Job 23: verses 12 and 17
Posted: Sat Jul 25, 2015 7:42 am
כי־לא נצמתי מפני־חשך ומפני כסה־אפל׃
.."because I was not cut off from before the darkness neither has he covered the darkness from my face" Robert Alter says that ambiguity in hebrew should not be a cause for confusion but a rhetorical device for enrichment in meaning, words that I agree with. Verses 10 to 16 provide this in chapter 23 but verse 17 had me stumped especially since I could not agree with the standard English translations that I have read. Until I came across this in a PDF that I have where a footnote says: "...not from the darkness am I dismayed nor yet because thick darkness veils my face" This makes sense seeing the context and is a perfect continuation from the previous verse. My question is; do others agree? is there poetical justification for such an interpretation?
מצות פתיו ולא אמיש מחקי צפנתי אמרי־פיו
And if anyone has a Koren jerusalem bible I would be grateful to know what it says in verse 12 as well. I see no idiom, let alone hebrew translation, that justifies the expression "My necessary food"?
"...from what is appointed for me I have treasured/hidden the words of His mouth" "What is appointed for me" is used in verse 14. Again this agrees with the context that He has not turned back from following the Lord. He hides up His words? The hebrew is emphatic here surely?
Kind regards
Chris Watts
.."because I was not cut off from before the darkness neither has he covered the darkness from my face" Robert Alter says that ambiguity in hebrew should not be a cause for confusion but a rhetorical device for enrichment in meaning, words that I agree with. Verses 10 to 16 provide this in chapter 23 but verse 17 had me stumped especially since I could not agree with the standard English translations that I have read. Until I came across this in a PDF that I have where a footnote says: "...not from the darkness am I dismayed nor yet because thick darkness veils my face" This makes sense seeing the context and is a perfect continuation from the previous verse. My question is; do others agree? is there poetical justification for such an interpretation?
מצות פתיו ולא אמיש מחקי צפנתי אמרי־פיו
And if anyone has a Koren jerusalem bible I would be grateful to know what it says in verse 12 as well. I see no idiom, let alone hebrew translation, that justifies the expression "My necessary food"?
"...from what is appointed for me I have treasured/hidden the words of His mouth" "What is appointed for me" is used in verse 14. Again this agrees with the context that He has not turned back from following the Lord. He hides up His words? The hebrew is emphatic here surely?
Kind regards
Chris Watts