Furth]), and so he did. Like (Ezek. 43:14), “from the bottom (ומחיק) upon the ground”; [and] (verse 13), “the bottom (וחיק) shall be a cubit.” This is the foundation, affishe in Old French, to affix. (Isa. 49:16): “Behold on [My] hands have I engraved you (חקותיך).”
  
  Verse 28
  
  And it is like rot that decays The body You pursue will decay like rot, and it is beneath Your dignity to pursue it.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  also on this one [creature of] futility that decays have You opened Your eyes to be exact with his sins, and You bring me into judgment for my iniquities?
  
  Verse 4
  
  Who can bring a clean thing from a putrid drop, and semen, which is unclean? Not one of them is clean, that he should not sin.
  
  Verse 5
  
  If his days are limited If he is requited with this recompense—that his days are limited to a day set for death, and the number of months is set with You, and [that] You set this boundary—and he will no longer exist in the world, [then] this payment is sufficient for You.
  
  Verse 6
  
  Turn away from him during those few limited days and let him rest from pain until he desires, in his old age and the weakness of his strength, the day of his death like a hireling who desires the completion of his day’s work; for his passing from the world is decided and more definite than all passings.
  
  Verse 7
  
  a tree has This [tree] has hope that it will renew itself and its bough will not cease from being a branch.
  
  Verse 8
  
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  and it will produce a branch Heb. קציר. This is a branch, as (Ps. 80:12), “She sent out her boughs (קצירה) to the sea.”
  a sapling Heb. נטע. This is a noun. It is accented on the first syllable, and is punctuated completely with a “kamatz” because it is the end of the verse, but it is derived from נֶטַע, a sapling.
  
  Verse 10
  
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  As the waters fail from the sea From the place whence the river comes and emerges, from its source that comes to it from the sea. [Alternative explanation of Rashi: From the place whence the river comes, and they went away from its source (from) which (the water) comes to it.]
  and the river that comes from there is drained dry forever. So does a man lie down and not rise.
  
  Verse 12
  
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  All the days of my lifespan, I will hope for life.
  
  Verse 15
  
  Call This is a supplication. Call to me and I will answer you to prove my case.
  You desire Heb. תִכְסֹף, You desire.
  
  Verse 16
  
  But now You are harming me.
  my steps You are counting.
  You do not wait Heb. תשמר. You do not wait for my sin to requite me, as (Gen. 37:11), “but his father awaited (שמר) the matter,” and in the language of the Mishnah (Sanh. 63b): “A person may not say to his companion, ‘Wait (שמר) for me beside such and such a pagan deity.’” [It is] an expression of waiting.
  
  Verse 17
  
  sealed up in a bundle Sealed and preserved in a cloth bundle like silver and pearls, lest it be lost.
  and You have attached Yourself to my iniquity Heb. ותטפל, You have attached Yourself to my iniquity.
  
  Verse 18
  
  And surely the falling mountain gives forth produce The height of a falling mountain will give forth produce. It will produce dust, and there will be hope of deriving benefit from it. and the rock that moves from its place will also give forth produce. This is an expression of grain.
  
  Verse 19
  
  Stones which the water eroded by constantly passing over them.
  it washes away i.e., the flood. its aftergrowth of the stone, to be transformed into dust so that something should grow in it. As the aftergrowths of the harvest grow, so will the aftergrowths of this earth be transformed to stone.
  but the hope of man is not so, because as soon as he dies, it is lost forever.
  
  Verse 20
  
  You overpower him You are stronger than he; You overcome him with Your power, and he goes away from the world.
  
  Verse 21
  
  become wealthy Heb. יכבדו, lit. they will become heavy. They will become heavy with silver and gold, but he will not know.
  and they become poor And they have little of any good, but he will not understand it.
  
  Verse 22
  
  But his flesh causes him pain A worm is as painful to the dead as a needle in the flesh of the living.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  Eliphaz’s AnswerShall a wise man raise his voice with opinions of wind It is puzzling. Should one who is wise answer and raise his voice with an opinion of wind and futility?
  
  Verse 3
  
  To debate over a matter from which he derives no benefit Heb. יסכון. To debate over a matter from which he will derive no benefit, like (I Kings 1:2), “and she shall be to him a warmer (סכנת),” and like (Ecc. 10:9), “is warmed (יסכן) by it,” i.e., he will derive benefit from it.
  
  Verse 4
  
  Surely you Surely you, who are very wise, will do away with fear by the multitude of your words.
  and increase speech Heb. ותגרע, like (below 36:27) “He will increase (יגרע) the drops of water,” and like (ibid. 15:8), “and [did] you increase (ותגרע) wisdom to yourself.”
  
  Verse 5
  
  For your iniquity teaches Your evil inclination [teaches] your mouth to speak such words, but you should have chosen the tongue of the crafty.
  
  Verse 6
  
  Let your own mouth condemn you and not I That is to say: Give me an answer to my question; the result will be that your own mouth will condemn you, for it better for me that your mouth should condemn you and not I. Now this is my question:
  
  Verse 7
  
  Were you born before Adam Heb. הראישון. Were you born before Adam? This “hey” serves as the interrogative expression. Therefore, it is vowelized with a “hattaf pattah” and its meaning is: Were you born the first one, before Adam who was formed from the earth, so that you knew to fulfill all the wisdom of the commandments of the Creator?
  
  Verse 8
  
  and increase And bring down much [wisdom] from above to descend upon you?
  
  Verse 9
  
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  more of more days than you father.
  
  Verse 11
  
  Are God’s consolations little for you with which the Rock benefited you until now for many days, and His good thing that He gave you with pleasantness and gentleness, viz. His fatness [i.e., plenty].
  He gave...gently Heb. לאט, he gave gently. This is a verb, not a noun. Therefore, it is vowelized half with a “kamatz” and half with a “pattah.”
  
  Verse 12
  
  teach you Heb. יקחך, teach you, as in (Deut. 32:2), “so that my teaching (לקחי) may drip like rain.”
  hint Heb. ירזמון, like יִרְמְזוּן ; like שַׂלְמָה שִׂמְלָה (Exod. 22:8, 26).
  
  Verse 13
  
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  What is man that he should be innocent What is his strength, that he can be innocent against the Holy One, blessed be He?
  
  Verse 15
  
  and the heavens the host of the heavens.
  pure Heb. זכו, shine. Every expression of זַךְ is splendor.
  
  Verse 16
  
  Surely Heb. אף, how much more.
  and impure Heb. ונאלח,abominable and mixed. Similarly (Ps. 53: 4), “Are they all dross, altogether filthy (נאלחו)?”
  
  Verse 17
  
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  That the wise men tell and confess their transgression. and do not hide their iniquity from their fathers. This is what I saw, and behold, I will tell you. Now where did I see it? Judah confessed and was not ashamed in the incident of Tamar. Reuben confessed and was not ashamed in the incident of Bilhah. And what was their reward?
  
  Verse 19
  
  To them alone the land was given As a reward for this, Judah merited eternal kingship, and both took their share of the heritage, and they were not driven out of their heritage because of their iniquity, since they confessed.
  and no stranger passed in their midst when Moses came to bless them, as it is stated (Deut. 33:6f): “Reuben shall live and not die etc. And is this for Judah?” And no stranger passed in their midst in the heritage of the future that is apportioned in the Book of Ezekiel (48). But...
  
  Verse 20
  
  All the days of a wicked man who does not repent of his sin and does not confess his transgressions, all his days...
  he mourns and grieves over his certainty of being requited for his evil that he committed. All the number of years that were laid up for the oppressor, he mourns.
  The word מתחולל is an expression of mourning, but I did not hear this.
  
  Verse 21
  
  The voice of terrors is in his ears saying that the time of his retribution has arrived.
  in peace And when he lives in peace, then the robber will come upon him.
  
  Verse 22
  
  and he is destined to the sword Heb. וצפוי. He is destined to the sword, and his eye to wander for bread—where should he find it?
  
  Verse 23
  
  He wanders i.e., he is assured of wandering.
  He knows in fact.
  that...is ready and prepared to come to his hand, i.e., to him, and with him is the day of darkness. at his hand Like (Gen. 32: 14), “from what came into his hand.”
  
  Verse 24
  
  it overpowers him The anguish is stronger than him and it will prevail over him.
  like a king destined for the inferno Heb. לכידור. I have not found anything similar to it, but it may be interpreted by means of the interchangeable letters, “resh” with “dalet,” like (Gen. 10:3), “Ashkenaz and Riphath” in the Torah, and in Chronicles (I, 1:6): “Ashkenaz and Diphath;” and similarly (Gen. 10: 4). “Kittim and Dodanim” Here too, לַכִּידוֹר is equivalent to לַכִּידוֹד, to the king who is destined to burn (ליקוד) in the fire of Gehinnom; i.e., Sennacherib, about whom the prophet prophesied (Isa. 30: 33): “For Tophteh has been set up from yesterday, that too has been prepared for the king,” to burn his legions; (Isa. 10:16), “a burning shall burn.” Similar to this (below 41:11), “sparks of (כידודי) fire go forth”; either brands or flames.
  
  Verse 25
  
  
  
  Verse 26
  
  He runs towards Him He would run toward the Creator with his neck high and upright, in order to provoke Him.
  the thickness of the body of his shields With the power of his strength. the body of an expression of height, as (Ezek 16:24), “and you built yourself a platform (גב).”
  
  Verse 27
  
  collops of fat on his loins He made a mouth on his loins, for his fat and the thickness of his blubber is folded on his loins, and they look like a sort of mouth.
  
  Verse 28
  
  And he dwelt in ruined cities So is the custom of haughty people, to build ruins for a name.
  
  Verse 29
  
  and his possessions will not remain They will not be preserved for long.
  neither will...bend Heb. יטה, [like] ינטה, like (I Sam. 8:3), “and they turned (ויטו) after gain.” They themselves turned (וינטו). It means that they did not bend from heaven to earth.
  the gratification of their desire Heb. מנלם, the granting of their desire and the fulfillment of their plans. It is like two words, מן להם. מן means their preparation, like (Dan. 1:5), “And the king prepared (וימן) for them.” Similar to it is (I Sam. 13:21), “a file (הפצירה פים),” in two words. [The analogy is obscure.] (Isa. 33:7), “Behold I will appear to them (אראלם),” which Jonathan renders: I will appear to them. So it appears to me, and Menachem supports me. Another explanation: מִנְלָם is an expression of (Isa. 33:1), “when you finish (כנלתך) dealing treacherously,” in which the “nun” is a radical that sometimes is omitted, an expression of completion. It will not bend to the ground to be freed from a decree of destruction.
  
  Verse 30
  
  and he will turn away from the world.
  by the breath of His mouth Of the Ruler of the world. This is an ellipsis, Others interpret this to mean: because of the breath of his mouth that was guilty of speaking lies.
  
  Verse 31
  
  will not believe He who was misled by futility will not believe that his recompense and his toil shall be futility, like (Ruth 4:7), “and concerning exchange (התמורה).”
  
  Verse 32
  
  Before his time his recompense will be complete [and will cease] from growing and prospering anymore, like (Gen. 50:3), “were fulfilled for him,” i.e., they were completed.
  and his branches His bent-over branches. All branches of a tree resemble a dome.
  
  Verse 33
  
  
  
  Verse 34
  
  
  
  Verse 35
  
  They conceive trouble and bear iniquity They commit evil and are recompensed. The recompense of the birth is in accordance with the conception.
  prepares makes ready.
  deceit Their desire shall be converted for them into deceit.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  Job’s Replywill bring clarity to you Heb. ימרצך. Your mouth will make you evaluate to think clear words with proper basis.
  
  Verse 4
  
  could speak like you I know how to chide as you do.
  if your soul were in pain instead of my soul, I too would join words together against you and shake my head at you in your cry, and encourage you with my mouth, saying, “Be still, have courage, and endure your sufferings,” just as you are saying to me.
  
  Verse 5
  
  and the movement of my lips which I move and [with which I] complain now and cry, would then stop, and I would no longer cry or lament, but now...
  
  Verse 6
  
  Should I speak etc.
  
  Verse 7
  
  you have silenced Heb. השמות, you have silenced, like (Dan. 4:16), “was appalled (אשתומם),” and like (Jer. 2:12), “O heavens, be astonished (שמו).” Be silent and wonder.
  
  Verse 8
  
  You have shriveled me up; it has become a witness You have shriveled me up and blackened me for a witness, for it has become a witness to my iniquity, to accuse me.
  
  Verse 9
  
  My Adversary Satan is the adversary.
  sharpens Heb. ילטוש, sharpens, like (Gen. 4:22), “who sharpened (לטש) every instrument etc.”
  
  Verse 10
  
  They open their mouth at me Heb. פערו, they open, like (Isa. 5:14), “and opened (ופערה) its mouth.”
  they assemble Heb. יתמלאון, they gather, and there are many similar words in Scripture, e.g. (Jer. 12:6), “have called a gang (מלא) after you”; (Isa. 31:4), “although a band (מלא) of shepherds gather against him,” but it does not deviate from its original meaning because every filling (מלוי) is a gathering together.
  
  Verse 11
  
  God delivers me to a fool The Holy One, blessed be He, delivered me to a fool, a scorner, a mocker, to be scornful of me.
  and heals me through the hands of the wicked Heb. ירטני. The bandage of His consolations and my healing He delivered to the wicked, who only provoke. Another explanation: יַרְטֵנִי is like יַרְצֵנִי, He placates me, an expression of placating and consolation
  
  Verse 12
  
  but he crumbled me to pieces Heb. ויפרפני. That fool [crumbled me]. [It is] an expression of crumbs (פרורין).
  and shattered me Heb. ויפצפצני, an expression of something being broken into many fragments with a hard blow, like (Jer. 13:14), “And I will dash them (ונפצתים), one against the other”; (Ps. 137:90), “and dash (ונפץ) your little ones against the rock. “
  
  Verse 13
  
  His archers רביו, the one who shoots his arrows, as in (Gen. 21:20), “and he became an archer (רבה קשת).”
  my gall Heb. מְרֵירָתִי, my gall.
  
  Verse 14
  
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  my scab Heb. גלדי, a dry wound that forms a crust, and [in] the language of the Mishnah (Rosh Hashanah 27b): He scraped it (the shofar) down to a thin crust (גלדו).
  and sullied Heb. ועללתי, and I sullied, like (Jud. 19:25), “and abused (ויתעללו) her,” an expression of disgrace and abasement, and like (Lam. 3:51), “sullies (עוללה) my soul.”
  my radiance Heb. קרני, my radiance, an expression of (Habakkuk 3:4): “rays of light (קרנים) came to them from his hand.”
  
  Verse 16
  
  became shriveled Heb. חמרמרו, like (Chullin 3:3), “and its internal organs became shriveled (ונחמרו),” in the language of the Mishnah. Similarly (Lam. 1:20), “my intestines have become shriveled (חמרמרו).”
  the shadow of death it became darkened from weeping and tears.
  
  Verse 17
  
  and my prayer is pure I did not curse my friend nor did I think any evil against him.
  
  Verse 18
  
  and let there be no place in the earth to absorb my cry, but it should ascend to heaven.
  
  Verse 19
  
  behold my Witness is in heaven My Creator, Who knows my ways.
  
  Verse 20
  
  pours out Heb. דלפה, tears and sprays tears, an expression of dripping (דלוף).
  
  Verse 21
  
  Would that a man could reason If only He would do this for me, that He would give me a place so that a man could reason with God, to liken the two contentions: the contention of man with his Maker, and the contention of man with his fellow.
  
  Verse 22
  
  For numbered [years] The limited number of the days of my life.
  will come Will arrive, and then I will go on a way from which I will not return.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  flicker Heb. נזעכו have sprung away, like (above 6:17) “they jump (נדעכו).”
  graves are ready for me I am ready for the grave.
  
  Verse 2
  
  even if there were no [Even if] this had not befallen me, that scornful people had gathered with me in my consolations to mock me.
  in their provocation Heb. ובהמרותם, like (Ezek. 20:8, 13, 21), “And they provoked (וימרו) me”; (Deut. 9:7), “you have been provoking (ממרים).” [This is] an expression meaning: in their provocation.
  my eye...abide My eye, my heart, and my thought abide in them.
  
  Verse 3
  
  Pay heed now O Creator.
  give me surety by shaking the hands to debate together, for who is it of these who will shake my hand that it should be good for me?
  
  Verse 4
  
  For Behold. You have hidden their hearts from understanding Therefore, Your glory will not be exalted through them.
  
  Verse 5
  
  flattery Heb. לְחֵלֶק, flattery (חלקלקות). speaks Each one of them [speaks] to his friend, and this will come to them: their children’s eyes will fail.
  
  Verse 6
  
  and...a drum Heb. תפת, like תּוֹף, a drum.
  before them lit. to the face; [i.e., to the face] of the people, I am [a drum].
  
  Verse 7
  
  and my limbs namely, the limbs with which I was formed.
  
  Verse 8
  
  will be appalled they will wonder.
  and an innocent one If there is a righteous [man] who hears the mockery of these hypocrites.
  will be aroused to quarrel with you.
  
  Verse 9
  
  Yet the righteous holds on his way i.e., every righteous man holds on his way to stand up against the company of the hypocrites.
  
  Verse 10
  
  But all of them I say to you, “Return now and come now.”
  and I will not find any wise man among you insofar as you mock my lamentation.
  
  Verse 11
  
  My days etc. Behold, the days of my prosperity, to which I became accustomed, have passed.
  my purposes Which I had expected to last with prosperity.
  the thoughts of my heart have been broken off Heb. מורשי, lit. the inheritances of. The thoughts which my heart gave me to possess, for my heart said that I would inherit good because of my [righteous] way.
  
  Verse 12
  
  They turn night into day These mockers turn night into day for me, for I cannot sleep at night because of the trouble of the mockings.
  the light is short lit. קרוב, near, and short for me because of the trouble of the darkness of the night. The light is short; when the sun sets, it appears to me as though a short time ago the day dawned, was shortened, and left. This is like (Gen. 19:20), “this city is recent (קרובה)” it was newly settled recently and like (below 20:5), “That the triumph of the wicked is short (מקרוב),” and like (Deut. 32:17), “new ones that came up of late (מקרוב).”
  
  Verse 13
  
  Since I hope for the grave Heb. אם, like (above 14:5), “If (אם) his days are limited” [See Rashi ad loc.], i.e., since I hope for the grave as my house.
  in the darkness I have spread out my couch I have spread out my couch in the grave.
  
  Verse 14
  
  To the pit I have called, ‘You are my father,’ to lodge there many days as though it was my father, since this is my hope.
  
  Verse 15
  
  Where then is my hope [Where then is] this [my hope]? Why is it deferred, and who will see it to hasten it to me?
  
  Verse 16
  
  The limbs of the grave shall descend Those limbs [of my body] that will ultimately descend to the grave, for indeed they will all rest on the dust.
  they rest on the dust Heb. נחת, will lodge, an expression of (Num. 11:26), “the spirit rested (ותנח) upon them.”
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  Bildad’s reply“How long?” will you prolong the discussion?
  Consider Be silent to understand and to hear what we will speak.
  
