Job bids his companions understand that his complaint is directed to the deity, who, to his mind, causes him, a righteous man, to suffer and at the same time causes the wicked to prosper. Taking his cue from Jeremiah (12:1–2) and Habakkuk (chapter 1), Job refutes Zophar’s claims in the preceding discourse to the effect that the wicked die prematurely, lose their ill-gotten wealth, and have no legacy. In the course of his argument, Job counters earlier claims by Eliphaz and Bildad as well.
[21:1] Up spoke Job and he said:
[2–3] Listen oh listen to my words,
And let them be your (words of) consolation!
Bear with me while I speak;
Then after I speak, you can blather.1
[4] Is this complaint of mine with a human?
Should I not lose patience2 over an evil?3
[5] Face me and be still,4
And set your hands over your mouths!
[6] When I call (the evil) to mind, I am shaken;
My flesh has been seized by trembling.
[7] Why do the wicked live on and live well,5
Grow old6 and gain in power and wealth?7
[8–9] Their seed8 is steadfastly before them,
Their offspring ever before their eyes.9
Their homesteads are at peace10 without dread,
With no rod of Eloah’s (anger) over them.11
[10] His12 bull never fails to impregnate,
His cow calves without any losses.
[11] They13 let their young run rampant14 like sheep,
And their children prance around.
[12] They raise (their voices)15 with16 hand-drum and lyre,
And take pleasure at the sound of the flute.
[13–16] They end17 their days in bounty,18
And descend19 to Sheol at ease,20
Though they say to El: “Turn away from us!
We are not interested in knowing your ways.21
Why should we serve Shaddai?
What do we gain by imploring22 him?
Not in his hands23 is our bounty,24
The scheme of the wicked is far from him.”25
[17–18] How often does the lamp of the wicked wane?26
And their ruin overcome them?
(How often) does he dispense disaster in his anger?
(How often) are they like straw in the wind,
And like chaff that a wind sweeps away?27
[19–21] (How often) does Eloah store up his misfortune for his28 sons,
Pay him (thus) his retribution—and he knows it?
(How often) do his eyes witness his downfall,29
Does he drink from Shaddai’s wrathful venom?30
For what interest has he in his household after him—
When the number of his months has been halved?31
[22] Can one teach awareness32 to El,
When he is judging from the heights?33
[23–24] This one34 dies wholly hale,35
Completely at ease and at rest.
His buckets are full of milk,36
The marrow of his bones refreshed.
[25–26] While this one37 dies in a bitter spirit,
Never having eaten sweet bounty.
They lie in the dust together,
And maggots cover them both.38
[27–28] See, I know what you are thinking,
The arguments you contemplate39 against me.
You will say, “Where’s the house of the beneficent?
And where is the home40 the wicked dwell in?”41
[29–30] Have you not questioned wayfarers?
Their indications you can hardly deny:42
That on the day of disaster the wicked is spared,
On the day of fury they will be delivered.43
[31] Who will confront (the wicked) with his ways?44
For what he has done, who will pay him his due?
[32–33] (Who will tell him) he’ll be delivered to the grave,
That a tomb will keep watch over him?45
That the clods of the stream will be his comfort;46
That he will draw after him every man,
As countless ones (went) before him?
[34] Why do you console me with windy breath?
Why do your responses remain47 futile?48
1. Reading ta‘legu (adding the plural suffix), a metathesis of tal‘igu “you mock,” which ordinarily takes the preposition le-with object; see above at 11:3.
2. Literally, “should my spirit not be short,” an idiom.
3. Reading meroa‘ “on account of evil” for maddua‘ “why?,” which cannot follow the interrogative ’im. The letters d and r are nearly identical.
4. So the Aramaic translation. The verb sh-m-m connotes desolation; it puns on “set, put” (simu) in the next line.
5. Thriving, prospering is a nuance of “live” known in Old Aramaic and compare Psalms 22:27; 69:33.
6. And strong. The nuance of “old” is particularly found in Aramaic.
7. Hebrew ḥayil denotes “wealth” in Zophar’s speech (20:15, 18, 21) but always connotes “strength” as well.
8. Children.
9. The phrase ‘immam “with them,” which seems redundant in the first line of this couplet, should probably be read as part of the second line (Kahana); compare Isaiah 65:23.
10. Compare Eliphaz’s assurance to Job in 5:24.
11. Job counters Zophar’s assertions in 20:23–25.
12. The wicked now in the singular.
13. The wicked.
14. “Young running rampant” is the same term as “hooligans” in 19:18.
15. An expression for singing in Isaiah 42:11.
16. Reading be- for ke- with ancient translations and some Masoretic manuscripts.
17. Reading the Qere (tradition of reading) rather than the Ketib (written version) with Saadia Gaon and others; compare 36:11. The expression billa “wear out” of the Ketib has a negative connotation.
18. Contrast Zophar’s claim in 20:21.
19. Vocalizing yeḥatu from the regular Aramaic verb for descending; it is generally understood this way.
20. Vocalizing beroga‘ instead of the received berega‘ “in a moment”—a punning reply to Zophar in 20:5. Compare Deuteronomy 28:65; Isaiah 28:12; Jeremiah 6:16.
21. The opposite of what the righteous will desire; see Isaiah 58:2, which is quoted here almost verbatim.
22. Compare Jeremiah 7:16.
23. Reading beyadaw for beyadam “in their hands.” (For the reading of this verse I am indebted to Alexander Rofé.)
24. Reading tubenu for tubam “their bounty” (the letters nw when written adjacent to each other look like final m; see at 8:8).
25. Reading mennu for menni “from me”—beyond the deity’s notice. Compare Eliphaz’s rejoinder in 22:18. The received text does not make sense as an observation of Job’s.
26. A direct refutation of Bildad in 18:5—and Proverbs 13:9.
27. A denial of conventional wisdom, as in Psalm 1:4.
28. The wicked, now in the singular.
29. Reading pid “catastrophe” (see Job 12:5 and elsewhere) for otherwise unknown kid; compare Rashi.
30. For the expression and image, see for example Isaiah 51:17.
31. When he is nearing death.
32. “Knowledge” of what transpires among humans; see Eliphaz’s paraphrase of this verse in 22:13.
33. Too high in the heavens to be aware of earthly doings; see 22:13–14 and Job in 3:23.
34. The wicked. Job reasserts his contention in 9:22.
35. In Job health, like integrity, is figured by wholeness.
36. Possibly a metaphor for testes full of semen (Gordis, Book of Job).
37. The righteous.
38. Compare Isaiah 14:11.
39. Reading tahmosu “you imagine” (known from Syriac, with many commentators) for taḥmosu “you do violence.”
40. Literally, “the tent.”
41. That is, you will claim there is a difference in the lot of the good and the bad.
42. Compare Deuteronomy 32:27.
43. Compare Isaiah 55:12.
44. Literally, “tell to his face his ways.”
45. Reading ‘alaw “over him” (Ball).
46. Literally, “will be sweet for him.”
47. Reading a plural verb (nish’aru).
48. Reading ‘amal for ma‘al “betrayal”; see the similar usage in 16:2.