Job's Protest and Despair
Job 6:1-7:21
Job.6.1 - 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 4:1 (structural): Introduces Eliphaz’s speech with a parallel speech‑introduction formula (marks a change of speaker in the dialogue), same structural function as Job 6:1.
- Job 12:1 (verbal): Uses the same verbal formula 'וַיַּעַן אִיוֹב וַיֹּאמַר' (Then Job answered and said), a direct verbal parallel introducing another of Job’s replies.
- Job 21:1 (verbal): Another occurrence of the same introductory phrase for Job’s speech later in the book, showing the recurring formula that structures Job’s responses to his friends.
- Genesis 18:23 (structural): Abraham’s dialogic introduction ('וַיִּגַּשׁ אַבְרָהָם וַיֹּאמַר') similarly introduces a direct reply within a legal/negotiation dialogue—parallel in function as a speech marker.
- Exodus 32:11 (structural): Moses begins a direct response to God with 'וַיֹּאמֶר מֹשֶׁה אֶל־יְהוָה', another example of the narrative speech‑introduction formula that frames an extended reply.
Alternative generated candidates
- Then Job answered and said:
- Then Job answered and said:
Job.6.2 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- לו: PRON,3,m,sg
- שקול: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- ישקל: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- כעשי: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON,1,sg
- והותי: VERB,qal,impf,1,m,sg
- במאזנים: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs
- ישאו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- יחד: ADV
Parallels
- Job 31:35 (thematic): Job expresses a longing for a hearer/arbiter to consider his case—like 6:2's wish that his grief and complaint be weighed and judged.
- Psalm 38:9 (thematic): A lament that the psalmist's desires and groaning are before the Lord, paralleling Job's plea that his suffering be recognized and measured.
- Psalm 56:8 (thematic): God is pictured as recording the psalmist's tears and wanderings—a related motif of God taking note of individual anguish that Job wishes to have weighed.
- Proverbs 16:11 (verbal): Speaks of just weights and balances belonging to the Lord; uses the image of scales that Job invokes when asking that his misery be weighed.
- Isaiah 40:12 (allusion): God is depicted as measuring and weighing creation—an image of divine measurement that echoes Job's desire for his suffering to be weighed and proportioned.
Alternative generated candidates
- Oh that my grief were weighed, and that my calamity were laid in the balances together!
- Would that my grief were weighed, and my calamity placed together on the scales!
Job.6.3 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- כי: CONJ
- עתה: ADV
- מחול: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ימים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- יכבד: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- על: PREP
- כן: ADV
- דברי: NOUN,m,pl,abs+PRON,1,c,sg
- לעו: NOUN,m,pl,abs
Parallels
- Job 3:20-26 (thematic): Both passages voice extreme despair—days are unbearable and life is heavy—and give lamenting speech that expresses a wish for death and the crushing weight of suffering.
- Jonah 2:5-7 (verbal): Jonah depicts being overwhelmed and 'covered' by the deep and delivered from the belly; the motif of being engulfed/swallowed by waters mirrors Job's image of words being 'swallowed up' under overwhelming distress.
- Psalm 42:7 (thematic): ‘Deep calls to deep… all your waves and breakers have swept over me’—a parallel image of being overwhelmed by a crushing tide, comparable to Job’s metaphor of heaviness like the sand of the sea and silenced speech.
- Lamentations 3:19-20 (thematic): The poet recalls remembered affliction and inner bitterness that overwhelm memory and speech; both texts portray sorrow so great that it stifles or consumes words.
- Psalm 88:3-6 (thematic): A sustained lament where the psalmist describes life filled with trouble and near to death, reflecting the same sense of overpowering sorrow and constrained, swallowed-up expression found in Job 6:3.
Alternative generated candidates
- For now it would be heavier than the sand of the sea; therefore my words have been rash.
- For now it would be heavier than the sand of the seas— therefore my words have been rash.
Job.6.4 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- כי: CONJ
- חצי: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- שדי: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- עמדי: PREP+1cs
- אשר: PRON,rel
- חמתם: NOUN,f,sg,abs,3,pl
- שתה: VERB,qal,impv,2,sg
- רוחי: NOUN,f,sg,abs+1cs
- בעותי: NOUN,f,pl,suff1cs
- אלוה: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יערכוני: VERB,pi,impf,3,m,pl
Parallels
- Psalm 38:2 (verbal): Uses the same image of God’s arrows striking the sufferer—“For Your arrows have sunk into me”—paralleling Job’s ‘arrows of the Almighty are within me.’
- Psalm 64:7 (verbal): Speaks of God shooting arrows at the wicked—“But God will shoot at them with an arrow”—echoing the motif of divine arrows as instruments of judgment found in Job 6:4.
- Deuteronomy 32:23-24 (thematic): God’s punishments are described as weapons and disasters sent upon people (“I will heap evils upon them; I will spend my arrows upon them”), paralleling Job’s portrayal of suffering as God’s hostile assault.
- Deuteronomy 32:33 (verbal): Speaks of deadly poison/venom (“Their wine is the venom of serpents”), which parallels Job’s language that his spirit ‘drinks their poison,’ linking divine retribution with poisonous imagery.
Alternative generated candidates
- For the arrows of the Almighty are within me; the poison whereof my spirit drinks; the terrors of God are arrayed against me.
- For the arrows of the Almighty are within me; the poison that my spirit drinks— the terrors of God array themselves against me.
Job.6.5 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- הינהק: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- פרא: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- עלי: PREP+PRON,1,sg
- דשא: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אם: CONJ
- יגעה: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- שור: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- על: PREP
- בלילו: PREP,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Job 39:5-8 (verbal): Job 39 uses wild asses/oxen and their feeding/behavior language to illustrate instinctive animal responses—paralleling Job 6:5’s animal imagery (wild donkey/ox, grass/fodder) and the rhetorical contrast with human complaint.
- Psalm 104:21 (thematic): Psalm 104:21 depicts young lions roaring for prey—similar use of animal sounds/images to represent natural, God‑ordered behavior, echoing Job 6:5’s appeal to animal noise as a point of comparison.
- Proverbs 30:29-31 (thematic): This proverb lists animals and their characteristic behaviors as models or illustrations; thematically akin to Job 6:5’s reliance on animal behavior (braying/lowing, eating grass) to make a rhetorical point.
- Job 6:3-4 (structural): Immediately surrounding Job 6:5, these verses employ the same pattern of rhetorical questions and complaints—structurally related and part of the same argumentative move using contrasts between human suffering and ordinary behavior.
Alternative generated candidates
- Does the wild ass bray when he has grass? or loweth the ox over his fodder?
- Does a wild donkey bray over grass? Does an ox low over its fodder?
Job.6.6 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- היאכל: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- תפל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- מבלי: PREP
- מלח: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אם: CONJ
- יש: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- טעם: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- בריר: ADJ,m,sg,abs
- חלמות: NOUN,f,pl,abs
Parallels
- Job 6:7 (structural): Immediate context/continuation of the same metaphor about tastelessness (the speaker emphasizes lack of savor and value).
- Luke 14:34-35 (verbal): Jesus uses salt/taste imagery—if salt loses its savor it is good for nothing—paralleling the concern with taste and usefulness in Job's simile.
- Matthew 5:13 (thematic): Uses the salt-as-metaphor for value and flavor; echoes the cultural imagery of salt and taste that underlies Job's question about eating the unsavory.
- Psalm 119:103 (thematic): Employs taste imagery (words sweeter than honey) to express value and perception of 'taste,' offering a contrastive use of the taste metaphor to denote worth and savor.
- Job 23:12 (thematic): Job values God's words above food—another instance in Jobic discourse where eating and taste metaphors express worth, desire, and the speaker's condition.
Alternative generated candidates
- Can tasteless food be eaten without salt, or is there any taste in the white of an egg?
- Can tasteless food be eaten without salt? Is there any savor in the white of an egg?
Job.6.7 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- מאנה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- לנגוע: PREP+VERB,qal,inf
- נפשי: NOUN,f,sg,abs+1cs
- המה: PRON,3,m,pl
- כדוי: ADJ,m,sg
- לחמי: NOUN,m,sg,abs+1s
Parallels
- Psalm 38:2 (verbal): Uses the imagery of God's arrows/afflictions lodged in the body—verbal echo of Job's description of inward torment and divine wounding.
- Psalm 22:14-15 (thematic): Vivid portrayal of bodily collapse and extreme distress parallels Job's lament over physical suffering and weakening.
