Job on God's Power and Human Mortality
Job 12:1-14:22
Job.12.1 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- ויען: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- איוב: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- ויאמר: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Job 6:1 (structural): Same dialogical formula introducing Job's immediate reply to his friends—'Then Job answered and said'—marking the start of a speech.
- Job 19:1 (structural): Another occurrence of the formula where Job replies to his friends; structurally parallels 12:1 as the conventional speech-introduction in the cycles.
- Job 21:1 (structural): Begins a sustained retort by Job with the same introductory pattern, showing the recurring rhetorical frame of Job's responses.
- Job 29:1 (structural): Introduces Job's extended monologue about his former prosperity; parallels 12:1 as a transition into a long first‑person speech.
Alternative generated candidates
- Then Job answered and said:
- Then Job answered and said:
Job.12.2 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- אמנם: PART
- כי: CONJ
- אתם: PRON,2,m,pl
- עם: PREP
- ועמכם: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON,2,m,pl
- תמות: VERB,qal,yiqtol,2,m,sg
- חכמה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
Parallels
- Jeremiah 8:9 (verbal): Both condemn purported wisdom as bankrupt—Jeremiah asks 'what wisdom is in them?' echoing Job's ironic claim that 'wisdom shall die with you.'
- Isaiah 29:14 (thematic): Isaiah speaks of God confounding the wisdom of the wise; thematically like Job's rebuke that supposed human wisdom is futile or dead.
- Proverbs 1:7 (thematic): Proverbs contrasts true knowledge with the attitude of fools who reject wisdom; parallels Job's critique of his friends' lack of genuine wisdom.
- Job 5:13 (structural): An internal parallel: Eliphaz (via the speaker) describes the overthrow or removal of the wise' understanding—echoing Job's claim that wisdom will fail among these people.
Alternative generated candidates
- Truly you are the people, and with you wisdom will die.
- Truly you are the people, and with you wisdom will perish.
Job.12.3 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- גם: ADV
- לי: PREP+PRON,1,sg
- לבב: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- כמוכם: PREP+PRON,2,pl
- לא: PART_NEG
- נפל: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- אנכי: PRON,1,sg
- מכם: PREP,2,m,pl
- ואת: CONJ
- מי: PRON,interr,sg
- אין: PART,neg
- כמו: PREP
- אלה: DEM,pl,abs
Parallels
- Job 12:2 (structural): Immediate context: Job answers his friends' assumed superiority — here they claim wisdom, and Job replies that he is not inferior to them.
- Job 12:12 (thematic): Continues Job's reflection on human wisdom ('Is not wisdom found among the aged?'): both verses treat human knowledge and the right to speak against presumptive judges.
- Job 13:4 (thematic): Job directly challenges his friends' pretensions to be wise and helpful ('You are worthless physicians'), echoing the confrontation in 12:3 where he denies being inferior to them.
- Job 32:9 (verbal): Elihu asserts that position or age does not guarantee true understanding ('great men are not always wise'), paralleling Job's insistence that claimed superiority in wisdom is mistaken.
Alternative generated candidates
- But my heart is like yours; I am not inferior to you. Who does not know such things as these?
- I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you. Who does not know such things as these?
Job.12.4 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- שחק: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- לרעהו: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,poss3ms
- אהיה: VERB,qal,impf,1,_,sg
- קרא: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- לאלוה: PREP
- ויענהו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- שחוק: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- צדיק: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- תמים: ADJ,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Job 17:6 (verbal): Both verses depict the speaker as a byword/laughingstock among people (Job 12:4’s mockery corresponds to Job 17:6’s ‘made me a byword’).
- Job 30:1 (thematic): Theme of being mocked and scorned by others — here younger men deride Job, paralleling 12:4’s complaint about being laughed at by companions.
- Psalm 22:7-8 (thematic): Psalm 22 portrays the righteous mocked by onlookers (‘All who see me mock me… “He trusted in the LORD; let him deliver him”’), echoing Job’s experience of ridicule and the challenge to God’s response.
- Proverbs 1:26 (verbal): Proverbs personified Wisdom says ‘I will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when terror comes,’ using the same vocabulary of laughter/mocking found in Job 12:4.
- Psalm 109:25 (verbal): ‘When they see me they shake their heads’ mirrors the concrete imagery of scorn and derision present in Job 12:4 (object of ridicule before others).
Alternative generated candidates
- I am a byword to my friends; I cry to God, and he answers me. The righteous mock me without shame.
- I am a laughingstock to my friends; I who called to God and he answered me— the righteous and blameless are mocked.
Job.12.5 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- לפיד: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- בוז: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- לעשתות: PREP+VERB,qal,inf
- שאנן: ADJ,m,sg
- נכון: ADJ,m,sg,abs
- למועדי: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,const
- רגל: NOUN,f,sg,abs
Parallels
- Amos 6:1-7 (thematic): Condemns those 'at ease' in Zion who are complacent in prosperity — parallels the image of the secure/complacent who mock or disregard misfortune.
- Proverbs 1:32 (verbal): Speaks of the 'complacency' (literally ease/security) that brings destruction — echoes the Hebrew notion of שָׁאנָן (being at ease) in Job 12:5.
- Ezekiel 16:49 (thematic): Describes Sodom's guilt as arrogant abundance and careless ease — similar moral critique of those secure in prosperity and indifferent to others' plight.
- Psalm 73:3-7 (thematic): The psalmist laments the prosperity and apparent security of the wicked and their ease while the righteous suffer — thematically akin to the contrast between the secure/complacent and the afflicted.
- Luke 12:19-20 (thematic): Jesus' parable of the rich fool who trusts in his plenty and is called a fool — New Testament parallel warning against false security and complacency in prosperity.
Alternative generated candidates
- A torch of scorn is for those at ease; rejoicing is prepared for the complacent on a festival day.
- Those at ease deride fear, and the secure laugh at calamity.
Job.12.6 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- ישליו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- אהלים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- לשדדים: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs
- ובטחות: CONJ+NOUN,f,pl,abs
- למרגיזי: PREP+PARTCP,qal,ptc,m,pl
- אל: NEG
- לאשר: CONJ
- הביא: VERB,hiphil,perf,3,m,sg
- אלוה: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- בידו: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs+3,m,sg
Parallels
- Job 21:7-13 (thematic): Job elsewhere enlarges the same theme: an extended complaint that the wicked live in prosperity and security despite their deeds, echoing 12:6's observation of the prosperous tents of robbers.
- Psalm 73:3-12 (thematic): Asaph's lament about envying the arrogant because the wicked prosper and are secure parallels Job 12:6's contrast between outward prosperity and moral disorder.
- Ecclesiastes 8:14 (thematic): Qoheleth notes the puzzling occurrence that righteous suffer while the wicked succeed—same paradox of unjust prosperity found in Job 12:6.
- Psalm 37:7-20 (thematic): This psalm confronts the present prosperity of the wicked but insists on their eventual downfall, engaging the same problem of wicked security that Job 12:6 raises.
Alternative generated candidates
- Those who dwell in tents steal away, and the trusted fall into the hands of their enemies—what God brings about, that they suffer.
- Their tents are safe from marauders, and those who provoke God are secure—into his hand he gives them.
Job.12.7 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- ואולם: CONJ
- שאל: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- נא: PART
- בהמות: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- ותרך: VERB,qal,impf,3,f,pl
- ועוף: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- השמים: NOUN,m,pl,def
- ויגד: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,sg
- לך: PRON,2,m,sg
Parallels
- Psalm 19:1 (thematic): Both passages appeal to creation as a source of knowledge about God — the natural world 'declares' or 'testifies' to divine reality and wisdom.
- Isaiah 1:3 (allusion): Uses the motif of animals knowing or recognizing their master (ox and donkey know their owner) to charge Israel with spiritual obtuseness, echoing Job's appeal to beasts as teachers.
- Proverbs 6:6 (thematic): Directs the hearer to learn wisdom from an animal (the ant), paralleling Job's injunction to 'ask' beasts and be taught by them.
- Proverbs 30:24-28 (thematic): Lists small creatures whose behavior displays wisdom, closely related to Job's claim that animals and birds can instruct humans.
- Matthew 6:26 (thematic): Jesus points to the birds of the air to teach about God's care and what can be learned from observing creation, reflecting the same pedagogical use of animals found in Job.
Alternative generated candidates
- But ask the beasts, and they will teach you; and the birds of the air, and they will tell you;
- But ask the beasts, and they will teach you; and the birds of the air, and they will tell you;
Job.12.8 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- או: CONJ
- שיח: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- לארץ: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- ותרך: VERB,qal,impf,3,f,sg
- ויספרו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- לך: PRON,2,m,sg
- דגי: NOUN,m,pl,cs
- הים: NOUN,m,sg,abs,def
Parallels
- Job 12:7-10 (structural): Immediate context: verses 7–10 extend the same argument that creation (earth, animals, fish) can teach about God’s wisdom and providence.
- Psalm 19:1 (thematic): Like Job’s line, Psalm 19:1 asserts that creation (the heavens) declares God’s glory—creation as a witness or teacher about God.
- Psalm 148:7-10 (verbal): Calls for the sea and its creatures to praise the Lord (let the sea roar), echoing the image of sea life testifying or declaring.
- Romans 1:20 (thematic): Paul argues that creation reveals God’s invisible attributes, paralleling Job’s claim that the natural world can instruct humans about divine realities.
- Matthew 6:26 (cf. Luke 12:24) (thematic): Jesus points to birds (and elsewhere lilies) as instructive examples drawn from nature—similar use of creation to teach human understanding and trust.
Alternative generated candidates
- or speak to the earth, and it will instruct you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you.
- or speak to the earth, and it will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you.
Job.12.9 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- מי: PRON,interr,sg
- לא: PART_NEG
- ידע: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- בכל: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אלה: DEM,pl,abs
- כי: CONJ
- יד: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- עשתה: VERB,qal,perf,3,f,sg
- זאת: DEM,f,sg
Parallels
- Psalm 19:1 (thematic): Creation itself declares God's glory—like Job's claim that all know the hand of the LORD made these things.
- Psalm 95:4-5 (verbal): Speaks of the depths and seas belonging to and made by God ('for he made it'), echoing Job's attribution of these works to the LORD's hand.
- Isaiah 45:12 (verbal): God declares 'I made the earth... my hands stretched out the heavens,' a direct affirmation of divine handiwork comparable to Job's statement.
- Romans 1:20 (thematic): Paul argues that God's invisible attributes are evident in creation, paralleling Job's assertion that the works of creation make God's hand known to all.
- Psalm 24:1 (thematic): 'The earth is the LORD's'—a theological claim that the world belongs to and testifies to God, resonant with Job's rhetorical question about universal recognition of God's creative hand.
Alternative generated candidates
- Who does not know in all these that the hand of the LORD has wrought this?
- Who among all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this?
Job.12.10 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- אשר: PRON,rel
- בידו: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs+3,m,sg
- נפש: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- כל: DET
- חי: ADJ,m,sg
- ורוח: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- כל: DET
- בשר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- איש: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Genesis 2:7 (verbal): God forms man and 'breathes into his nostrils the breath of life,' linking divine agency with the imparting of life (parallel language: breath/spirit as source of life).
- Genesis 7:22 (verbal): Describes how 'every living thing in which was the breath of life' perished in the Flood, using the same formula linking life to breath that Job attributes to God's hand.
- Job 34:14-15 (verbal): Within the same book, Elihu (or the speaker) states that if God were to gather to himself his spirit and breath, all flesh would perish—echoing Job 12:10's idea that life and breath are in God's hand.
- Isaiah 42:5 (thematic): God is proclaimed as creator who 'gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it,' thematically affirming divine control over life and spirit like Job 12:10.
- Acts 17:25 (verbal): Paul declares that God 'gives to all mankind life and breath and everything,' a New Testament formulation that closely parallels Job's assertion of God's possession and provision of life/breath.