  Verse 3
  
  and reputed dull in your sight Heb. נטמינו. We are considered in your eyes as stopped up. The word has no radical besides the “teth” “mem,” like טַמוֹנוּן פְלִשְתָּאֵי, which is the Aramaic translation of סִתְּמוּם פלשתים “the Philistines stopped them up” (Gen. 26:15). Some explain [this] as an expression of hiding (טמינה), but they are in error, because were that the case, the word would require two “nun”s, one for the radical and one for the plural suffix.
  
  Verse 4
  
  One who destroys his soul He turns to Job, “To you I say, the one who destroys his soul in his anger and in his wrath.”
  for your sake For the sake of your innocence shall the earth be abandoned by its standard of justice?
  and shall the Rock be removed The Creator. from His place From His knowledge and from His nature.
  
  Verse 5
  
  Yea Even now, according to your cry, this will be in force for generations.
  the light of the wicked shall be put out it shall spring from its place. spark Etinceler in French.
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  shall be straitened They shall be short. The steps of The steps of his strength.
  shall cast him down His counsel that he advised, which will not be fulfilled [will cast him down].
  
  Verse 8
  
  For his end will be that... he shall be sent into a net His feet will be sent to step on a net and be caught.
  and he shall walk on the toils Heb. שבכה. Every שבכה is made like a net, and that is the coif that is on the head of women.
  
  Verse 9
  
  shall seize A trap shall seize him by the heel.
  
  Verse 10
  
  hidden...in the ground under his feet.
  A noose...for him The rope of his trap, with which he will be caught.
  and a trap for him is hidden on the path just as they hide the noose of the trap for birds.
  
  Verse 11
  
  terrors Demons.
  and beat him off his fee They knock him down to the ground.
  
  Verse 12
  
  His son Heb. אֹנוֹ, lit, his strength.
  for his wife Heb. לצלעוֹ lit. his rib [alluding to Eve].
  
  Verse 13
  
  He shall eat the branches of his body And he shall devour all the rest of his branches, viz. his sons and daughters.
  the prince of death Heb. בכור מות, as in (Ps. 89:28), “Also I will make him a prince (בכור).”
  
  Verse 14
  
  He shall be torn away from his wife Heb. מאהלו, lit. from his tent.
  who trusted him Heb. מבטחו, his trust, who trusted him. (His trust), that she trusted him.
  she will cause him to walk. yet she will cause him to walk and will send him away (from her) to the grave, to the king of the demons.
  
  Verse 15
  
  She shall dwell in his tent as a widow.
  not being his (that she will not be his) because he is dead, and ultimately brimstone shall be scattered on his dwelling.
  
  Verse 16
  
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  They shall drive him from heaven.
  
  Verse 19
  
  grandson Heb. נכד, a son of the son.
  
  Verse 20
  
  the later people They wondered when they heard of the misfortune that befell him.
  quaking Heb. שָׂעַר, tempest. This cannot be of the form of שֵׂעָר, hair, because the accent in שָׂעַר is not (on the “sin,” but on the “ayin,”) and it is not converted to a “kamatz” when it is cantillated with an “ethnachta” or a “sof pasuk.” I did not hear this.
  
  Verse 21
  
  These are only the dwellings of the unrighteous This is their fate.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  Job’s Replywill you grieve Heb. תגיון,an expression of grief (תוגה).
  
  Verse 3
  
  ten times There are ten chapters until here.
  
  Verse 4
  
  stay with me I am the one who receives blows for my error.
  
  Verse 5
  
  If indeed you are added upon me to my trouble. and prove against me my reproach You show and prove my reproach to my face.
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  I cry out concerning violence but I am not answered.
  
  Verse 8
  
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  he has uprooted Heb. ויסע, an expression of uprooting.
  
  Verse 11
  
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  they build their road Heb. ויסלו, an expression of a highway (מסלה).
  
  Verse 13
  
  became strange Heb. אך זרו, an expression of cruelty.
  
  Verse 14
  
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  
  
  Verse 16
  
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  to the children of my body To those who I raised in my house as though they were my own children.
  
  Verse 18
  
  children despised me I was despised in the eyes of children, all the more so in the eyes of princes.
  
  Verse 19
  
  
  
  Verse 20
  
  My bones cleaved because I am emaciated from thickness of flesh.
  by the skin of my teeth All his flesh was afflicted with boils and worms except his gums.
  
  Verse 21
  
  
  
  Verse 22
  
  
  
  Verse 23
  
  
  
  Verse 24
  
  With an iron pen they should be inscribed in the rock, and afterwards they run lead over them to give the letters a black appearance, to make them recognizable. This is the practice of those who inscribe on stone. It cannot be explained to mean a lead pen because lead is soft in comparison with stone.
  
  Verse 25
  
  But I know that my Redeemer lives This “vav” refers to the above. You persecute me, but I know that my Redeemer lives to requite you, and He will endure and rise.
  and the last on the earth, He will endure After all earth dwellers will perish, He will endure last.
  
  Verse 26
  
  And after my skin, they have cut into this Yet they do not pay heed to my Redeemer, but after the plague of my skin, they cut, strike, and pierce. This vexation and persecution that I mentioned, which is to me like one cutting into my skin, like (Isa. 10:34): “And the thickets of the forests shall be cut off (ונקף).”
  and from my flesh I see judgments.
  judgment Heb. אלוה, an expression of judgment and chastisements.
  
  Verse 27
  
  
  
  Verse 28
  
  Shall you say, ‘Why should we persecute him?’ Like (Deut. 7:17), “Will you say in your heart,” in which [כי] is an expression of a question. That is to say, “Will you lay your heart to the matter to have pity and say, ‘Why should we persecute him?’”
  and the root of the matter that is found in him—what is it? This favor will never enter your mind [to determine] the root of the matter for which he suffers with pains.
  
  Verse 29
  
  for the wrath For you are committing much iniquity that will bring about the sword.
  in order that you know and understand the secret of the retribution that will come upon the wicked. Also, the mesorah is authoritative and שדין is written, as though it would say that there is justice (שיש דין) in the world, like (Jud. 5:7), “I, Deborah, arose (שַׁקַמְתִּי), [like שֶׁקַמְתִּי].” I saw this in Tanchuma (Mishpatim 3)
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  Zophar’s answermy thoughts will cause me to answer My thoughts will answer me with an answer in my mouth, and because I keep my peace and remain silent, and I put my silence within me, my thoughts will give me an answer to reply. The chastisement of my disgrace I hear from you the chastisement of my disgrace, that you disgrace me. Therefore, a word of spirit shall answer me out of my understanding, to reply to you.
  my silence Heb. חושי, my silence, like (Ecc. 3:7), “a time to be silent (לחשות).”
  
  Verse 3
  
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  Do...this Heb. הזאת. This is a wonder. Do you know the manner in which this has been conducted throughout all generations since time immemorial?
  
  Verse 5
  
  that the triumph of the wicked throughout all its duration, has come but recently, and will not last for any length of time.
  and the joy of the flatterers is but a moment in a short time, it will end.
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  his dung Heb. כְּגֶלְלוֹ, dung of excrement.
  
  Verse 8
  
  and they will not find him i.e., his friends.
  
  Verse 9
  
  that glimpsed him That saw him.
  
  Verse 10
  
  His sons will placate the poor This reply was stated in reference to the people of Sodom, who were robbers and were cruel to the poor.
  and his hands will return He will return the plunder of his hands.
  his plunder The power of his force.
  
  Verse 11
  
  His bones are full of his youth The strength of his youth.
  and it will lie on the dust with him Because he will die suddenly with his strength.
  
  Verse 12
  
  be sweet So is the custom of a wicked man: if evil is sweet in his mouth and he does not see now the moment for it to take effect. though he hide it under his tongue until the time comes when it will prosper.
  
  Verse 13
  
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  His food...within him on the day of his misfortune will turn into the venom of cobras.
  
  Verse 15
  
  wealth Heb. חיל, money.
  
  Verse 16
  
  carpet viper Heb. אֶפְעֶה, a fiery serpent.
  
  Verse 17
  
  the rivulets, the flowing rivers of the Garden of Eden, which are as sweet as honey and cream.
  
  Verse 18
  
  He will return that which he labored for The loot that he stole.
  when his gain becomes vast wealth When his gain becomes vast wealth, then he will lose it.
  he will not rejoice Heb. יעלס, with it. Similarly, יַעֲלֹז, and so יַעַלֹץ ; the three of them are interchangeable.
  
  Verse 19
  
  When he oppressed, he abandoned the poor After he oppressed the poor, he abandoned the poor and was banished from the world and went his way, and they return and collect their stolen items from him.
  [The expression] כִּי רָצַץ [means] when he oppressed, like (Exod. 18:16), “Whenever (כי) they have a concern, they come to me,” which means when they have.
  
  Verse 20
  
  For he did not know [He] never [knew] his stomach to be at rest. His stomach always says to him, “Rob and bring [food] to fill me up.” Therefore... with his beauty With the flesh of his coveted beauty.
  he will not save anything because it will continuously diminish. Similar to this is (Ps. 39: 11): “You make his beauty melt away like a moth.”
  
  Verse 21
  
  Nothing remains of his food He left nothing over from his food to share with the poor.
  therefore his goods shall not prosper Heb. יחיל, shall not prosper, as in (Ps. 10:5), “His ways prosper (יחילו) .” He speaks of the people of Sodom, who were stingy with travelers, for so did Ezekiel testify (16:49) concerning Sodom: “proud with plenty of food etc. and yet, she did not strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.” And our Sages explained (Sanh. 92a) אין שריד לאכלוֹ to mean that he did not allow Torah scholars to sit at his table, like (Joel 3:5): “and among the survivors whom the Lord calls.”
  
  Verse 22
  
  When his desire has been filled sufficiently when the desire of his heart has been filled sufficiently, then... he will be in straits Trouble will come upon him. 
  סִפְקוֹ is an expression of sufficiency, as is translated into Aramaic (Gen. 24:22): “When the camels finished (ספיקו) drinking”; (Num. 11:22): “so that it may be enough for them (היספקון).”
  the hand of every laborer will come upon him The hand of the poor shall overwhelm him and come upon him.
  
  Verse 23
  
  It shall come to pass that to fill his belly, He shall send upon him His burning wrath The sending of His burning wrath will be [enough] to fill his belly. This is not an expression of a curse but an expression of prophecy and of the future.
  and rain upon them The Holy One, blessed be He.
  with His battle With the fury of His battle, coals, fire, and brimstone, as the matter is stated (Gen. 19: 24): “And the Lord rained upon Sodom etc.”
  
  Verse 24
  
  shall pierce him Heb. תַּחְלְפֵהוּ The arrows that the bow will shoot will pierce his body, going through from one side to the other. Another version: תַּחְלְפֵהוּ is like תַּחְליִפֵהוּ (sic), a copper bow shall confront him.
  
  Verse 25
  
  drew The one who drew the weapon upon him.
  and it emerged [i.e.,] the weapon.
  
  and its glittering blade Splendeur, or splendor (?) in French, like (Ezek. 21: 15), “in order that it glitter (ברק) .” Fourbir in Old French, to polish.
  from its bitterness [From the bitterness] of the weapon it shall come forth, and from there shall be terrors and fear upon the wicked.
  
  Verse 26
  
  for what awaits him For the hidden things that lie in store for him.
  fire that was not blown The fire of Gehinnom.
  harm shall befall the survivor in his tent Harm will come upon the survivor who will remain in his tent. The entire portion deals with the people of Sodom. “Harm shall befall the survivor in his tent” means that even Lot who escaped from them—harm befell his tent, i.e., his wife, who became a pillar of salt. I found this in the midrash of Rabbi Tanchuma (Buber, Vayera 8).
  
  Verse 27
  
  shall rise up [This is] an expression of an enemy who rises up against him.
  
  Verse 28
  
  shall go into exile Heb. יגל, an expression of exile.
  shall flow Heb. נגרות. His treasures shall be given to plunder and despoiling, like (Micah 1:4), “like water that flows (המגרים) to the earth” [sic].
  
  Verse 29
  
  appointed him by God Heb. אִמְרוֹ. What was said about him from before the Omnipresent. The word אִמְרוֹ is in the masculine gender, from the form of (Ps. 5:2), “Give ear to my words (אַמָרַי).” אִמְרָתוֹ appears (ibid. 147:15) in the feminine gender, from the form of (ibid. 12:7) “pure words (אַמָרוֹת).”
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  Job’s answerand this shall be your consolations The fact that you will keep your peace and listen to me this will be my consolation from you.
  
  Verse 3
  
  Bear with me Heb. שאוני, endure me.
  
  Verse 4
  
  Am I speaking to man Why should you make an issue of my complaint? Am I complaining to a man like me that he should listen to me? Why then should I not be short of breath to cry out from my straits?
  
  Verse 5
  
  Turn to me to listen.
  and be silent Be astonished at my words.
  and place your hand upon your mouth because you will not know what to answer.
  
  Verse 6
  
  Now when I remember the thing I wish to say, “Why do the wicked live?”
  I become frightened for I see the wicked men of the Flood.
  
  Verse 7
  
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  peace from fear Demons had no power over them.
  
  Verse 10
  
  His bull impregnates a female.
  and does not fail He does not eject into her inferior sperm, which would be cast out of her body without impregnating her. Every expression of געילה means casting out, and so it is in the language of the Mishnah (Avodah Zarah 75a), One must purge them (מגעילן) with boiling water. Similarly (II Sam. 1:21), “for there the shield of the mighty was rejected (נגעל).” Its anointing was cast out, and it was as though it had not been anointed with oil, for they were accustomed to anointing the leather shields in order that it be smooth and cause the spear or javelin that strikes it to glide off. It is like (Isa. 21:5), “princes, anoint a shield.”
  his cow bears young She gives birth to her young at the proper time.
  and does not abort before its time.
  
  Verse 11
  
  They send forth their infants like sheep etc. At the time of his birth, he would go and dance immediately, and if he would meet a demon, he would battle with him, and his mother would say to him, “Bring me a pair of scissors and I will cut your umbilical cord,” in Haggadath Bereishith, “Go and light a candle for me,” in Gen. Rabbah (36:1).
  
  Verse 12
  
  They raise They would raise their voice in song with the tambourine and the harp. The flute (עוגב) is only an expression of sensual laughter (עגבות) (aboyement in French, barking.) So I heard.
  
  Verse 13
  
  and in a moment they descend to the grave When his dying day arrived, he would die in a moment, easily, without suffering.
  they descend Heb. יחתו, they descend, which is in Targum נחיתוּ.
  
  Verse 14
  
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  and what will it avail us What benefit do we have if we pray to Him? We do not need Him for the drops of rain, because “a cloud would ascend from the earth” (Gen. 2:6).
  
  Verse 16
  
  Behold, is not their prosperity in their hand This is a question: Is not all their prosperity in their hand?
  The counsel of the wicked has distanced itself from me Job was boasting that he saw them [the wicked] and was not counted among them.
  
  Verse 17
  
  How long? May the lamp of the wicked be snuffed out This refers back to the above, to (verse 7) “Why do the wicked live on?” How long will You lengthen this time [the lifetime of the wicked]? Then he continues and curses them, “May the lamp of the wicked be snuffed out...”
  lots Heb. חבלים, the lot that they deserve.
  
  Verse 18
  
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  Should God lay away his violence for his sons This is a question. Is this just, that this one should sin all his life and die in peace, and his violence and his wickedness the Holy One, blessed be He, should lay away for his sons, to punish them?
  Let Him requite him so that he should know it is a praise to the Holy One, blessed be He, that He Himself requite the wicked man his recompense so that he understand that he dealt wickedly.
  
  Verse 20
  
  Let his eyes see his ruin Heb. כידו, his ruin, but I cannot find a comparison in the Bible. However, according to the context of the verse, it appears to mean ruin, and so, many did not find a comparison to it. (כידו An expression of אֵידוֹ, his ruin. The “aleph” is substituted by a “chaff.”)
  
  Verse 21
  
  For what does He care about his house after him since the number of his months has been cut off For what does he care (saklirir in Old French) or desire in his house after his death, to worry in his lifetime about the retribution destined to befall them, since the number of his months has been cut off and they will end before the evil that the Omnipresent promised them, viz. (Gen. 6:3) “therefore his days shall be 120 years.” This is what I said to you (verse 5), “Turn to me and be silent.”
  
  Verse 22
  
  Can anyone teach knowledge for God Is there anyone among you who is in the place of God, who can teach the knowledge of what this standard is [i.e., the standard of God’s judgment]?
  But He judges high-handedly Heb. והוא רמים ישפוט. [He punishes the exalted.] Those like me, and the righteous and the esteemed, He chastises, judges, and requites, like (below 24:18), “and he will not turn in the way of the vineyards,” stated in regard to Noah and Methuselah in the Aggadah of [chapter] Chelek (Sanh. 108a). Another explanation: Can anyone teach God knowledge? That is, do I have to teach Him knowledge to judge fairly? He Himself knows that it is so, but He passes high- handed judgments with His loftiness and His greatness, and He does not care to be exact. I heard this one but not the first one.
  
  Verse 23
  
  This one The wicked man.
  dies (Is punished.) in his full strength in the appearance of his perfection, lacking nothing.
  tranquil Heb. שַׁלְאֲנָן, like שַׁאֲנָן.
  
  Verse 24
  
  His pails are full of milk Heb. עטיניו. This is the language of the Mishnah (Menahoth 86a): “He packs it (עוטנו) in the olive press.” They gather the olives together, and their oil forms globules and gathers in its midst in order to be ready when he presses it in the press, and that vessel in which they gather it in order for its oil to gather within it is called “ma’atan.” Here too, his milk and his moisture and fat are called “atinav.”
  
  Verse 25
  
  And this one dies with a bitter spirit Those that are exalted and holy to Him—them He requites immediately.
  
  Verse 26
  
  Together on the earth they lie After their death, it is not recognizable to the people who is good and who is bad, because this one is like that one; they lie on the earth together.
  
  Verse 27
  
  Lo, I know your thoughts and the devices that you wrongfully think against me You do wrong to think injustice.
  
  Verse 28
  
  For etc. Because of the evil that has befallen me, you say, “Look, where is the house of this man who was a prince, and where is the tent and the dwellings of the other wicked men?” That is to say that he is like them. Because of his wickedness, his house was lost. (Now why do you rely on your tranquility?)
  
  Verse 29
  
  Have you not asked etc. All these parables you are composing about me.
  and their signs which they made known to you, you shall not make strange to yourselves by not paying attention to them, like (Gen. 42:7), “But he made himself a stranger (ויתנכר) to them.”
  
  Verse 30
  
  That They told you that... the wicked man is reserved for the day of calamity The wicked man is withheld and spared from evil and reserved for the day that is appointed for his calamity, like (below 38:23), “That I have saved for a time of trouble.” I laid them away and spared them to let them know until the day of battle and war.
  
  Verse 31
  
  Who will tell His way to His face Who is the great king who will tell His way to His face and will not fear Him? How exalted He is! That is the Holy One, blessed be He, Who did.
  and who will requite Him Who will requite Him with the recompense for His wickedness?
  
  Verse 32
  
  But he will be borne to the grave He will ultimately be borne to the grave.
  and he will hasten to be beside the stacks of grain when he is buried in the fields beside the stacks of grain.
  
  Verse 33
  
  clods balast in French (which the sailors bring into the holds of the ships in order to weigh them down.)
  as there were innumerable ones before him Those who draw after the same way. All these devices you think against me.
  