- Job 7:1-2 (structural): Immediate continuation within Job's speech treating human frailty and the hardship of life—develops the same theme of suffering and mortality.
- Psalm 88:3-5 (thematic): Sustained, overwhelming anguish and sense of drawing near to death mirror the depth and persistence of Job's complaint.
- Lamentations 3:19-20 (thematic): Recollection of bitter affliction and the inner remembrance of misery resonates with Job's lament and his recounting of personal agony.
Alternative generated candidates
- My soul refuses to touch them; they are as loathsome food to me.
- My soul refuses to touch them— they are as loathsome food to me.
Job.6.8 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- מי: PRON,interr,sg
- יתן: VERB,qal,imperf,3,m,sg
- תבוא: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
- שאלתי: NOUN,f,sg,cstr+1s
- ותקותי: CONJ+NOUN,f,sg,abs+1s
- יתן: VERB,qal,imperf,3,m,sg
- אלוה: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Psalm 20:4 (verbal): A direct petition that God would grant the desire of the petitioner’s heart — closely parallels Job’s wish that God would grant his request and hope.
- Psalm 37:4 (thematic): Expresses the hope that God will give the desires of the heart; thematically parallels Job’s longing for God to fulfill his request.
- Psalm 10:17 (thematic): Affirms that God hears the desire/askings of the afflicted — parallels Job’s plea for God to attend to and grant his petition.
- Job 14:13 (structural): Another 'Oh that...' wish in Job addressing God’s decisive intervention; structurally and emotionally similar as a longing for God to act on the speaker’s behalf.
Alternative generated candidates
- Oh that my request might be granted, and that God would give me the thing that I long for,
- Oh that my request were granted, and that God would give me the thing I long for—
Job.6.9 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- ויאל: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- אלוה: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- וידכאני: VERB,qal,imperfect,3,m,sg
- יתר: ADJ,m,sg,abs
- ידו: NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON,3,m,sg
- ויבצעני: VERB,qal,imperfect,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Job 3:11-12 (thematic): An earlier speech of Job that likewise asks why he was not allowed to die at birth—both passages voice despair and a wish for nonexistence or death.
- Job 14:13 (thematic): Speaks of wishing to be hidden in the grave and kept secret—parallel desire to be removed from life and suffering (concealment/cutting off).
- 1 Kings 19:4 (thematic): Elijah prays 'Take away my life' after his distress—an explicit petition for God to end life that parallels Job's wish that God would crush or cut him off.
- Jonah 4:3 (verbal): Jonah asks God to take his life ('Take, I pray thee, my life'), using very similar language and expressing preference for death over continued existence in distress.
- Psalm 88:6-7 (structural): The psalmist describes being laid in the lowest pit and overwhelmed by darkness—a thematic parallel of utter despair and imagery of being brought low or cut off by suffering.
Alternative generated candidates
- that God would be willing to crush me, that he would let loose his hand and cut me off!
- that God would grant and loosen his hand, and cut me off!
Job.6.10 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- ותהי: VERB,qal,perf,3,f,sg
- עוד: ADV
- נחמתי: VERB,qal,perf,1,c,sg
- ואסלדה: VERB,qal,impf,1,m,sg
- בחילה: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- לא: PART_NEG
- יחמול: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- כי: CONJ
- לא: PART_NEG
- כחדתי: VERB,qal,perf,1,_,sg
- אמרי: VERB,qal,impv,2,f,sg
- קדוש: ADJ,m,sg
Parallels
- Job 13:3-4 (verbal): Job there insists he will speak openly to the Almighty and not hide his words, echoing 6:10’s claim that he has not concealed the words of the Holy One and will speak despite suffering.
- Job 23:3-7 (thematic): Job expresses the desire to present his case before God and to understand God’s dealings with him—paralleling 6:10’s plea for God’s mercy and Job’s insistence on confronting God with his words.
- Jeremiah 20:9 (thematic): Jeremiah describes an inability to refrain from speaking God’s word (a ‘fire’ in his bones), similar to Job’s assertion that he has not hidden the words of the Holy One and cannot keep silent.
- Psalm 119:46 (thematic): The psalmist vows to speak God’s testimonies openly before kings and not be ashamed—resonating with Job’s refusal to conceal the words of the Holy One and his insistence on vocal complaint and testimony.
Alternative generated candidates
- Then should I yet have comfort; yea, I would exult in pain unrelieved, for I have not denied the words of the Holy One.
- Would there then be comfort for me? No— he would not spare; for I have not concealed the words of the Holy One.
Job.6.11 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- מה: PRON,int
- כחי: NOUN,m,sg,poss,1,sg
- כי: CONJ
- איחל: VERB,qal,impf,1,sg
- ומה: CONJ+PRON,int
- קצי: NOUN,m,sg,suff
- כי: CONJ
- אאריך: VERB,qal,impf,1,m,sg
- נפשי: NOUN,f,sg,abs+1cs
Parallels
- Job 7:6-7, 7:16 (structural): Continues Job's same speech of despair: transience of life, loss of hope, and the wish that life would end—direct sequel to the sentiment of 6:11.
- Job 14:1-2 (thematic): Affirms human brevity and fragility (‘few days and full of trouble’), echoing Job's question about the point of hoping or prolonging life.
- Lamentations 3:18 (verbal): Uses the paired terms 'strength' and 'hope' ('my strength and my hope have perished'), a close verbal echo of Job's lament about lacking strength to hope.
- Psalm 39:5-7 (verbal): Meditates on life's brevity ('man is a mere breath/shadow') and asks 'what do I wait for? my hope is in you,' paralleling Job's questioning of hope and the fleeting nature of life.
- Habakkuk 1:2 (thematic): Opens with a direct complaint to God—'How long, O LORD, shall I cry?'—reflecting the anguished questioning and sense of abandoned expectation found in Job 6:11.
Alternative generated candidates
- What is my strength, that I should hope? and what is mine end, that I should prolong my life?
- What strength have I that I should hope? what is my end that I should prolong my life?
Job.6.12 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- אם: CONJ
- כח: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אבנים: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- כחי: NOUN,m,sg,poss,1,sg
- אם: CONJ
- בשרי: NOUN,m,sg,suff
- נחוש: ADJ,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Ezekiel 3:8-9 (verbal): God tells Ezekiel He has made his forehead 'like the hardest stone' (adamant), using stone/adamant imagery of hardness and endurance similar to Job's rhetorical question about the 'strength of stones.'
- Jeremiah 1:18 (verbal): God declares He has made Jeremiah 'a defended city, and an iron pillar, and brasen walls,' employing metal imagery (iron/brass/bronze) for firmness and resilience paralleling Job's 'is my flesh brass?'."
- Psalm 18:2 (thematic): The Psalmist calls God 'my rock and my fortress,' using rock/stone as the metaphor of strength and protection—themically resonant with Job's contrast between human weakness and the hardness of stone.
- Psalm 62:2 (thematic): 'He only is my rock and my salvation'—another use of rock as the emblem of strength and stability, echoing Job's reflection on whether human strength can be like stone or metal.
Alternative generated candidates
- Is my strength the strength of stones, or is my flesh brass?
- Is my strength the strength of stones, or is my flesh bronze?
Job.6.13 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- האם: NOUN,f,sg,def
- אין: PART,neg
- עזרתי: NOUN,f,sg,abs,poss1,sg
- בי: PREP+PRON,1,sg
- ותשיה: CONJ+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- נדחה: VERB,niphal,ptc,?,f,sg
- ממני: PREP,suff,1,m,sg
Parallels
- Psalm 22:1 (thematic): Both express a profound sense of divine abandonment — a cry asking why God has forsaken or withdrawn help from the speaker.
- Psalm 10:1 (thematic): Both question God’s distance in times of trouble: 'Why do you stand afar off? why do you hide yourself...?' echoes Job’s complaint that help is withheld.
- Psalm 88:14 (verbal): Psalmist asks why God has 'cast off' him and 'hidden his face,' language closely parallel to Job’s claim that assistance has been turned away.
- Job 30:20 (structural): Within Job’s own laments the same motif recurs: 'I cry to you, and you do not answer me,' a direct parallel in voice and theme to the complaint that help is denied.
Alternative generated candidates
- Is my help not within me, and is success driven far from me?
- Is help expected from within me, and is counsel driven far from me?
Job.6.14 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- למס: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- מרעהו: NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON,3,m,sg
- חסד: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ויראת: CONJ+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- שדי: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יעזוב: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Job 2:11 (structural): The three friends initially come to show sympathy to the afflicted Job—this scene frames the expectation that friends will show pity, which Job later says is lacking.