Alternative generated candidates
- In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.
- In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.
Job.12.11 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- הלא: PART
- אזן: NOUN,f,sg,cstr
- מלין: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- תבחן: VERB,qal,impf,3,f,sg
- וחך: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אכל: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- יטעם: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- לו: PRON,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Job 34:3 (verbal): Elihu repeats the same proverb nearly word for word: the ear tests words as the palate tastes food — a direct verbal parallel within the book of Job.
- Psalm 34:8 (thematic): Uses taste imagery ('Taste and see that the LORD is good') to describe experiential knowledge and discernment, parallel to Job's sensory metaphor for judging words.
- Proverbs 18:13 (thematic): Warns against answering before listening ('He who answers a matter before he hears it'), emphasizing the proper use of hearing to judge speech, thematically akin to the ear's testing in Job 12:11.
- James 1:19 (thematic): 'Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak,' urging listening and discernment before speaking — a New Testament parallel stressing the value of hearing as a faculty for judging words.
Alternative generated candidates
- Does not the ear examine words, as the palate tastes food?
- Does not the ear test words, as the palate tastes food?
Job.12.12 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- בישישים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- חכמה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- וארך: CONJ+VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- ימים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- תבונה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
Parallels
- Job 32:7 (verbal): Elihu states the same idea in nearly identical language: that advanced days/years should speak and teach wisdom—direct verbal parallel within Job's discourse.
- Proverbs 16:31 (thematic): Associates old age/gray hair with honor and moral worth—similar theme that age brings dignity and the fruits of wisdom.
- Proverbs 20:29 (thematic): Contrasts youthful strength with the ‘splendor’ of old men’s gray hair, linking age with honor and insight as in Job 12:12.
- Psalm 92:12-14 (thematic): Describes the righteous flourishing and bearing fruit even in old age, implying continued maturity and understanding associated with longevity.
Alternative generated candidates
- Wisdom belongs to the aged, and understanding to length of days.
- With the aged is wisdom, and in length of days understanding.
Job.12.13 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- עמו: PREP+PRON,3,m,sg
- חכמה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- וגבורה: CONJ+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- לו: PRON,3,m,sg
- עצה: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ותבונה: CONJ+NOUN,f,sg,abs
Parallels
- Proverbs 2:6 (verbal): Explicitly attributes wisdom, knowledge, and understanding to the LORD—closely mirrors Job's statement that wisdom, might, counsel, and understanding belong to God.
- Proverbs 3:19 (thematic): Speaks of the LORD using wisdom and understanding as divine attributes in creation, echoing Job's emphasis on God's possession and exercise of wisdom.
- Daniel 2:20-21 (thematic): Praises God who gives wisdom and knowledge and changes times and rulers—parallels Job's affirmation of God's sovereignty and gift of wisdom.
- Colossians 2:3 (allusion): Describes Christ as containing all treasures of wisdom and knowledge, reflecting the New Testament echo of the Old Testament theme that wisdom resides in God.
- Psalm 147:5 (thematic): Declares God's greatness and unsearchable understanding, resonating with Job's claim that counsel and understanding belong to him.
Alternative generated candidates
- With God are wisdom and might; counsel and understanding are his.
- With him are wisdom and might; to him belong counsel and understanding.
Job.12.14 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- הן: PART
- יהרוס: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- ולא: CONJ
- יבנה: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- יסגר: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- על: PREP
- איש: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ולא: CONJ
- יפתח: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Deuteronomy 32:39 (thematic): Affirms Yahweh's exclusive power over life and death and human fate — 'I kill and I make alive' echoes Job's assertion that God destroys and does not rebuild, shuts a man up.
- Isaiah 22:22 (verbal): Uses the same imagery of opening and shutting — 'he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open,' closely paralleling Job's 'he shuts up a man, and there is no opening.'
- Revelation 3:7 (allusion): Christ described as holding the 'key of David' so that what he opens no one can shut and vice versa — a New Testament echo of divine sovereignty over opening and shutting found in Job.
- Isaiah 45:7 (thematic): Describes God as the one who creates both well-being and calamity ('I create evil/calamity'), resonating with Job's portrayal of God as the agent who destroys and withholds restoration.
- Psalm 127:1 (thematic): Declares that the Lord, not human effort, is the builder of the house — paralleling Job's contrast between human impotence and divine power to build or destroy.
Alternative generated candidates
- Behold, he breaks down and it cannot be built up; he shuts a man in, and there can be no opening.
- If he destroys, who can rebuild? If he shuts a man in, who can open him?
Job.12.15 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- הן: PART
- יעצר: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- במים: PREP
- ויבשו: VERB,qal,perf,3,pl
- וישלחם: CONJ+VERB,qal,impf_wq,3,m,sg;obj=3,m,pl
- ויהפכו: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,pl
- ארץ: NOUN,f,sg,abs
Parallels
- Nahum 1:4 (verbal): Speaks of God rebuking the sea and drying up rivers—close verbal parallel about divine control over waters.
- Psalm 107:33-34 (thematic): God turns rivers into wilderness and springs into dry land—a thematically similar picture of waters being withheld and the land altered.
- Psalm 104:6-9 (allusion): Describes the primeval waters covered the earth and then fled at God's rebuke—another poetic portrayal of God restraining or dispersing waters.
- Job 9:8 (structural): Within Job, God 'treads upon the waves' and 'shakes the earth'—an internal parallel emphasizing divine mastery over sea and earth.
- Genesis 7:11 (thematic): The flood narrative where God unleashes waters that cover and overturn the earth—an example of waters sent out to overturn the land.
Alternative generated candidates
- Behold, he withholds the waters and they dry up; he sends them out, and they overrun the land.
- If he withholds the waters, they dry up; if he sends them out, they overturn the earth.
Job.12.16 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- עמו: PREP+PRON,3,m,sg
- עז: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ותושיה: CONJ+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- לו: PRON,3,m,sg
- שגג: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- ומשגה: CONJ+NOUN,f,sg,abs
Parallels
- Job 12:13 (verbal): Nearly identical assertion earlier in the chapter: wisdom and might belong to God, paralleling the language of strength/wisdom in v.16.
- Psalm 147:5 (thematic): Affirms God's great power and infinite understanding—echoes Job's claim that strength and wisdom are with God.
- Isaiah 45:7 (allusion): God declares he creates light and darkness (peace and calamity); parallels the idea that both the deceived and the deceiver are under God’s control.
- Romans 9:18 (thematic): Paul's statement that God hardens whom he wills reflects the same theme of divine sovereignty over human disposition and outcomes implied in Job 12:16.
Alternative generated candidates
- With him are strength and prudence; the deceived and the deceiver are his.
- With him are strength and sound wisdom; the deceived and the deceiver are his.
Job.12.17 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- מוליך: VERB,hif,ptcp,3,m,sg
- יועצים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- שולל: VERB,hiph,ptc,3,m,sg
- ושפטים: CONJ+NOUN,m,pl,abs
- יהולל: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Job 5:13 (verbal): Very close verbal and thematic parallel — God overthrows the plans of the wise and brings the counsel of the crafty to ruin (catching wise men in their own schemes).
- Proverbs 21:1 (thematic): Same theme of divine control over rulers/judges: the king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, who turns it wherever he wills, implying God directs or misleads human advisers.
- Daniel 4:17 (thematic): Declares that the Most High rules over the kingdoms of men and gives them to whom he will — emphasises God’s sovereign power over rulers and their counselors, like Job’s statement about misleading counselors and judges.
- Isaiah 40:23 (verbal): Speaks of God bringing princes to nothing and making the rulers of the earth as emptiness, echoing the theme that God can abase or frustrate earthly judges and leaders.
Alternative generated candidates
- He leads counselors away stripped, and makes fools of judges.
- He leads counselors astray and makes judges fools.
Job.12.18 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- מוסר: NOUN,m,sg,const
- מלכים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- פתח: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ויאסר: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- אזור: NOUN,m,sg,cons
- במתניהם: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs+3,m,pl
Parallels
- Daniel 2:21 (thematic): Affirms divine sovereignty over rulers: God 'changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings,' resonating with Job's claim that God loosens and binds kings.
- 1 Samuel 2:7-8 (thematic): Speaks of the Lord raising the poor and bringing down the mighty and taking away princes—parallel theme of God humbling and controlling the power of rulers as in Job 12:18.
- Proverbs 21:1 (verbal): Portrays the king's heart as a watercourse in the hand of the Lord who turns it wherever he wills, echoing Job's depiction of God directing or restraining rulers.
- Psalm 75:6-7 (thematic): Declares that promotion comes from God, not human origin, underscoring the same idea that God controls the rise and fall of kings as Job asserts.
- Isaiah 40:23 (allusion): Speaks of bringing princes to nothing and making the rulers of the earth as emptiness—an image consonant with Job's portrayal of God loosening and binding royal power.
Alternative generated candidates
- He loosens the fetters of kings and binds their loins with a girdle.
- He loosens the belt of kings and binds a girdle on their hips.
Job.12.19 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- מוליך: VERB,hif,ptcp,3,m,sg
- כהנים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- שולל: VERB,qal,part,3,m,sg
- ואתנים: CONJ+NOUN,m,pl,abs
- יסלף: VERB,piel,impf,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Isaiah 44:25 (verbal): Speaks of God confounding prophets/diviners and turning the wise backward—language closely parallel to Job’s image of God misleading or confounding priests/elders.
- Jeremiah 5:31 (thematic): Condemns prophets and priests who mislead the people and govern in ways that perpetuate falsehood—echoes Job’s charge that leaders/priests are led astray.
- Ezekiel 22:26 (thematic): Accuses priests of violating God’s law and profaning holiness, implicating priestly failure and Divine judgment similar to Job’s depiction of priests being led into error.
- Micah 3:11 (thematic): Describes leaders and priests corrupting justice and teaching for gain, undermining righteous order—parallels the motif of God overturning or exposing priestly/elder authority.
Alternative generated candidates
- He leads priests away stripped and overthrows the mighty.
- He leads priests astray and overthrows the mighty.
Job.12.20 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- מסיר: VERB,hiph,ptc,3,m,sg
- שפה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- לנאמנים: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs
- וטעם: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- זקנים: ADJ,m,pl,abs
- יקח: VERB,qal,imperfect,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Isaiah 29:14 (verbal): Speaks of God destroying human wisdom and frustrating the discernment of the discerning—very close verbal and thematic parallel to removing speech and the elders' discernment in Job 12:20.
- 1 Corinthians 1:19 (quotation): Paul cites Isaiah's line ('I will destroy the wisdom of the wise') to show God frustrates human wisdom—New Testament echo of the same theme found in Job.
- Proverbs 21:30 (verbal): Declares that no wisdom, understanding, or counsel can stand against the LORD, echoing Job's claim that God can deprive the trusted of speech and take away elders' insight.
- Psalm 33:10 (thematic): Affirms that the LORD brings the plans of nations to nothing and frustrates counsel—thematic parallel emphasizing God's sovereignty over human speech, counsel, and wisdom.
Alternative generated candidates
- He takes away the speech of trusty men and strips the elders of their discernment.
- He deprives of speech those who are trusted and takes away the discernment of the elders.
Job.12.21 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- שופך: VERB,qal,ptc,m,sg
- בוז: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- על: PREP
- נדיבים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- ומזיח: CONJ+VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- אפיקים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- רפה: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
Parallels
- 1 Samuel 2:7-8 (thematic): Hannah’s song speaks of Yahweh bringing low the powerful and lifting up the lowly—same motif of God humiliating princes and overturning the strong.
- Luke 1:52 (allusion): Mary’s Magnificat echoes the OT theme (and Hannah’s song) that God brings down the mighty from their thrones and exalts the humble, paralleling Job’s depiction of God casting contempt on nobles.
- Isaiah 40:23 (verbal): Isaiah explicitly says God ‘brings princes to nothing’ (or makes rulers as nothing), using language very close to Job’s charge that God brings contempt on the powerful.