  Verse 34
  
  Now how do you comfort me with futility Since only betrayal remains of your replies, the replies of wisdom are forgotten and lost from you, and of your replies, [those] left in your hands are only replies of betrayal. betrayal This word (מעל) is a noun, which is why it is voweled with a <i>kamatz</i>, and the accent is on the first syllable.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  Eliphaz’s replyDoes a man benefit God Will a man avail and benefit for the need and the benefit of the Creator when he teaches the people knowledge and wisdom? The first יִסְכָּן is an expression of benefit [or pleasure], like (I Kings 1:2), “and she shall be to him a warmer (סֹכֶנֶת).” The second is an expression of teaching [or accustoming], like (Num. 22:30), “Have I ever been in the habit (ההסכן הסכנתי)?” The former may also be interpreted as an expression of teaching, thus: Does a man learn for the good of the Creator and for His need when he learns wisdom?
  
  Verse 3
  
  Does the Almighty care Like (above 21:21), “For what does He care (חפצו) about his house after him?” What pleasure or concern does He have if you are righteous in your deeds, that you reason with Him that He come with you to contest your words?
  or...any gain i.e., monetary gain for Him if you perfect your ways?
  
  Verse 4
  
  Will He reason with you because He fears you? Or, out of fear, that He fears you, will He come and reason with you?
  
  Verse 5
  
  Is not [Is it not so] that He knows that your evil is great?
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  Does a strong man own the earth This is a question. Because you were strong, should you inherit the earth?
  remain therein Is he fit to remain in existence?
  
  Verse 9
  
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  or darkness so that you do not see That is to say, You shall not put your eyes and your trust in strength, and say...
  
  Verse 12
  
  Is not God in the height of heaven and will not lower Himself to see.
  and behold the topmost of the stars, which are lofty Heb. וראה, like (above 10:15), “and seeing (וראה) my affliction” at the end of the fifth reply. That is to say, ‘And You gaze upon the topmost stars because they are lofty.’ Therefore, you said...
  
  Verse 13
  
  ‘What does God know?’ of what occurs in the dark?
  Does He judge through the dark cloud? Does He see and judge facing this darkness? Behold...
  
  Verse 14
  
  Thick clouds are a concealment before Him, and He cannot see.
  and He walks on the circle of the heavens and does not know what is on the earth.
  circle Heb. חוג, the circle of the compass of the heavens, like (Isa. 44:13), “and with a compass (ובמחוגה) he rounds it,” compas in French
  
  Verse 15
  
  the old way The way of the ancients who were in days of yore.
  Will you keep Have you kept in your heart to remember what happened to them?
  
  Verse 16
  
  Who were cut off when it was not their time They were cut off before their time.
  a river And the river of the Flood or the brimstone and fire of Sodom was poured into their foundation.
  
  Verse 17
  
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  
  
  Verse 20
  
  Whether their substance was cut off Will you watch and see whether their substance was cut off.
  their substance Heb קימנו, like קומתו, his substance; i.e., of that generation, like (Hosea 12:5), “in Bethel he shall fed Him, and there He shall speak with him (עמנו),” like עִמוֹ.
  
  consumed by the fire They were judged with boiling water. Rabbi Tanchuma expounded that they were tall and did not die in the depths. Then boiling water fell upon them from above and this is the meaning of יִתְרָם, their unusually tall height. So I heard.
  
  Verse 21
  
  Accustom yourself Accustom yourself to be (wholehearted) with him.
  and you will be complete And you will be complete, lacking nothing.
  with them With these things.
  
  Verse 22
  
  
  
  Verse 23
  
  
  
  Verse 24
  
  Then you shall make a fortification on the earth By returning to Him, you will establish on the earth strength and fortifications.
  and on the rocks of the valleys On the lofty rocks in the deep valleys, you shall have a collection of an accumulation of Ophir. This is the treasure of the kings, for they would gather and store gold that came from Ophir.
  
  Verse 25
  
  And the Almighty shall be of your adversaries Heb. והיה שד-י בצריך. If this word is holy [i.e., is a reference to the Almighty], I am bewildered at its interpretation, because its meaning is a curse, that He will be counted with his enemies, as in (Jud. 11:35), “and you have become one of those who trouble me (בעכרי),” with those who trouble me. By necessity, we will adjudge it as one of the elliptical verses, [meaning: And the Almighty shall be the Judge over your adversaries. But if we can interpret it as profane, as an expression of a judge and of strength, the following is its interpretation:] And your fortifications (בצריך) shall be strong (שד-י), like “Then you shall make a fortification (בצר) on the earth.” That is, powerful wealth will be fortified, and according to the context, that is indeed its interpretation, as evidenced by the end of the verse, “and you shall have abundant (תועפות) silver,” an expression of strength, like (Num. 23:22), “his is like the power of (כתועפות) a wild ox.”
  
  Verse 26
  
  and lift your countenance to God You will not come to lift your face except to ask Him for your needs.
  
  Verse 27
  
  and you will pay your wows You will be confident that your sacrifices, the payments of your vows, will be accepted.
  
  Verse 28
  
  and it will be accomplished for you Heb. ויקם, lit. and it will rise, like וְיָקוּם לָךְ.
  
  Verse 29
  
  If they are humble If you see your generation humble, pledge that it be uplifted, and it will be uplifted.
  a humble person [One who is humbled] by the trouble that befalls [him] because of his iniquity, 
  God will save through your hands and through your prayer.
  
  Verse 30
  
  He shall deliver one who is not innocent Heb. אי נקי, synonymous with אין נקִי, not innocent, like (I Sam. 4:21), “Ichabod (איכבוד),” meaning, there is no glory (אין כבוד). And so (Prov. 31:4), “neither is drunkenness for rulers (אי שכר),” there is no drunkenness (אין שכר). It does not befit them to become intoxicated. Menachem joined the three into one group (Machbereth Menachem p. 22). Although they are two words (?), they explain them thus. And that one who is not innocent will be delivered because of the purity of your hands. So I heard. I heard another version that was being said in the name of Rabbi Jacob: This is an expression of a man who lives in pain and sighing, and the “yud” is superfluous in the word, like (Ps. 123:1), “Who dwells (הישבי) in heaven.” But I did not hear this from the rabbi’s mouth.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  Job’s ReplyEven today after all these consolations.
  my speech is bitter [The bitterness of my speech] remains in its place, for there is no consolation in your words.
  my wound is heavier The wound of my plague is stronger than my sigh, for I do not complain and cry about my wound.
  
  Verse 3
  
  and I would find Him My Judge.
  the place prepared for Him The place prepared for His throne.
  
  Verse 4
  
  case [i.e., my] argument.
  
  Verse 5
  
  I would know the words that He would answer me 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.
  
  Verse 6
  
  with much power of words and rebukes for His sins [other editions read: my sins] will He contend with me?
  not...coercion 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.
  
  Verse 7
  
  There in the place of our contest.
  integrity The propriety of my deeds will be proven, revealed, and it will appear with Him, i.e., before Him.
  proven and there I will extricate [myself] forever because He will find no iniquity in me.
  
  Verse 8
  
  Behold...east it refers to the above (verse 3), “Would that I knew etc.”
  east as it is stated (Exod. 27: 13): “on the east side (קדמה), eastward.”
  and to the west Heb. ואחור. Since the east is the front of the world (קדמה), the west is found to be the back of the world (אחור).
  
  Verse 9
  
  north Heb. שמאוֹל, lit. left.
  when He made it When He created it, He did not make the place of His throne there, that I should see it there.
  see 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.”
  He wraps up the south He covers the face of the south before me in order that I should not see Him.
  
  Verse 10
  
  Because He knows the way that is with me therefore, He does not come to contend with me.
  He has tested me that I will emerge like gold if He contends with me.
  
  Verse 11
  
  to His path 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).”
  and do not turn away I am not accustomed to turn away.
  
  Verse 12
  
  more than my daily bread I kept the words of His mouth 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.
  
  Verse 13
  
  But He 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.
  and who will answer Him Therefore, what His soul desires, He does.
  
  Verse 14
  
  For He will complete my sentence 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.
  and there are many such things with Him For He did many such things.
  
  Verse 15
  
  Therefore Since He does not requite man according to his ways.
  I am startled by Him and when I ponder His ways, I am frightened of Him.
  
  Verse 16
  
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  Because I was not cut off from before the darkness 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.
  and [because He did not] cover the thick darkness from before me This refers back to “because not” at the beginning of the verse.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  Why were the times not hidden from the Almighty? This is a plaint. Why were the times of man’s days not hidden from the Holy One, blessed be He, that He should not know the day of man’s death? Perhaps He would not hasten the retribution, and the day of death would precede it.
  And He Who knows him should not see his days Of the day of man, like (Gen. 29:14), “a month of days (ימים),” (which is translated into Aramaic as “from time to time.”) [Another explanation is:] Why are those who are close and who love the Holy One, blessed be He, unable to see the end of His ways and His traits?
  This [word] ימיו, His days, denotes the way He acted in His time, like (below 27:6), “my heart will not reproach me because of my days.” [See Rashi ad loc.] Now what are the puzzling traits?
  
  Verse 2
  
  [There are some who] remove the landmarks Those who habitually remove the landmarks, who purchase fields adjoining the fields of others, and at night widen their [own] borders by placing their fences at night within the territory of their neighbors. (This is the meaning of removing the landmarks, which is translated into Aramaic as מְשַׁנֶּה, changing, because they would change the boundaries.) And they violently take away a flock and pasture it.
  
  Verse 3
  
  They lead away the orphan’s donkey and commit all the evils stated in the chapter. The end of the matter is that “God does not impute it for unseemliness” (verse 12), to let them know their iniquity and to furnish them with their recompense.
  
  Verse 4
  
  the poor of the land hide together because they fear them.
  
  Verse 5
  
  And he says: Behold, [as] wild donkeys in the desert who are used to the desert, to lie in wait for the passersby.
  they go out to their work and what is the work? seeking prey They seek to prey.
  the wilderness yields bread for his young men For the wicked man’s servants and young men, the wilderness and the desert supply food for their needs, for from there he seizes and eats and steals what they eat.
  for...young men They are the ones who go with him to rob, as in (Gen. 14:24), “only what the young men have eaten.”
  
  Verse 6
  
  In the field of others.
  his produce Heb. בְּלִילוֹ [like] יְבוּלוּ, his produce.
  they reap to steal it.
  and the wicked gather the plants of the vineyard Heb. יְלַקֵּשׁוּ. And [from] the vineyards of others these wicked men take their fruit; espreinment in Old French. They take their לֶקֶש. לֶקֶש is an expression of a growth of produce, as in (Amos 7:1), at the beginning of the shooting up of the grain, which Jonathan renders. צִמוּחַ, growing. And so did Rabbi Eleazar [Hakalir] establish (in the Hoshanah “Soil from curse”): produce לֶקֶש) from locusts. (Another interpretation: and they delay the vineyard of the wicked. They delay it from destruction, because they eat up [the vineyards] of the poor and the orphans. יְלַקֵּשׁוּ is like (below 29:23), “and they opened their mouth (למלקוש) for a long time,” and like (Gen. 30:42), “and the late ones (לקישיא) were Laban’s.”
  
  Verse 7
  
  They make them lie all night naked They make the poor lie all night.
  without clothing and without a cover because they took their cover.
  
  Verse 8
  
  From the stream that flows from the mountains, these naked people became wet and damp because they have no cover. They have no refuge under which to shelter themselves.
  they embrace the rocks They hide in the crevices in the rocks, and even there the stream flows down and sprays on them, soaking them. רָטוֹב is the Aramaic for לַח wet, and whoever is not dried is called לַח.
  moist (moite in Old French).
  
  Verse 9
  
  from the breast of the orphan The sucking of the orphan, the source of his food and sustenance, as in (Isa. 60:16), “and the breast of kings you shall suck.”
  they take a pledge Heb. יחבלו, an expression of (Exod. 22:25), “If you take a pledge (חבל תחבל)”; (Ezek.18:16), “he did not take a pledge (חבל לא חבל).”
  
  Verse 10
  
  They made go They made him go without clothing.
  and [from] the hungry they carried off the sheaves And from the hungry they took the sheaves of gleaning [which are left for the poor]. It may also be interpreted thus: And those who were carrying the sheaves are hungry, because they were robbed of them and so they remain hungry.
  
  Verse 11
  
  Between their rows they make oil The owners of the olive trees make oil.
  they tread the winepresses The owners of the vineyards.
  but they are thirsty after a while, because these wicked men rob them of them [the wine].
  Between their rows It seems to me that they pile up the olives in rows in the oil press and the oil flows between them.
  
  Verse 12
  
  From the city people groan The people and the dignitaries of the city groan because of those robbers.
  does not impute it for unseemliness to be strict with them and to take revenge.
  
  Verse 13
  
  They These wicked people are the generation of the Flood, who rebelled because of אור, because of the rain; because it would ascend from the earth, they needed nothing.
  
  Verse 14
  
  Should one rise in daylight If they would rise by day, they would slay the wayfarers.
  and at night he would be like a thief to dig under houses.
  
  Verse 15
  
  And the eye of the adulterer And the adulterer among them would wait until evening, saying...
  a mask And he puts a mask on his face to commit a transgression, for the generation of the Flood was suspected of all these: of robbery, for it is stated (Gen. 6:11): “and the earth was filled with violence,” and of immorality, for it is stated (ibid. verse 12): “for all flesh had corrupted [its way on the earth].”
  
  Verse 16
  
  by day, they lock themselves in Those who are weaker than they, too weak to commit robbery by day, would dig under houses at night; by day they were sealed and closed up in their houses.
  they know no light They did not recognize the light because it was not [shining at] the time of their prowling.
  
  Verse 17
  
  For together morning is to them [as] the shadow of death For by day they were locked in, and at night they would go to their tunnel, and they were not at all afraid of the demons.
  for he recognizes the terrors of the shadow of death Everyone could recognize the terrifying demons, and he did not fear them. Our Sages, however, explained: By day, they would seal for themselves—By day they would chart the location of the cellar of the house and a rich man’s treasurehouse, for they would deposit balsamum oil with wealthy householders, knowing that he (sic) would put it in his (sic) treasurehouse, and at night they would smell and go there and dig into there.
  
  Verse 18
  
  He is light upon the face of the water When the righteous men, Noah and Methuselah, would rebuke them, they would say, “we are light [enough] to swim on the water, and we have papyrus and light materials from which to make boats and to float.”
  their portion in the earth is cursed; he does not turn by the way of the vineyards They would curse their portion in the earth, saying that they would not turn by the way of the good, in the way of the righteous, who are lofty and dwell in the height or the world. Vineyards represent the righteous men and the leaders of the generation, as in (Hosea 2:17), “And I will give her vineyards from there,” which Jonathan renders: her leaders. They would curse their portion in the earth, saying that they would not turn in the way of the good; they would swear that they would not turn their way. Another explanation: תקלל חלקתם בארץ Their portion in the earth was spoiled, for they would destroy their seed in vain, as in (Gen. 6:12), “for all flesh had corrupted its way.” תקלל is an expression of spoiling (קלקול), as in (I Sam. 3:13), “for the iniquity [of the matter] that he knew that his sons were bringing disgrace (מקללים) upon them.” Another explanation: Their portion shall be cursed—the following generations will curse by them: He who requited the generation of the Flood. So I heard. (Gen. Rabbah 30:2). Another explanation: their portion is cursed; he does not turn by the way of the vineyards They would not accept reproof from the good men. Another explanation: They were swift to sail in ships to kill and to plunder property, but in the way of the land that was inhabited by humans and planted with vineyards they did not care to go.
  
  Verse 19
  
  Dryness and heat they steal away Because of their evil, they caused for themselves that the world should change for one year from its six seasons: sowing, reaping, heat, cold, summer, and winter.
  snow water Like: and snow water. This too they stole from the world, because they sinned so that they descended to the grave. In some words, the “vavin” are missing, like (Jer. 11:19), “And I was like a lamb, a bull,” which is interpreted as, a lamb and a bull. There are many more in Machbereth Menachem ben Saruk (p. 26).
  
  Verse 20
  
  The womb forgets him [i.e., the womb of] his mother. Rabbi Tanchum expounded that the generation of the Flood would take their children and place them underneath themselves in order to stop up the windows of the deep, and even his mother would have no mercy on him.
  he is sweet to the worms to die, and for the worms to eat their (sic) flesh.
  he will no longer be remembered In one year they were [to be] uprooted, but Job was complaining about the reprieve that was given them [the wicked] from the start, for many died and did not see this retribution.
  
  Verse 21
  
  He feeds the barren woman who will not bear so was their custom: One would marry two wives, one for coitus and one for children. The one intended for coitus he would give a potion of roots to drink in order that she should never give birth, and he would feed her delicacies, bathe her, and adorn her, so that she should appear beautiful. The one intended for children he would dress in widow’s garments and starve. This is the meaning of his statement that the barren woman who will not give birth he would feed and adorn, but the “widow,” who was intended for children, he would not adorn.
  
  Verse 22
  
  And He draws The Holy One, blessed be He, [draws] those mighty men with His strength to retribution and to sustenance by the reprieve that He granted them.
  he rises one day.
  and does not believe in his life Heb. בחיין, like בחיים ; (Gen. 7:11): “on that day all the fountains of the deep were torn apart etc.”
  
  Verse 23
  
  He grants him safety until the day of their catastrophe and they rely [on it].
  
  Verse 24
  
  They are taken away in a second They are taken away from the world in a fleeting second.
  and they are crushed crushed and impoverished.
  like all they are gathered in Like all things that are gathered in and taken away at the time of the harvest, vintage, and olive harvest; just as those are gathered in, so were they destroyed instantly.
  
  Verse 25
  
  And if it is not so, then [If it is not] as I said, let one of you come and prove me a liar.
  and make my words as nought [That is, my words] with which I criticize Him to know His standards, that He is slow to anger with the wicked, but He chastises those who love Him as I do, and He does not put them to death, as he complains above (23:17): “Because I was not cut off from before the darkness,” but those who remove the landmarks and commit all these [crimes] were not smitten with suffering.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  Bildad’s replyDominion and fear Directed towards what Job said (23:4), “I would set out my case before Him,” he says to him, “Dominion and fear are with Him.” “Dominion” refers to Michael, and “fear” refers to Gabriel. Can you answer even one of them?
  He makes peace in His heights When the constellations ascend, each one thinks, “I will ascend first,” and because he does not see what is before him, he is not envious. So I heard. [Tanchuma Buber ad loc.] Another explanation: He makes peace in His heights—Fire and water are mixed, and the water does not extinguish the fire; I did not hear this.
  
  Verse 3
  
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  How then can man be just... that you said (23:10), “He has tested me that I will emerge like gold.”
  
  Verse 5
  
  He removes the moon Heb. עד, like (28:8), “neither did a lion pass (עדה) over it.” The meaning is that even the moon will be removed from its [source of] light in the future and it will not shine, as it is written (Isa. 24:23): “And the moon shall be ashamed etc.” And the stars will not be pure in His eyes in the future. How much less can man, who is a worm, be just with God!
  and will not shine Heb. יאהיל, like (Isa. 13:10), “shall not allow their light to illuminate (יהלו),” and this “alef” serves the same function as (I Sam. 2:33), “and to sadden (ולאדיב) your heart,” in which the “alef” is superfluous. Another explanation: יַאֲהִיל, you will not have shadow. When it does not shine, no shadows are cast. I prefer the former, but I heard both.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  Job’s Replyand whose breath emerged from you? Who put into you this breath that emerged from your mouth? Who does not know this?
  