- Proverbs 19:17 (thematic): Affirmation that showing mercy to the poor/afflicted is a moral duty (and equivalent to lending to the LORD), paralleling the obligation of a friend to pity the afflicted.
- Psalm 41:1-3 (thematic): Blessing on those who consider the poor and afflicted, promising God’s care—contrasts with the friend in Job who abandons compassion and the fear of God.
- Proverbs 3:27 (thematic): Instruction not to withhold good from those who deserve it; a general ethical imperative that echoes Job’s claim about the proper conduct of a friend toward the afflicted.
- Proverbs 9:10 (allusion): ‘The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom’—used here to explain Job’s accusation that the friend has ‘forsaken the fear of the Almighty,’ which accounts for his lack of compassionate behavior.
Alternative generated candidates
- He who withholds kindness from a friend abandons the fear of the Almighty.
- If one should show loyalty to a friend when he is in trouble— would he abandon the fear of the Almighty?
Job.6.15 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- אחי: NOUN,m,pl,suff
- בגדו: NOUN,m,sg,abs+3ms
- כמו: PREP
- נחל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- כאפיק: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- נחלים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- יעברו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
Parallels
- Job 19:19 (verbal): Job similarly laments that his close relatives and those he loved have turned against him—same context of friends/family abandoning the sufferer.
- Psalm 55:12-14 (thematic): The psalmist mourns betrayal by a close companion who shared intimacy and counsel—parallels Job’s complaint about brothers proving unreliable.
- Psalm 41:9 (thematic): David speaks of being betrayed by a close friend who ate his bread; echoes the theme of intimate associates acting treacherously.
- Proverbs 25:19 (thematic): Compares confidence in an unfaithful person to a dangerous physical injury—another proverb-like simile for the danger of relying on unreliable friends, resonant with Job’s ‘stream that passes away.’
Alternative generated candidates
- My brothers have dealt deceitfully like a brook, like channels of wadis that pass away;
- My brothers have dealt deceitfully like a torrent, like channels of streams that pass away;
Job.6.16 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- הקדרים: NOUN,m,pl,def
- מני: PREP+PRON,1,_,sg
- קרח: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- עלימו: PREP+PRON,3,m,pl
- יתעלם: VERB,hitp,impf,3,m,sg
- שלג: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Job 37:6-7 (thematic): Describes the clouds, snow, and God’s control over precipitation—echoes the image of clouds withholding moisture and snow being withheld or appointed.
- Job 38:22-24 (verbal): Speaks of the 'treasures of snow and hail' and God’s knowledge/reservation of them—linguistic and conceptual parallels to snow being withheld or hidden.
- Psalm 147:16-18 (verbal): Attributes to God the giving and withholding of snow, frost, and rain; uses similar vocabulary about snow and God’s sovereign control over weather.
- Amos 4:7 (thematic): God withholds rain as a punitive act ('I also withheld the rain...'), paralleling the theme of clouds/precipitation being withheld from the earth.
Alternative generated candidates
- which are dark with ice and where the snow hides;
- which are blackened by ice and whose surface is covered with snow;
Job.6.17 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- בעת: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- יזרבו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- נצמתו: VERB,niphal,perf,3,m,pl
- בחמו: PREP
- נדעכו: VERB,niphal,perf,3,m,pl
- ממקומם: PREP
Parallels
- Isaiah 40:30-31 (thematic): Both passages portray human strength and zeal failing under pressure—vitality diminishes and one must look beyond human resources for renewal.
- Psalm 102:3-4 (thematic): Uses imagery of being consumed/burned up and weakened by distress, echoing Job’s picture of wasting/being extinguished in calamity.
- Psalm 39:10 (verbal): Speaks of being consumed and worn away by affliction—the language of being 'consumed' parallels Job’s description of loss of place/strength.
- Job 7:6 (structural): Another of Job’s laments about the brevity and wearing away of life; thematically linked in depicting life and strength spent under suffering.
Alternative generated candidates
- when they grow warm they vanish, when it is hot they are consumed out of their place.
- when warm weather comes they vanish; in the heat they are consumed from their place.
Job.6.18 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- ילפתו: VERB,qal,impf,3,pl
- ארחות: NOUN,f,pl,cons
- דרכם: NOUN,f,sg,abs+3,m,pl
- יעלו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- בתהו: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ויאבדו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
Parallels
- Psalm 1:6 (verbal): Contrasts the fate of the righteous and the wicked: 'the LORD knows the way of the righteous; but the way of the wicked shall perish' — similar language of 'way' (דרך) and 'perish' (יאבדו).
- Proverbs 2:18 (verbal): Describes a woman's house whose 'paths go down to death' — parallels the image of paths leading to destruction or perishing.
- Psalm 107:4–5 (thematic): Speaks of those who wandered in the wilderness, their way lost and perishing from hunger/thirst — thematically parallels travellers losing their way and perishing.
- Proverbs 4:19 (thematic): 'The way of the wicked is like darkness; they do not know at what they stumble' — thematically echoes the idea of a way that leads to ruin or loss of direction.
Alternative generated candidates
- Their paths become barren; they go up into the void and perish.
- Their course leads them to emptiness; they go astray and perish.
Job.6.19 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- הביטו: VERB,qal,imp,2,pl
- ארחות: NOUN,f,pl,cons
- תמא: ADV
- הליכת: NOUN,f,sg,construct
- שבא: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- קוו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- למו: PREP+PRON,3,m,pl
Parallels
- Isaiah 21:14 (verbal): Explicitly mentions the caravans/inhabitants of Tema and uses similar desert–caravan imagery found in Job 6:19.
- Isaiah 60:6 (thematic): Speaks of caravans (including those of Sheba) bringing goods and hope, echoing the image of travelers from Sheba in Job 6:19.
- Jeremiah 25:23 (verbal): Lists Tema among Arabian tribes/nations, providing a geographical and cultural parallel to Job's reference to Tema.
- Psalm 72:10 (thematic): Speaks of the kings/travelers of Sheba bringing gifts and tribute, thematically paralleling the expectation/role of Sheba's travelers in Job 6:19.
Alternative generated candidates
- The caravans of Tema looked; the companies of Sheba hoped for them.
- They look for them as caravans of Tema look, and as companies of Sheba wait for them.
Job.6.20 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- בשו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- כי: CONJ
- בטח: ADV
- באו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- עדיה: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ויחפרו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
Parallels
- Jeremiah 17:5 (verbal): Both verses warn that placing trust in humans brings disaster/shame — Jer. 17:5 explicitly curses those who 'trust in man,' echoing Job's observation that those who trusted are confounded.
- Isaiah 31:1 (thematic): Isaiah condemns confidence in military power (chariots/horses) as ultimately disastrous; thematically parallels Job's motif of misplaced trust leading to shame and failure.
- Psalm 118:8 (thematic): Psalm asserts it is better to trust in the LORD than in man; contrasts the fate of those who trust in people (shame/disappointment) with the security of trusting God, reflecting Job's critique of misplaced confidence.
- Job 6:14–16 (structural): Immediate context: Job pictures his friends as unhelpful and treacherous—those who were expected to support him have turned aside and are confounded—directly parallels and explains v.20's charge that trusted ones are ashamed.
Alternative generated candidates
- They were ashamed because they trusted; they came and were confounded.
- They are confounded because they trusted; they come there and are put to shame.
Job.6.21 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- כי: CONJ
- עתה: ADV
- הייתם: VERB,qal,perf,2,m,pl
- לו: PRON,3,m,sg
- תראו: VERB,qal,imperfect,2,m,pl
- חתת: NOUN,f,sg,cons
- ותיראו: CONJ+VERB,qal,imprf,2,m,pl
Parallels
- Job 6:14 (structural): Immediate context: Job contrasts the duty of friends to show pity to the afflicted with their actual conduct—abandoning or failing him—directly shaping the sentiment of 6:21 about their fearful reaction to his ruin.
- Job 2:11–13 (structural): Narrative parallel: Job's friends initially come to sit with him in silence at his suffering; the scene frames the later development where their presence turns to reproach or fear when confronted with his calamity.
- Psalm 38:11–12 (thematic): The psalmist laments that friends and companions stand aloof from his affliction—a theme of companions' fear or withdrawal on seeing human suffering that echoes Job 6:21's depiction of fearful reaction to calamity.