- Proverbs 3:34 (thematic): Proverbs states that God ‘scorns the scorners’ but gives grace to the humble—echoing Job’s emphasis that God rebukes the proud/rulers and reverses human strength.
- James 4:6 (allusion): James cites the proverb ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble,’ reflecting the NT reception of the OT theme that God resists the mighty and vindicates the lowly, as in Job 12:21.
Alternative generated candidates
- He pours contempt upon princes and loosens the belt of the strong.
- He pours contempt upon princes and weakens the strength of the mighty.
Job.12.22 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- מגלה: VERB,qal,ptc,3,m,sg
- עמקות: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- מני: PREP+PRON,1,_,sg
- חשך: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- ויצא: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,sg
- לאור: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- צלמות: NOUN,f,pl,abs
Parallels
- Daniel 2:22 (verbal): Nearly identical language: Daniel attributes to God the ability to 'reveal deep and secret things' and to know 'what is in the darkness,' echoing Job’s claim that God reveals depths out of darkness.
- Amos 3:7 (thematic): Both verses stress that God makes hidden matters known—Amos states God does not act without revealing his counsel to his prophets, paralleling Job’s theme of divine disclosure of hidden things.
- 1 Corinthians 2:10 (allusion): Paul says God 'has revealed them to us by the Spirit; for the Spirit searches the depths,' reflecting the Joban motif of God exposing deep, hidden realities (the 'depths').
- Proverbs 25:2 (thematic): Proverbs observes that God conceals things and that wise rulers seek them out; this complements Job’s focus on hidden/deep matters and the act of bringing them into light.
- Isaiah 42:16 (thematic): Isaiah promises God will lead the blind and 'make darkness into light,' resonating with Job’s image of God bringing things out of darkness into the light.
Alternative generated candidates
- He unveils things from darkness and brings the deep shadow to light.
- He reveals deep things out of darkness and brings the shadow of death to light.
Job.12.23 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- משגיא: VERB,hiph,part,m,sg
- לגוים: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs
- ויאבדם: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,sg
- שטח: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- לגוים: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs
- וינחם: VERB,niphal,perf,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Deuteronomy 32:8 (structural): Speaks of God dividing the nations and fixing their boundaries—relates to divine sovereignty over the rise and disposition of peoples, parallel to making/enlarging and bringing low nations.
- Daniel 2:21 (thematic): Affirms that God changes times and removes or sets up kings—echoes Job’s assertion that God exalts and brings down nations.
- Acts 17:26 (thematic): States that God determined the times and boundaries of nations—connects to the idea that God directs the fortunes and territories of peoples.
- Psalm 33:10-12 (thematic): Declares that the LORD thwarts the plans of nations and blesses those who trust him—parallels God’s activity in frustrating or prospering peoples.
- Proverbs 21:1 (verbal): Says the king’s heart is like water in the hand of the LORD, turning it wherever he wills—comparable imagery of God directing rulers and, by extension, nations.
Alternative generated candidates
- He makes nations great, then destroys them; he enlarges the nations, then leads them away.
- He makes nations great, and he destroys them; he enlarges nations, and leads them away.
Job.12.24 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- מסיר: VERB,hiph,ptc,3,m,sg
- לב: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ראשי: NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON,1,sg
- עם: PREP
- הארץ: NOUN,f,sg,def
- ויתעם: VERB,hitpael,impf,3,m,sg
- בתהו: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- לא: PART_NEG
- דרך: NOUN,f,sg,abs
Parallels
- Deuteronomy 28:28 (thematic): God brings mental disturbance and confusion on a people or leaders ("madness, blindness and confusion of heart"), similar to Job’s claim that God removes leaders’ understanding and causes them to err.
- Deuteronomy 29:4 (allusion): Yahweh’s action of withholding perception or understanding from the people ("the Lord has not given you a heart to perceive") parallels Job’s language about God removing the hearts/understanding of chiefs.
- Psalm 107:4-5 (verbal): Describes people wandering in a wilderness and finding no way ("they wandered in the wilderness, in a desert way; they found no city to dwell in"), echoing Job’s image of leaders driven into a pathless waste.
- Romans 1:21-24 (thematic): Paul describes God ‘giving them over’ so their thinking becomes futile and they are handed over to degrading passions—a New Testament reflection of divine action that frustrates human understanding and leads people astray, like Job’s depiction of God confusing rulers.
Alternative generated candidates
- He removes the understanding of chiefs from the people and makes them wander in a pathless waste.
- He takes away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the land and makes them wander in a pathless waste.
Job.12.25 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- ימששו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- חשך: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- ולא: CONJ
- אור: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ויתעם: VERB,hitpael,impf,3,m,sg
- כשכור: PREP+ADJ,m,sg
Parallels
- Isaiah 59:10 (verbal): Speaks of groping for the wall like the blind and walking in darkness without light—directly parallels the image of groping in darkness with no light.
- Psalm 107:27 (verbal): Uses the same simile 'they reel and stagger like a drunken man,' echoing Job's image of bewilderment and instability as drunkenness.
- Proverbs 4:19 (thematic): Describes the way of the wicked as darkness, causing them to stumble without knowing over what they trip—thematic link to groping and lack of light.
- Isaiah 29:10 (allusion): Speaks of a spirit of deep sleep and closed eyes sent by God so that people are bewildered—an underlying cause for the blindness/groping motif similar to Job's depiction.
Alternative generated candidates
- They grope in darkness, without light; he makes them stagger like a drunken man.
- They grope in the dark, without light; he makes them stagger like a drunken man.
Job.13.1 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- הן: PART
- כל: DET
- ראתה: VERB,qal,perf,3,f,sg
- עיני: NOUN,f,pl,cons+1s
- שמעה: VERB,qal,perf,3,f,sg
- אזני: NOUN,f,pl,suff
- ותבן: VERB,qal,imprf,3,f,sg
- לה: PREP+PRON,3,f,sg
Parallels
- Job 42:5 (verbal): Both verses invoke the senses as grounds for knowledge: Job 13:1 claims the eye has seen and the ear has heard and understood, while Job 42:5 likewise contrasts prior hearing with now seeing God—sensory testimony to truth.
- Proverbs 20:12 (thematic): Links the 'hearing ear' and 'seeing eye' as God‑given faculties. Like Job 13:1, it frames understanding in terms of sensory perception.
- Ecclesiastes 1:8 (thematic): Speaks of the eye and ear together (the eye not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing), echoing Job 13:1's emphasis on what the senses perceive and apprehend.
- Psalm 62:11 (thematic): 'Once God has spoken; twice have I heard this' highlights the role of hearing in grasping divine truth, resonating with Job 13:1's claim that the ear has heard and understood.
Alternative generated candidates
- Lo, my eye has seen all this; my ear has heard and perceived it.
- Behold, my eye has seen all this; my ear has heard and understood it.
Job.13.2 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- כדעתכם: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs,2,mp
- ידעתי: VERB,qal,perf,1,?,sg
- גם: ADV
- אני: PRON,1,sg
- לא: PART_NEG
- נפל: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- אנכי: PRON,1,sg
- מכם: PREP,2,m,pl
Parallels
- Job 12:3 (verbal): Nearly identical phrasing — Job asserts his understanding and equality with his friends: “I am not inferior to you.” This verse is an immediate verbal parallel and repetition of the same claim.
- Job 13:4 (structural): Direct continuation of the same speech: after insisting he is not inferior to his friends, Job declares his desire to speak to God. Shows the rhetorical move from defending himself against friends to addressing the Almighty.
- Job 16:2 (thematic): Job again rebukes his friends’ responses (“miserable comforters are you all”), continuing the theme of rejecting their counsel and insisting on his own integrity and perspective.
- 1 Corinthians 9:1 (thematic): Paul’s rhetorical self-defense (“Am I not an apostle? Am I not free?”) parallels Job’s use of a bold, defensive assertion of status and credibility in the face of critics — similar argumentative strategy in a dispute.
Alternative generated candidates
- What you know, I know also; I am not inferior to you.
- What you know, I know also; I am not inferior to you.
Job.13.3 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- אולם: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אני: PRON,1,sg
- אל: NEG
- שדי: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אדבר: VERB,qal,impf,1,sg
- והוכח: VERB,qal,imprf,3,m,sg
- אל: NEG
- אל: NEG
- אחפץ: VERB,qal,impf,1,sg
Parallels
- Isaiah 1:18 (verbal): Both texts use the language of disputation—'let us reason/argue together' (Isaiah) echoes Job's desire to 'argue with God,' emphasizing direct dialogic engagement with the Divine.
- Isaiah 43:26 (verbal): Isaiah's 'Put me in remembrance; let us plead together' closely parallels Job's wish to contend with God, sharing the verbal motif of pleading/arguing a case before God.
- Genesis 18:23 (thematic): Abraham's bold negotiation with God over Sodom (Who will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked?) parallels Job's impulse to speak plainly and argue his case before the Almighty.
- Habakkuk 2:1 (thematic): Habakkuk 'standing at his watch' to hear God's reply and to prepare an answer parallels Job's insistence on addressing and contesting with God over his complaints.
Alternative generated candidates
- Oh that I would speak to the Almighty, and that I might argue my case with God!
- Yet I would speak to the Almighty, and I desire to argue my case with God.
Job.13.4 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- ואולם: CONJ
- אתם: PRON,2,m,pl
- טפלי: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- שקר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- רפאי: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- אלל: ADJ,m,sg,abs
- כלכם: PRON,2,m,pl
Parallels
- Job 16:2 (verbal): Job uses nearly identical language shortly after: 'Miserable comforters are you all,' echoing the charge that his friends' counsel is worthless.
- Jeremiah 8:11 (thematic): God condemns leaders who 'heal the wound of my people lightly'—a similar trope of false or ineffectual healers/comforters giving deceptive reassurance.
- Ezekiel 13:17-19 (thematic): Ezekiel denounces false prophetesses and comforters who prophesy lies and give false security—paralleling Job's accusation of his friends as worthless, deceptive advisers.
- Jeremiah 23:16 (allusion): Jeremiah warns against listening to prophets who 'speak a vision of their own heart' rather than God's word, akin to Job's critique of his friends' unreliable, self‑derived counsel.
Alternative generated candidates
- But you smear with lies; you are all worthless physicians.
- But you smear with lies; you are all physicians who are useless.
Job.13.5 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- מי: PRON,interr,sg
- יתן: VERB,qal,imperf,3,m,sg
- החרש: NOUN,m,sg,def
- תחרישון: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,pl
- ותהי: VERB,qal,perf,3,f,sg
- לכם: PREP,2,m,pl
- לחכמה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
Parallels
- Proverbs 17:27 (verbal): Affirms the link between restrained speech and wisdom: 'he that hath knowledge spareth his words' echoes Job's wish that silence would be true wisdom.
- Proverbs 10:19 (thematic): Contrasts many words with wisdom—'he that refraineth his lips is wise' parallels Job's call for silence as the wiser course.
- Proverbs 17:28 (verbal): Uses similar language about holding one's peace—'when he holdeth his peace... is counted wise' closely parallels Job's statement that silence would be wisdom.
- Ecclesiastes 5:2 (thematic): Advises caution and silence before God—'be not rash with thy mouth' connects to Job's appeal for silence as wise behavior in a charged speech context.
- Psalm 39:2 (structural): Speaks of being 'dumb with silence' and holding peace in the face of sorrow; thematically parallels Job's linking of silence and prudent wisdom.
Alternative generated candidates
- Would that you would keep silent; it would be your wisdom.
- Would that you would be silent, and it would be your wisdom.
Job.13.6 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- שמעו: VERB,qal,impv,2,m,pl
- נא: PART
- תוכחתי: NOUN,f,sg,abs+1cs
- ורבות: CONJ+ADJ,f,pl
- שפתי: NOUN,f,sg,cons
- הקשיבו: VERB,hiphil,imp,2,m,pl
Parallels
- Job 21:2 (verbal): Another speech of Job that begins with an imperative to hear his words—similar wording and the same rhetorical move of calling listeners to attend to his defense.