  Verse 5
  
  Gehinnom Gehinnom, which weakens the creatures.
  is hollow Its seven hollows.
  beneath the water and its denizens in the deepest of the depths, but that too...
  
  Verse 6
  
  Sheol is naked before Him to know and to see all that is within it.
  
  Verse 7
  
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  and the cloud does not split It never [split] so that its water [i.e., rain] should fall together.
  beneath it Beneath the water.
  
  Verse 9
  
  He closes in with walls the face of His throne of glory, like (Ps. 18:12), “He made darkness His secret place.”
  He spreads over the throne His cloud (Ezek. 1:22), “And there was a likeness over the heads of the living creatures, of an expanse.”
  
  Verse 10
  
  He encircled a boundary (compas in French), an expression of (Isa. 44: 13), “and with a compass (ובמחוגה) he rounds it.” [He surrounded it with sand for the sand to be a circle for it. Does not appear in all editions.] The word חֹק denotes a perpetual boundary. The sea will not cross that circle until light and dark come to an end.
  
  Verse 11
  
  trembled when He created them, and He caused them to congeal. They were trembling, and He rebuked them, and they stood dry and strong.
  astonished (wondering and ascending. Other editions: wondering and standing) in one place.
  
  Verse 12
  
  the sea wrinkled Like (above 7:5), “my skin wrinkled.” Many wrinkles were formed. (So, when He said (Gen. 1:9), “Let the waters...gather,” they were gathered from their straightness and were wrinkled into many wrinkles) until they gathered into one place, which was prepared for them.
  He smote Rahab The Egyptians, who are called רהב, haughty.
  
  Verse 13
  
  By His breath He made the heavens a tent Heb. שפרה. With His words and with the breath of His mouth, He made a tent, like (Jer. 43:10), “and he shall spread his royal pavilion (שפרירו).”
  His hand caused pain to Pharaoh, who was called the barlike serpent (Isa. 26:1). חללה is an expression of pain and trouble. Likewise, elsewhere (ibid. 51:9): “are you not the one that hewed Rahab and slew (מחוללת), the sea monster?” Another explanation: His hand founded the leviathan, as in (Prov. 8: 25), “before the hills I was created (חוללתי).”
  
  Verse 14
  
  the outskirts of His ways The easiest and the smallest in comparison to His other qualities.
  and what implications of any matter can be understood What hint of anything can a man understand from His deeds? Another explanation: שֶמֶץ is like (Exod. 32:25), “to the scandal (לשמצה),” uncomplimentary.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  Then Job again His friends refrained from answering as Elihu reprimanded them, for they stood and replied no more (32:3).
  
  Verse 2
  
  As God lives I swear that indeed He took away my right. From here Rabbi Joshua derived that Job served the Omnipresent out of love. No one swears by the king’s life unless he loves the king.
  
  Verse 3
  
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  that I should justify you That I should say that you are right in condemning me.
  I will not give up my innocence I will not concede to your words and say that I am not innocent.
  
  Verse 6
  
  I have maintained my righteousness To say that I am righteous.
  my heart will not reproach me because of my days, i.e., because of any manner or trait with which I deported myself in my days. Therefore, perforce, my enemy shall be like a wicked man.
  
  Verse 7
  
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  For what is the hope of a flatterer For why should I be a wicked man and a robber? What is the end of a wicked man who takes money by force?
  when God casts off Heb. ישל. When the Omnipresent casts his soul off him. This is an expression of (Exod. 3:5), “Remove (של) your shoes”; (Deut. 19:5), “and the iron [head] slips off (ונשל).”
  
  Verse 9
  
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  Or will he delight with the Almighty The double interrogative is like all double interrogatives. the first one is customarily prefixed by a “hey” and the second one by אִם ; e.g., (Amos 6:12), “Will horses run (הירצון) on the rock, or (אִם) will one plow with cattle?” (Job 6:30), “Is there (היש) injustice in my tongue, or (אִם) will my palate not understand wickedness?” Here, too, will God hearken to his cry...or will he delight with the Almighty? Will one who is a wicked man or a flatterer perhaps be able to delight and rely on the salvations of the Holy One, blessed be He, and call to Him in time of trouble? This is a question.
  
  Verse 11
  
  I will instruct you what the standard is that is in God’s hand, and the way... what is with the Almighty I will not conceal Like (above 23:10), “Because He knows the way that is with me.”
  
  Verse 12
  
  all of you have seen that this is the portion of a wicked man.
  now why do you become altogether vain? To be wicked and hypocritical.
  
  Verse 13
  
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  If his sons increase they will increase for the sword. in death They will die amidst suffering and sicknesses, until his widows will be happy at their death and will not weep.
  
  Verse 15
  
  
  
  Verse 16
  
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  and He will distribute [his] money to the innocent The Holy One, blessed be He, will distribute the wicked man’s money to an innocent one.
  
  Verse 18
  
  He builds...as a moth As a moth, who builds his hole which does not endure, and like a booth that the watchman of the fig tree and the vineyard makes, which is not permanent. (Another explanation: that the watchman of the vineyard, who does not watch it at all times, made. I heard this. Absent in certain editions.)
  
  Verse 19
  
  He dies rich He will die with his riches, but sometimes he will not be gathered in to burial.
  
  Verse 20
  
  Terrors Demons.
  a tempest snatches him away and casts him away in disgrace.
  
  Verse 21
  
  
  
  Verse 22
  
  And he will cast upon him i.e., the one who casts evil upon him will show no compassion.
  from his hand of the wicked man, and from his strength. from his place.
  he will flee His counselor, who assisted him from the start, will flee from assisting him at the time of his downfall, as Charbonah did to Haman (Esther 7:9).
  
  Verse 23
  
  They clap their hands over them Those who knew [him] long ago and now see his ruin.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  For silver has a mine This, too, is another reason for his first statement that he said (27:6), “I have maintained my righteousness,” for why should I be wicked? If for silver or gold, each one has a source and an end, but from where does wisdom come? This is the end of the chapter; that is the most precious of all. Therefore, all my life, I set my heart on studying it.
  and...a place Gold has [a place] whence they refine and smelt it.
  
  Verse 2
  
  and copper is smelted from stone From the mountain the smith smelts the copper. Hence, everything has a beginning and an end, for the whole world will end with all that is therein.
  
  Verse 3
  
  He made an end The Omnipresent [made an end] when there will be darkness, for the heavens shall vanish and the earth shall rot away, and He fathoms the end of everything.
  a stone A stone whence darkness and the shadow of death emanate. A stone is the place of the source of trouble. For this reason, a place of trouble is called a stone, like a man who dashes his foot against a stone, who suffers pain. So I heard. This is like (Isa. 34:11), “a line of waste and stones of destruction”; (Dan. 2:45), “that from the mountain a stone was cut.”
  
  Verse 4
  
  A stream burst forth on Sodom and Gemorrah, streams of fire and brimstone.
  from the place of its flow Heb. מעם גר, from the place from which it gushes and flows (נוגר).
  those who cause the foot to be forgotten These are the people of Sodom, who caused the feet of wayfarers to be forgotten from their land, for they would lay the wayfarer in a bed. If he was too long, they would cut off his feet, and if he was too short, they would stretch him. In this manner it is explained in the Aggadah.
  they are lifted up through the bursting forth of the stream, and they are moved away from man.
  
  Verse 5
  
  A land—that from [it] bread emerged its place was as though turned into fire.
  
  Verse 6
  
  a place of sapphire its stones were.
  
  Verse 7
  
  A path unknown to brigands Heb. עיט. A band of robbers never passed by them.
  and which the eye of a vulture did not see Since it sees more than other birds, and is therefore called רָאָה, because it stands in Babylon and sees a carcass in Eretz Israel. That is how it is explained in the Aggadah of Hullin (632); i.e., spies never discerned it.
  
  Verse 8
  
  neither did... pass by it Heb. עדה, passed, as we translate (Gen. 15 17), “which passed between these parts,” דִּעֲדָה.
  Proud beasts Heb. (שַחַץ) and lion (שַחַל) are some of the seven names of the lion (Sanh. 95a: The lion has seven names.) Now what did the Holy One, blessed be He, do?...
  
  Verse 9
  
  upon the flinty rock and turned over the roots of the mountains from top to bottom.
  
  Verse 10
  
  In the rocks, He split rivers He refers back to the beginning of his topic, that he said that everything has a source. He split the rocks for the source of the rivers, and so, “His eye saw every precious thing,” whence it would emerge for the creatures, [as He did for Israel; He struck a rock and its water flowed.]
  
  Verse 11
  
  He bound up the depths of the rivers Heb. מבכי. In the Creation of the world, when the lower waters wept (בכו). the depths Heb. מבכי, like (below 38:16), “the depths of (נבכי) the sea.”
  bound up Heb. חבש, like (Gen. 22:3), “and saddled (ויחבש) his donkey.” I did not hear this. [Other editions: Because of the weeping etc. Because of the weeping of Israel, who were weeping, saying, “What will we drink,” He bound up and fixed for them water from the rock. (Lev. 8:13),”And he fixed hats (ויחבש) for them,” is translated into Aramaic as ואתקין.]
  and [from] Taalumah He brings out light There is a window in the firmament, named Taalumah, from which the sun develops in its orbit [in Pirke d’Rabbi Eliezer] (ch. 6). That is to say that everything has a source and an end; only wisdom has no source except from His mouth, and never an end.
  
  Verse 12
  
  But wisdom i.e., Torah.
  
  Verse 13
  
  and it will not be found in the land of the living with one who enlivens himself, but with one who “puts himself to death” with toil and hunger.
  
  Verse 14
  
  The deep says, “It is not in me,” If you ask those who dive into the deep, who deal with pearls, with the source of pearls and with gold and silver mines from the place of the depths of the earth, they will tell you, “It is not in me.” I am not well-versed in halachic instruction.
  and the sea says And those who go down to the sea for business will say to you, “Wisdom is not with me.” Why? Because they cannot purchase it like other merchandise, to give of their wealth for its price. And in the Aggadah (see Shabbath 89a), it is stated that at the time of the giving of the Torah, Satan came before the Holy One, blessed be He, and said to Him, “Where is the Torah?” He replied, “With the son of Amram.” He came to Moses, and said to him, “Where is the Torah?” “With the sea.” He came to the sea and asked it, “Where is the Torah?” “It is not in me. Go to the son of Amram.” He came to the son of Amram and said to him, “Where is the Torah?” “With the deep.” He came to the deep and asked, “Where is the Torah?” It replied, “It is not with me. Go to the son of Amram.” He came to the son of Amram and asked, “Where is the Torah?” “With the Holy One, blessed be He.” This is what the deep says, “It is not in me,” and the sea says, “It is not with me.”
  
  Verse 15
  
  Fine gold cannot be given Heb. סְגוּר. This is synonymous with זהב סגוּר, lit. closed gold. This is fine gold, for when it is open, all gold establishments close.
  
  Verse 16
  
  It cannot be praised Heb. תסלה, an expression of (Ps. 68:5), “Extol Him (סלו) Who rides in Aravoth.” He who praises it saying, “It is as esteemed as the gold of Ophir and as precious onyx,”—this is no praise for it. Similar to this is (Lam. 4:2), “praised (המסלאים) with fine gold.”
  
  Verse 17
  
  gold Pure gold that shines like pearls.
  its exchange is not a pure golden vessel.
  
  Verse 18
  
  Coral and crystal They are names of precious stones in the sea.
  cannot be mentioned in comparison to it.
  
  Verse 19
  
  The topaz of Kush It is a precious stone, as in (Exod. 28:17), “ruby, topaz (פטדה).” with...jewelry Heb. בכתם. That is a collection of jewelry for women’s adornments, and this collection is called כֶּתֶם in Hebrew, and “al halls” in Arabic. That is (Prov. 25:12) “Like a golden earring and jewelry of the finest gold (וחלי כתם),” and similarly (Hosea 2:15), “and adorned herself with her earrings and her jewelry (וחליתה).” Others interpret כֶּתֶם like כֶּתֶר, a crown, but it is incorrect because we do not find a verb with this root, as we find with כֶּתֶר. מַכְתִּיר, to crown or surround, כותרות capitals.
  
  Verse 20
  
  
  
  Verse 21
  
  and from the winged creatures of the heavens The angels who fly.
  
  Verse 22
  
  Destruction and death said Those who destroy themselves and kill themselves over it said, “With our ears we heard its report that if one toils with it, it endures with him.” And others say as in the Aggadah that I explained above, that Satan came before the Omnipresent and asked Him, “Where is the Torah?” He said to him etc. That is what is written, “Destruction and death said, ‘With our ears we heard its report that it was given to Israel.’ But...”
  
  Verse 23
  
  God understood its way, and He knew its place For He knows where it is situated, and they will also praise it and say of it that God understood its way; He looked at it and created the world with its letters in their order and according to their weight. He created all creatures as it is written in the secret of Sefer Yetzirah.
  
  Verse 24
  
  For He looks to the ends of the earth how He should build them and create them, and under all the heavens He saw in it the needs of their creation.
  
  Verse 25
  
  To make with it a weight for the wind, for each land according to its strength, and so the water according to its measure, according to what each land required to water it. There is an arid land which requires much rain, and there is a land that does not require so much.
  
  Verse 26
  
  a decree A set decree according to all the lands, and a spring and rivulet to water each land by His making a way for all the clouds, so that two thunders do not emerge through one hole, lest it destroy the world.
  
  Verse 27
  
  Then He saw He saw it, looked at it, and with its counsel made everything.
  and counted it He counted its letters, the double ones [such as בּב] and the simple ones, the first one (א), middle one (מ), and the final one (ת). אֶמֶת, is the seal of the Holy One, blessed be He. And so with the remaining orders He created everything with these letters. Everything is explained in the secret of Sefer Yetzirah.
  prepared it He prepared it [wisdom] for the Creation.
  
  Verse 28
  
  Behold, the fear of the Lord is wisdom One requires the other, and wisdom is unseemly without [the] fear [of the Lord].
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  Would that I were as [in] my early months Like the early days, when I was in my greatness.
  
  Verse 3
  
  when He lit His candle [This is] an expression of light and joy.
  by His light I would go. In every occasion of darkness and trouble that came to the world, I had light.
  
  Verse 4
  
  in my early days Heb. חרפי, in my early days. This is an Aramaism, early crops and late crops (חרפי ואפלי).
  when God’s counsel was upon my tent When the righteous of the generation would come to my tent, to take counsel in the words of the Holy One, blessed be He, in the Torah and in enacting temporary safeguards.
  
  Verse 5
  
  my young men My servants.
  
  Verse 6
  
  my feet Heb. הליכי, my feet.
  with cream Heb. בְּחֵמָה, like בחמאה.
  and the rock that was with me would pour forth rivulets of oil i.e., all the desires of my heart, which are as pleasing as rivulets of oil.
  would pour as in (Lev. 2:6), “and you shall pour.”
  
  Verse 7
  
  the ceiling a high ceiling, prepared for a chair for the elders of the city to sit on.
  and when I was in the square, I would prepare my seat.
  
  Verse 8
  
  Youths saw me They would see me and hide, and old men stood in my presence.
  
  Verse 9
  
  Princes refrained from talking and would wait until I started the conversation.
  
  Verse 10
  
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  For the ear that heard my word praised me.
  and the eye [that] saw my greatness and the propriety of my traits in all places.
  
  Verse 12
  
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  The blessing of the lost who died because of his iniquity and was banished.
  would come upon me because I would sustain his children and his wife. Our Sages said, however, that he [Job] would rob the orphans of their field, improve it and [then] return it to them (Baba Bathra 16a). But the simple meaning of the verse does not appear to be so, for no one is called אובד, but a thing that is itself lost, like (Ps. 31:13), “like a lost vessel”; and so (ibid. 119:176), “I have gone astray like a lost sheep”, (Jer. 50:6), “lost sheep.”
  and I would make the widow’s heart sing for joy for he would attach his name to widows, saying, “She is my kinswoman,” or “I will marry her,” in order that men should be anxious to marry her.
  
  Verse 14
  
  I put on righteousness and it clothed me I pursued righteousness and it is present with me as a coat and a turban, which are beautiful ornaments; so was my judgment beautiful and pure.
  
  Verse 15
  
  
  
  Verse 16
  
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  And I said, I will perish with my nest Because of the propriety of my traits, I would think to myself that when I die, I would have my nest and my house established with me.
  and I will multiply days as the phoenix Heb. וכחול. This is a bird named חול, phoenix, upon which the punishment of death was not decreed because it did not taste of the Tree of Knowledge, and at the end of one thousand years, it renews itself and returns to its youth.
  
  Verse 19
  
  My root will be open etc. All this I was saying to myself, that my root would not dry up, and my branches would not die, like (above 14:9), “and it will produce a branch (קציר).” They are יונקות, tender branches of a tree. And I thought that my honor would be renewed.
  
  Verse 20
  
  which is with me constantly.
  and my bow And my strength will constantly change for the better.
  
  Verse 21
  
  They listened to me and waited Those who listened to my words would wait until they would be realized, and they would be realized because the tradition of wisdom was in my hand.
  
  Verse 22
  
  my speech would drip Heb. תטף. This is an expression of prophecy. Similarly (Amos 7:16), “and do not prophesy (תטיף) concerning the house of Isaac.” That is to say that my word was like prophecy.
  
  Verse 23
  
  after a long time After a long time they would speak, because most of their time was spent in silence, for they were anxiously waiting to hear my words.
  
  Verse 24
  
  they would not believe it that I was jesting with them, because of my esteem[ed position].
  and they would not cast down the light of my countenance They were afraid to get near me and to become familiar with me.
  
  Verse 25
  
  I would choose their way All their ways and their counsel I would choose for them, for they would ask me, “Which way shall we go and what shall we do?”
  and sit at the head if they were reclining at a banquet, I would recline at the head of the diners.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  Moreover, why did I need the strength of their hands in those days they were wicked, and they were useless, for trouble came because of them.
  old age Heb. כָּלַח, old age.
  
  Verse 3
  
  Because of want and because of hunger they were in solitude.
  they would flee to desolation For in his days, they would drive them from civilization to go in darkness.
  darkness of waste and desolation broine in Old French, obscurity.
  
  Verse 4
  
  They pluck salt-wort on shrubs When they were in the deserts, they would pluck for themselves salt-wort [that grew] on the trees of the forests and eat. salt-wort Heb. מלוח. It is the name of an herb. In Aramaic (Pes. 114a), it is called קַקוּלִין and in the language of the Mishnah מַלוּחִים (malves in French), mallows, as we learned in (Kiddushin 66a): “They brought up mallows on golden tables.”
  shrubs a tree, like (Gen. 21:15), “under one of the shrubs (השיחים).”
  
  Verse 5
  
  from the midst From the midst of the city they were driven.
  