- Lamentations 1:17 (thematic): Jerusalem's cry that there is none to comfort her when she spreads out her hands parallels the idea of people seeing ruin and lacking the courage or compassion to help, resonating with Job's charge about his friends' fearful response.
Alternative generated candidates
- So now you are nothing—see, be ashamed and bear fear.
- So now you are nothing; you see my terror and are afraid.
Job.6.22 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- ה: PART
- כי: CONJ
- אמרתי: VERB,qal,perf,1,com,sg
- הבו: VERB,qal,imp,2,pl
- לי: PREP+PRON,1,sg
- ומכחכם: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs,prsfx=2,pl
- שחדו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- בעדי: PREP+1,sg
Parallels
- Job 23:4 (thematic): Same courtroom motif: Job insists on ordering his case before God and wants to present arguments—like 6:22’s demand that charges be brought and tested against him.
- Job 31:35 (structural): Closely related legal imagery: Job wishes for an official hearing or a written accusation so his innocence can be examined, echoing the call to ‘bring (charges) against me.’
- Isaiah 43:26 (verbal): ‘Put me in remembrance; let us plead together’ uses the language of pleading and joint adjudication similar to Job’s challenge to have accusations brought and weighed.
- Psalm 26:2 (verbal): ‘Prove me, O LORD, and try me’ parallels the demand to be tested and vindicated, resonating with Job’s appeal for his case to be brought forward and examined.
- Proverbs 18:17 (thematic): Legal/forensic theme: the proverb highlights the importance of hearing a case and examining charges—matching Job’s insistence that accusations be produced and scrutinized.
Alternative generated candidates
- Have I said, 'Bring to me, and let the power of your hand be a pledge for me'?
- Did I say, 'Bring to me,' and 'From your might make a present for me'— or, 'Accept a bribe on my behalf'?
Job.6.23 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- ומלטוני: VERB,qal,imp,2,m,sg
- מיד: PREP
- צר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ומיד: CONJ+PREP
- עריצים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- תפדוני: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
Parallels
- Psalm 140:1-2 (verbal): A close verbal parallel: an entreaty to the LORD to rescue the speaker from evil/violent men—'Rescue me… from violent men' echoes Job's plea to be delivered from oppressors/tyrants.
- Psalm 59:1-2 (verbal): Similar petition for deliverance: 'Deliver me from my enemies… from bloodthirsty men,' matching Job's request to be redeemed from the hand of cruel foes.
- Psalm 7:1 (thematic): A general prayer for protection and deliverance from persecutors—shares the same motif of asking God to save the petitioner from the hand of hostile oppressors.
- Psalm 18:16-19 (cf. 2 Samuel 22:17-20) (thematic): Describes God delivering the psalmist from deadly danger and enemies; thematically parallels Job's appeal for divine rescue from the hand of violent/tyrannical foes.
Alternative generated candidates
- Deliver me from the hand of the oppressor, and redeem me from the hand of the violent.
- Deliver me from the hand of the adversary, and redeem me from the hand of the oppressor.
Job.6.24 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- הורוני: VERB,hiphil,imp,2,m,pl
- ואני: PRON,1,sg
- אחריש: VERB,qal,impf,1,?,sg
- ומה: CONJ+PRON,int
- שגיתי: VERB,qal,perf,1,m,sg
- הבינו: VERB,hiphil,imp,2,m,pl
- לי: PREP+PRON,1,sg
Parallels
- Job 13:23 (structural): Same speaker/book and closely related plea: Job again asks to be shown his transgression and to have his sins made known (request for instruction and correction).
- Psalm 25:4 (verbal): Explicit petition for divine instruction—"Show me your ways; teach me your paths"—mirrors Job's appeal to be taught and shown where he has erred.
- Psalm 19:12 (verbal): Asks who can discern their errors and requests cleansing from hidden faults—parallels Job's request to have his mistake pointed out and explained.
- Psalm 139:23 (thematic): A request for God to search and reveal hidden sin—themewise akin to Job's desire for his error to be disclosed so he can respond.
Alternative generated candidates
- Teach me, and I will be silent; and cause me to know wherein I have erred.
- Teach me, and I will be silent; and show me where I have erred.
Job.6.25 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- מה: PRON,int
- נמרצו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- אמרי: VERB,qal,impv,2,f,sg
- ישר: ADJ,m,sg
- ומה: CONJ+PRON,int
- יוכיח: VERB,hiph,imprf,3,m,sg
- הוכח: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- מכם: PREP,2,m,pl
Parallels
- Job 16:2 (thematic): Job earlier accuses his friends of giving empty comfort—both verses register Job's rejection of his friends' words as inadequate or reproving rather than helpful.
- Proverbs 25:11 (thematic): Proverbs praises a 'word fitly spoken' for its power and beauty; Job's phrase about 'right/true words' similarly focuses on the effect and force of spoken words (here with irony or challenge).
- Proverbs 15:23 (thematic): This proverb values an apt or timely answer; Job 6:25 likewise treats the efficacy of ‘right’ words and questions what his friends’ arguments actually prove or accomplish.
- Ecclesiastes 12:11 (verbal): Ecclesiastes describes the words of the wise as goads and firmly fixed sayings—an image of verbal force that parallels Job's concern with the strength and effect of 'straight' or 'true' words.
Alternative generated candidates
- How forcible are right words! But what does your reproof prove?
- How forcible are right words! but what does your reproof prove?
Job.6.26 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- הלהוכח: VERB,qal,inf,NA,NA,NA
- מלים: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- תחשבו: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,pl
- ולרוח: CONJ+PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- אמרי: VERB,qal,impv,2,f,sg
- נאש: NOUN,m,pl,abs
Parallels
- Proverbs 25:11 (verbal): Praises a 'fitly spoken' word—parallel to Job's affirmation of the force/rightness of spoken words.
- Proverbs 15:23 (thematic): Celebrates timely, beneficial speech; connects with Job's appraisal of rightly spoken words versus empty argument.
- Proverbs 9:8-9 (thematic): Discusses the effect of reproof on the wise versus the scorner, relating to Job's question about what his friends' reproofs actually accomplish.
- James 3:5-6 (thematic): Emphasizes the disproportionate power and potential harm of the tongue—echoing Job's focus on the force and consequence of speech.
- Job 6:24 (structural): Internal parallel in the same chapter where Job asks to be taught and says he will be silent, continuing the theme of response to reproach and the role of words.
Alternative generated candidates
- Do you count my words as wind, and the speech of one whose spirit is crushed?
- Do you intend to reprove words— the speeches of one who is crushed in spirit?
Job.6.27 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- אף: ADV
- על: PREP
- יתום: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- תפילו: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,pl
- ותכרו: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,pl
- על: PREP
- ריעכם: NOUN,m,sg,abs+2mp
Parallels
- Psalm 82:3 (thematic): Commands to defend the weak and the fatherless—contrasts with Job’s charge that his friends exploit the fatherless (casting lots).
- Exodus 22:22-24 (thematic): Law forbids taking advantage of widows and orphans; provides a legal/ethical backdrop to Job’s accusation of mistreatment of the fatherless.
- James 1:27 (thematic): New Testament injunction to care for orphans and widows; echoes the biblical ideal that Job’s friends are failing to honor by exploiting the fatherless.
- Psalm 55:12-14 (thematic): Complaint about betrayal by a close companion—parallels Job’s lament over friends who turn against and ‘sell’ or abandon him.
- Job 19:19 (structural): Internal parallel in Job: an explicit lament that intimate friends have turned against him, echoing the accusation in 6:27.
Alternative generated candidates
- Do you cast lots for the fatherless, and bargain over a friend?
- You push down the fatherless and you offend your companion.
Job.6.28 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- ועתה: CONJ
- הואילו: PART
- פנו: VERB,qal,imp,2,m,pl
- בי: PREP+PRON,1,sg
- ועל: CONJ+PREP
- פניכם: NOUN,f,pl,abs+PRON,2,m,pl
- אם: CONJ
- אכזב: VERB,qal,impf,1,_,sg
Parallels
- Job 13:3 (thematic): Job again appeals to his friends to listen and give him a fair hearing rather than judge or misrepresent him—parallel plea for attention and fair treatment.
- Job 31:35 (thematic): Job expresses the desire that someone would hear him and put his case down in writing so he might be vindicated—similar longing to be heard and answered.
- Proverbs 18:17 (structural): This proverb stresses the importance of hearing both sides before judging a case; it echoes Job’s appeal that his friends turn to him and attend to his words before condemning him.