- Isaiah 1:18 (thematic): ‘Come now, let us reason together’ parallels Job’s appeal to hear and consider his argument—both invite a mutual examination of claims.
- Psalm 5:1 (verbal): ‘Give ear to my words, O Lord’ uses the same imperative to listen; although addressed to God rather than human hearers, it echoes the petition for attentive listening to one’s speech.
- Isaiah 55:3 (thematic): ‘Incline your ear… hear’ is an exhortation to attentive hearing with life-bearing consequences, thematically related to Job’s plea that his words be heard and weighed.
Alternative generated candidates
- Hear now my reasoning, and give ear to the pleadings of my lips.
- Hear now my reasoning, and listen to the pleas of my lips.
Job.13.7 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- הלאל: PART
- תדברו: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,pl
- עולה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- ולו: CONJ+PREP+PRON,3,m,sg
- תדברו: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,pl
- רמיה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
Parallels
- Deuteronomy 18:20-22 (verbal): Warns that one who presumptuously speaks in God's name false words is a false prophet and will be judged — parallel to condemning speech that falsely represents God.
- Jeremiah 23:16-22 (thematic): Condemns prophets who prophesy lies and speak from their own hearts rather than from the LORD — similar rebuke of speaking deceitfully on God's behalf.
- Ezekiel 13:6-9 (thematic): Denounces prophets who utter false visions and prophesy deceit, breaking down the integrity of God's people — parallels Job's charge against speaking deception for God.
- Matthew 7:15-20 (thematic): Jesus warns against false prophets who come in sheep’s clothing and are known by their fruit — a New Testament parallel about those who misrepresent God.
- 2 Peter 2:1 (thematic): Speaks of false teachers who introduce destructive heresies and deny the Master, echoing the idea of people speaking falsely in God's name.
Alternative generated candidates
- Will you speak wickedly for God, and talk deceitfully for him?
- Will you speak wickedly on God's behalf and talk deceitfully for him?
Job.13.8 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- הפניו: VERB,qal,imper,2,m,pl
- תשאון: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- אם: CONJ
- לאל: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- תריבון: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
Parallels
- Job 40:2 (verbal): Directly parallels the challenge language about contending with the Almighty—'Shall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct him?'—using the same theme and verb of arguing with God.
- Isaiah 45:9 (thematic): Condemns striving with the Creator ('Woe to him who quarrels with his maker'), echoing the warning against contending with God found in Job 13:8.
- Romans 9:20 (allusion): Paul's rhetorical rebuke ('Who are you, O man, to answer back to God?') echoes Job's challenge not to contend with or reproach the Almighty.
- Job 13:6 (structural): Immediate context within Job's speech—both verses form a cluster of rhetorical questions accusing Job's friends of arguing on God's behalf and improperly contending with God.
Alternative generated candidates
- Will you show partiality for him? Will you contend for God?
- Will you show partiality for him? Will you argue the case for God?
Job.13.9 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- הטוב: ADJ,m,sg,def
- כי: CONJ
- יחקר: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- אתכם: PRT+PRON,2,m,pl
- אם: CONJ
- כהתל: PART+VERB,hitpael,perf,3,m,sg
- באנוש: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- תהתלו: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,pl
- בו: PREP+PRON,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Deuteronomy 18:20 (structural): Law against a prophet who presumes to speak in God’s name falsely—parallels Job’s charge about speaking wickedly or deceitfully on behalf of God.
- Jeremiah 23:16-22 (quotation): Jeremiah condemns prophets who prophesy lies and speak what God has not sent—directly related to the theme of speaking falsely for God.
- Ezekiel 13:3-9 (allusion): Ezekiel denounces false prophets who build a ‘wall’ of falsehood for the people—echoes the rebuke of those who misrepresent God.
- Proverbs 17:15 (thematic): “He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous are both alike an abomination” —connects to the moral fault of defending or misrepresenting wrongdoing in the name of God.
- Psalm 50:16-17 (verbal): God’s rebuke of those who recite his statutes while hating discipline parallels the hypocrisy of speaking for God while perverting truth.
Alternative generated candidates
- Will it be good if he search you out? Or as one man mock you, shall you be mocked?
- Will it be well when he searches you out? Or can you deceive him, as one deceives a man?
Job.13.10 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- הוכח: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יוכיח: VERB,hiph,imprf,3,m,sg
- אתכם: PRT+PRON,2,m,pl
- אם: CONJ
- בסתר: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- פנים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- תשאון: VERB,qal,impf,3,f,sg
Parallels
- Jeremiah 17:10 (thematic): God searches hearts and minds and repays according to what is found—parallels Job’s warning that hidden delight in sin will bring divine reproof.
- Psalm 139:1-4 (thematic): God’s intimate knowledge of thoughts and hidden actions (He knows when I sit and rise; He discerns my thoughts) echoes the idea that secret pleasures cannot escape divine scrutiny and rebuke.
- Proverbs 28:13 (thematic): The proverb that concealing transgressions prevents prospering, while confessing brings mercy, relates to Job’s concern that secret delight in sin will be exposed and reproved.
- 1 Samuel 16:7 (thematic): The statement that the LORD looks at the heart rather than outward appearance corresponds to the theme that God sees secret motives and will reprove those who secretly delight in wrongdoing.
- Psalm 19:12-13 (thematic): The plea for cleansing from hidden faults and protection from presumptuous sins connects to Job’s notion that secretly indulged sin invites divine correction.
Alternative generated candidates
- He will surely reprove you, if you secretly show partiality.
- He will surely reprove you if you secretly show partiality.
Job.13.11 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- הלא: PART
- שאתו: VERB,qal,inf,3,m,sg
- תבעת: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
- אתכם: PRT+PRON,2,m,pl
- ופחדו: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יפל: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- עליכם: PREP+PRON,2mp
Parallels
- Proverbs 1:26 (verbal): Both passages use the imagery of terror/fear striking or falling on people as a consequence of judgment—'terror strikes you' parallels the idea of fear falling upon the addressees.
- Psalm 2:5 (thematic): God's response to hostile or presumptuous opponents causes fear to fall on them; thematically parallels the motif of divine or judicially‑induced dread falling on those who oppose or judge.
- Job 4:14–15 (structural): Within the Book of Job a related motif appears where the seer experiences fear and trembling before a divine revelation—this passage echoes the theme of fear coming upon human witnesses of the divine (parallel context and imagery).
- Habakkuk 3:16 (thematic): The prophet's physical trembling and inner terror at God's voice mirrors the theme of fear falling upon people in the presence of divine action or judgment.
Alternative generated candidates
- Will not his majesty make you afraid, and the dread of him fall upon you?
- Will not his majesty make you afraid, and the dread of him fall upon you?
Job.13.12 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- זכרניכם: NOUN,m,sg,abs+2mp
- משלי: NOUN,m,pl,cs
- אפר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- לגבי: PREP
- חמר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- גביכם: NOUN,m,sg,abs+2mp
Parallels
- Job 16:2 (thematic): Job condemns his friends' speeches as worthless comfort; both verses attack the friends' consolations as unhelpful and empty.
- Job 2:11 (structural): Introduces the three friends who come to 'comfort' Job; provides the broader context for Job's later denunciation of their words.
- Jeremiah 18:4 (allusion): Uses the potter/clay motif to portray human fragility and craft, echoing the clay imagery (חמר) that underlies the verse's critique of human pronouncements.
- Isaiah 64:8 (allusion): Speaks of humans as clay and God as potter; parallels the metaphorical use of clay to describe human condition and impotence implicit in the verse.
- Ecclesiastes 3:20 (verbal): Employs dust/earth imagery for human transience (all are of the dust), resonating with the verse's use of ash/dust language (אפר) to characterize the futility or frailty of human words.
Alternative generated candidates
- Your maxims are proverbs of ashes; your defenses are defenses of clay.
- Your maxims are proverbs of ashes; your defenses are defenses of clay.
Job.13.13 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- החרישו: VERB,qal,imp,2,m,pl
- ממני: PREP,suff,1,m,sg
- ואדברה: VERB,qal,impf,1,_,sg
- אני: PRON,1,sg
- ויעבר: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- עלי: PREP+PRON,1,sg
- מה: PRON,int
Parallels
- Job 6:24 (verbal): Both verses focus on the dynamic of speech and silence in the dialogue; Job 6:24 asks to be taught so he will hold his tongue, while 13:13 demands the friends' silence so he can speak.
- Proverbs 17:28 (thematic): Contrasts speech and silence—Proverbs notes the wisdom of holding one's tongue, which echoes Job’s concern with when it is proper to speak or remain silent.
- Psalm 46:10 (verbal): Uses the command 'Be still'/'Be silent' (החרישו), paralleling Job’s imperative for his companions to be quiet; both verses emphasize silence as a prelude to a deeper proclamation or revelation.
- Ecclesiastes 3:7 (thematic): Expresses the wisdom tradition’s theme that there is a time to keep silence and a time to speak, directly relevant to Job’s insistence that his friends now be silent so he may speak.
- Psalm 39:1-2 (thematic): The psalmist describes holding his peace and being mute before speaking, mirroring Job’s concern with restraint and the tension between silence and utterance in suffering.
Alternative generated candidates
- Hold your peace; let me speak, and let come on me what may.
- Put now your hand over your mouth; keep silent, and let this be your wisdom.
Job.13.14 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- על: PREP
- מה: PRON,int
- אשא: VERB,qal,impf,1,sg
- בשרי: NOUN,m,sg,suff
- בשני: PREP+NUM,m,du,abs
- ונפשי: NOUN,m,sg,abs,poss:1cs,pref:CONJ
- אשים: VERB,qal,impf,1,sg
- בכפי: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs+PRON,1,?,sg
Parallels
- Job 13:15 (structural): Immediate continuation of Job’s speech — expresses the same resolve and the related idea of risking or surrendering life in relation to God (close contextual parallel).
- Psalm 31:5 (verbal): Both verses speak of committing one’s life/spirit into a hand — Psalmist’s ‘Into your hand I commit my spirit’ echoes the imagery of placing life in a hand.
- Luke 23:46 (thematic): Jesus’ cry ‘Father, into your hands I commit my spirit’ (a quote of Ps 31:5) parallels Job’s motif of entrusting life amid suffering — the theme of placing life in God’s hands.
- Psalm 56:4 (or 56:11 in Hebrew versification) (thematic): Rhetorical trust in God in the face of mortal threat — ‘In God I put my trust; what can man do unto me?’ parallels Job’s questioning of why he would risk/handle his own life against looming danger.
- Psalm 39:4–6 (thematic): Meditation on the fragility and uncertainty of life (‘Lord, make me to know mine end…’), resonating with Job’s concern about holding his life in his hands and the precariousness of mortal existence.
Alternative generated candidates
- Why should I take my flesh in my teeth and put my life in my hand?
- Why do I take my flesh in my teeth and put my life in my hand?
Job.13.15 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- הן: PART
- יקטלני: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg,suff:1,sg
- לו: PRON,3,m,sg
- איחל: VERB,qal,impf,1,sg
- אך: PART
- דרכי: NOUN,f,sg,abs+PRON,1,_,sg
- אל: NEG
- פניו: NOUN,m,pl,cons+3,m,sg
- אוכיח: VERB,qal,impf,1,_,sg
Parallels
- Psalm 23:4 (thematic): Declaration of fearlessness in the face of death because of God's presence — parallels Job's resolve to trust God even if God kills him.
- Habakkuk 3:17-18 (thematic): Uses a 'though... yet...' construction to affirm trust and rejoicing despite total loss, similar in form and spirit to Job's 'though he slay me, yet will I trust'.
- Job 19:25 (thematic): A neighboring Jobic confession of hope ('I know that my Redeemer lives') that expresses decisive confidence in vindication and relationship with God amid suffering, consonant with 13:15's trust.