  Verse 6
  
  in the crevices of the valleys There is a salty land that splits, where they would lie in the holes in the earth and the holes in the crevices of the rocks.
  and rocks Heb. וכפים, the Aramaic translation of סלעים, rocks. (Another explanation:) in the crevice of the streams That is the crevice that the stream makes around itself.
  
  Verse 7
  
  under the nettles they gather (Orties in French), nettles. They would gather, as in (Isa. 14:1), “and join (ונספחו) the house of Jacob.”
  
  Verse 8
  
  were broken (in my days) from the land for I would humble them. [נִכְאוּ is] an expression of (Isa. 66:2), “of crushed spirit (נכה רוח).”
  
  Verse 9
  
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  For He untied my bowstring He untied the string of my bow (that I said above that my bow would become stronger); i.e., He weakened my strength—He Who has the power to do so.
  and they have cast off the bridle My bridle, with which they were bridled to me—they cast it off before me because they no longer fear me.
  
  Verse 12
  
  On my right on my right, stand “little sprouts” as [with] any other simple person, because I am no longer so esteemed in their sight [that they] subordinate themselves before Me.
  they push away my feet If the place is crowded, they push me away.
  and they cast up against me their ways of destruction Any shameful way [i.e., act] that they have to do, they make their way before me or beside me [to perform it] and they have no fear.
  
  Verse 13
  
  They break up my path Heb. נתסוּ. [My] good [path] and do not care for it. נתסוּ is like נתצוּ the “sammech” replacing the “zaddi.”
  they serve to increase my calamity they continue to provoke me.
  
  Verse 14
  
  As [through] a wide breach in a fence, through which everyone comes and passes through, so they come together against me to embarrass me.
  under darkness they roll i.e., they come rolling along in secret until they reach me, to provoke me, so that I should not be able to escape from them.
  
  Verse 15
  
  turned upon me Heb. הָהְפַךְ, [equivalent to] נֶהְפַּךְ.
  Terrors demons.
  as a spirit An evil [spirit].
  my nobility The noble spirit that rested upon me from the beginning.
  
  Verse 16
  
  And now to this trouble my soul pours out like a man whose spirit is troubled, for...
  days of affliction in which I am [now] seize me and coerce me to pour out my soul.
  
  Verse 17
  
  are picked off Heb. נקר, like (Num. 16:14), “will you put out (תנקר) the eyes of those people?” (forer in French, to bore). The worms pick my flesh off my bones.
  my sinews Heb. עֹרְקַי. My sinews have no rest. Sinew in Arabic is “orek.” So did Dunash explain it (Teshuvoth Dunash p.85). Another explanation: עֹרְקַי, my pursuers who cause me to flee. (Machbereth Menachem p. 139)
  
  Verse 18
  
  is my garment changed My “garment” changes, layer after layer. When a person removes his garments and puts on other garments different from the first ones, he calls these בִּגְדֵי חֹפֶשׁ, like (I Kings 22:30), “I will disguise myself (התחפש) and go into battle.” This is translated into Aramaic by the word אשתני, I will change.
  like the opening of my shirt it girds me Like the opening of my shirt, which girds and encompasses my neck, so do my garments gird me all around.
  
  Verse 19
  
  It directed me to the mud These boils directed me and taught me to sit in the mud, as we said above (2:8). “and he sat down in the ashes.” Another explanation: הוֹרַנִי means: it cast me, an expression of (Exod. 15:4), “He cast (ירה) into the sea.”
  and I was compared Was likened. And in the Midrash of Rabbi Tanchuma (Buber, Vayishlach 8): Said Rabbi Berechiah, “Transpose the verse.” I was compared to Abraham in my righteousness, who called himself dust and ashes (Gen.18:27), and He judges me like the wicked of the Generation of the Dispersion (who rebelled against Him by building the tower), concerning whom it is written (Gen. 11:3): “and the mortar served them as clay.”
  
  Verse 20
  
  I stood to see, to remain silent, and to understand, as in (Neh. 8:5), “And when he opened [it], all the people stood,” and no longer replied.
  and You ponder me You think about me to change my plagues.
  
  Verse 21
  
  
  
  Verse 22
  
  You lift me up to the spirit of the demons.
  You cause me to ride [on it], and weakness melts me away Weakness and feebleness of strength melted me away.
  and weakness melts me away Heb. ותמגגני, a feminine form, the subject of which is תֻּשִיָה, and this “tav” is not like the “tav” of “You lift me up (תשאני).”
  
  Verse 23
  
  For I knew For I knew that You would return me to death, a place which is a meeting place for all living, namely the grave.
  
  Verse 24
  
  But not with destruction was the Judge accustomed to stretch forth His hand; with destruction, like (Micah 1:6), “into a heap (לעי) in the field.”
  if with His misfortune If He would send a misfortune, which is a breach upon His creatures.
  He would dandle them He would dandle them with partial consolations. And so did our Sages (Pesikta d’Rav Kahana p. 1 27a) explain it: The Holy One, blessed be He, does not smite a nation and leave it desolate, but He brings misfortune to one and dandles it with its fellow that suffered already, and it is consoled thereby. He brought misfortune upon Assyria and dandled it with Egypt, as it is said (Nahum 3:8): “Are you better than the great No- Amon?” He brought misfortune upon Egypt and dandled them with Assyria, as it is said (Ezek. 31: 3): “Behold Assyria was [a cedar] in the Lebanon.” The words להן שוע may also be interpreted as: Prayer and supplication avail them.
  
  Verse 25
  
  ...whether I did not weep for one who had a difficult time [You] know and recognize whether I was not compassionate and [did not] weep for the poor, who had difficult times, and [whether] my soul [did not] grieve for the needy, that this befell me because of all these.
  
  Verse 26
  
  For I hoped for good etc. That is to say that this reward was fit for me.
  
  Verse 27
  
  and did not become silent They cannot be silent.
  
  Verse 28
  
  without the sun The sun did not gaze upon me, yet I am blackened.
  
  Verse 29
  
  I was a brother to jackals etc. Jackals and ostriches spend all their days wailing.
  
  Verse 30
  
  dried out Heb. חרה, an expression of a thing that is burned and dried through the heat of the fire, like (Jer. 6:29), “The bellows is heated (נחר)”; (Ezek. 15:4), “and the middle of it is burned (נחר).”
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  I made a covenant with my eyes not to gaze upon a married woman.
  and why should I gaze upon a virgin? Why should I gaze upon her? Such was Job’s piety, not to lay an eye even on an unmarried woman. [He would say,] “Perhaps, after a time, she will be married, and I will find myself attracted to her.” So is [this verse] explained in Avoth D’Rabbi Nathan (2:5).
  
  Verse 2
  
  Now what is the portion etc. that He recompensed me so?
  
  Verse 3
  
  Is not misfortune, for the unjust He deserves it, not I.
  and deliverance Heb. ונכר, after the pattern of (Obadiah 1:12) “[And] you should not have looked on the day of your brother on the day of his being delivered (נכרו).”
  
  Verse 4
  
  and count all my steps and see whether I went with falsehood.
  
  Verse 5
  
  hastened Heb. ותחש, and hurried, like (Isa. 60:22), “I will hasten it (אחישנה)”; (Ps. 90:10) “for it is soon (חיש) cut off.”
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  wrong Heb. מאום, that is a blemish, a shameful thing. This “alef” is written but not read, in the Great Masorah, and it is of the form of (Exod. 5:7), “You shall not continue (תאספון).” If I did this, I would deserve that this curse come upon me.
  
  Verse 8
  
  may I sow and another eat, and my produce be uprooted their roots should be torn up.
  
  Verse 9
  
  and if I lurked at my neighbor’s doorway for his wife, He should requite me...
  
  Verse 10
  
  may my wife grind for someone else Our Sages explained this as an expression of sexual intercourse, as in (Jud. 16:21), “and he did grind in the prison house.”
  
  Verse 11
  
  For that is lewdness and I feared that if I committed it, that it is iniquity deserving punishment iniquity for which judgment of suffering is fit to come.
  
  Verse 12
  
  and it uproots all my grain i.e., this fire. Therefore, I refrained from committing [this sin]. When he speaks with an expression of uprooting, he says תְּשָרֵש, and to express roots, he also uses תְּשָרֵש. Similarly, יְשׁרָשוּ is an expression of uprooting and יְשׁרָשוּ is an expression of a root.
  
  Verse 13
  
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  then what will I do etc. I took this to heart, and when He visits, what will I answer Him?
  
  Verse 15
  
  and form us both in the womb? I in my mother’s womb and he in his mother’s womb—did not One creator form us?
  
  Verse 16
  
  I cause...to fail in that I did not fulfill her desire, which is “failure of the eyes.” One who desires and does not achieve is called “failure of the eyes.”
  
  Verse 17
  
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  For, from my youth it raised me This virtue [raised me] as a father who raises me and teaches me. So did the uprightness of my heart teach me from my youth.
  and from my mother’s womb I led it This trait.
  
  Verse 19
  
  
  
  Verse 20
  
  
  
  Verse 21
  
  
  
  Verse 22
  
  from its shoulder blade That is the width of the shoulder.
  from its bone That is the upper bone, which is round as a reed (קנה), and because it is round as a reed, it is called so.
  
  Verse 23
  
  fear to me His misfortune, which He brought upon the wicked, was fear in my eyes; therefore, I refrained from doing it.
  
  Verse 24
  
  my hope Heb. כסלי, like (8:14), “whose confidence (כסלו) shall be cut off.” My hope and my thought, and because the kidneys are on the flanks (כסלים), and the kidneys advise, the thought is called כֶּסֶל.
  and to jewelry A gathering of gold and treasures.
  I said, ‘My confidence.’ therewith to strengthen myself over the poor.
  
  Verse 25
  
  If I rejoiced because my wealth I did not behave with joy in the presence of the poor so as not to make them envious of me.
  
  Verse 26
  
  If I saw light shining The sun in the orbit of its might, and its brightness.
  and the moon becoming brighter Heb. יקר. Progressively brighter, like (Zech. 14:6), “bright (יקרות) light”; (Ps. 37:20), “like the glory (כיקר) off the meadows.”
  
  Verse 27
  
  And my heart was secretly enticed to the sun and the moon, saying that they are gods, like some heathens, who have gone astray (and worship) all the host of heaven.
  
  Verse 28
  
  
  
  Verse 29
  
  
  
  Verse 30
  
  but I did not allow my palate to sin to provoke my enemy and to sue him for money that he does not owe me, in order to adjure him and to ask for the soul of my enemy with an oath.
  
  Verse 31
  
  We will not be sated Because of the hatred that they bore against me for burdening them with hospitality toward guests.
  
  Verse 32
  
  to the road The doors of my house were not inside and enclosed by a gatehouse outside, or surrounded by corners to stop the wayfarers from coming, but open to the crossroads so that whoever wishes to come may do so.
  
  Verse 33
  
  in my hiding place Heb. בחבי, like בְּמַחַבוֹאִי.
  
  Verse 34
  
  For I would subdue Originally I would subdue a great multitude of wicked men, but now, even among the Chaldeans—“This people has never been” (Isa. 23:13).
  
  Verse 35
  
  behold my inscription; may the Almighty bear witness for me Would that the Omnipresent bear witness for me in judgment, as He wrote concerning me (1:8): “For there is none like him on earth, a sincere and upright man, God-fearing.” Also Moses, who wrote his Book and my Book, will bear witness concerning me. (Another explanation:) This is what Job says, “Give it to inscribe me and my virtue.”
  may the Almighty answer me for this request.
  and may my opponent write a book May he too write a book to contend with me.
  
  Verse 36
  
  Would I not carry him The writer of the book.
  bind it I will bind the book to me as crowns.
  
  Verse 37
  
  I will tell him the number of my steps to that man.
  
  Verse 38
  
  If my soil complains about me concerning the gleanings, the forgotten sheaves, and the end [of the field], as well as tithes, [claiming] that I did not extract tithes properly.
  and its furrows weep together that I plowed with an ox and with a donkey together.
  
  Verse 39
  
  without money to hire workers and to oppress them [by not paying them]. Another explanation. This refers to the second tithe, concerning which it is written (Deut. 14:25): “And you shall tie the money in your hand.”
  and I caused pain to its owner The sharecropper who tills it.
  
  Verse 40
  
  noisome weeds Heb. באשה, (a malodorous plant) like בְּאֻשִׁים (Isa. 5:2). And if I did not do so, may thistles emerge instead of wheat. (Rabbi Oshia taught: The Torah teaches you practical advice, that in a field beset with thistles it is advisable to sow wheat, and in a field beset with weeds, it is advisable to sow barley. This is the reading of Yalkut.) Now what is the reason? “Instead of wheat, thistles shall emerge.”
  Until this point, he repeatedly prophesies many prophecies, and you say: Job’s words are ended? Rather, Job says as follows, “If I have not done so, may Job’s words be ended, and may he have no pretext for saying before You (Deut. 26:13), ‘I have cleared away what is holy.’” I saw this in the Pesikta of the portion עשר תעשר (ibid. 14), explained in this manner from these verses.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  Elihu’s Addressof the family of Ram Abraham, as it is stated (Josh. 14:15): “the greatest man among the Anakim.” This is Abraham.
  than God More than the Omnipresent.
  
  Verse 3
  
  and condemned Job This is one of the verses wherein the Scribes rectified the language of the Scripture. “And they condemned,” as directed against the Omnipresent, by remaining silent, should have been written, but Scripture euphemized. Similarly (Num. 11:15), “and do not let me see my misfortune.” It should have been written: “and do not let me see their misfortune,” but Scripture euphemized, and so many [other] instances, in Sifrei (ad loc.) and in the Great Masorah.
  
  Verse 4
  
  
  because they were older than he in days [i.e.,] the others [were older than he]. Therefore, he refrained until they were still.
  
  Verse 5
  
  
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  Indeed, it is a spirit in man Wisdom [is a spirit in man] and [comes] not through days or old age, but it is the spirit of the Omnipresent.
  
  Verse 9
  
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  Yea, I attended to you I attended to you, and I saw that there is no one to convince Job.
  
  Verse 13
  
  Lest you say You shall not say We have found wisdom by remaining silent in order not to provoke him anymore. for God will crush him and not a man You should not have belittled the honor of the Omnipresent thereby.
  
  Verse 14
  
  He did not set up words against me This is a plaint: Woe that he did not set up words against me.
  I would not reply to him with your sayings I would not reply to him with those sayings with which you replied to him.
  
  Verse 15
  
  have removed themselves Words have turned away from them.
  
  Verse 16
  
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  Behold my belly is full of wind, words to answer eagerly.
  like wine that is not opened Like new wine that is not opened, and which blows up, and even [if it is] within new wineskins, it bursts them.
  like...wineskins Wineskins made as tall as a man’s height.
  
  Verse 20
  
  
  
  Verse 21
  
  neither will I euphemize I will not change my words to replace them [with milder expressions] in deference to his [Job’s] honor, as I said above, “And they condemned Job.” This is a euphemism, which changes the expression because of His honor. I will not even do this, but I will reprove him explicitly.
  
  Verse 22
  
  or else...would carry me away He would take me away from the world. Others interpret יִשָׂאֵנִי like (Nahum 1:5), “and the land raised up (ותשא) from before me [a pillar of smoke].”
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  The spirit of God made me and I am no stronger than you.
  
  Verse 5
  
  
  
  Verse 6
  
  Behold I am like your mouth to God As your mouth asked to debate with one who would not terrify you, behold I am instead of the Holy One, blessed be He, and on His behalf, to speak His words.
  
  Verse 7
  
  and my coercion Heb. אכפי, my coercion, like (Prov. 16:26), “his mouth forces (אכף).”
  
  Verse 8
  
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  I am clean Heb. חף, pure and cleansed, like (Bezah 35b), “A nazirite may not cleanse (יחף) his head...” and like (Shabbath 50a),” we may cleanse (חפין) vessels with anything.”
  
  Verse 10
  
  pretenses Heb. תאונות, pretenses to turn away from the Omnipresent, an expression of (Jud. 14: 4), “that he sought a pretense (תאנה).”
  
  Verse 11
  
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  for God exceeds man God does not have to be so exact with man because the Holy One, blessed be He, has more virtues than man.
  
  Verse 13
  
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  
  
  Verse 16
  
  Then He opens the ear of men as He did to Abimelech in the dream of the night.
  and with their chastisement He seals [them] He seals them and binds them with suffering because of their iniquity.
  
  Verse 17
  
  To restrain man in his illness.
  a deed that he had intended to do.
  and He covers haughtiness from man with his suffering, in order to vanquish him and humble him to repent, so that he withhold his soul from utter death.
  haughtiness Heb. וְגֵוָה, like גַאֲוָה.
  
  Verse 18
  
  and his life from perishing by the sword by the weapon and the sword of the Angel of Death; that is to say, He brought suffering upon you for your good.
  by the sword Heb. בשלח, a weapon, and so in Ezra (Neh. 4:11): “and one was holding the weapon (השלח).”
  
  Verse 19
  
  And he is chastised an expression of reproof that he repent of his iniquity,
  and most of his bones, which are strong, He chastises with pain.
  
  Verse 20
  
  And his living spirit causes him to abhor food The soul and the life of the sick person cause him to abhor all food.
  and his soul abhors all tasty food.
  
  Verse 21
  
  His flesh is consumed from sight Heb. יכל בשרו מראי, His flesh is withdrawn from sight, like (Lam 2:11): “My eyes are spent (כלו) with tears”; (Lev. 26:16), “that cause the eyes to pine way (מכלות).
  and his bones are dislocated Heb. ושפו. They are dislocated from their place. [The word] שֻׁפּוּ is like (Hullin 42b), “that sprung (שף) from its place.”
  to unsightliness They have neither appearance nor form.
  
  Verse 22
  
  
  
  Verse 23
  
  one out of a thousand of those who testify to his guilt, and he intercedes with his uprightness.
  
  Verse 24
  
  He is gracious to him i.e., the Omnipresent.
  Redeem him Heb. פדעהו, like פְדָאֵהוּ. The “alef” is replaced by an “ayin.” The context proves it. “I found ransom,” which is redemption.
  
  Verse 25
  
  His flesh is agitated from shaking Heb. רֻטֲפַש means escos in French, shaken.
  from shaking His flesh was agitated from the shaking, that it was shaken [by the suffering of] his illness. This word [רֻטֲפַש] has no similarity in Scripture, and according to the context, we found it necessary to explain according to the meaning of the topic. But the one who interprets it as an expression of mire (רפש) and claims that the “teth” is added to it, as in (Gen. 44:16), “How can we clear ourselves (נצטדק)?” is in great error, because the “teth” is added to a word only in the reflexive voice, and to a word in which there is a radical “zaddi,” but nor in other words. for example, צדק and נצטדק, and like (Lev. 13:44) צרוּע, stricken with “zaraath,” and נצטרע, was stricken with “zaraath.” (Prov. 25: 13), “an emissary (ציר) faithful,” and (Josh. 9:4), “and they went and disguised as ambassadors (ויצטירו)”; (Gen. 45:21) “צֵדָה, provision,” and (Josh. 9:12) “הִצְטַיַדְנוּ, we took... for our provision.”
  he will be restored with his strength and with healing to the days of his youth.
  
  Verse 26
  
  
  
  Verse 27
  
  He makes a row of men He makes a row of men when he is saved from his illness and confesses [before them] to his Creator.
  but I did not profit I had no profit in its matters.
  