- Psalm 26:1 (thematic): A petition for vindication and affirmation of integrity—like Job’s appeal to be listened to and not falsely accused.
- Job 16:2 (thematic): Job rebukes his comforters for their responses and implicitly demands compassionate, attentive listening, reflecting the same concern voiced in 6:28.
Alternative generated candidates
- Now therefore, look upon me, and be astonished; lay your hand upon your mouth.
- Now then, turn and look at me; be ashamed— put your hand over your mouth if I have erred.
Job.6.29 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- שבו: VERB,qal,impv,2,m,pl
- נא: PART
- אל: NEG
- תהי: VERB,qal,juss,3,f,sg
- עולה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- ושובו: VERB,qal,imp,2,m,pl
- עוד: ADV
- צדקי: NOUN,m,sg,abs,1,sg
- בה: PREP+PRON,3,f,sg
Parallels
- Job 27:5-6 (thematic): Job again insists on his integrity and refuses to renounce his righteousness (’till I die I will not remove my integrity’), paralleling the appeal in 6:29 that his righteousness be acknowledged.
- Job 31:6 (thematic): Job challenges others to weigh him and vindicate justice (’let God weigh me...’/’let him know mine integrity’), echoing the plea that his righteousness be recognized rather than treated as iniquity.
- Hosea 14:1-2 (verbal): Uses the imperative 'Return' (שׁוּבוּ) and links return with iniquity and restoration; parallels Job’s command 'שבו‑נא' and the concern over iniquity/justice in the appeal.
- Jeremiah 3:12 (thematic): A summons to 'return' (’Return, thou backsliding...’) framing turning/return as the remedy for relational breach—similar language and movement as Job’s urgent 'return' plea, though addressed to different parties.
Alternative generated candidates
- Return, I pray you; do not be unjust—return again; my righteousness is still with me.
- Return now; do no wrong— consider my righteousness, and turn back once more.
Job.6.30 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- היש: PART,exist
- בלשוני: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs+1cs
- עולה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- אם: CONJ
- חכי: NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON,1,sg
- לא: PART_NEG
- יבין: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- הוות: VERB,qal,perf,3,pl
Parallels
- Job 27:4 (verbal): Job asserts the integrity of his speech: “My lips will not speak falsehood, nor my tongue utter deceit,” closely paralleling the denial of iniquity on the tongue in 6:30.
- Job 31:30 (verbal): Another self-defense about speech: “If the false tongue has not spoken, and my tongue has not uttered deceit,” echoing the claim that Job’s tongue is not guilty.
- Psalm 39:1 (thematic): The speaker vows to guard his tongue to avoid sin—“I will guard my ways... that I may not sin with my tongue”—reflecting the concern with tongue and culpability found in Job 6:30.
- Psalm 34:13 (thematic): An instruction to restrain speech—“Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit”—parallels Job’s focus on whether his tongue can be charged with iniquity.
- James 3:2-10 (thematic): New Testament teaching on the tongue’s moral danger and the need for control (e.g., blessings and curses from the same mouth) thematically resonates with Job’s defense and reflection on the moral quality of his speech.
Alternative generated candidates
- Is there wickedness on my tongue? Cannot my taste discern the things said?
- Is there wickedness in my tongue? Is my palate not able to discern what is wholesome?
Job.7.1 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- הלא: PART
- צבא: NOUN,m,sg,const
- לאנוש: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- עלי: PREP+PRON,1,sg
- ארץ: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- וכימי: CONJ+PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs
- שכיר: ADJ,m,sg
- ימיו: NOUN,m,pl,abs+PRON,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Job 14:1 (structural): Same book theme: human life is short and troubled ('Man who is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble'), continuing Job’s reflection on mortality and the brevity of days.
- Psalm 39:4-6 (thematic): Both speak of the transience of human life—'make me to know my end... my days are a handbreadth; my life is as nothing'—echoing Job’s image of days like a hired worker’s.
- Ecclesiastes 2:22-23 (thematic): Portrays life as wearisome toil and sorrow where a person’s days are filled with labor, paralleling Job’s comparison of human life to a paid worker’s brief, burdened service.
- John 10:12 (allusion): Uses the imagery of a 'hired hand/hireling' (misthōtos) to describe a temporary, self-interested worker; thematically resonates with Job’s depiction of human existence as the limited service of a hireling.
Alternative generated candidates
- Is not man’s life on earth a service, and his days like the days of a hired man?
- Is not man’s life on earth a service, and his days like those of a hired laborer?
Job.7.2 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- כעבד: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ישאף: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- צל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- וכשכיר: CONJ+PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יקוה: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- פעלו: NOUN,m,sg,abs+3ms
Parallels
- John 10:12 (verbal): Uses the same 'hireling' motif (one who is paid) to characterize a worker distinct from the true shepherd — echoes the imagery of a paid servant and the expectations tied to hired service.
- Luke 10:7 (thematic): 'The laborer is worthy of his wages' — directly parallels the idea of a hired worker awaiting his due; both verses link human labor with expectation of remuneration/relief.
- Deuteronomy 24:14-15 (structural): Law governing payment to hired workers ('you shall give him his wages') provides social-legal background for the image of a hireling looking for his pay used in Job.
- Ecclesiastes 2:22-23 (thematic): Speaks of the futility of toil and the worker's frustration when he must leave the fruits of his labor to another — thematically parallels Job's portrayal of life as weary labor and longing.
- Psalm 104:23 (thematic): Describes human life as daily labor ('man goes out to his work until evening'), echoing Job's comparison of human existence to servile, day-long toil and the yearning for respite.
Alternative generated candidates
- Like a servant who longs for the evening, and like a hireling who waits for his wages,
- As a servant longs for the shade, and as a hireling waits for his wages,
Job.7.3 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- כן: ADV
- הנחלתי: VERB,hiph,perf,2,m,sg
- לי: PREP+PRON,1,sg
- ירחי: NOUN,m,pl,cons
- שוא: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ולילות: CONJ+NOUN,m,pl,cons
- עמל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- מנו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- לי: PREP+PRON,1,sg
Parallels
- Ecclesiastes 2:11 (verbal): Both passages use the language of vanity and the futility of human toil—'all was vanity' in Ecclesiastes echoes Job's 'months of vanity' and the sense that labor yields emptiness.
- Psalm 39:5-6 (thematic): Psalmist laments the brevity and emptiness of life ('you have made my days a mere handbreadth' / 'each man is but a breath'), paralleling Job's complaint about fruitless months and wearisome nights.
- Psalm 6:6 (thematic): Expresses nocturnal suffering and sleepless misery ('all the night I make my bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears'), echoing Job's image of nights appointed for toil and distress.
- Psalm 102:11 (thematic): Speaks of days declining like a shadow and life wasting away—a parallel to Job's sense that his allotted months are empty and his life marked by toil and futility.
Alternative generated candidates
- so I have been allotted months of futility, and nights of trouble have been appointed to me.
- so have I been allotted months of futility, and nights of toil have been appointed to me.
Job.7.4 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- אם: CONJ
- שכבתי: VERB,qal,perf,1,?,sg
- ואמרתי: VERB,qal,perf,1,_,sg
- מתי: ADV,int
- אקום: VERB,qal,impf,1,m,sg
- ומדד: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- ערב: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ושבעתי: VERB,qal,perf,1,*,sg
- נדדים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- עדי: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- נשף: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Psalm 6:6 (verbal): Speaks of sleepless nights and tearful tossing on the bed—language and image of night anguish parallel Job’s restless waiting for morning.
- Psalm 88:14-16 (thematic): Depicts prolonged night-time suffering and being drenched in tears through the night, echoing Job’s experience of sleepless misery until dawn.
- Psalm 30:5 (thematic): Contrasts weeping at night with renewal in the morning; relates to Job’s emphasis on the long night and longing for the coming day.
- Job 14:12 (structural): Within Job, this verse uses the motif of lying down/sleep and not rising—here used existentially (sleep as death), reflecting the book’s recurring sleep/awakening imagery.
Alternative generated candidates
- When I lie down I say, 'When shall I arise?' but the night is long, and I am full of tossing until dawn.
- When I lie down I say, 'When shall I arise?' and the night is long; and I am full of tossing till the dawn.
Job.7.5 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- לבש: VERB,qal,impv,2,m,sg
- בשרי: NOUN,m,sg,suff
- רמה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- וגוש: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- עפר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- עורי: VERB,qal,imp,2,f,sg
- רגע: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- וימאס: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Job 10:10 (verbal): Same semantic field of skin and flesh: Job 10:10 speaks of being 'clothed with skin and flesh'—contrasted with 7:5's image of flesh beset by worms and the skin failing.