- 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 (thematic): Paul's portrayal of affliction without despair ('persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed') echoes the steadfast trust and perseverance that Job asserts despite lethal threat.
- Romans 8:35-39 (thematic): Paul's affirmation that nothing can separate believers from God's love models the same unshaken confidence in God in the face of suffering and possible death that Job proclaims.
Alternative generated candidates
- Though he slay me, I will hope in him; yet I will argue my ways to his face.
- Though he slay me, I will hope in him; yet I will argue my ways before him.
Job.13.16 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- גם: ADV
- הוא: PRON,3,m,sg
- לי: PREP+PRON,1,sg
- לישועה: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- כי: CONJ
- לא: PART_NEG
- לפניו: PREP+PRON,3,m,sg
- חנף: ADJ,m,sg,abs
- יבוא: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Psalm 27:1 (thematic): Declares God as the speaker’s salvation ('The LORD is my light and my salvation'), expressing the same personal trust in God’s saving presence as Job’s statement.
- Psalm 62:2 (verbal): Uses near-identical language ('Truly he is my rock and my salvation'), echoing Job’s vocative claim that God is his salvation and refuge.
- Psalm 101:7 (verbal): Prohibits deceitful persons from dwelling in the psalmist’s house and coming before his eyes—paralleling Job’s assertion that a hypocrite will not come before God.
- Habakkuk 1:13 (allusion): States that God is of purer eyes and cannot look on evil; this undergirds Job’s idea that hypocrites cannot stand in God’s presence.
- Isaiah 33:15 (thematic): Describes the morally upright who may 'dwell' or 'stand' in God’s presence (avoiding deceit and falsehood), thematically echoing the exclusion of hypocrites from God’s sight.
Alternative generated candidates
- This also shall be my salvation, for a godless man may not come before him.
- This will be my salvation: that the godless will not come before him.
Job.13.17 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- שמעו: VERB,qal,impv,2,m,pl
- שמוע: VERB,qal,infc
- מלתי: NOUN,f,sg,abs+PRON,1,sg
- ואחותי: CONJ+NOUN,f,sg,abs+PRON,1,sg
- באזניכם: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs+PRON,2,m,pl
Parallels
- Deuteronomy 32:1 (verbal): A direct summons to hear: 'Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak; and let the earth hear...'—parallels Job's opening call 'hear... let my words be in your ears.'
- Proverbs 4:1 (verbal): An instruction to listen to teaching: 'Hear, O sons, the instruction of a father'—similar imperative to attend to the speaker's words.
- Psalm 46:10 (thematic): 'Be still, and know that I am God' pairs the call to silence and attentive receptivity with Job's appeal to hear and hold peace.
- Job 13:3 (structural): Within the same speech Job emphasizes perception—'my eye has seen, my ear has heard'—which reinforces the present verse's appeal that others should hear and receive his words.
- Amos 3:1 (thematic): 'Hear this word that the LORD has spoken against you...'—a prophetic summons to hear God's message, thematically akin to Job's urgent call for attentive listening.
Alternative generated candidates
- Listen to my words, and let my declaration be in your ears.
- Keep listening to my words, and let my declaration be in your ears.
Job.13.18 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- הנה: PART
- נא: PART
- ערכתי: VERB,qal,perf,1,c,sg
- משפט: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ידעתי: VERB,qal,perf,1,?,sg
- כי: CONJ
- אני: PRON,1,sg
- אצדק: VERB,qal,impf,1,m,sg
Parallels
- Psalm 26:1 (verbal): The psalmist asks to be vindicated—'Vindicate me, O LORD'—echoing Job's confident claim that he will be justified.
- Psalm 43:1 (thematic): A plea for God to judge and plead the speaker's cause against enemies, paralleling Job's assertion that he has set forth his case and expects vindication.
- Isaiah 50:8-9 (verbal): God (or the speaker's vindicator) is described as 'near' to vindicate; thematically parallels Job's assurance of impending justification.
- Romans 8:33-34 (thematic): Paul's argument—'Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies'—resonates with Job's confidence that he will be declared righteous.
- Proverbs 18:17 (structural): 'The first to plead his case seems right...' relates to Job's act of formally setting forth his lawsuit (ערכתי משפט) and relying on the adjudication that will vindicate him.
Alternative generated candidates
- Behold, I have prepared my case; I know that I shall be vindicated.
- Behold, I have prepared my case; I know that I shall be vindicated.
Job.13.19 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- מי: PRON,interr,sg
- הוא: PRON,3,m,sg
- יריב: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- עמדי: PREP+1cs
- כי: CONJ
- עתה: ADV
- אחריש: VERB,qal,impf,1,?,sg
- ואגוע: CONJ+VERB,qal,imperf,1,c,sg
Parallels
- Psalm 39:9 (verbal): Uses the same motif and similar wording of silence in suffering — 'I am mute/I will be silent' (Hebrew אַחְרִישׁ), echoing Job's 'then I would hold my peace.'
- Isaiah 53:7 (thematic): Depicts a suffering figure who 'opened not his mouth'—a parallel theme of patient, wordless endurance in the face of accusation and death.
- Lamentations 3:28-29 (thematic): Advises quiet submission — 'let him sit alone and keep silence' — resonating with Job's resignation to be silent and die under affliction.
- Romans 9:20 (verbal): Paul's rhetorical 'Who are you to answer back to God?' parallels Job's challenge 'Who is he that will contend with me?' — both invoke the futility or audacity of contending with God's judgment.
Alternative generated candidates
- Who is he who will contend with me? If I were silent, I would expire.
- Who is there who will contend with me? For then I would be silent and die.
Job.13.20 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- אך: PART
- שתים: NUM,f,pl,abs
- אל: NEG
- תעש: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
- עמדי: PREP+1cs
- אז: ADV
- מפניך: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs,2m
- לא: PART_NEG
- אסתר: VERB,qal,impf,1,c,sg
Parallels
- Psalm 13:1 (verbal): Both use the language of God 'hiding his face' — a complaint about divine hiddenness and a plea for God not to withdraw his presence.
- Psalm 27:9 (verbal): Directly echoes Job's petition not to have God's face hidden or be cast off; same verbal motif of 'hide not thy face' and pleading for God's nearness.
- Exodus 33:14-15 (thematic): Moses insists on God's presence (face) remaining with Israel — parallels Job's request that God not remove his hand/presence and his desire not to be hidden from God's face.
- Psalm 88:14 (verbal): Another lament that uses the phrase 'why hast thou hidden thy face?' reflecting the same existential distress over God's apparent withdrawal found in Job 13:20.
Alternative generated candidates
- Only two things do not do to me; then I will not hide myself from your face.
- Only two things do not do to me; then will I not hide myself from your face:
Job.13.21 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- כפך: NOUN,f,sg+PRON,2,m,sg
- מעלי: PREP+PRON,3,m,sg
- הרחק: ADV
- ואמתך: CONJ+NOUN,f,sg,abs-2ms
- אל: NEG
- תבעתני: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
Parallels
- Exodus 33:20-23 (structural): Moses is told that no one may see God's face and live and God places Moses in a cleft and shields him—parallel concern with the dangerous, overwhelming effects of divine presence and the desire for protection/separation from God's immediate hand.
- Psalm 139:5 (verbal): Uses the image of God's hand encircling or being upon the speaker ('you hem me in, behind and before; you lay your hand upon me'), echoing Job's language of God's hand on him and the close, constraining effect that provokes distress.
- Job 13:20 (verbal): Immediate parallel within the same petition: the twofold request (verse 20–21) — to be granted two things, including removal of God's hand and freedom from the terror of God — shows this verse as part of a connected plea and repeats the same vocabulary and theme.
- Habakkuk 3:16 (thematic): The prophet describes bodily trembling and fear in the face of God's activity ('my belly churned, my lips quivered at the sound'), paralleling Job's plea not to be terrified by God's hand—both texts reflect human fear before divine majesty.
Alternative generated candidates
- Remove your hand far from me, and let not dread of you terrify me.
- Withdraw your hand far from me, and let not dread of you terrify me.
Job.13.22 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- וקרא: CONJ+VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- ואנכי: PRON,1,sg
- אענה: VERB,qal,impf,1,_,sg
- או: CONJ
- אדבר: VERB,qal,impf,1,sg
- והשיבני: VERB,hif,perf,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Jeremiah 33:3 (verbal): Very close wording and promise: 'Call to me, and I will answer you'—directly parallels Job's appeal for God to call/answer.
- Isaiah 58:9 (verbal): Similar formula: 'Call, and the LORD will answer; cry, and he will say, “Here I am.”'—echoes the expectation of a divine response.
- Isaiah 65:24 (thematic): Shares the motif of God's prompt responsiveness to human speech—'Before they call I will answer'—a related perspective on divine hearing and reply.
- Jeremiah 29:12 (verbal): Promises that when people call and pray to God he will listen and answer—parallels Job's plea for a direct reply from God.
Alternative generated candidates
- Then call, and I will answer; or let me speak, and you reply to me.
- Then call, and I will answer; or let me speak, and you reply to me.
Job.13.23 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- כמה: ADV
- לי: PREP+PRON,1,sg
- עונות: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- וחטאות: CONJ+NOUN,f,pl,abs
- פשעי: NOUN,m,sg,suff,1,sg
- וחטאתי: CONJ+VERB,qal,perf,1,sg
- הדיעני: VERB,hiph,imp,2,m,sg+PRON_OBJ,1,sg
Parallels
- Psalm 19:12-13 (thematic): Both ask God to reveal and remove hidden faults; a plea for God to disclose and cleanse sins not fully known to the speaker.
- Psalm 139:23-24 (verbal): Explicitly asks God to search and know the heart and to reveal any wicked way—closely parallels Job’s request that God make his transgression and sin known.
- Psalm 51:3-4 (thematic): An admission of transgressions and appeal to God’s justice/mercy; Psalmist confesses his sins openly, echoing Job’s concern about his iniquities and need for God’s judgment/forgiveness.
- Proverbs 20:9 (verbal): Rhetorical question about who can claim to be free of sin—parallels Job’s acknowledgement of numerous iniquities and the implicit need for divine examination.
Alternative generated candidates
- How many are my iniquities and my sins? Make me to know my transgression and my sin.
- How many are my iniquities and my sins? Make me know my transgression and my sin.
Job.13.24 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- למה: ADV
- פניך: NOUN,f,pl,abs+PRON,2,m,sg
- תסתיר: VERB,hiph,impf,2,m,sg
- ותחשבני: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
- לאויב: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- לך: PRON,2,m,sg
Parallels
- Psalm 13:1 (verbal): Uses the same complaint—God 'hiding his face'—expressing abandonment and prompting the question why God seems absent.
- Psalm 44:24 (verbal): Directly asks why God hides his face and seems to forget or abandon the sufferer—close verbal and thematic resonance with Job’s charge.
- Psalm 102:2 (thematic): Begins with an entreaty not to have God’s face hidden in a time of trouble, echoing Job’s plea against divine concealment.
- Job 23:8–9 (structural): Within the same book, Job laments God’s inaccessibility—'I go forward, but he is not there'—a parallel portrayal of divine hiddenness and the speaker’s inability to find God.
- Lamentations 5:20 (thematic): Asks why God has forgotten and forsaken his people, paralleling Job’s sense that God has turned away and treated him as if an enemy.
Alternative generated candidates
- Why do you hide your face and count me as your enemy?
- Why do you hide your face and count me as your enemy?
Job.13.25 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- העלה: NOUN,f,sg,abs,def
- נדף: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- תערוץ: VERB,qal,impf,3,f,sg
- ואת: CONJ
- קש: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יבש: ADJ,m,sg,abs
- תרדף: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
Parallels
- Psalm 1:4 (verbal): Uses the image of the wicked as chaff driven away by the wind—similar ephemeral, blown‑away/stubble imagery (׳קש יבש׳ parallel to 'chaff').
