Bildad (25:1–6)

Man … only a worm (25:6). The maggot and the worm are images related to the mortality of humans and death (see comment on 7:5).

Job (26:1–31:40)

The dead are in deep anguish (26:5). The Hebrew term for “the dead” is repā ʾîm (sometimes transcribed as “Rephaim”), which refers to the inhabitants of the underworld (Ps. 88:10; Isa. 14:9; 26:14, 19). They live beneath the waters of the underworld (water was sometimes associated with the underworld229). In Ugarit and in Phoenician tomb inscriptions like Tabnit and Eshmunazar, this term applied to the blessed and beatified dead and the deified ancestors and rulers.230 In other parts of the Hebrew Bible the repā ʾîm are “giants” (Gen. 14:5; 15:20; Deut. 2:11, 20).

Death is naked … Destruction lies uncovered (26:6). When the Mesopotamian goddess Ishtar went to the underworld, she was stripped naked, perhaps referring to the dead who are naked.231 “Destruction” (ʾ abaddôn)232 is used together with “Death” (še ʾôl—cf. comments on 7:9; 17:14; also sidebar on “Death and Sheol” at 7:9). In 28:22 ʾ abaddôn is used with the personified “Death” (māwet), and in 31:12 it is more of a state.

Spreads out the northern skies (26:7). Another cosmogony (cf. 9:5–10; see sidebar on “Creation and World Pictures” at 9:7) is described in 26:7–14. In 9:8; Psalm 104:2; and Isaiah 40:22, the Creator “stretches out the heavens”233 like a tent. “Northern” is ṣāpôn (cf. 37:22; see accompanying sidebar). The god Marduk in the Babylonian creation epic, after splitting Tiamat in two, sets half of her up as a cover.234 The Mesopotamian sun god holds the ends of the earth suspended from the midst of heaven.235

He marks out the horizon (26:10). In 38:5 a measuring line is mentioned. This is the outer limits of the cosmos, beyond which no mortal can go. A “world map” with boundaries is drawn on a seventh-century B.C. clay tablet in the British Museum with Babylon in the center.236 In Job there is a boundary between light and darkness (see sidebar on “Morning Light versus the Darkness of Night” at 38:14). In ancient Near Eastern thought there were depressions at the western and eastern horizons with cosmic gates through which the sun entered the sky during daytime and again passed through into the underworld at nighttime.237

Cylinder seal depicts Utu, the sun god, emerging from depression between mountains and Enki, the Sumerian god from the waters.

Scala/Art Resource, NY, courtesy of the Iraq Museum, Baghdad, Iraq

The pillars of the heavens quake (26:11). See comments on 9:5 for the pillars of the earth. According to Egyptian thought the god Shu held up the sky, who was his daughter, the goddess Nut.238 The pillars of heaven may also refer to the Mesopotamian idea of a chain of large mountains at the edges of the world, supporting the heavens or celestial vault.239

Churned up the sea … cut Rahab to pieces … pierced the gliding serpent (26:12–13). On the mythological motif of the chaotic sea subdued at creation—here used parallel with Rahab (cf. comment on 9:13) and the gliding serpent—see comments on 3:8; 7:12; 41:1. According to Isaiah 27:1, “the LORD will punish with his sword, his fierce, great and powerful sword, Leviathan the gliding serpent, Leviathan the coiling serpent; he will slay the monster of the sea.”

Claps its hands in derision (27:23). The clapping of hands can indicate joy (Ps. 47:2), but clapping in derision is a gesture of scoffing (cf. Lam. 2:15–16), also known from Mesopotamia.240 See 34:37 for clapping the hands scornfully in contempt of God.