- Psalm 22:6 (verbal): Uses the 'worm' motif ('I am a worm, and no man') to express extreme humiliation and bodily degradation, echoing Job's imagery of flesh consumed by worms.
- Isaiah 40:6 (thematic): Declares that 'all flesh is grass' (transience and frailty of the body), parallel to Job's depiction of the body as perishable and decaying.
- Genesis 3:19 (allusion): 'For dust you are and to dust you shall return'—the motif of dust/clods connects to Job's 'clods of dust' highlighting mortality and return to the earth.
- Psalm 22:15 (thematic): Describes bodily collapse and being brought into 'the dust of death,' resonating with Job's imagery of physical deterioration and association with dust.
Alternative generated candidates
- My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust; my skin hardens and then grows loathsome.
- My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust; my skin is broken, and becomes loathsome.
Job.7.6 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- ימי: NOUN,m,pl,cs
- קלו: NOUN,m,sg,abs+3ms
- מני: PREP+PRON,1,_,sg
- ארג: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ויכלו: VERB,qal,perf,3,pl
- באפס: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- תקוה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
Parallels
- Psalm 39:5-6 (verbal): Speaks of the brevity and insignificance of life ("my days are like handbreadths; my duration is as nothing"), closely echoing Job’s image of swift, hope‑less days.
- Psalm 102:11 (thematic): Uses transient imagery—"my days are like a shadow that declines"—to express the rapid passing of life, paralleling Job’s sense of swift, fleeting days.
- Psalm 90:9-10 (thematic): Reflects the theme of human days passing away and years brought to an end, emphasizing mortality and the limited span of life as in Job’s lament.
- Lamentations 3:18 (allusion): Declares the loss of hope ("My strength and my hope have perished"), matching Job’s note that his days come to an end 'with no hope'—a parallel in tone and despair.
Alternative generated candidates
- My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle; they come to an end without hope.
- My days pass swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, and are ended without hope.
Job.7.7 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- זכר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- כי: CONJ
- רוח: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- חיי: NOUN,m,pl,cons
- לא: PART_NEG
- תשוב: VERB,qal,imperfect,3,f,sg
- עיני: NOUN,f,pl,cons+1s
- לראות: VERB,qal,inf
- טוב: ADJ,m,pl,abs
Parallels
- Psalm 78:39 (verbal): Uses the same imagery of humans as transient breath/wind: God remembers that they are but flesh, a wind that passes and does not return—closely echoing Job's 'spirit of my life will not return.'
- Psalm 146:4 (verbal): Links life and breath: 'His breath goes forth, he returns to his earth'—paralleling Job's portrayal of life as breath that departs and the end of seeing 'good.'
- Ecclesiastes 3:19-20 (thematic): Reflects the theme of human transience and the common fate of humans and animals—both have the same breath and all return to one place—similar to Job's emphasis on the fleeting nature of life.
- Ecclesiastes 12:7 (thematic): States that the dust returns to the earth and the spirit returns to God who gave it, echoing Job's sense that the life‑breath departs and the world of joy/seeing good ends.
Alternative generated candidates
- Remember that my life is a breath; my eye will see no more good.
- Remember that my life is but a breath; my eye will not again see good.
Job.7.8 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- לא: PART_NEG
- תשורני: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
- עין: NOUN,f,sg,cons
- ראי: VERB,qal,impv,2,f,sg
- עיניך: NOUN,f,pl,abs+2ms
- בי: PREP+PRON,1,sg
- ואינני: CONJ+VERB,qal,pres,1,sg,neg
Parallels
- Job 31:4 (verbal): Direct verbal parallel within Job: speaks of God seeing the speaker's ways and 'numbering' or 'counting' his steps, echoing the theme of being watched.
- Psalm 139:1-3 (thematic): Both passages present God's intimate, ongoing knowledge and observation of the person—'you have searched me... you discern my going out and my lying down.'
- Proverbs 15:3 (thematic): Expresses the idea of God's pervasive gaze—'The eyes of the LORD are in every place, keeping watch'—paralleling Job's sense of being observed.
- Jeremiah 23:24 (allusion): Rhetorical question about whether anyone can hide from God—'Can a man hide himself...?'—echoes Job's awareness that God sees and watches him.
Alternative generated candidates
- The eye that sees me shall see me no more; thine eyes are upon me, and I am not.
- Do not keep your eye upon me, for I shall not be; thou wilt seek me, but I shall not be found.
Job.7.9 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- כלה: ADV
- ענן: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- וילך: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,sg
- כן: ADV
- יורד: VERB,qal,ptcp,NA,m,sg
- שאול: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- לא: PART_NEG
- יעלה: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Job 14:10-12 (verbal): Uses nearly identical imagery and language about descent to Sheol and not returning — 'man lieth down, and riseth not' / 'shall not come up' (direct verbal/structural parallel within Job).
- Ecclesiastes 3:19-20 (thematic): Treats human mortality as final and universal ('man and beast have one breath... both go to one place'), echoing Job's theme that the dead do not return.},{
- Psalm 90:5-6 (thematic): Portrays human life as transient — carried away like a flood or as sleep/grass that withers — resonating with Job's 'cloud is consumed and vanisheth away' image of ephemerality.
- Hebrews 9:27 (thematic): Affirms the finality of death ('it is appointed unto men once to die') which parallels Job's depiction of descent into Sheol as irreversible.
- Hosea 13:14 (allusion): Speaks of Sheol/death and God's action toward it ('I will ransom them from the power of the grave'), engaging the same Sheol-imagery and contrasting Job's sense of irrevocable descent.
Alternative generated candidates
- Like a cloud that vanishes and passes away so he who goes down to Sheol does not rise again.
- The cloud vanishes and is gone; so he who goes down to Sheol shall not come up.
Job.7.10 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- לא: PART_NEG
- ישוב: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- עוד: ADV
- לביתו: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,cs+PRON,3,m,sg
- ולא: CONJ
- יכירנו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg,obj:1pl
- עוד: ADV
- מקמו: NOUN,m,sg,abs,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Ecclesiastes 9:5-6 (thematic): Affirms the finality of death: the dead have no further knowledge or participation in life—echoing Job’s sense that the man will not return home or be recognized in his place.
- Ecclesiastes 12:7 (verbal): Speaks of the body returning to the earth and the spirit to God, emphasizing the irreversible separation from earthly dwelling that Job laments (no return to his house).
- Psalm 115:17 (thematic): Declares that the dead do not praise the LORD and go down into silence, paralleling Job’s image of one who no longer 'is known' in his place—removed from the community of the living.
- Isaiah 38:18-19 (thematic): Hezekiah’s reflection that the dead cannot thank or praise God parallels Job’s depiction of death as exclusion from normal life and relations (not returning to home or being known there).
- Job 14:13-17 (structural): An intra-book parallel: Job imagines being hidden in Sheol and asks whether one can be remembered or restored—closely related to the present verse’s theme of disappearance from one’s house and place.
Alternative generated candidates
- He will return no more to his house, nor will his place know him any more.
- He will not return to his house, neither will his place know him any more.
Job.7.11 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- גם: ADV
- אני: PRON,1,sg
- לא: PART_NEG
- אחשך: VERB,qal,impf,1,sg
- פי: NOUN,m,sg,construct
- א: PRT
- דברה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- בצר: PREP
- רוחי: NOUN,f,sg,abs+1cs
- אשיחה: VERB,qal,impf,1,sg
- במר: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- נפשי: NOUN,f,sg,abs+1cs
Parallels
- Job 10:1 (thematic): Continuation of Job's lament tradition — like 7:11, 10:1 expresses refusal to be silent and opens a direct complaint about his suffering and God's dealings.
- Job 13:23-24 (thematic): Job directly appeals to God and speaks his anguish; both passages show Job insisting on speaking his pain and demanding an answer from God.
- Job 30:20-21 (thematic): Another personal lament in which Job cries out that God does not answer — parallels the tone of vocal complaint and wounded spirit found in 7:11.
- Psalm 142:2 (verbal): ‘I pour out my complaint before him’ closely parallels 7:11’s language of speaking out in anguish and making a plaintive complaint to God.
- Psalm 102:1-2 (thematic): A plea that the Lord hear one's cry in distress; thematically similar to 7:11’s refusal to be silent and the expression of inward bitterness and suffering.