- Isaiah 17:13 (verbal): Speaks of nations and peoples being like chaff driven by the wind—close verbal and metaphorical parallel of leaf/chaff driven away in judgment.
- Matthew 3:12 (thematic): John the Baptist’s image of winnowing: the chaff is blown away and burned—echoes the judgmental use of chaff/stubble imagery to denote worthlessness and removal.
- Matthew 13:30 (structural): Parable of the weeds and the wheat separates worthless chaff from valuable grain—uses the same structural motif of separating/disposing of chaff as judgment and transience.
Alternative generated candidates
- Will you frighten a driven leaf and pursue dry stubble?
- Will you terrify a driven leaf and pursue dry chaff?
Job.13.26 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- כי: CONJ
- תכתב: VERB,niphal,impf,3,f,sg
- עלי: PREP+PRON,1,sg
- מררות: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- ותורישני: VERB,hiph,impf,2,m,sg
- עונות: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- נעורי: NOUN,m,pl,cons
Parallels
- Psalm 25:7 (verbal): Uses the phrase “sins of my youth” (Heb. נעוריי/נעורתי); appeals to God not to remember or impute youthful transgressions, directly paralleling Job’s complaint about inheriting youth’s sins.
- Ezekiel 18:20 (thematic): Asserts that individuals do not inherit another’s guilt (“the son shall not bear the iniquity of the father”), contrasting Job’s lament that God is making him ‘inherit’ the iniquities of his youth.
- Jeremiah 31:34 (thematic): Proclaims God’s promise to forgive and no longer remember sins—a theological counterpoint to Job’s experience of God remembering and charging his former sins.
- Micah 7:19 (thematic): Describes God casting sins away and showing compassion by removing iniquity, contrasting Job’s sense that God is recording and transferring the bitterness of past sins onto him.
Alternative generated candidates
- For you write bitter things against me and make me inherit the iniquities of my youth.
- For you write bitter things against me and make me inherit the iniquities of my youth;
Job.13.27 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- ותשם: VERB,qal,perf,3,f,sg
- בסד: PREP
- רגלי: NOUN,f,pl,cons
- ותשמור: VERB,qal,imprf,2,ms
- כל: DET
- ארחותי: NOUN,f,pl,poss1s
- על: PREP
- שרשי: NOUN,m,pl,const
- רגלי: NOUN,f,pl,cons
- תתחקה: VERB,hithpael,imprf,2,ms
Parallels
- Psalm 35:7 (verbal): Speaks of enemies hiding a net for the psalmist's steps—language of a ‘net/snares’ set for one's feet closely parallels Job 13:27's image.
- Psalm 141:9 (verbal): Prayer to be kept from the snares laid by wicked men—echoes the plea/complaint about traps and guarded steps in Job 13:27.
- Psalm 119:110 (thematic): States that the wicked have laid a snare for the psalmist—the motif of hostile snares set against a righteous sufferer aligns with Job's complaint.
- Job 19:8 (structural): Within Job itself—God has fenced up the speaker's way and set darkness in his paths, a closely related image of impeded steps and watched ways.
- Job 18:10 (thematic): Describes a person's steps being constrained and his strength's steps failing—thematically related to the loss of freedom of movement and watched/trapped steps in Job 13:27.
Alternative generated candidates
- You put my feet in the stocks and watch all my paths; you set a mark on the soles of my feet.
- you put my feet in the stocks and watch all my paths; you set a limit for the soles of my feet.
Job.13.28 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- והוא: CONJ+PRON,3,m,sg
- כרקב: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יבלה: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- כבגד: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אכלו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- עש: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Isaiah 51:8 (verbal): Uses the same image of garments consumed by moth/worm to portray sudden destruction and shame—closely parallels Job's 'like a garment eaten by moths.'
- James 5:2-3 (verbal): Speaks of 'your garments are moth-eaten' and corrupt riches, echoing the motif of clothing ruined by pests as a sign of loss and decay.
- Matthew 6:19-20 (thematic): Warns that earthly things are perishable ('moth and rust destroy'), employing the same trope of garments destroyed by moths to teach impermanence.
- Luke 12:33 (thematic): Contrasts heavenly security with earthly perishability—'no thief approaches and no moth destroys'—reworking the motif of moth-eaten clothing found in Job 13:28.
Alternative generated candidates
- So man wastes away like a rotten thing, like a garment that is moth-eaten.
- Man wastes away like a thing of moth; he is a breath that passes away.
Job.14.1 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- אדם: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ילוד: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אשה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- קצר: ADJ,m,sg,abs
- ימים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- ושבע: NUM,m,sg,abs
- רגז: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Psalm 39:5-6 (verbal): Speaks of life's briefness ('You have made my days a mere handbreadth') and human frailty ('man at his best is altogether vanity'), closely echoing Job 14:1's emphasis on short, troubled life.
- Psalm 90:3-6 (thematic): Moses' meditation on the transience and toil of human life ('you return man to dust… our days are like a shadow'), thematically paralleling Job's statement about brief, unsettled existence.
- Job 7:1-7 (structural): An earlier speech by Job lamenting the hardships and swiftness of human life ('are not his days also like the days of an hireling?... my days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle'), an immediate internal parallel within the book.
- Psalm 103:15-16 (thematic): Compares human life to grass and a flower—brief and passing—reinforcing the motif of life's transience found in Job 14:1.
Alternative generated candidates
- A mortal, born of woman, is of few days and full of trouble.
- Man who is born of woman is few of days and full of trouble.
Job.14.2 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- כציץ: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יצא: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- וימל: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,sg
- ויברח: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- כצל: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ולא: CONJ
- יעמוד: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Psalm 103:15-16 (verbal): Man’s life ‘is like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field’—very similar flowering-and-fading metaphor about human transience.
- Isaiah 40:6-7 (verbal): ‘All flesh is grass...the flower fades’—uses the same grass/flower imagery to stress the brevity of life.
- Psalm 90:5-6 (thematic): Compares human life to a dream and to grass/flowers that flourish in the morning and wither by evening—theme of ephemerality mirrors Job’s image.
- James 4:14 (allusion): Calls life a ‘mist’ or ‘vapor’ that appears briefly—New Testament echo of the fleeting, shadowlike nature of human life found in Job 14:2.
Alternative generated candidates
- He comes forth like a flower and withers; he flees like a shadow and does not continue.
- He comes out like a flower and withers; he flees like a shadow and does not continue.
Job.14.3 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- אף: ADV
- על: PREP
- זה: PRON,dem,m,sg
- פקחת: VERB,qal,perf,2,m,sg
- עינך: NOUN,f,pl,abs+2ms
- ואתי: PRON,1,m,sg
- תביא: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
- במשפט: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- עמך: NOUN,m,sg,suff-2m
Parallels
- Job 34:21 (verbal): Directly echoes the notion that God’s eyes are upon human ways and sees all their goings—close verbal parallel within Job about divine observation and scrutiny.
- Psalm 11:4 (verbal): ‘The LORD’s eyes behold… his eyelids try the children of men’—language of God watching and testing mirrors Job’s complaint about God opening his eyes and bringing him to judgment.
- Psalm 139:23 (verbal): ‘Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me…’—expresses the same idea of God examining and testing the inner life of a person.
- Proverbs 15:3 (thematic): ‘The eyes of the LORD are in every place’—the general theme that God constantly watches human actions corresponds to Job’s sense of being observed and judged.
- Ecclesiastes 12:14 (structural): ‘For God will bring every work into judgment’—parallels the idea of being brought before divine judgment, complementing the motif of God’s scrutiny in Job 14:3.
Alternative generated candidates
- Do you open your eyes on him and bring me into judgment with you?
- And you would open your eyes on him and bring him into judgment with you?
Job.14.4 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- מי: PRON,interr,sg
- יתן: VERB,qal,imperf,3,m,sg
- טהור: ADJ,m,sg
- מטמא: PREP+ADJ,m,sg,abs
- לא: PART_NEG
- אחד: NUM,card,m,sg
Parallels
- Job 15:14 (verbal): Rhetorical question about human purity—very close verbal parallel within Job asking whether one born of a woman can be clean.
- Job 25:4 (verbal): Near-verbatim parallel linking human birth and impurity: 'How then can man be righteous... or how can he be clean that is born of a woman?'
- Proverbs 20:9 (verbal): Rhetorical denial of personal purity—'Who can say, I have made my heart clean?' echoes Job's claim that none can be clean.
- Isaiah 64:6 (thematic): Theme of human righteousness as unclean/filthy: Isaiah's 'all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags' parallels Job's assertion that no one is clean.
- Romans 3:10 (quotation): New Testament citation of the OT judgement 'There is none righteous, no, not one,' paralleling Job's concluding 'not one' who is clean.
Alternative generated candidates
- Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? No one.
- Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? No one.
Job.14.5 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- אם: CONJ
- חרוצים: ADJ,m,pl,abs
- ימיו: NOUN,m,pl,abs+PRON,3,m,sg
- מספר: VERB,qal,impf,1,m,sg
- חדשיו: NOUN,m,pl,abs+suff3ms
- אתך: PREP+PRON,2,m,sg
- חקיו: NOUN,m,sg,abs,poss:3,m,sg
- עשית: VERB,qal,perf,2,m,sg
- ולא: CONJ
- יעבור: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Psalm 139:16 (verbal): Speaks of 'all the days' ordained/written by God—parallels Job's claim that the number of a man's days is with the Lord and determined by Him.
- Psalm 31:15 (verbal): Declares 'my times are in your hand,' echoing Job's assertion that God has appointed the bounds and number of a person's days.
- Psalm 39:4 (thematic): Asks God to show 'the measure of my days,' thematically connected to Job's concern for the fixed number and limits of human life.
- Genesis 6:3 (structural): God announces a fixed span for human life ('his days shall be an hundred and twenty years'), reflecting the motif that God establishes limits on human lifespans as in Job 14:5.
Alternative generated candidates
- Since his days are determined, and the number of his months is with you, you have appointed his bounds that he cannot pass.
- Since his days are determined, the number of his months is with you; you have appointed his bounds that he cannot pass;
Job.14.6 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- שעה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- מעליו: PREP+PRON,3,m,sg
- ויחדל: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- עד: PREP
- ירצה: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- כשכיר: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יומו: NOUN,m,sg,abs+prs3ms
Parallels
- Job 7:1 (verbal): Uses the same simile—human life compared to the day of a hireling, emphasizing laborious, limited existence.
- Job 14:5 (structural): Immediate context: God has appointed the bounds and number of a man's days, the same theme of allotted, limited lifetime that 14:6 treats.
- Psalm 39:4-6 (thematic): Reflects on the brevity and fragility of human life (‘my days are as a handbreadth’), echoing Job’s plea about limited, appointed days.
- Psalm 104:23 (thematic): Depicts a human working until evening like a laborer—parallels the hireling imagery of enduring toil through an allotted day.
- Psalm 90:10 (thematic): Speaks of the fixed span of human years (‘the days of our years are threescore years and ten’), resonating with Job’s concern about appointed and bounded days.
Alternative generated candidates
- Turn your gaze from him that he may rest, till like a hired man he fulfill his day.
- turn your face from him and let him alone, that he may enjoy, like a hired servant, his day.
Job.14.7 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- כי: CONJ
- יש: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- לעץ: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- תקוה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- אם: CONJ
- יכרת: VERB,qal,imperfect,3,m,sg
- ועוד: CONJ
- יחליף: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- וינקתו: CONJ+VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- לא: PART_NEG
- תחדל: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
Parallels
- Isaiah 11:1 (verbal): Uses the image of a 'branch'/'shoot' arising from a stump—hope of new growth coming from what appears cut down, paralleling Job's 'there is hope for a tree... it will sprout again.'
- Romans 11:17-24 (thematic): Paul's olive-tree metaphor speaks of branches being cut off and the possibility of being grafted back in—a theological use of cutting and regrowth that echoes Job's theme of restoration after being cut down.