Sources of the rivers (28:11). The metallurgist searches the “sources of the rivers,” a mysterious and hidden place situated between the two oceans. According to a Ugaritic myth, the abode of the chief god El was “at the source of the rivers.”241

The deep … the sea (28:14). The hidden wisdom cannot even be found in the primeval oceans, described as “the deep” or “the abyss” (tehôm; cf. 38:16, 30). In Mesopotamian thought the Apsu—the deified subterranean water—was the abode of the antediluvian sages, the apkallu (see comment on 15:7) and the realm of the crafty god, the god of wisdom, Ea-Enki.242

Crystal (28:17). The Hebrew word used here (its only occurrence in the Old Testament) probably refers to glass, which was known as an article of luxury. Glassware in the form of vessels was manufactured by the Phoenicians, and the Egyptians used it for inlays in jewelry.243

Destruction and Death say (28:22). Here the forces of destruction (ʾ abaddôn) and death (māwet) are personified (see comments on 18:13 for Death, and 26:6 and 31:12 for Destruction).

The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom (28:28). The Lord is the only one who knows where to find wisdom, which is objectified in verse 27. As in Proverbs 1:7 and 9:10, real wisdom is the “fear of the LORD.”244 In the ancient Near East the Mesopotamian god Ea-Enki was the god of immense wisdom; Marduk had the title “Lord of Wisdom,” and the sun god Shamash grants wisdom.245

Lamp (29:3). See comment and sidebar on “Lamps” at 18:5. God is a lamp in 2 Samuel 22:29. For the contrast light and darkness, see sidebar on “Morning Light versus the Darkness of Night” at 38:14.

Drenched with cream … streams of olive oil (29:6). In Ugaritic texts the god El has a dream and a vision that when the god Baal becomes alive again, the heavens will rain down oil, and the wadis will run with honey; this describes the abundance and fertility.246 In other parts of the Hebrew Bible, the Promised Land “flows with milk and honey,” referring to its fertility and abundance in produce—more precisely, dairy farming and agriculture.247

Gate of the city (29:7). See comments on 5:4 and 31:21.

Covered their mouths with their hands (29:9). See also comments on 21:5 and 40:4. This phrase means “refrained from speaking,” indicating what Job enjoyed in earlier times when he was still a local chief.248 When he went to the city gate (29:7), the center of social interaction (cf. 5:4), and sat in the public square, young men stepped aside and old men rose (29:8). The chiefs and nobles did not speak in his presence. Now, however, he is shamed.249

In the ancient Near East people of greater importance sat, while standing and kneeling was a gesture for greeting persons of high status. It is prescribed in Leviticus 19:32, and Solomon greeted his mother in this way (1 Kings 2:19).250 In Ugaritic literature Baal stands in attendance to El; in contrast, the arrogant messengers of the Ugaritic god Yam do not pay respect to the chief deity by prostrating themselves.251

Justice my robe and my turban (29:14). Justice and righteousness can be a garment (see Ps. 132:9; Isa. 61:10). In Job 30:18 Job wears a collared tunic. A turban was a head covering formed by a wrapped piece of cloth kept in place by a headband.252

I was a father to the needy (29:16). In 22:9 Eliphaz charged Job with neglecting the needy. Here Job longs for the days when he was still respected and appeared as the ideal patriarch administering social justice (29:12–16; see sidebar on “Social Justice in the Ancient Near East” at 22:19) by looking after the needy, the poor, the fatherless, the widow, the lame, the blind, and the stranger. This is repeated in 31:13–18.

I will die in my own house, my days as numerous as grains of sand (29:18). The Hebrew is difficult here but literally reads, “I shall die with my nest, and I shall multiply my days like the ḥôl.” This last word has been read as “sand” or as “phoenix”253—the latter referring to the popular tradition (also found with the rabbis) according to which the phoenix bird burns itself on its nest and from the ashes a new bird arises. The problem is that the word never occurs in the Old Testament; moreover, the tradition dates from the period after the book of Job, and Job does not clearly believe in resurrection. The point of the text (whether it is related to the phoenix or not) is the idea of a long life.

The bow ever new in my hand (29:20). The bow is a symbol of “glory” (kābôd)254 and power. In 30:11 the unstrung bow is part of Job’s affliction.