Alternative generated candidates
- Therefore I will not restrain my mouth; I will speak in the bitterness of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
- Therefore I will not hold my peace; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
Job.7.12 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- ה: PART
- ים: NOUN,m,sg,cs
- אני: PRON,1,sg
- אם: CONJ
- תנין: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- כי: CONJ
- תשים: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
- עלי: PREP+PRON,1,sg
- משמר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Job 41:1-34 (allusion): Extended description of Leviathan/tannin in the same book—echoes the sea‑monster imagery and underscores God's control over such creatures in contrast to Job's complaint about being guarded.
- Isaiah 27:1 (verbal): Speaks of the LORD punishing Leviathan the fleeing serpent—uses the same chaos‑monster language (tannin/leviathan) and shows divine sovereignty over sea monsters.
- Psalm 74:13-14 (thematic): Describes God breaking the heads of the sea monsters and giving them as food—parallels the motif of God’s power over chaotic sea creatures invoked by Job's rhetorical question.
- Psalm 104:26 (verbal): Mentions Leviathan in the sea as a creature made by God—connects the image of the great sea creature (tannin) to God’s creative and ordering activity, which Job implicitly contrasts with his own treatment.
- Genesis 1:21 (structural): God’s creation of the 'great sea creatures' (tanninim) on Day Five provides the wider creation background for the sea‑monster term Job uses, highlighting Job’s rhetorical comparison between himself and those created beasts.
Alternative generated candidates
- Am I a sea, or a sea monster, that thou settest a guard over me?
- Am I the sea, or a sea-monster, that you set a watch over me?
Job.7.13 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- כי: CONJ
- אמרתי: VERB,qal,perf,1,com,sg
- תנחמני: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
- ערשי: NOUN,m,sg,abs,poss,1,sg
- ישא: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- בשיחי: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,prsuf
- משכבי: NOUN,m,pl,cons
Parallels
- Job 7:4 (structural): Same speech-unit in Job 7 treating night, sleep, and the frustration of rest—both verses situate the speaker's complaint in the context of failing sleep and ongoing suffering.
- Job 3:13-17 (thematic): Job's earlier wish for the repose of death ('that I had been carried from the womb...that I had lain down and been quiet') parallels the desire for relief/comfort and release from suffering found in 7:13.
- Psalm 6:6 (verbal): Uses the imagery of bed and sleepless weeping ('I am weary with my groaning; every night I flood my bed with tears'), echoing Job's association of the bed with complaint and lack of comfort.
- Psalm 13:1-4 (thematic): A direct lament asking 'How long?' and pleading for consolation and vindication from God, thematically parallel to Job's plea for comfort and explanation for his suffering.
- Psalm 88:1-4 (thematic): A sustained night-and-day lament in which the psalmist experiences incessant distress and no relief, resonating with Job's depiction of sleepless anguish and the longing for comfort.
Alternative generated candidates
- When I say, 'My bed will comfort me, my couch will ease my complaint,'
- When I say, 'My bed will comfort me, my couch will ease my complaint,'
Job.7.14 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- וחתתני: VERB,qal,perf,2,m,sg
- בחלמות: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs
- ומחזינות: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- תבעתני: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
Parallels
- Job 4:13-16 (verbal): Eliphaz reports a terrifying dream/vision that alarms him — close verbal and thematic parallel: dreams/visions as sources of fear and disturbance.
- Job 33:15-18 (verbal): Elihu (speaking of God) says he may speak in a dream or vision of night to warn and turn a person — directly connects divine/communicative function of dreams and visions mentioned in Job 7:14.
- Numbers 12:6 (thematic): Yahweh explains that when he speaks to prophets he may appear in visions and dreams — a legal/theological statement about dreams/visions as a mode of divine communication, echoing Job’s experience of being troubled by such revelations.
- Joel 2:28 (verbal): The prophecy promises that God will pour out his spirit and people will prophesy, see visions and dream dreams — parallels the motif of visions and dreams as significant, revelatory phenomena.
- Acts 2:17 (quotation): Peter quotes Joel 2:28 at Pentecost (“your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men dream dreams”), a New Testament citation that reiterates the biblical theme of dreams/visions as God-given revelations.
Alternative generated candidates
- then thou scarest me with dreams and terrifiest me through visions;
- then you scare me with dreams and terrify me with visions;
Job.7.15 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- ותבחר: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
- מחנק: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- נפשי: NOUN,f,sg,abs+1cs
- מות: VERB,qal,infabs
- מעצמותי: PREP+NOUN,f,pl,suff
Parallels
- Job 3:11–13 (thematic): Job's earlier curse of birth and wish that he had died at birth expresses the same longing for death as an escape from suffering found in 7:15.
- Job 6:8–9 (thematic): Job pleads that God would grant his desire to be cut off and end his life—another direct expression of preferring death over continued torment, echoing the sentiment of 7:15.
- Psalm 88:3–5 (thematic): The psalmist speaks of a soul full of trouble and being counted among those who go down to the pit; thematically parallels Job’s anguish and orientation toward death as relief.
- Lamentations 3:19–24 (thematic): Jeremiah recalls his affliction, bitterness, and deep despondency before affirming hope; the opening lines parallel the raw despair and yearning for deliverance (even from life) found in Job 7:15.
- Isaiah 38:10–11 (thematic): Hezekiah’s lament about the cutting off of his days and his expectation of death mirrors the fear of imminent death and the desire for release that underlies Job’s words.
Alternative generated candidates
- so that my soul chooses strangling and death rather than these bones.
- so that my soul chooses strangling and death rather than my bones.
Job.7.16 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- מאסתי: VERB,qal,perf,1,com,sg
- לא: PART_NEG
- לעלם: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אחיה: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- חדל: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- ממני: PREP,suff,1,m,sg
- כי: CONJ
- הבל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ימי: NOUN,m,pl,cs
Parallels
- Psalm 39:5–6 (verbal): Uses the same imagery of life's brevity—days as a breath/handbreadth—and laments the transience of human life, echoing Job's 'my days are vanity.'
- Psalm 144:4 (verbal): Declares that man is like a breath and his days like a passing shadow, a close verbal/thematic parallel to Job's emphasis on the fleeting, insubstantial nature of life.
- Psalm 102:11 (thematic): A penitential lament in which the psalmist says 'my days are like a shadow'—themewise similar to Job's plea and his portrayal of life as brief and futile.
- Ecclesiastes 1:2 (allusion): Qohelet's famous refrain 'vanity of vanities' (הבל הבלים) resonates with Job's use of הבל for his days, linking both texts in their existential verdict on life's emptiness/futility.
Alternative generated candidates
- I loathe my life; I will not live forever; leave me alone, for my days are a vanity.
- I loathe my life; I would not live always— leave me alone; for my days are vanity.
Job.7.17 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- מה: PRON,int
- אנוש: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- כי: CONJ
- תגדלנו: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
- וכי: CONJ
- תשית: VERB,qal,imperfect,2,m,sg
- אליו: PREP+PRON,3,m,sg
- לבך: NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON,2,m,sg
Parallels
- Psalm 8:4 (verbal): Direct verbal parallel and shared question: 'What is man, that you are mindful of him?'—both marvel at God's attention to frail humanity.
- Psalm 144:3 (verbal): Similar wording and theme: 'O Lord, what is man, that thou takest knowledge of him?'—expresses the same astonishment at God's regard for humans.
- Hebrews 2:6-8 (quotation): New Testament citation of Psalm 8 (which parallels Job 7:17) to reflect on human dignity and God's care—echoes the rhetorical question about man's significance before God.
- Isaiah 40:6-7 (thematic): The passage emphasizes human frailty ('all flesh is grass') and mortality, thematically related to Job's wonder that God would set his heart on such transient beings.
Alternative generated candidates
- What is man, that thou shouldst magnify him, and that thou shouldst set thy heart upon him,
- What is man, that you should make much of him, and that you should set your heart upon him?
Job.7.18 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- ותפקדנו: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
- לבקרים: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs
- לרגעים: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs
- תבחננו: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
Parallels
- Job 14:1-2 (thematic): Both passages emphasize human frailty and the brevity of life (man has few days; comes forth like a flower), echoing Job's complaint about being continually visited and tested.
- Psalm 90:5-6 (thematic): Imagery of brief life and morning transience—'in the morning they are like grass'—parallels Job's reference to God's recurring morning visitation and the fleetingness of human days.
- Psalm 139:1-4,16 (verbal): God's constant, intimate knowledge and the notion that days are ordained/known by God ('Thou hast searched me... all my days were written') correspond to Job's sense of being continually examined every morning and moment.