  Verse 28
  
  
  
  Verse 29
  
  twice or thrice He chastises him for his iniquities with his illness in order not to destroy him, but if he provokes Him further, he should be concerned with Gehinnom or death, as it is written, “Yea for four, I will not return them” (Amos 1:3).
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  For the ear tests words as the palate tastes food.
  
  Verse 4
  
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  my right [my] To prove my words.
  
  Verse 6
  
  I call a liar I accuse my Judge of being a liar, because He did not judge me fairly.
  incurable Heb. אנוש, My wound is sore, like (II Sam. 12:15), “and it became mortally ill (ויאנש).”
  my wound Heb. חצי [lit. my arrow].
  
  Verse 7
  
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  A man derives no benefit A man derives no benefit if he perfects his ways.
  
  Verse 10
  
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  Who gave Him a charge over the earth Who rules over Him, saying, ‘Why did You do so?’ or ‘I did not command You so’? For who gave Him a charge over His dominion, and why should He find pretexts for His creatures? He need not answer one who rules over Him by saying ‘Because of this I harmed him.’
  
  Verse 14
  
  If He puts His heart on man to destroy him, why should He come upon him with a pretext? He can immediately gather in to Himself... His spirit and His soul His spirit and His soul that He blew into him, and no one will stop Him. Thus, all flesh will perish together.
  
  Verse 15
  
  
  
  Verse 16
  
  And if you wish, understand And if you wish, understand. hearken to this This בּינה is not a noun but an imperative expression, like (Ps. 5:2), “consider (בּינה) my meditation.” Therefore, these two are accented on the first syllable, on the “beth,” whereas all the others are accented on the final syllable, on the “nun.”
  
  Verse 17
  
  Will...even one who hates judgment Will the Omnipresent heal [even the one who hates the judgment] of the just Judge? If you say that [to do so] is not judgment, for He acted not in accordance with the law, is it possible that you should condemn One Who is very righteous?
  very Heb. כביר, an expression denoting “exceedingly.”
  
  Verse 18
  
  Is it proper to say of a king, ‘scoundrel’ Is it fit and proper to say of a king, ‘scoundrel,’ or ‘wicked’ of nobles?
  
  Verse 19
  
  Who did not respect princes That is to say, the King of the world, before Whom there is no favoritism.
  a prince Heb. שוע, a prince, as in (Isa. 32:5), “nor shall a deceitful person be said to be noble (שוע).”
  
  Verse 20
  
  In a moment, they die when He wishes.
  and at midnight as He did to the Egyptians, 
  an [entire] people quakes in a moment and passes away.
  
  it is not in their hands it is not in their hands, and they have no strength.
  
  Verse 21
  
  
  
  Verse 22
  
  
  
  Verse 23
  
  For He will not place additional [guilt] on a man That is to say: You said (23:6), ‘He will not place upon me anything but my sins,’ only my sins alone, and I reply to you that the Holy One, blessed be He, will not place on His creatures additional accusations over their transgression. [The word] עוד is an expression of addition.
  to go to God in judgment When He comes upon His creatures to debate with them.
  
  Verse 24
  
  He shatters Heb. ירע, [like] ירוֹצֵץ. He shatters, and like (Isa. 24:19), “has broken (התרעעה).”
  and He stands others in their stead.
  
  Verse 25
  
  Because He recognizes their deeds Because He recognizes their deeds, whether good or evil, He does not need to debate.
  He turns night A time of darkness and trouble for them, and they are crushed.
  
  Verse 26
  
  In the place of the wicked Heb. תחת, in their location.
  He smote them The people of Sodom.
  in the place of viewers Before everyone’s eyes.
  
  Verse 27
  
  Because they turned away from following Him Heb. אשר על-כן as in (Num. 10:31), “because (על- כן) you knew our camping in the desert.” [This is] like: because (מפני אשר) they turned away from following Him, and they brought before Him and upon Him the cry of the poor.
  
  Verse 28
  
  
  
  Verse 29
  
  When He quiets He gives the poor [some peace and] quiet from those who oppress [them]. Now who will deal wickedly anymore? And as long as He hid His face, who will see Him?
  whether [it be done] to a nation or to a man, alike As for individuals, [or] as for a multitude it is the same to Him to quiet [them] and to hide His face.
  
  Verse 30
  
  And it shall be quiet, that a flattering man shall not reign because of the snares of the people Over the poor, who reigned.
  because of the snares of the people [who were guilty] of iniquity, and concerning such a God, you should not have said, ‘scoundrel,’ and ‘wicked.
  
  Verse 31
  
  For to God should be said To be said to Him. It is fitting and proper for all those who suffer pains to say, ‘I bear, accept, and tolerate Your judgments, and I will not destroy myself.’ Further, the one who is judged must say...
  
  Verse 32
  
  Besides what I see Besides what I know to perceive in Your words, You instruct me, and if I have committed injustice, I will not continue.
  
  Verse 33
  
  From you should He pay it, for you despised etc. so did Elihu say to Job, “Should the Holy One, blessed be He, have taken counsel from you about repaying you?”
  for you despised saying (above 7: 16), “I despised [my life]; I will not live forever”; (above 6:9) “enlarge His hand and finish me off.” Do you think that He would collect from you according to your thoughts and your desire, and you would choose the payment—not I? Elihu spoke instead of the Holy One, blessed be He, with a question.
  
  Verse 34
  
  Men of understanding will say to me that Job does not speak with knowledge.
  
  Verse 35
  
  
  
  Verse 36
  
  My Father! May [Job] be tried You are my Father. The Holy One, blessed be He, is the Father of all. If only Job were tried to eternity, in order that there be repentance among men of iniquity. And also to men Scripture speaks in this manner (II Kings 5:13): “‘Master (אבי), if the prophet spoke to you to do a difficult thing etc.’” Another explanation: אבי is like (Ecc. 12:5), “and the sexual desire (האביונה) will fail,” an expression of desire. Menachem (Machbereth p. 11) associated it in this manner, and this is its interpretation: אָבִי יִבָּחֵן אִיוֹב עַד נֶצַח, my wish and my desire are that Job should be tried to eternity (omitted in some editions).
  
  Verse 37
  
  he speaks loquaciously Heb. יספוק is an expression of many words and raising the voice.
  among us he speaks loquaciously He asks, Why should we be concerned with his words? (above 19:4), ‘And even if I have indeed erred, let my error stay with me,’ and he does not know that we are punished, and he increases iniquities for us because we are listening. So it is explained in Leviticus Rabbah (4:6).
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  Elihu’s AddressDo you consider this to be customary that this is the custom of the creatures toward their Creator, what you said—‘My righteousness is greater than that of the Creator’?
  
  Verse 3
  
  That you say, ‘What will it benefit you ways of uprightness, and what profit will I have more than if I had sinned?’
  
  Verse 4
  
  and your companions with you who remained silent at your words.
  
  Verse 5
  
  Gaze at the heavens And since He is high and you are low, and He has no benefit from your wickedness and righteousness, why do you boast to Him about your righteousness?
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  a man like yourself your wickedness or your righteousness can and will benefit. Observe [that there are] many wicked men. who,...
  
  Verse 9
  
  Because of the many oppressed ones whom they oppress, they [the wicked] cause the creatures to cry out before Him, and the poor cry for help from the arm of those who oppress them.
  
  Verse 10
  
  And he did not say The wicked man [did not say] ‘Where is God, my Maker?’ to fear Him.
  Who deals destruction Heb. זמירות like (Lev. 25:4), “nor prune (תזמר) your vineyard,” for He cuts off the wicked at night, e.g., Amraphel and his allies, Egypt, and Sennacherib.
  
  Verse 11
  
  Who teaches us He teaches us more wisdom than [He does] the beasts; i.e., He esteemed us and made us greater than the beasts and the birds.
  
  Verse 12
  
  There they cry out And see that there the poor cry out because of the pride of those who oppress them, and He does not answer, for...
  
  Verse 13
  
  Indeed, God will not hear vanity immediately.
  neither will the Almighty see it to avenge it immediately, but He is longsuffering.
  
  Verse 14
  
  Surely you who say Surely you, whose cry comes only because of Him, and you say and cry that you do not see Him to debate with Him. That is to say that those who complain and cry, He does not hasten to answer, yet you cry that you do not see Him?
  present your case before Him (Your arguments—absent in some editions) wherever He is.
  and wait And hope for consolations.
  
  Verse 15
  
  And now you should know that this visitation [of His Wrath upon you is nothing according [compared] to your many iniquities.
  and He did not know because of the great multiplicity Because of your many sins, the Creator acted as though He did not know them.
  of the...multiplicity Heb. בפש, an expression of multiplicity, like (Malachi 3:20), “and be fat (ופשתם),” and like (Jer. 50:11), “as you become fat (תפושו)”; (Lev. 13:51), “that the mark has spread (פשה).”
  
  Verse 16
  
  he increases Heb. כביר, an expression meaning, exceedingly.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  Then Elihu continued I saw in the reasons of Rabbi Moshe Hadarshan (the preacher), that he delivered three addresses corresponding to Job’s three companions, and this is the fourth one. Therefore it is called an addition.
  
  Verse 2
  
  Wait awhile for me and I will tell you This is completely Aramaic: Wait for me a little and I will tell you. [The word] כַּתַּר is an expression of waiting, as Jonathan rendered (Isa. 42:4): “and for his instruction, islands shall long (יכתרון).”
  God has Those representing Him have.
  
  Verse 3
  
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  you have perfect knowledge Behold, I will now begin to speak with you since you think that your knowledge is perfect.
  
  Verse 5
  
  Behold God is great in wisdom and in mercy.
  and will not despise the poor man.
  He is great in strength of heart to take revenge. Therefore, He will not allow a wicked man to live.
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  He does not withdraw His eyes from the righteous until He seats him with kings.
  
  Verse 8
  
  And if you see righteous men who are bound with chains of suffering and ailments, or caught with ropes of poverty. In an expression of lots or ropes, they are called חבלים, in an expression of worry, they are called חֶבְלֵי יוֹלֵדָה, pangs of a childbearing woman. with ropes of poverty Heb. בחבלי cordes in French. It is only because they sinned before Him, and He comes to requite them for their own good, to cleanse them and to admonish them to return to Him.
  
  Verse 9
  
  He tells them their deed With these sufferings, He lets them know that they sinned before Him. All the words of Elihu were complete consolations and not chidings; i.e., do not worry about the sufferings if you are righteous, because they are for your good,
  
  Verse 10
  
  and He says that with sufferings, they will repent of iniquity.
  
  Verse 11
  
  If they understand and worship Him.
  
  Verse 12
  
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  But the wicked of heart who are wicked—they bring about wrath; when suffering comes upon them, they curse and blaspheme,
  and they do not beg mercy with supplication 
  when He binds them with sufferings; therefore He does not heal them.
  
  Verse 14
  
  shall die by strangulation Their soul [shall die] by the strangulation that is upon them, but the poor man, who makes himself poor in the matter of supplications...He extricates from Gehinnom because of his poverty, which He brought upon him.
  
  Verse 15
  
  and opens their ear through oppression Through the oppression that He brought upon him, He opens his ear to say, “Return to Me.”
  
  Verse 16
  
  Moreover This is yet another great benefit that He did for you with these sufferings: He allured you and enticed you out of Gehinnom, whose mouth is narrow and whose base is wide.
  not cramped so that its smoke should be gathered into its midst, and furthermore, that you should merit the world to come; and the bedecking of your table shall be full of fatness.
  
  Verse 17
  
  And if you have had your fill of the sentence of the wicked And if you have had your fill of the sufferings of the wicked, the judgment and the sentence—which are [represented by] the sufferings—will support you in the future from Gehinnom, and you must accept them lovingly.
  
  Verse 18
  
  For wrath [There] shall be great [wrath].
  lest it entice you [Lest] your evil inclination [entice you to speak] words.
  to multiply Heb. בשפק, lit. with multiplicity; [i.e., with] which you multiply and increase your words toward God; and after you have raised His wrath, much ransom, [i.e.,] much money will not turn you away [rescue you] from it.
  
  Verse 19
  
  Will you set up your prayer so that no trouble Have you come to set up a cry that no trouble befall you, or any forces of strength to rob you? If so, with what will He collect His debt?
  
  Verse 20
  
  Do not yearn for the night That is to say that you should not choose other sufferings. Do not yearn for, or desire the night that came to Amraphel, to Egypt, and to Sennacherib, to take away peoples from the world when they are in their place in tranquility, for they perished both from this world and from the world to come.
  are taken away Heb. לעלות, like (Ps. 102:25), “do not take me away (תעלני) in the midst of my days.”
  
  Verse 21
  
  Beware, do not turn to iniquity to contend and to say, “He should have judged me with the sufferings of poverty.”
  for...this These sufferings are to be chosen above poverty. A man to whom people behaved with respect and who has been accustomed to wealth all his life, will now stand and bargain, and having no money [to pay with], will be embarrassed and return home in disappointment. Now if you say that Job was a poor man in addition to his sufferings, we do not find that he lost anything except his livestock, but not silver or gold. And even if he lost his cattle with silver and gold, it is better for him to be a poor sick man than to be healthy and go in the marketplaces empty-handed [and be embarrassed as well]. In this manner, it is explained in the midrash of Rabbi Tanchuma (Mishpatim 11) from this verse, that Job’s sufferings are preferable to the sufferings of poverty, and so in the Aggadoth of the Talmud (Baba Bathra 116a).
  
  Verse 22
  
  Behold God deals loftily in His power Because His power is great, and one cannot be saved from before Him. Therefore...who is a teacher like Him? When He teaches a sinner to return to Him, He warns Him before the plague because He knows that he cannot beware of His plague, as He would warn Pharaoh concerning each plague (Ex. 8:17), “I shall let loose the beasts of the wilderness upon you etc.”; (ibid. 10:4), “I will bring locusts...tomorrow,” and so all of them. [In contrast,] when a mortal king wishes to wreak vengeance upon his enemies, he comes upon him suddenly, for, if he warns him, he will repent and be saved from him.
  
  Verse 23
  
  Who charged Him with His way [Who] commanded Him from time immemorial, “You shall follow this way”?
  
  Verse 24
  
  Mention His ways, and when you mention [them], you will automatically magnify the praise of the works of His attributes.
  which men have seen Heb. שררו, which men have seen, like (Num. 24:17), “I behold it (אשורנו), but it is not near.”
  
  Verse 25
  
  have seen it His work.
  from afar from the Creation or the world until now.
  
  Verse 26
  
  the number of His years is unfathomable Therefore man must look from afar to ask what happened to the first people, and he will learn from them.
  
  Verse 27
  
  For He increases Heb. יגרע, for He increases, like (above 15:4), “and increase (ותגרע) speech.” Others interpret: He withdraws them from the heavens to bring them down to earth.
  they pour The firmaments [pour] the rain.
  into His cloud Heb. לְאֵדוֹ, into His cloud.
  
  Verse 28
  
  
  
  Verse 29
  
  Or will one understand Or will man understand what is in the spreadings of the clouds? This is a question.
  the darkness Heb. תשאות, an expression of the thick darkness of His pavilion.
  
  Verse 30
  
  Behold He spread (on the cloud His rain) and covered the roots of the sea therewith.
  
  Verse 31
  
  For...therewith With the clouds He judges peoples and chastises them by withholding rain, causing famine, as well as all sorts of plagues. When the Generation of the Flood sinned (Gen. 7:11), “and the floodgates of the heavens were opened.” As for the people of Sodom (Deut. 29:22), “Sulfur and salt, all the soil is burned up.” As for Sisera (Jud. 5:20), “From heaven they fought...against Sisera.”
  He gives food to one who has many From there comes sustenance (Ex. 16:4): “See, I am about to have bread rain down from heaven for you.” This is to be compared to a baker who is standing before the oven. If an enemy comes in, he rakes coals and casts them at him; if his friend comes in, he takes out hot bread and gives it to him.
  to the one who has many to the one whose children are many and numerous; to one who increases children and requires food.
  
  Verse 32
  
  Over the clouds Heb. כפים, over the clouds. Similarly (Lam. 3:41), “Let us lift our heart to the clouds (כפים),” based on (I Kings 18:44), “...a cloud as small as a man’s palm (ככף).” But our Rabbis said (Taanith 7b): Because of the sin of (the robbery of) the hands He covers the rain The rain is withheld.
  and He commands it to come through one who entreats with prayer. (The beloved one of the generation, and the great man and sage thereof will relate to Him—before the Holy One, blessed be He—the straits of the generation and their necessities].
  
  Verse 33
  
  Their beloved one preaches to them He preaches to them to search their deeds for themselves and to return to Him.
  the acquisition This is the acquisition whereby the rain is acquired.
  it also ascends on high Heb. על. It also [ascends] higher and higher [in this manner], like (Hosea 7: 16), “They will return, but not to the Most High (על)” or (II Sam. 23:1), “raised on high (על).” [See Comm. Dig. to Hosea 7:16.] Our Sages, however, interpret it (Taanith 8a) as the acquisition of anger and wrath upon one who becomes haughty [after his prayers have been answered], but the vowelization, viz. that מִקְנֶה is vowelized with a “pattah” [meaning a “seggol”], does not substantiate [the theory] that it is connected to אַף, for were it connected to אַף, it would be vowelized with a “kamatz” [meaning a “tzeireh”], and it would not be punctuated by a cantillation sign that denotes a pause, viz. a revi’i.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  and spring Heb. ויתר, and spring, like (Lev. 11:21) “to hop (לנתר) with them upon the earth.” And this means that his heart is astonished.
  
  Verse 2
  
  Hear attentively the noise of His voice The thunders that He thunders in the sky are like a sound that emanates from His mouth.
  
  Verse 3
  
  Beneath the entire heaven I have seen it Heb. ישרהו, I have seen it, like (Num. 24:17), “I behold it (אשורנו).” They are the lights illuminated by the lightnings.
  
  Verse 4
  
  In its wake [i.e., in the wake] of that light, the thunder roars, and it thunders with the voice of its pride. Those are the lightnings and the thunders, which bring the rain.
  and He will not cut them off The Omnipresent [will not cut off the thunder and the lightning].
  for...will be heard before Him the voice of the one who prays.
  He will...cut them off Heb. יעקבם, He will cut them off, [and in the language of the Mishnah we learned (Sotah 16a): in three instances, the halachah supplants (עוקבת) the text].
  
  Verse 5
  
  
  
  Verse 6
  
  For He says to the snow through these voices.
  ‘Be upon the earth’; likewise to the shower of rain and to the showers of His mighty rain That is to say that it comes from the four directions.
  
  Verse 7
  
  By the hand of every man he seals When a man sins before Him, the man himself signs his signature on the day of his death to the sins that he committed, which are written before him.
  so that every man should know his deed to let him know for what he is being judged.
  
  Verse 8
  
  The beasts go into ambush That is to say that the Omnipresent has many more agents through which to mete out His punishments: the inciting of wild beasts, the tempest, and the cold.
  
  Verse 9
  
  and from Mezarim There is a treasury, named Mezarim.
  
  Verse 10
  
  From the breath of By His wind.
  and the breadth of the waters in a good When they are poured out in retribution.
  