- Psalm 92:12-14 (thematic): Portrays the righteous as trees that flourish and continue to bear fruit even in old age—similar motif of enduring vitality and renewal associated with trees.
- Ezekiel 17:22-24 (allusion): God takes a highest shoot and plants it to grow and be exalted; the passage uses transplanting and new growth imagery to signify restoration, resonating with Job's hope of sprouting after being cut.
- Hosea 14:5-8 (thematic): A prophetic image of Israel restored and flourishing—'his branches shall spread' and the land revive—echoing the motif of renewal and a tree's recovery after damage.
Alternative generated candidates
- For there is hope for a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch will not cease.
- For there is hope for a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch will not cease.
Job.14.8 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- אם: CONJ
- יזקין: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- בארץ: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,def
- שרשו: NOUN,m,sg,abs+3ms
- ובעפר: CONJ+PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ימות: VERB,qal,juss,3,m,sg
- גזעו: NOUN,m,sg,abs+3ms
Parallels
- Isaiah 11:1 (verbal): Uses the image of a 'stump' and a 'shoot' (root/shoot imagery) — close verbal and imagistic parallel to Job’s root, stump, and sprout language.
- John 15:6 (thematic): Jesus speaks of branches that do not abide being thrown away and withering — thematically parallels the fate of a tree/branch that dies when cut off from its source of life.
- Romans 11:17-21 (thematic): Paul’s olive-tree metaphor (roots and branches, being cut off or grafted) echoes the theme of life, death, and dependence on the root for vitality found in Job 14:8.
- Psalm 1:3 (thematic): Portrays a tree planted by streams that prospers — a thematic counterpoint highlighting the contrast between flourishing (when rooted) and withering (when lifeless) in Job’s tree imagery.
Alternative generated candidates
- Though its root grow old in the earth, and its stump die in the soil,
- Though its root grow old in the earth, and the stump die in the ground,
Job.14.9 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- מריח: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- מים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- יפרח: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- ועשה: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- קציר: NOUN,m,sg,construct
- כמו: PREP
- נטע: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Psalm 1:3 (verbal): Uses the same tree-by-water imagery: a tree planted by streams that bears fruit and whose leaf does not wither—parallel motif of life/flourishing sustained by water.
- Jeremiah 17:8 (verbal): Explicitly likens a person to a tree by water that prospers and does not fear drought—similar language of rooting, water, and continued growth.
- Isaiah 11:1 (allusion): Image of new shoot arising from a stump (Jesse) conveys renewal and life emerging from apparent death, echoing Job’s motif of revival.
- Ezekiel 37:5-6 (thematic): Promise to revive the dry bones—theme of divine restoration and bringing life back to what seemed dead, parallel to a tree budded by water.
- Hosea 14:6-7 (verbal): Speaks of Israel flourishing, striking root and spreading branches like trees (cedars/olive), and being refreshed—similar language of growth, rooting, and renewal by divine provision.
Alternative generated candidates
- yet at the scent of water it will bud and put forth branches like a young plant.
- yet at the scent of water it will bud and put out branches like a young plant.
Job.14.10 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- וגבר: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- ימות: VERB,qal,juss,3,m,sg
- ויחלש: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- ויגוע: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- אדם: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ואיו: ADV+PRON,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Genesis 3:19 (thematic): The pronouncement that humans return to dust echoes Job’s assertion of inevitable death and disappearance.
- Psalm 39:5-6 (thematic): Both passages lament the brevity and transience of human life—days are few and life is fleeting before God.
- Ecclesiastes 3:19-20 (thematic): Affirms that humans and animals share the same fate in death—‘all go to one place’—paralleling Job’s emphasis on death’s finality.
- Psalm 90:3-6 (thematic): Uses imagery of God turning man to destruction and life like grass that withers, resonating with Job’s motif of human mortality and vanishing.
- Job 7:7-10 (structural): Within the same speech, Job similarly describes life as a breath/wind and insists the dead do not return—an internal parallel in theme and tone.
Alternative generated candidates
- But man dies and wastes away; man breathes his last, and where is he?
- But man dies and is laid low; man breathes his last, and where is he?
Job.14.11 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- אזלו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- מים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- מני: PREP+PRON,1,_,sg
- ים: NOUN,m,sg,cs
- ונהר: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יחרב: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- ויבש: CONJ+VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Isaiah 44:27 (verbal): God speaks of causing the deep to be dry and drying up rivers—language closely paralleling Job’s image of rivers exhausted and dried.
- Isaiah 19:5 (verbal): A prophetic description of a river’s waters drying up and its bed becoming parched—very similar verbal imagery applied to natural watercourses.
- Psalm 107:33-35 (thematic): Describes God turning rivers into deserts and springs into thirsty ground—the motif of waters removed or transformed as sign of desolation resonates with Job’s motif of drying waters.
- Jeremiah 50:38 (thematic): Speaks of a drought against the waters of Babylon—uses the theme of waters failing as an image of judgment and ruin comparable to Job’s depiction of exhausted rivers.
Alternative generated candidates
- As waters fail from a lake and a river wastes away and dries up,
- As waters fail from a lake and a river wastes away and dries up,
Job.14.12 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- ואיש: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- שכב: VERB,qal,inf
- ולא: CONJ
- יקום: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- עד: PREP
- בלתי: NEG
- שמים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- לא: PART_NEG
- יקיצו: VERB,qal,impf,3,pl
- ולא: CONJ
- יערו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- משנתם: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs+PRON,3,pl
Parallels
- Daniel 12:2 (thematic): Both texts use the sleep/awakening imagery for death and resurrection; Daniel explicitly affirms that the dead will 'awake,' which contrasts with Job’s claim that they will not rise until the heavens perish.
- John 11:11-14 (verbal): Jesus describes death as 'sleep' when speaking of Lazarus, using the same metaphor as Job but with an expectation that God can 'awaken' the dead, offering a theological counterpoint to Job’s apparent finality.
- 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 (verbal): Paul uses the sleep metaphor for death ('we shall not all sleep') and links it to an eschatological awakening at the trumpet—addressing the same motif of no rising until the final eschaton but asserting a future resurrection.
- Ecclesiastes 9:5 (thematic): Ecclesiastes presents a grim view of death—'the dead know nothing'—which parallels Job’s portrayal of the dead as lying in unawakened sleep, emphasizing death’s apparent finality.
Alternative generated candidates
- so man lies down and does not rise—till the heavens are no more they will not awake nor be roused from their sleep.
- so man lies down and rises not; till the heavens are no more he will not awake or be roused out of his sleep.
Job.14.13 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- מי: PRON,interr,sg
- יתן: VERB,qal,imperf,3,m,sg
- בשאול: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- תצפנני: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
- תסתירני: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
- עד: PREP
- שוב: ADV
- אפך: NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON,2,m,sg
- תשית: VERB,qal,imperfect,2,m,sg
- לי: PREP+PRON,1,sg
- חק: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ותזכרני: CONJ+VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
Parallels
- Psalm 88:6 (verbal): Speaks of being placed in the depths/Sheol and darkness—echoes Job’s request to be hidden in Sheol until God’s anger passes.
- Psalm 49:15 (verbal): Expresses trust that God will ransom/receive the soul from Sheol, paralleling Job’s concern with concealment in Sheol and eventual divine remembrance.
- Jonah 2:2 (verbal): Jonah’s prayer from ‘the belly of Sheol’ mirrors the imagery of crying out from the realm of the dead and hoping for God’s intervention and recall.
- Psalm 6:5 (thematic): Raises the question of remembrance in death—‘in Sheol who will give you praise?’—relating to Job’s appeal to be remembered after a period in Sheol.
- Lamentations 3:55 (thematic): The speaker calls to the LORD from the ‘low dungeon’/pit, a plea from the depths that parallels Job’s desire to be hidden and then remembered by God.
Alternative generated candidates
- O that you would hide me in Sheol, that you would conceal me until your wrath be past; set me a time, and remember me.
- Oh that you would hide me in Sheol, that you would conceal me until your anger be past, that you would appoint me a set time and remember me!
Job.14.14 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- אם: CONJ
- ימות: VERB,qal,juss,3,m,sg
- גבר: NOUN,m,sg,prop
- היחיה: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- כל: DET
- ימי: NOUN,m,pl,cs
- צבאי: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- איחל: VERB,qal,impf,1,sg
- עד: PREP
- בוא: VERB,qal,imp,2,m,sg
- חליפתי: NOUN,f,sg,abs
Parallels
- Job 19:25-27 (thematic): Job expresses a personal hope that he will see God after death—an affirmation of vindication and life beyond death that parallels the question and hope in 14:14 about living again.
- Psalm 16:10 (allusion): The psalmist's confidence that God will not abandon the soul to Sheol relates to Job's question of whether a man who dies can live again and reflects trust in divine preservation after death.
- Isaiah 26:19 (thematic): Isaiah's proclamation that the dead shall live and their bodies shall rise echoes the theme of resurrection and hope for life after death found in Job 14:14.
- Daniel 12:2 (thematic): Daniel's explicit statement that many who sleep in the dust will awake closely parallels Job's concern about life after death and the motif of bodily resurrection.
- Acts 24:15 (thematic): Paul's declaration of hope in a future resurrection 'both of the just and unjust' resonates with Job's longing and question in 14:14 about whether the dead can live again.
Alternative generated candidates
- If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my appointed service would I wait, till my change come.
- If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my service I would wait, till my renewal should come.
Job.14.15 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- תקרא: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
- ואנכי: PRON,1,sg
- אענך: VERB,qal,perf,1,ms
- למעשה: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ידיך: NOUN,f,pl,cs,2ms
- תכסף: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
Parallels
- Ezekiel 37:5-6 (allusion): God breathes life into the dead bones—'I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live'—paralleling Job's hope that God will call and life/respond will follow.
- Isaiah 26:19 (thematic): Speaks of the dead rising ('your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise') and vindicates hope in divine restoration, echoing Job's expectation that God will call and renew life.
- John 5:28-29 (verbal): Jesus says that those in the tombs will hear his voice and come out—closely paralleling the motif of a divine call provoking a response and resurrection implied in Job 14:15.
- Hosea 6:2 (thematic): Promises restoration after death ('after two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up'), reflecting the same hope of renewal and God's action over death found in Job 14:15.
Alternative generated candidates
- You would call, and I would answer you; you would long for the work of your hands.
- You would call, and I would answer you; you would long for the work of your hands.
Job.14.16 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- כי: CONJ
- עתה: ADV
- צעדי: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- תספור: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
- לא: PART_NEG
- תשמור: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
- על: PREP
- חטאתי: VERB,qal,perf,1,m,sg
Parallels
- Job 31:4 (verbal): Very close verbal parallel — Job asks whether God does not see his ways and 'count all my steps,' echoing the idea of God numbering steps.
- Psalm 37:23 (thematic): Speaks of the LORD establishing or ordering a man's steps, a related theme of divine oversight and guidance of human steps.
- Proverbs 5:21 (thematic): Declares that a man's ways are before the eyes of the LORD and he weighs all his paths, paralleling the theme that God watches and accounts for human actions.
- Psalm 56:8 (verbal): Uses the imagery of God keeping an account — 'You have taken account of my wanderings'/'put my tears in your bottle' — resonating with the motif of God numbering or recording human movements.
- Psalm 139:16 (thematic): The idea that God has knowledge of and records a person's days ('all the days ordained for me were written in your book') parallels Job's concern that God numbers and monitors his steps.
Alternative generated candidates
- For then you would number my steps; you would not keep watch over my sin.
- For then you would number my steps, but you would not watch over my sin.
Job.14.17 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- חתם: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- בצרור: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- פשעי: NOUN,m,sg,suff,1,sg
- ותטפל: CONJ+VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
- על: PREP
- עוני: NOUN,m,sg,cs+1s
Parallels
- Psalm 32:1-2 (verbal): Speaks of transgression being forgiven and sin being 'covered' (cf. Job's image of sins sealed up), emphasizing divine removal/forgiveness of guilt.