- Psalm 39:4-6 (thematic): The psalmist's plea to know his end and the declaration that human life is a breath/vanity resonates with Job's lament about being observed and tried continuously amid life's shortness.
Alternative generated candidates
- to visit him every morning and try him every moment?
- You visit him every morning and test him every moment.
Job.7.19 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- כמה: ADV
- לא: PART_NEG
- תשעה: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
- ממני: PREP,suff,1,m,sg
- לא: PART_NEG
- תרפני: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
- עד: PREP
- בלעי: NOUN,m,sg,cs
- רקי: ADJ,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Psalm 13:1-2 (verbal): Begins with the same anguished 'How long...?' motif and pleads with God about apparent abandonment and hidden favor, echoing Job's demand for relief from prolonged divine scrutiny.
- Psalm 88:14 (thematic): Expresses the experience of being cast off and God hiding his face—closely parallels Job's sense of divine absence and sustained suffering.
- Psalm 22:1 (verbal): A direct cry of abandonment ('My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?') that shares the core theme of feeling forsaken and seeking an end to suffering found in Job 7:19.
- Job 13:24 (structural): An intra‑book parallel in which Job directly accuses God of hiding his face and treating him as an enemy—reiterates the same complaint about God's hiddenness and hostile dealings.
- Lamentations 3:8 (thematic): Portrays persistent unanswered cries and a sense that God has shut out prayer—thematises the prolonged distress and desire for reprieve evident in Job 7:19.
Alternative generated candidates
- How long wilt thou not look away from me, nor let me alone till I swallow my spittle?
- How long will you not look away from me, nor let me alone till I swallow down my spittle?
Job.7.20 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- חטאתי: VERB,qal,perf,1,m,sg
- מה: PRON,int
- אפעל: VERB,qal,impf,1,sg
- לך: PRON,2,m,sg
- נצר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- האדם: NOUN,m,sg,def
- למה: ADV
- שמתני: VERB,qal,perf,2,m,sg
- למפגע: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- לך: PRON,2,m,sg
- ואהיה: CONJ+VERB,qal,impf,1,_,sg
- עלי: PREP+PRON,1,sg
- למשא: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Job 13:23-24 (verbal): Job likewise asks God to point out his sin—"How many are my iniquities? make known unto me my transgression"—echoing the question 'Have I sinned?' and seeking reasons for God's treatment.
- Job 10:8-9 (structural): In the following chapter Job develops the same complaint—that God has scrutinized and fashioned him so as to oppose him—continuing the theme of being made a target or burden under God's hand.
- Psalm 38:4 (verbal): The psalmist confesses guilt as an overwhelming weight—"my iniquities are gone over my head: as a heavy burden they are too heavy for me"—paralleling Job's language of being a burden/weight.
- Psalm 22:1 (thematic): Both texts express a sense of divine abandonment and plaintive address to God—"My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" resonates with Job's question why God has set him as a mark against himself.
- Lamentations 3:1 (thematic): The Lament writer speaks of being singled out for suffering—"I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath"—reflecting Job's sense of being specially set against and afflicted by God.
Alternative generated candidates
- If I have sinned, what do I do unto thee, O watcher of men? Why hast thou set me as a mark for thee, so that I am a burden to myself?
- If I have sinned, what do I to you, O watcher of men? Why have you set me as a mark, so that I am a burden to myself?
Job.7.21 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- ומה: CONJ+PRON,int
- לא: PART_NEG
- תשא: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
- פשעי: NOUN,m,sg,suff,1,sg
- ותעביר: VERB,hiph,impf,2,m,sg
- את: PRT,acc
- עוני: NOUN,m,sg,cs+1s
- כי: CONJ
- עתה: ADV
- לעפר: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אשכב: VERB,qal,impf,1,sg
- ושחרתני: VERB,hiph,impf,2,m,sg,prsuf,1
- ואינני: PART,neg,prsuf,1
Parallels
- Psalm 51:9 (51:2 Hebrew) (verbal): Petition for cleansing/blotting out sin — 'blot out all mine iniquities' parallels Job’s plea that God take away his iniquity.
- Psalm 39:13 (Hebrew 39:12) (verbal): Lament over imminent end — 'O spare me, that I may recover strength, before I go hence, and be no more' echoes Job’s concern that he will lie in the dust and soon be gone.
- Genesis 3:19 (thematic): Mortality imagery — 'for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return' parallels Job’s image of lying in the dust.
- Job 14:12 (structural): Same book meditation on death and non‑awakening — 'man lieth down, and riseth not' corresponds to Job’s claim that he will be sought in the morning but will not be.
- Ecclesiastes 12:7 (thematic): Return to dust and the brevity of life — 'the dust returns to the earth' resonates with Job’s depiction of his imminent burial and disappearance from the living.
Alternative generated candidates
- Why dost thou not pardon my transgression and take away my iniquity? For now I shall lie down in the dust; and thou wilt seek me in the morning, but I shall not be.
- Why do you not pardon my transgression and take away my iniquity? For now I shall lie down in the dust; you will seek me in the morning, but I shall not be.
Then Job answered and said:
Would that my complaint were weighed, and my calamity placed on the scales together!
For now it would be heavier than the sand of the sea; therefore my words are full of grief.
For the arrows of the Almighty are within me; my spirit drinks their poison; the terrors of God are arrayed against me.
Does the wild donkey bray for grass? Or does the ox low over its fodder?
Can tasteless food be eaten without salt, or is there any taste in the white of an egg?
My soul refuses to touch them; they are loathsome food to me.
Oh that my request might be granted, and that God would give me what I long for!
That God would grant to crush me—let him also stretch out his hand and cut me off!
I would yet have comfort; I would exult in sore distress; for I would not hide the words of the Holy One.
What strength do I have, that I should hope? and what is my end, that I should prolong my life?
Is my strength the strength of stones? or is my flesh of bronze?
Is there not help in me? and is wisdom quite driven from me?
Whoever withholds kindness from a friend forsakes the fear of the Almighty.
My brothers have dealt deceitfully like a channel of brooks, like streams that pass away.
Which are darkened by reason of the ice, and their surface is chilled with snow.
At the time they are exhausted; in the heat they vanish from their place.
Their paths will perish; they will go up into emptiness and be destroyed.
Look, the caravans of Tema expected them; the caravans of Sheba hoped for them.
They were ashamed because they had hoped; they came there and were confounded. So now you are nothing; you see my shame and are afraid.
Have I said, 'Bring to me,' or, 'Give to me of your wealth'?
Save me from the hand of the enemy, and redeem me from the hand of the violent.
Teach me, and I will hold my tongue; and show me wherein I have erred.
How strong are earnest words! But what does your reproof prove?
Do you intend to rebuke words, and the speeches of one driven to despair, which are but wind?
You would even thrust the fatherless aside and lay hands on your friend. Now therefore, turn my way; look upon me, and be ashamed—take counsel together.
Return, I pray you; do not be unjust; return again, my righteousness is still with me.
Is there unrighteousness on my tongue? Cannot my palate discern mischief?
Is not man’s life on earth a warfare, and are not his days like the days of a hired servant?
As a servant longs for the shadow, and as a hireling waits for his wages,
so I have been allotted months of futility, and nights of hardship have been appointed to me.
When I lie down I say, 'When shall I arise?' and the night drags on; I am full of tossing until the dawning.
My flesh is clothed with maggots and clods of dust; my skin is broken and loathsome.
My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle and come to an end without hope.
Remember that my life is but breath; my eye will never again see good.
The eye that sees me will see me no more; your eyes are upon me, but I am gone.
As a cloud vanishes and is gone, so he who goes down to Sheol does not come up.
He will not return to his house, nor will his place know him any more.
Therefore I will not restrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
Am I a sea, or a sea‑monster, that you set a guard over me?
When I say, 'My bed will comfort me, my couch will ease my complaint,'
then you scare me with dreams, and terrify me through visions. So that my soul chooses strangling and death rather than these my bones.
I loathe my life; I would not live forever—leave me alone, for my days are a breath.
What is man, that you make much of him, and that you set your heart on him?
Why do you visit him every morning, and test him every moment?
How long will you not look away from me, nor leave me alone till I swallow my spittle?
If I sin, what do I do to you, O watcher over men? Why have you made me your target, so that I am a burden to you?
Why do you not pardon my transgression and take away my iniquity? For now I shall lie down in the dust; you will seek me, but I shall not be.