  Verse 11
  
  Aph Beri The name of the angel who is appointed over the clouds, and he scatters the Omnipresent’s rain cloud.
  
  Verse 12
  
  And he who is thus appointed.
  turns around in circuits by His guidance [i.e., by the guidance] of the Omnipresent.
  for their work namely, of the rains; for the work which is incumbent upon them to do, either good or evil, he is turned about with many circuits, as [the passage] that we learned (Rosh Hashanah 17b): if Israel were perfectly righteous on Rosh Hashanah so that [much] rain was decreed for them, and they should later become sinful—it would be impossible to decrease it [the amount of rain] because the decree would already have gone forth; but the Holy One, blessed be He, would let it come down out of its season and upon a land that did not require it. “And sometimes to do good”; how is this? etc.
  whatever He commands them Those rains, to do on earth. [Another explanation: And he turns around in circuits with His guidance—He causes the clouds and the winds to encompass the mountains so that they should be watered from all sides. In the Aggadah of “Vehayah ekev” (Sifrei Ekev 39).]
  
  Verse 13
  
  Whether for the rod Whether for the punishment of men, He lets them fall on mountains and hills, which are not places for sowing.
  whether for His land To let them fall as originally decreed, neither for the rod nor within the boundary of justice [i.e., for more benefit than strict justice warrants], but midway between [these two extremes].
  or for kindness If the generation became more righteous than they were on Rosh Hashanah, then the rain which was decreed to fall in an average manner, shall be turned about by the guidance of their circuits to fall, with kindness, in their season and upon the land that requires them, so that not a drop of them should go to waste.
  that He cause it to come The rain, in one of these ways.
  
  Verse 14
  
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  how God places the law of the covenant upon them, how they are suspended by His decree.
  
  Verse 16
  
  the revelations of the clouds Heb. מפלשי, the revelation of the clouds, an expression of an open (מפלש) alley, i.e., to the length and the width of the clouds.
  Do you know concerning them, the wonders of Him Who is perfect in knowledge?
  
  Verse 17
  
  How your garments are warm How your garments are warm when He silences the earth from the south wind, so that it should not kill the world with cold, because the east wind warms it. As it is stated (Jonah 4:8): “a stilling east wind,” which quiets all other winds before it.
  
  Verse 18
  
  strong the skies.
  as a molten mirror Like a mirror into which women look. [molten tristre, which is very strong.]
  
  Verse 19
  
  Let us know what we shall say to Him To the Holy One, blessed be He, when we contend with Him. We will not be able to set up a case with Him because of the darkness which conceals and surrounds Him.
  
  Verse 20
  
  Need it be told to Him when I speak Is He like mortals, that He must be told what we are saying?
  or need a man tell utter with his mouth.
  what is kept a secret so that it should be revealed to Him immediately, like (II Sam. 17:16), “lest the king be told secretly (יבלע)” [lest] it be revealed. But our Sages (Meg. 18a) explained: Can all His praise be told Him, that I should speak That we should speak of Him and His might? Has any man said to tell them all, he would surely be destroyed from his place.
  
  Verse 21
  
  And now, they did not see the rain At the conclusion of his words, Elihu returns to chide Job’s three companions for not finding an answer. He therefore says, “And now, these three companions of yours, who should have answered you all these things that I said to you...”
  did not see the rain” They are like stillborn babies, who did not see wisdom.
  it is [like] bright [clouds] in the skies It is like many bright clouds that appear in the skies to bring down rain, but the wind comes and clears them away, makes them pass away, and no rain falls. That is their analogy; they began to answer you, but at the end, they remained silent and did not answer.
  
  Verse 22
  
  Gold[en splendor] comes from the north It is as though he is returning to his previous statements. [“And now, they did not see the rain.”] Another explanation: The homily of the Sages (Taanith 7b) is that when the sky is full of spots, [i.e., full] of many clouds, to cause rain to fall, a wind passes and cleanses them away, and no rain falls. This is a homily of the Sages, but it does not fit the sequence of the verses.
  Gold comes from the north The north wind blows and drives away the rain. Then the sun shines, like (Zech. 4:12), “that empty out the gold[en oil] from themselves.”
  on God From before Him.
  (Gold comes from the north The good gold is hidden for those who bring themselves to the commandments of the Holy One, blessed be He, and believe in the very awesome God.)
  
  Verse 23
  
  We have not found the Almighty great in power to arouse His judgments upon the creatures with the greatness of His power, but with clemency. He makes atonements for the creatures with small things, according to their ability: a handful of [fine flour from] a meal offering, a half shekel, turtle doves and young pigeons, cattle and flocks; and He did not burden them to seek a wild ox or an antelope.
  and with judgment Sufferings.
  He does not afflict the creatures excessively. Likewise, He does nor afflict them to [force them into] becoming overly righteous to an impossible extent, but each man according to his ability.
  
  Verse 24
  
  Therefore, men fear Him to debate with Him. (because) He does not look upon any wise of heart who want to deal wisely with Him, because their wisdom is as nothing in His eyes. Our Sages (Rosh Hashanah 17a) explained this as referring to Job. Elihu says to him, “Because you would impose excessive fear upon your generation, you did not merit having wise-hearted sons remain alive to you.”
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  from the tempest Heb. מן הסערה. Count your hairs and I will give you as many answers. From the tempest with which you reproached Me (above 9:17), “He Who would crush me with a tempest,” I will answer you, as you will hear at the end of the chapter (verse 25), “Who has separated a place for the hair?” a shaft for every hair. Another explanation: With a tempest He afflicted him, and with a tempest He healed him, as is explained in Sifrei(?).
  
  Verse 2
  
  who gives dark counsel Dark and foolish counsel. Another explanation: Who is this who gives dark counsel...without knowledge? Said the Holy One, blessed be He: Who is this who darkens counsel, frustrates words, i.e., with a multiplicity of words; for I wrote: “and that man was sincere and upright,” at the beginning of the Book, in order that My name should rest on Him, but he came and darkened and frustrated what I counseled with his many words. Whereupon Job replies to Him (below 42:3): “Who is this Who hides counsel?” Had I known Your counsel, I would not have spoken so much. Then the Holy One blessed be He, answers him, “Neither did Abraham know; yet he passed ten” [tests]. So I found.
  
  Verse 3
  
  Now gird your loins like a man He intimated to him that he should arouse himself from his illness and his sufferings.
  
  Verse 4
  
  Where Heb. אֵי פֹה, lit. where here.
  
  Verse 5
  
  its measures Heb. מְמַדֶיהָ [like] מִדוֹתֶיהָ.
  
  Verse 6
  
  laid its cornerstone in the middle of the sea, whence the entire world was founded. Where were you?
  
  Verse 7
  
  When...sing together from the beginning the stars of light.
  
  Verse 8
  
  the sea with doors The sand, which is its boundary.
  when it broke forth Heb. בגיחו, when it broke forth from the deep, like (Ps. 22:10), “that You drew me (גחי) forth from the womb”; drew me forth.
  
  Verse 9
  
  When I made the cloud around the ocean, which encompasses the world, and clouds encompass it like raiment.
  its wrapping Heb. חתלתו, its wrapping, like (Ezek. 16:4), “nor were you swaddled (והחתל לא חתלת).”
  
  Verse 10
  
  and broke I made breaks in it [the sea] all around to keep it back within them, and they are its boundary, which it shall not pass, as in (Josh 7:5), “and they pursued them until the quarries (השברים)” which are the ditches around the city.
  
  Verse 11
  
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  In [all] your days From the day you were born.
  
  Verse 13
  
  To grasp the corners of the earth Moreover, in all your days, did you command [anyone] to grasp the corners of the earth like a man who grasps the corners of a garment and shakes it? So am I destined to grasp it [the earth] by its corners and shake the wicked [out of it]. Likewise, Scripture states (Isa. 31:3): “and the Lord shall turn His hand, and the helper shall stumble,” like a person who, holding something in his hand, drops it by inclining his hand.
  
  Verse 14
  
  changes in formation.
  The seal...like clay The cast of man’s countenance [changes] when he dies, and at the resurrection of the dead they will live again, and they will stand up in their clothing.
  
  Verse 15
  
  And...shall be withheld then from the wicked their light, and the high arm shall be broken.
  
  Verse 16
  
  the locks of the sea Heb. נבכי, like (Ex. 14:3), “They are trapped (נבכים) in the land.”
  
  Verse 17
  
  the gates of death This is Gehinnom.
  
  Verse 18
  
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  
  
  Verse 20
  
  
  
  Verse 21
  
  You knew all this.
  for then you were born when I created (them).
  
  Verse 22
  
  
  
  Verse 23
  
  That I saved I withheld.
  for a time of trouble For the five kings in Gibeon.
  for a day of battle The war of Gog and Magog.
  
  Verse 24
  
  is the light parted The irradiation of the sun, which diverges this way and that way like the horns of a hind.
  the eastern one The sun of the east.
  
  Verse 25
  
  Who has separated a place for the hair Heb. לטשף. In Arabia, a hair is called שִׁיטְפָא. To every hair on the head I have given תְעָלָה, a separate shaft from which to draw sap. If two would draw from the same shaft, a person’s eyesight would fail. These have not been changed by Me, how then should I change אִיוֹב, Job, for אוֹיֵב, enemy? And this is the meaning of מן הסערה, from the hair. Another explanation: לַשֶטֶף a streaming raindrop. I set apart for each drop a hole in the clouds, for if they were to come down [together] from one opening, they would soften the earth and turn it into a mire.
  and a way for the cloud of the thunderclaps who parted? Every thunderclap has its own path, and if two of them would go along one path, the creatures would not be able to bear the sound.
  
  Verse 26
  
  
  
  Verse 27
  
  darkness A land that is dark because of hunger.
  
  Verse 28
  
  waves of dew Heb. אגלי, waves of גלי, dew, and the “aleph” is superfluous, as in (above 13: 17), “and to my speech (ואחותי) in your ears.” The “aleph” is superfluous at the beginning of the word because it is a noun, and similarly (Ezek. 21:20), “the scream of (אבחת) the sword,” like נבוח, barking, the scream of the sword. Another explanation: is like אַגְנֵי, basins of dew. A type of basins, divisions in which the dew is deposited. The “lammed” is interchangeable with a “nun,” and so in the Book of Ezra (Neh. 13:7), chamber (נִשְׁכָּה) like לִשְׁכָּה.
  
  Verse 29
  
  and the frost glass or glassa in Old French.
  
  Verse 30
  
  Like a stone...hides because of the ice that congeals in drops upon their faces.
  and the face of the deep is caught and held together by it.
  
  Verse 31
  
  the chains of the Pleiades [Tie] the chains of the Pleiades so that all its cold should not go forth and destroy the world with cold.
  or loose the straps of Orion to bring out its heat, to mitigate the cold of the Pleiades.
  
  Verse 32
  
  constellations All the other constellations.
  and...Ayish The largest star in the Pleiades, to which many stars are attached. He took two stars from it to open the windows of the Deluge, and they were placed in the constellation of Aries and the Holy One, blessed be He, is destined to restore them to her. Tanchuma.
  
  Verse 33
  
  his dominion The dominion of the constellations appointed to bring upon the earth cold and heat, summer and winter.
  
  Verse 34
  
  Can you lift up your voice to the cloud to command it to tie up with the darkness of water so that an abundance of water cover you? That is the darkening of clouds, like (above 22:11), “or darkness so that you do not see.” [or] will an abundance of water from Heaven cover you by your commands.
  
  Verse 35
  
  and say to you in the place where they were sent, ‘Here we are; we have performed our errand,’ because they need not return to their place to reply to their Sender, for the Shechinah is everywhere.
  
  Verse 36
  
  in the inward parts These are the reins.
  the rooster Heb. לשכוי. This is the rooster in the language of the Sages (Rosh Hashanah 26a). And some say: This is the heart, which looks (שוכה), watches, and considers the coming events.
  
  Verse 37
  
  charges Heb. יספר, will speak and charge with their mission.
  the bottles Made like bottles in which the rains are collected, as in (I Sam. 1:24), “and an earthenware jug (ונבל) of wine.”
  
  Verse 38
  
  When the dust was poured On the day that I poured the dust.
  into a mass for the foundation of the world, into its midst.
  and the clods cleaved together around it on all sides, until its length and width were filled.
  
  Verse 39
  
  
  
  Verse 40
  
  they crouch They stand crouching to lie in wait.
  to lie in wait so is the habit of those who lie in wait, to crouch and to stoop themselves so that they will not be recognized.
  
  Verse 41
  
  they wander for lack of food for their own fathers hate them, and the Holy One, blessed be He, prepares gnats for them, which are created from their dung, and they enter their mouths.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  mountain goats Estainboc in Old French. It hates its young, and, when preparing to give birth, goes to the top of a high rock, so that its young should fall to the earth and die. But the Holy One, blessed be He, prepares an eagle for it [the young], which receives it on its wings.
  Do you wait for the hinds to calve? Heb. חלל, an expression of (Jer. 6:24), “pain (חיל) as of a woman in travail.” The hind’s womb is narrow, and the young cannot come forth; and, at the time of birth, I prepare a snake for her that bites her womb so that it opens; should it be a moment too early or too late, she would die immediately. I know to distinguish these moments, so should the distinction between Job (אִיוֹב) and enemy (אוֹיֵב) escape Me?
  
  Verse 2
  
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  they bring forth Their womb splits open and gives forth the young, and their birth pangs...
  they send forth from themselves in their birth at the moment that I prepare for them.
  
  Verse 4
  
  
  and do not return to them When they have grown a little, they are raised on the grain, on seeds and grasses, and they do not require the raising of their father or mother.
  
  Verse 5
  
  free For no man can raise a wild donkey to teach it the work of cattle.
  
  who loosed his bands so that the yoke of man is not upon him.
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  He spies out the mountains for his pasture He personally spies out for himself a place of pasture.
  
  Verse 9
  
  wild ox Heb. רֵים, like רְאֵם.
  serve you To serve you.
  
  Verse 10
  
  to a furrow with his rope (Or did you tie a wild ox because of the furrow of your ox?) rope Heb. עבתו, a rope with which they tie [oxen] to the furrows of the plow.
  will he harrow, prepare the field.
  
  Verse 11
  
  Will you rely on him to gather your grain because his strength is great and he can bear great burdens?
  or will you leave your toil for him to gather into the house?
  
  Verse 12
  
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  The wing of the renanim rejoices This is the name of a huge bird, called in the language of the Mishnah, Bar Yochni (Bechoroth 57b).
  the winged Heb. אֶבְרָה. Every bird is called אֶבְרָה because it flies; i.e., either the bird named “stork,” or the bird called nozah. Note her behavior.
  
  Verse 14
  
  For she leaves her eggs on the ground and she goes and warms herself on the dust at a distance.
  
  Verse 15
  
  She forgets that a foot will crack it Heb. תְּזוּרֶהָ [i.e., it will crack] her egg. [תְּזוּרֶהָ means:] will crack it.
  
  Verse 16
  
  She is hardened She deals harshly with her young ones, [distancing them] from her heart as though they were not hers.
  her toil is in vain and she is not afraid to lose them.
  
  Verse 17
  
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  Like the time that she goes off on high [When she flies up, she scorns the horse. She is not afraid that he will tread on the eggs and crack them.] Every expression of הַמְרָאָה applies to a man whose heart prompts him to stray from his lifestyle, his upbringing, and his country, to roam in other countries and to try other lifestyles. Similarly (Deut. 21:18), “a stubborn and rebellious (וּמרֶה) son”; and in the language of the Talmud it is אִמְרָאִי: “Rav Zevid’s daughter-in-law rebelled (אִמְרָאִי) and went away” (Kethuboth 63b, Venice edition) (cf. Rashi to Hullin 58b, Baba Mezia 77a).
  
  Verse 19
  
  fierceness Heb. רעמה, an expression of thunder and fright, like (Ezek. 27:35), “Their faces are as though thunderstruck (רעמו).”
  
  Verse 20
  
  like a locust He skips and leaps like a locust and shakes himself all over.
  his snorting When he blows with his nostrils, it is with an awesome sound.
  
  Verse 21
  
  They spy in the valley Heb. יחפרו, like (Deut. 1:22), “that they may spy out (ויחפרו) the land for us,” for it is the habit of the horsemen to lie in wait in the valleys and in the ravines.
  and rejoices with strength The horse rejoices and goes forth toward the weapons.
  
  Verse 22
  
  and is not dismayed He will not be frightened.
  
  Verse 23
  
  The quiver...rattles [i.e., the quiver that is] full of arrows, and they knock against each other so that their sound is heard.
  the blade of the spear An iron utensil (and an iron spear) is called לַהַב, as in (Jud. 3:22), “and the haft also went in after the blade (הלהב).”
  
  Verse 24
  
  he hollows out the ground Heb. יגמא. He makes holes (גומות) with his feet. Another explanation: יְגַמֶא is like (Gen. 24:17), “Let me please swallow (הגמיאיני).”
  and he does not believe out of the great joy that he longs for battle.
  that it is the sound of a shofar of battle.
  
  Verse 25
  
  To many shofaroth Heb. בדי, an expression of (Lev. 25:28), “sufficient (די) to get it back,” to many shofaroth.
  he says, ‘Hurrah!’ An expression that (the passersby) (the slaves—Berechiah) say when they are happy, much as they say, ‘Woe!’ out of pain.
  
  Verse 26
  
  the hawk grows a wing Heb. יאבר, the hawk grows a wing. That is an angel resembling a hawk, who stays the severity of the south wind by spreading out his wings, lest it destroy the world.
  
  Verse 27
  
  Or is it by your order that the eagle flies high [This refers to] the Shechinah, as it is said (Deut. 32:11): “As an eagle first stirs up its nest.” He would remove His court so that they should not injure Aaron when he entered the sanctuary on Yom Kippur.
  
  Verse 28
  
  He dwells on the rock and lodges Aaron was confident when he placed the censer with the incense on the foundation stone [in the Holy of Holies].
  
  Verse 29
  
  From there he searches for food He would pray for the needs of the entire year, and after all this honor he saw the death of his two eaglets, Nadab and Abihu, who died so that My name might be sanctified through them, for My fear fell upon those who remained.
  
  Verse 30
  
  gulp down Heb. יעלעו. Only according to the measure that one is able to swallow of blood or water, but it appears as if one swallows much, in imitation of the sound “al al.” Similarly, in the language of the Sages, concerning the suspected adulteress [who must] drink [the cursing water] (Sotah 20a), “they make her swallow (מערערין) and drink against her will.” [Here too, the sound “ar ar” is alluded to.] Similarly (Isa. 15:5), “a cry of destruction they shall raise (יעוערו),” the prophet using the onomatopoetic word in imitation of the sound produced by the throat.
  and where there are slain, there he is to eat. Our Sages explain this entire passage as an allegory applying to Aaron, in the Pesikta to Acharei Moth (Pesikta Rabbathi, ch. 48, Meir Ayin edition, ch. 47).
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  Will one who contends with the Almighty make himself master? May a man make himself master to contend with the Almighty?
  He who argues with God, let him answer it He who comes to argue, let him answer his words.
  