- Psalm 103:12 (thematic): Declares that God removes transgressions 'as far as the east is from the west,' paralleling Job's appeal to God to deal with or hide his iniquity.
- Micah 7:18-19 (thematic): Celebrates a God who pardons and casts sins away ('will throw all our sins into the depths of the sea'), resonating with Job's motif of God consigning or sealing up his offenses.
- Isaiah 43:25 (verbal): God states 'I, I am he who blots out your transgressions,' a direct statement of divine forgiveness that parallels Job's portrayal of God sealing away his sin.
- Jeremiah 31:34 (allusion): Promises divine forgiveness—'I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more'—echoing Job's concern that God deal decisively with his offenses.
Alternative generated candidates
- My transgression would be sealed up in a bag, and you would cover over my iniquity.
- My transgression would be sealed up in a bag, and you would cover over my iniquity.
Job.14.18 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- ואולם: CONJ
- הר: NOUN,m,sg,cons
- נופל: VERB,qal,part,ms,sg
- יבול: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- וצור: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יעתק: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- ממקמו: PREP
Parallels
- Job 9:5-6 (verbal): Speaks of God’s power to remove and unsettle the earth and its foundations—language of removing mountains/rocks echoes Job 14:18’s image of a mountain/rock being displaced.
- Psalm 97:5 (verbal): Describes mountains melting or being undone before the LORD; parallels the motif of mountains losing their stability in Job 14:18.
- Nahum 1:5 (thematic): Images of mountains quaking and hills melting at God’s presence resonate with Job 14:18’s portrayal of a mountain/rock being removed from its place.
- Habakkuk 3:6 (thematic): Speaks of ancient mountains being broken and everlasting hills bowing—a poetic depiction of cosmic upheaval comparable to Job 14:18’s displacement of rock and mountain.
- Psalm 18:7-8 (structural): Describes the earth trembling and the foundations of the hills moving in theophanic upheaval, paralleling Job 14:18’s image of geological disturbance.
Alternative generated candidates
- But the mountain falls and crumbles away, and the rock is removed from its place.
- But the mountain falls away, and rock is removed from its place,
Job.14.19 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- אבנים: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- שחקו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- מים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- תשטף: VERB,qal,impf,3,f,sg
- ספיחיה: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- עפר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ארץ: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- ותקות: NOUN,f,sg,cons
- אנוש: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- האבדת: VERB,hifil,perf,2,m,sg
Parallels
- Job 14:12 (structural): Same pericope on human mortality and the end of human hope—'man lies down and does not rise,' reinforcing the theme of vanished hope present in 14:19.
- Lamentations 3:18 (verbal): Uses the language of lost hope ('my hope is perished'), echoing Job's lament that the hope of man has been destroyed.
- Psalm 102:25-27 (thematic): Speaks of creation and creatures wearing out ('they will perish, but you remain' / 'they will wear out like a garment'), paralleling the image of stones worn away and human transience.
- Isaiah 40:6-8 (thematic): Proclaims 'all flesh is grass' and the fleeting nature of human life, thematically consonant with Job's depiction of hopes and things being swept away.
- Psalm 90:5-6 (thematic): Describes human life being carried away like a flood and fading like grass—similar imagery of destruction by water and the transience of human hope.
Alternative generated candidates
- Water wears away stones; its torrents wash away the dust of the earth; so you destroy man’s hope.
- waters wear away stones; floods wash away the dust of the earth; so you destroy the hope of man.
Job.14.20 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- תתקפהו: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
- לנצח: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ויהלך: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,sg
- משנה: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- פניו: NOUN,m,pl,cons+3,m,sg
- ותשלחהו: VERB,qal,perf,3,f,sg
Parallels
- Psalm 13:1 (verbal): Direct verbal parallel — the psalmist asks, 'How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? Will you hide your face from me?' same imagery of God hiding His face from the sufferer.
- Psalm 88:14 (verbal): Uses the same language of abandonment and hidden face: 'O LORD, why do you cast off my soul? Why do you hide your face?'
- Exodus 33:20-23 (allusion): Related motif of God concealing His face — God tells Moses no one may see His face, only His back, paralleling Job's theme of divine withdrawal and hidden presence.
- Isaiah 54:8 (verbal): God explicitly says He 'hid My face' in anger for a moment — a theologically parallel statement about divine hiding/turning away during wrath.
- Numbers 6:25-26 (thematic): Uses the complementary imagery of God's countenance ('The LORD make His face shine upon you...'), offering a theological contrast to Job's depiction of God turning His face away.
Alternative generated candidates
- You prevail forever against him, and he passes; you change his countenance and send him away.
- You prevail for ever against him, and he passes; you change his countenance, and send him away.
Job.14.21 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- יכבדו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- בניו: NOUN,m,pl,cs
- ולא: CONJ
- ידע: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- ויצערו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- ולא: CONJ
- יבין: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- למו: PREP+PRON,3,m,pl
Parallels
- Ecclesiastes 9:5-6 (thematic): Both passages stress the incapacity of the dead to perceive or respond — 'the dead know nothing' parallels Job's image of a man who does not know when his children honor him.
- Psalm 115:17 (verbal): Psalm states that 'the dead do not praise the LORD' / 'those who go down to silence' — similar language of unawareness and inactivity after death echoed in Job's 'he does not know' and 'does not understand.'
- Psalm 146:4 (thematic): Speaks of human breath departing and plans perishing the same day, aligning with Job's depiction of a person who, in weakness or death, no longer perceives honors or sorrows of his children.
- Leviticus 19:32 (thematic): Commands honouring the aged ('stand up before the gray head'), providing a legal/ethical background to the motif of children honouring an elder even when that elder is no longer aware, as in Job 14:21.
Alternative generated candidates
- His sons come to honor, and he knows it not; they are brought low, and he perceives it not.
- His sons come to honor, and he does not know it; they are brought low, and he does not perceive it.
Job.14.22 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- אך: PART
- בשרו: NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON,3,m,sg
- עליו: PREP,3,m,sg
- יכאב: VERB,qal,imprf,3,m,sg
- ונפשו: NOUN,f,sg,suff
- עליו: PREP,3,m,sg
- תאבל: VERB,qal,imprf,3,f,sg
Parallels
- Job 30:16 (verbal): Within Job itself—expresses the same combination of bodily affliction and inward desolation: “my soul is poured out within me; days of affliction have taken hold upon me.”
- Psalm 38:3 (verbal): Speaks of bodily suffering under divine displeasure—“There is no soundness in my flesh” — paralleling Job’s emphasis on pain in the flesh.
- Psalm 31:10 (thematic): Describes life consumed by grief and bodily weakening—“my life is spent with grief… my bones are consumed”—echoing the dual bodily and soul distress in Job 14:22.
- Lamentations 3:19-20 (thematic): The poet recalls and dwells on suffering—“Remember my affliction… my soul hath them still in remembrance”—similar theme of inner mourning alongside affliction.
- Romans 8:22-23 (thematic): New Testament parallel of creation and persons groaning in bodily suffering and longing for relief—echoes the motif of physical pain coupled with inner sorrow or longing for deliverance.
Alternative generated candidates
- But his flesh upon him has pain, and his soul within him mourns.
- But his flesh upon him will have pain, and his soul within him will mourn.
Then Job answered and said:
Truly you are the people, and with you wisdom will die.
For even my heart is like yours; I am not inferior to you. Who does not know such things as these?
I am a jest to my friends; I call to God, and he answers—yet the upright and blameless are mocked.
A scornful taunt for the secure, a byword for those at ease in their feast.
He gives confidence to the tents of plunderers and makes secure the possessions of those who provoke him, whom God hands over to their scheme. But ask the beasts, and they will teach you; and the birds of the heavens will tell you;
or speak to the earth, and it will instruct you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you.
Who does not know in all these that the hand of the LORD has done this?
In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.
Does not the ear test words, as the palate tastes food?
With the aged is wisdom, and in length of days understanding.
With God are wisdom and might; he has counsel and understanding.
Behold, he breaks down and it cannot be rebuilt; he shuts a man in, and there is no release.
Behold, he withholds the waters, and they dry up; he sends them out, and they overturn the earth.
With him are strength and prudence; the deceived and the deceiver belong to him.
He leads counselors astray and makes judges fools.
He takes away the discernment of chiefs and strips the loins of those in authority.
He misleads priests and perverts the cause of the elders.
He removes the speech from faithful ones and takes away the understanding of the aged.
He pours contempt upon nobles and loosens the girdle of the mighty.
He uncovers things long hidden, and brings deep darkness into the light.
He makes nations great, and he destroys them; he enlarges nations, and leads them away.
He takes away the heart of the chiefs of the people of the earth and makes them wander in a pathless waste.
They grope in darkness without light and stagger like a drunken man.
Lo, my eye has seen all this, my ear has heard it and understood it.
As you know, so do I; I am not inferior to you. But I would speak to the Almighty, and I desire to reason with God. But you are forgers of falsehood, you are all worthless physicians.
O that you would be silent; it would be wisdom for you.
Hear now my reasoning, and listen to the pleadings of my lips.
Will you speak wickedly for God? Will you speak deceitfully for him?
Will you show partiality for him? Will you contend for God?
Will it be good when he examines you? Will you be impious toward a mortal and be justified?
He will surely reprove you if in secret you show partiality.
Will not his majesty terrify you, and the dread of him fall upon you?
Your maxims are proverbs of ashes; your defenses are clay.
Be silent before me, and let me speak; and after I have spoken, mock on.
Why should I take my flesh between my teeth and put my life in my hand?
Though he slay me, I will hope in him; yet I will argue my ways before him.
This also will be my salvation: for a godless man shall not come before him.
Listen diligently to my speech, and let my declaration be in your ears.
Behold, I have set my case; I know that I shall be vindicated.
Who is there who will contend with me? If I hold my tongue, I shall give up the ghost.
Only two things do not do to me; then will I not hide myself from your face:
Remove your hand far from me, and let not dread of you terrify me.
Then call, and I will answer; or let me speak, and you reply to me.
How many are my iniquities and sins? Make me know my transgression and my sin.
Why do you hide your face and count me as your enemy?
Will you lift up a leaf driven to and fro, and pursue dry stubble?
For you write bitter things against me and make me inherit the iniquities of my youth.
You put my feet in the stocks and watch all my paths; you set a limit for the soles of my feet. But he is a broken thing, a rotting garment eaten by moths.
Man, born of woman, is of few days and full of trouble.
He comes forth like a flower and withers; he flees like a shadow and does not remain. And yet you open your eyes on him and bring me into judgment with you?
Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? No one.
Since his days are determined, the number of his months is with you; you have appointed his bounds that he cannot pass.
Turn from him that he may rest, till like a hired hand he has fulfilled his day.
There is hope for a tree: if it be cut down, it will sprout again, and its shoots will not cease.
Though its root grow old in the earth, and its stump die in the soil,
at the scent of water it will bud and put forth branches like a young plant. But man dies and is laid low; man breathes his last and where is he?
As waters fail from a sea and a river wastes and dries up,
so man lies down and will not rise—till the heavens are no more they will not awake, nor be roused out of their sleep.
Oh that you would hide me in Sheol, that you would conceal me until your wrath be past, that you would set me a time and remember me!
If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my warfare I would wait, till my change come.
You would call, and I would answer you; you would long for the work of your hands.
For now you number my steps; do you not watch over my sin?
My transgression is sealed up in a bag, and you cover over my iniquity. But the mountain falls and crumbles away, and the rock is removed from its place.
Waters wear away the stones; torrents wash away their surface; you destroy the hope of man.
You overpower him forever, and he departs; you change his countenance and send him away.
His sons come to honor, and he knows it not; they are brought low, and he perceives it not. But his flesh upon him has pain, and his soul within him mourns.