Waited for me as for showers (29:23). Job’s words are awaited like showers and spring rain. In the Ugaritic Keret Epic the farmers wait for the rains of the god Baal and express their joy over the coming rain:

A spring for the earth is the rain of Balu, even for the field the rain of the High One;

Good for the earth is the rain of Balu, even for the field the rain of the High One.

Good it is for the wheat in the gardens, in the tilled land (for) the emmer….

The ploughmen lifted (their) heads, on high those who work the grain.255

The light of my face (29:24). This facial expression of joy is known from Ugaritic and Akkadian sources.256 When the Ugaritic hero Danʾel hears that a son will be born, “his face lit up with joy, his countenance glowed. Signs of worry disappeared from his forehead as he laughed.”257

After eating and drinking, Enkidu in the Gilgamesh Epic becomes merry and his face lights up.258 In contrast the innocent sufferer in the Ludlul bel nemeqi (“I will praise the lord of wisdom”) complains, “When my ill-wisher heard, his face lit up, when the tidings reached her, my ill-wisher, her mood became radiant.”259

Sheep dogs (30:1). Dogs (canis familiaris) are the oldest domesticated animals and were valued and even worshiped in Mesopotamia (goddess Gula) and Egypt (god Anubis).260 In Egypt dogs were mummified and formed part of the animal cult. A large dog burial place was found at Ashkelon, presumably linked with some healing cult.261 Dogs were regarded as pets in ancient Egypt and are depicted in Egyptian paintings with collars and sitting under their masters’ chair. One beloved pet was buried in a wooden coffin. On Egyptian paintings they are also used in war and on Assyrian reliefs they are shown being used for hunting.262 Shepherd dogs are shown on the cylinder seal depicting Etana.

A cylinder seal of the twenty-third century B.C. shows Etana ascending on an eagle’s back.

Z. Radovan/www.BibleLandPictures.com

However, “man’s best friend” is not highly regarded in the Old Testament (cf. 1 Sam. 17:43; Isa. 56:10–11; Rev. 22:15). Dogs were not pampered household pets as today; they were dangerous scavengers, and they ate corpses and the refuse of ancient cities and towns. In the Amarna letters the vassal calls himself the “dog” of the pharaoh, as does the servant in the Lachish letters.263

Their food was the root of the broom tree (30:4). The prophet Elijah sat under a “broom tree” (1 Kings 19:4–5). The word for “food” can be read as “fuel” (see NIV note). The roots of the broom tree make good charcoal (Ps. 120:4).264

God has unstrung my bow (30:11). See comments on 29:20.265

Snares … siege ramps (30:12). See comments on 18:9 and 19:12.

Drive me before the wind (30:22). Cf. 27:21. On God as a storm god (cf. 37:4 and its sidebar, “Thunder and Thunder Gods”) who rides on the wind, see Psalm 18:10.

You will bring me down to death, to the place appointed for all the living (30:23). Death (māwet; see sidebar on “Death” at 18:13) is a house (bêt; NIV “place”), as with Sheol in 17:13 (see comment on 7:9 for going down to Sheol).

Light … darkness (30:26). See comments on 18:5; 29:3; 38:15.

I go about blackened, but not by the sun (30:28). This is a difficult verse and has been understood as referring to Job’s skin, which has turned black because of disease (cf. 2:7; 30:30). In the diagnostic medical texts and omen texts from Mesopotamia, black skin lesions (evidence of necrosis) are observed and remedies suggested.266

Jackals … owls (30:29). Owls are sometimes translated as “ostriches,” but owls as nocturnal and feared animals make better sense in this context. In ancient Egypt, the god connected with the dead, the protector of the necropolis and the god of embalming the dead, was Anubis.267 He was represented in the form of a jackal or canine. The reason for the link with these animals may be because canines or jackals often roam between tombs, even scavenging on the corpses. In Job the metaphor of the jackal is used because of the wailing sounds they make. Wailing and howling are linked with the jackal and the owl (cf. Mic. 1:8, where God wails and howls like a jackal and moans like an owl). When cities are cursed in treaties like that of Sefire, they become a mound for foxes and owls, that is, desolate places.268

A detail of a vignette from the Book of the Dead of Lady Cheritwebeshet. The dead lady prays before the barge of the Sun-god which is drawn by jackals & uraea with human arms. “Worship of Re-Harachte, the Great God, Lord of the Skies by the righteous Cheritwebeshet.”