  Verse 3
  
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  I said one [thing i.e., I have spoken little and I will add no more. Others explain: I said one What I said (above 9:22), “[It is all one; therefore I said,] ‘He destroys both the innocent and the wicked,’” I will no longer answer.
  and two What I said (above 13:20), “Do not do two things to me,” I will not add.
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  (God’s answer from the tempest)Will you even make void My judgment Will you even prove with your words to make My judgment void and to show that it is perverted?
  
  Verse 9
  
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  Bedeck yourself Heb. עדה, an expression of an ornament (עדי) and decoration.
  
  Verse 11
  
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  and crush Heb. והדך, an expression of (Num. 11:8), “or crushed (דכו) it in mortars.”
  
  Verse 13
  
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  behemoth Prepared for the future.
  
  Verse 16
  
  his strength is in his loins His testicles are squashed and concealed, and have not been completely torn off.
  in the navel Heb. בשרירי, like (Song 7:3), “Your navel (שררך).”
  
  Verse 17
  
  hardens Heb. יחפץ like יַחְפּוֹז, hardens. Similarly, in the language of the Sages: דַחַפִּיזָא כִּי אוּפְתָּא (Hullin 47b), hard as wood.
  his testicles Heb. פַחֲדָיו.
  are knit together Heb. ישרגו, twisted cords, like (Lam. 1:14), “they are knit together (ישתרגו),” or the webbing (שריגי) of a bed in the language of the Mishnah, (Moed Katan 1:8), and it is an expression of twisted cords.
  
  Verse 18
  
  
  
  as a load Heb. כִּמְטִיל, as a burden of iron.
  
  Verse 19
  
  He is the first of God’s ways He was created at the beginning to be the chief of all animals.
  his Maker The Holy One, blessed be He, Himself will slaughter him.
  
  Verse 20
  
  For the mountains bear food for him And it is written in the Book of Psalms (50:10): “Behemoth upon a thousand mountains.” A thousand mountains bear food for him. He feeds on all of them every day, [and they are grown again the next day].
  
  Verse 21
  
  the shadows the shades of trees.
  
  Verse 22
  
  Do the shadows cover him as his shadow [Does] the shadow of the covert of the reeds and the swamp, which is entangled [or surrounded—Berechiah] and hedged around with [many] trees.
  
  Verse 23
  
  Behold, he plunders the river, and [he] does not harden The Euphrates, which is a large river whose waters increase, he oppresses and plunders from the creatures by his drinking.
  and [he] does not harden [His belly does not harden from his drinking, like (verse 17), “His tail hardens.”
  he trusts that he will draw the Jordan He is confident [of his ability] to draw the whole Jordan into his mouth were he to drink there: like (Ps. 22: 10), “Who drew me (גחי) from the womb.”
  
  Verse 24
  
  With His eyes He will take him The Omnipresent will take him by looking at him, and he quakes from fear of Him.
  with snares Fishermen’s tools, with which they catch fish.
  
  Verse 25
  
  Can you pull the leviathan etc. When you pull him with a harpoon and insert a fishhook into his nose, will he offer much supplication to you? It means that you are unable to approach him with fishing implements.
  or press down his tongue Let the rope down (on his tongue) to draw him out of his place.
  
  Verse 26
  
  a fishhook Heb. התשים. It is bent, like (Isa. 9:13), “a large arch and a small arch (אגמן), and it is made of iron to catch fish with it.
  Can you insert Will you insert a fishhook into his nose to take him out of the sea?
  or...with a barb A fishermen’s implement.
  or pierce Heb. תִּקּב, like תִּנְקֹב.
  
  Verse 27
  
  Will he offer much supplication to you Will he offer much supplication to you and beseech you to spare his life?
  or will he speak This is a repetitious word.
  soft words Words of supplication.
  
  Verse 28
  
  Will he make a covenant with you Will he make a covenant to serve you, that you will take him as a lifelong slave?
  
  Verse 29
  
  Will you play Will you play and stroll with him as though he were a small bird,
  and will you tie him to the necks of (other editions: for the sake of) your young lads, that they should stroll with him as with small birds that they give children to stroll and to placate him?
  
  Verse 30
  
  Will charmers dig pits for him Will charmers and sorcerers dig pits to hunt him? To take him out of the sea by means of sorcery [so] that they can divide him and share him among the merchants, as the sea fishermen do? That is, they catch large fish with their cunning, and the merchants come and purchase from them.
  dig pits Heb. יכרו, an expression of (Jer. 18:22), digging a pit (כורה שוחה).
  charmers Heb. חַבָרִים, an expression of (Deut. 18:11), “a charmer (וְחבֵר חָבֶר).”
  
  Verse 31
  
  Will you fulfill Will you fulfill your desire and make tents of his skin?
  or a shade of fishes of his head Will you make from his head a shade of fish? This is a repetitious expression.
  a shade Heb. צִלְצַל, a tent of fish. A tent made from his head is called a shade of fish because it is made from him.
  צִלְצַל is ombre in French. It is an expression of shadow, and that is one of the double words, like: green (ירקרק), red (אדמדם) [both in Lev. 13:49], twisted (פתלתל) [Deut. 32:5], tattoo (קעקע) [Lev. 19:28].
  
  Verse 32
  
  Put your hand over him Strengthen yourself to wage battle against him, that you will put your hand over him to strike him.
  remember the battle, do not stop And do not stop. Remember your might to wage war against him.
  and do not [rest] תּוֹסַף is derived from יסף, like (Gen.38:26), “and he did not cease (יָסַף) being intimate with her” (regrettera in French), will regret. [In the expression] אַל-תּוֹסַף, the “sammech” is vowelized with a “pattah” because of the pause accent, as in (Gen. 49:4), “You shall not gain superiority (תּוֹתַר) “; (Ruth 2:14), “and she left over (וַתּתַר),” and many like it.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  Behold his hope is in vain Behold if his hope is in vain, for he will have no strength to wage war and to move from his place.
  shall not one be cast down even at the sight of him if even at the sight of his face a man will be cast down from standing before him to look at him, because of the fear of him.
  
  Verse 2
  
  There is no one so fierce that he can stir him up There is no one so fierce, mighty, and strong who can arouse him from his sleep and stir him up from his place to raise him up.
  and who is he who will stand up before Me, Who makes all these?
  
  Verse 3
  
  Who came to meet Me Who is it who came to meet Me by accepting to worship Me and keep My commandments, and I will pay him his reward.
  Everything under the heavens is Mine Everything that is under the heavens is Mine, and I have the power to pay him his reward, his recompense, and his remuneration.
  
  Verse 4
  
  I will not be silent concerning his sons I will not be silent concerning the sons of a righteous man who went before Me sincerely, and his sons will be paid the good reward of their father, and they will find good in his merit.
  either for his acts of heroism and the arrangement of his supplication Either for his heroic deeds, that he strengthened himself to do what is good and upright, and the arrangement of the righteous man’s supplication [is that] I will pay his reward also to his sons after him.
  his sons Heb. בדיו, his branches, and they are his sons, like (Ezek. 17:6), “and brought forth branches (בדים) and sent out sprigs.”
  
  Verse 5
  
  Who exposed the face of his raiment He returns to the previous topic to speak of the leviathan: who can expose the scales, which are... within his double bridle Into the fold of his lips, when they are open, who is it who will enter there? [The expression] בְּכֶפֶל, double, denotes the lips, which are double, one above and one below, into which no creature may enter because of fear of him.
  
  Verse 6
  
  the doors of his face They are the lips when he closes his mouth; who can open them?
  Around his teeth is terror That because of his fright and his terror, no creature can approach his teeth.
  
  Verse 7
  
  There is pride in his strong shields He takes great pride in the strength of his shields; they are the scales that are on him, which protect him like a shield.
  closed That is the seal of his coat of mail, which is narrow, closed, and strong, for each scale is attached to him and attached to the next one, so that no creature can strike him between the scales. This is what is stated: They are so close to each other, that all of them are brought together and are close to each other.
  
  Verse 8
  
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  they stick together and cannot be separated He is still repeating his language, that they [the scales] are stuck together and each one is joined to the next one so that they should not separate from each other.
  
  Verse 10
  
  His sneezes flash forth light With every sneeze that he sneezes, light flashes forth and shines.
  flash forth as in (above 29:3), “when He lit (בהלו) His candle.”
  and his eyes are like the rays of dawn His eyes shine and illuminate like the redness of the sun, like the time of morning when the sun becomes red.
  
  Verse 11
  
  From his mouth From the flame that goes forth from his mouth.
  From his mouth go firebrands Firebrands come forth from his mouth.
  sparks of fire Like firebrands.
  go forth like foam Heb. יתמלטו . Its interpretation is according to the context, escumicer in Old French [going forth like foam].
  
  Verse 12
  
  From his nostrils smoke goes forth like a bubbling pot on the fire, which raises smoke.
  and an earthenware vessel ואגמן. Its interpretation is according to its context: an expression of an earthenware vessel, like a bubbling pot; according to the matter that is stated (Jer. 1:13): “I see a bubbling pot.”
  
  Verse 13
  
  His breath kindles coals Burning and blazing coals. and flame And burning flames emerge from his mouth.
  
  Verse 14
  
  Strength lodges in his neck Mightiness.
  and sadness rejoices before him For there is no sadness or grief before him, since he does not fear any creature. [The word] תָּדוּץ is an expression of joy and happiness.
  
  Verse 15
  
  The flakes of his flesh are joined together Heb. דבקו. They adhere to each other closely, for the fish are composed of many pieces in its flesh, and they adhere to one another. In a large fish, which is cooked, the pieces are noticeable when they are lying one upon the other and one beside the other, and so is the sequence of the world: First he speaks of the scales of the leviathan and then of the flakes of his flesh and the strength of his heart.
  flakes Heb. מפלי, an expression of folds of pieces. It is also possible to explain it as פְלָאֵי פלוּיֵי, [if it is split] in the language of the Talmud, an expression of the splits of his flakes.
  are joined together the “beth” is vowelized by a small “kamatz” (tzeireh), like (Job 29:1O), “and their tongues stuck (דבקה) to their palates,” and many other cantillated by “ethrahta” or “sof pasuk.” [These are the pause accents.]
  poured out upon it Heb. יצוק. Every flake poured out one upon the other, so that it should not move or separate one from the other. [The word] יָצוּק is an expression of being poured, and it is the passive participle, like יָרוּד, descended, from ירד ; יָצוּק, poured, from יצק ; יָדוּעַ, known, from ידע.
  
  Verse 16
  
  His heart is as strong as stone His heart within him is as strong and basic as a permanent stone that is placed securely in the foundation of a building.
  and as strong as a lower millstone This clause is repetitious, meaning that his heart is as basic and permanent as the millstone that is placed under the upper millstone, for the upper millstone revolves and rotates and grinds, whereas the lower one does not move from its place because it is fastened to its place, so that it should not move. That is called פֶּלַח [רֶכֶב] as it is stated (Jud. 9:53): “And a certain woman cast an upper millstone: פֶּלַח רֶכֶב, upon Abimelech’s head.” The lower one is called פֶלַח תַּחתִּית the lower piece.
  
  Verse 17
  
  From his fear the mighty are frightened From his fear, the mighty and strong, both fishes and other creatures, are frightened.
  the breakers fail The waves of the sea, which are called breakers, fail before him, because he breaks them with his swimming, as he swims and floats in the waves of the sea.
  [The word] יִתְחַטָּאוּ is an expression of a lack, like (I Kings 1:21), “and I and my son Solomon will be lacking (חַטָּאִים).”
  
  Verse 18
  
  He who overtakes him with a sword—it will not remain A mighty man, who overtakes him to wage battle with a sword—his sword will not remain, because he will break it.
  [neither will] a spear, a slingshot, or a coat of mail Likewise, none of these weapons that are in the hands of the overtaker will either remain or stand up before the leviathan. The word מַסָע may be said to be one type of weapon, like the sword, spear, and coat of mail(?). מַסָע may also be interpreted after the sample of (I Kings 6:7), “whole stones as they were transported (מַסָע) etc.,” and this is its interpretation: a transported spear, which is large and not so easily moved, because it is large and very strong; as the matter is stated concerning Goliath the Philistine (I Sam. 17:7), “And the shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and the spear’s head was six hundred shekels, etc.”
  a coat of mail Heb. ושריה, a coat of mail (שריון).
  
  Verse 19
  
  He regards iron as straw Iron weapons are regarded by him as straw, and copper weapons are to him as rotten wood.
  
  Verse 20
  
  No arrow can put him to flight He will not flee before an archer, and arrows and slingstones are as stubble to him.
  
  Verse 21
  
  Catapult [stones] a weapon, to be interpreted according to the context.
  and he plays at the noise of the harpoon At the noise of the tumult of warriors who carry harpoons, he plays and strolls, for he does not fear them.
  
  Verse 22
  
  Under him are rays of the sun in the place he rests, there are rays of the sun, because his fins, which are under him on his belly, illuminate and shine like the sun.
  rays Heb. חדודי, like a sharp sword, which is sharpened, bright, and whitened. Because of this, he calls rays חַדוּדֵי.
  sun Heb. חרשׂ, the sun, like (above 9:7), “He who spoke to the sun (לחרס) and it did not shine”; (Jud. 14:18); “before the sun (החרסה) set. “
  where he lies is gold upon the mire This is a repeated clause. “Where he lies is gold,” refers to “rays of the sun”; “upon the mire” refers to “under him,” in the place where he is on the sand; this is the mire where he lies. It shines like precious gold, as it is stated (Song 3:10): “its couch of gold.” חָרוּץ is a type of gold, as it is stated (Prov. 8:19): “My fruit is better than gold (מחרוץ), yea than fine gold.” Where he lies—an expression of a couch for lying down, like (Song 3:10), “its couch (רפידתו) of gold.”
  
  Verse 23
  
  He makes the deep seethe like a pot Like a small bubbling pot, that quickly raises bubbles one after another, so does he cause the deep, which is large and deep, to seethe.
  he makes the sea like a seething mixture Like a mixture of a concoction of spices, which is compounded and mixed, so does he make and mix the sea when he moves from his place.
  
  Verse 24
  
  He makes a path shine after him When he swims and floats in the sea, he makes the path of the deep shine, for at the time he swims, there is no water because of the speed of his swimming.
  he considers the deep to be hoary To him, the deep is considered to be weak and feeble.
  to be hoary The weakness of old age and hoariness.
  
  Verse 25
  
  On the dust there is none that rules over him The “mem” [is vowelized] with a “hataf kamatz,” and it means his rule, that no creature rules over him, and it is a noun denoting a ruler. Therefore, the “mem” is vowelized with a “hataf kamatz.”
  which is made Heb. העשו, like העשוי [the passive participle]. However, I know of no similar case [in Scripture]. It means one that was made without fear or dismay, that is not afraid of the creatures, as it is stated concerning the horse (above 39:22): “He scorns fear and is not dismayed.”
  
  Verse 26
  
  He looks at all high things All the high things in the world he sees beneath himself, for so is the custom of the world, that whoever stands above sees the one below more than the one below sees [him]. Also, the one below has no power or victory against the one above. Now this leviathan sees all mighty men; that is to say, they have no power against him.
  he is king over all proud beasts This is a repeated expression. He looks over all proud beasts and he is king over all the proud beasts, over all haughty creatures that I created in My world, who have no rule or dominion against him. Now how did you dare to lift your head before Me, since I perform all these wonders?
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  Job’s ReplyI knew that You can do everything That You can do anything that pleases You.
  and no design is restrained from You He repeats his words, that no design or plan is restrained or withheld from You, that You can complete and fulfill Your plans, for strength and might are in Your hand, and You have the power to do all that pleases You. This verse is similar to (Gen. 11:6), “Now will nothing that they have planned to do be restrained (יבצר) from them?”
  
  Verse 3
  
  Who is this who concealed and covered the counsel and the wonders of the Holy One, blessed be He, without knowledge? I knew that everything is in Your hand to do, and so I related some of Your mighty deeds as were in my heart; as I knew [them].
  but I did not understand But I did not understand so much, as You informed me, for many wonders are hidden and concealed from me, which I do not know.
  
  Verse 4
  
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear Many many times I have heard of You. and now, my eye has seen You Your Shechinah.
  
  Verse 6
  
  Therefore Since I merited to see Your Shechinah. I despise I despise my life. on dust and ashes if I were resting in the grave, to return to dust and ashes whence I was taken.
  
  Verse 7
  
  and your two companions Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite.
  because you did not speak Because you did not speak to Me with a correct argument as did My servant Job, for he did not rebel against Me except for what he said (above 9:22), “He destroys both the innocent and the wicked,” and through the Adversary who denounces the world, as it is stated (ibid. verse 23): “If the scourge kills suddenly etc.” And if he continued to speak, he spoke because of the severity of the pains that burdened him and overwhelmed him; but you rebelled by condemning him, saying (4: 6), “Behold, your fear was your foolishness,” and you held him to be a wicked man, and at the end when you were silenced and defeated before him, you should have consoled him as Elihu did. Was it not enough for Job with his trouble and his sufferings, that you added rebellion to your sins to provoke him?
  
  Verse 8
  
  and offer up a burnt offering for yourselves So that you placate and appease Me, provided that My servant Job pray for you that I forgive your sins, and no longer remember your transgressions.
  for I will favor him Heb. כי אם, because I will favor him to accept his prayer (thus the word אִם is used for “that”), and likewise (Gen. 24:19), “until (עד אם) they have finished drinking”; (Ex. 21:30), “in which case (אם) an atonement is placed on him,” and many others.
  for...not Because...not.
  
  Verse 9
  
  and the Lord favored Job Heb. וישא, [lit. and the Lord lifted His countenance] as in (Gen. 19: 21), “I have favored you (נשאתי) also in this respect,” that He accepted his prayer and showed him a bright countenance.
  
  Verse 10
  
  Now the Lord returned Job’s captivity when he prayed [The word] שָׁב is inappropriate in this matter, and it is as though it were written: “And He returned (נשאתי) Job’s captivity when he prayed.”
  for his friend In the merit that he prayed for each friend of his.
  twice as much Heb. למשנה, for one, two; and Scripture was not exact in its wording.
  
  Verse 11
  
  previous All who were his friends and acquaintances before the sufferings befell him.
  and they bemoaned him Complaindre in Old French, to complain.
  one piece of money a ma’ah.
  and each one and every one of them.
  
  Verse 12
  
  more than his beginning More than his former wealth.
  
  Verse 13
  
  fourteen Heb. שבענה. They were twice seven, two sevens, like (Lev. 12:5), שְׁבֻעַיִם which means two weeks.
  
  Verse 14
  
  And he named the first Jemimah They were named according to their beauty.
  Jemimah Bright and white as the sun (יום).
  Keziah She had a fragrant and perfumed scent like the spice, cassia.
  Keren-happuch Because of the horn in which they put stibium and lixivium, as it is stated (Jer. 4: 30): “that you enlarge your eye with paint (בפוך).”
  
  Verse 15
  
  Nowhere...were women as beautiful as Job’s daughters to be found An instance of beautiful women like the phenomenon of the beauty of Job’s daughters was not found. This verse is on the pattern of (Num. 9:6), “But there was [an incident of] men who were unclean.”
  and their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers Because of (their esteem and) their beauty, he gave them an inheritance with their brothers.
  
  Verse 16
  
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  and sated with days Heb. וּשְׂבַע.From וְשָׂבֵעַ he says וּשְׂבַע, in the construct state.