Werner Forman Archive/The Egyptian Museum, Cairo

Skin grows black (30:30). See comment on 30:28; see also sidebar on “Job’s Illness and Health Care in the Ancient Near East” at 2:7.

Mourning (30:31). See comment on 2:8, 12 with the sidebar “Mourning.” On the harp and flute, see the sidebar on “Music and Dancing” at 21:12.

Not to look lustfully at a girl (31:1). Job acknowledges that he was not enticed by other women (31:9), nor did he look lustfully at a girl (betûlâ), a young unmarried woman still under the protection of her father (something different from being enticed by another man’s wife).269 Some have linked betûlâ with a title of the Ugaritic goddess Anat (btlt) and interpret the verse as referring to the worship of other gods. Such an interpretation has been challenged and the context (esp. vv. 9–12) rather refers to unfaithfulness and lust, as in Sirach 9.270

Let God weigh me in honest scales (31:6). Job 31 contains what has been called “Job’s declaration of innocence.” He lists a catalogue of crimes: lust (v. 1); falsehood (v. 5); adultery (v. 9); injustice to servants (v. 13); indifference to the poor, widow, fatherless, and naked (vv. 16–20); injustice to the fatherless (v. 21); trust in wealth (vv. 24–25); worship of sun and moon (vv. 26–27); rejoicing over the enemy’s misfortune (vv. 29–30); inhospitality (v. 32); and hypocrisy (v. 34).

Weighing scene from a Book of the Dead

Allan Hise, courtesy of the Agyptisches Museum, Berlin

According to ancient Egyptian belief, the deceased appeared before a tribunal of divine judges consisting of the underworld god Osiris and forty-two judges. The heart of the deceased was weighed on a scale against the feather of Maʿat, which represented justice, to determine whether it was pure.271 The weighing was done by the jackal-headed Anubis, the assistant of Osiris, and the result was recorded by the scribal god Thoth (represented as an Ibis-headed figure or a baboon) and reported to the enthroned Osiris. In order for the heart not to speak against the deceased, a spell was recited:

O my heart of my mother,

O my heart of my mother,

O my heart of my being!

Do not rise up against me as witness,

Do not oppose me in the tribunal,

Do not rebel against me before the guardian of the scales!272

The deceased individual was interrogated by the divine tribunal and on this occasion “Spell 125” from the Egyptian Book of the Dead, called the “declaration of innocence” (or “negative confession”), was recited:

I have not committed evil against men;

I have not blasphemed a god;

I have not done violence to a poor man;

I have not defamed a slave to his superior.273

Negative confession, Book of the Dead, spell 125

Mary Evans Picture Library

Many commentators draw attention to this comparative material.274

5 mina weight in shape of a duck

Marie-Lan Nguyen/Wikimedia Commons, courtesy of the Louvre

During the Babylonian Akitu Festival the king also uttered a confession:

I have not sinned …

I have not struck the privileged citizens in the faces,

I have not humiliated them….275

A “declaration of innocence” also occurs in Akkadian legal texts, and in a seventh-century Israelite legal ostracon from Yavneh Yam the plaintiff claims to be without guilt.276 Egyptian autobiographies, on the other hand, deal with the positive confession of innocence.277

Finally, in a Hittite prayer of the mid-second millennium B.C., there is an intriguing declaration of innocence by King Kantuzzili.278 He claims that he has not sworn falsely, eaten forbidden food, or stolen oxen or sheep, and that he has not been selfish (phrased in terms of sharing his food and water). This example has an additional similarity because Kantuzilli is using his declaration to try to bring an end to a plague. Like Job, he insists that his record be tested to show that he is innocent.

May my wife grind another man’s grain, and may other men sleep with her (31:10). In Old Testament times grain was ground by women using a stone millstone, many examples of which have been found in Palestine. A millstone consisted of a saddle quern and a hand-operated grinding stone: it was one of the most important implements in the ordinary ancient Israelite home.279 The law prohibited anyone from taking it as collateral (Deut. 24:6), and it was also a symbol of destruction (Jer. 25:10). Millstones could be used as a weapon (Judg. 9:53; 2 Sam. 11:21). In Job 41:24 it is used to describe the strength of the chest of the Leviathan.

The NIV “sleep with her” is in Hebrew “bow down to her.” In ancient Near Eastern treaty curses the same idea occurs, as in the treaty of the Assyrian king Esarhaddon.280 In Egypt young men are warned: “Do not fornicate with a married woman. He who fornicates with a married woman on her bed, his wife will be copulated with on the ground.”281

Destruction (31:12). See comment on 26:6.

If I had denied justice (31:13). See comment on 22:9 and the sidebar “Social Justice in the Ancient Near East”; see also comment on 29:16.

If I have regarded the sun … or … the moon (31:26). Job refers to the worship of the sun and moon, which was common in the ancient Near East (Mesopotamian deities like Utu-Shamash and Nanna-Sin; Egyptian Ra, Aten, and Thoth; and Ugaritic Shapshu and Yarikh), but is forbidden by Deuteronomy 4:19: “And when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon and the stars—all the heavenly array—do not be enticed into bowing down to them.” In Psalm 84:11 the Lord God himself is a sun.

Seal depicts the moon god Sin standing on a crescent and receiving a prayer by the man standing before him. To the right another man prays before the mushchushu or sirrush, the symbol of Marduk, the chief of the Babylonian pantheon.

Werner Forman Archive/The British Museum

The importance of the sun and moon is indicated by some Ugaritic texts.282 Solar and lunar worship in ancient Israel283 is evident from texts such as 2 Kings 23:5, 11; Jeremiah 8:2; and Ezekiel 8:16. The reforming king Josiah got rid of the sun and moon worshipers (1 Kings 23:5). Palestinian iconography indicates the importance of astral symbolism in the Assyrian period.284 However, the book of Job here rejects any cult of the sun or moon as unacceptable in monotheistic thought.

My hand offered them a kiss of homage (31:27). Kissing can be a form of worship; in Hosea 13:2 calf idols are kissed and in 1 Kings 19:18 Baal is kissed by his followers. The gesture of putting the hand to the mouth and throwing a kiss to the deity was known in Mesopotamia, as is shown on a statuette of a worshiper from Larsa. This figure has his hand before his mouth without touching it, the thumb and index finger are extended, and the three other fingers curled.285 For other gestures, see Job 21:5 and 29:9.

Statuette of a kneeling man, known as the “worshipper of Larsa,” has sometimes been identified as Hammurabi. Dedicated by an inhabitant of Larsa to the god Amurru for the life of Hammurabi. Bronze and gold, early 2nd millennium B.C.

Marie-Lan Nguyen/Wikimedia Commons, courtesy of the Louvre

No stranger had to spend the night in the street (31:32). A “stranger” (gēr)286 is a foreigner who does not own land and has no home (as in 19:15); such a person should not be mistreated (cf. Lev. 19:33–34) or left in the street (cf. Gen. 19), because the Israelites themselves and their ancestors used to be strangers in Egypt (Ex. 22:21) and in Palestine (Gen. 15:13). In contemporary terms, this word describes the landless and the disfranchised.

If my land cries out against me (31:38–39). Job denies that he has failed to pay the laborers their wages.287 In Deuteronomy 24:14–15 it is commanded: “Do not take advantage of a hired man who is poor and needy…. Pay him his wages, … Otherwise he may cry to the LORD against you, and you will be guilty of sin.”288 In the year 1152 B.C., the artisans of Deir el-Medina in Egypt went on strike because they were not paid.289