Job
Chapter 10
Since I despise my life, I will express my complaints; I will speak about my soul’s suffering.
I will say to God: Do not condemn me, but tell me, what is your conflict with me?
Would it be right for you to oppress me, to reject the work of your hands, and to favor the plans of the wicked?
Do you have human eyes? Do you see things from the way people do?
Are your days like those of humans, or are your years like a mortal’s lifetime?
Why do you look for guilt in me and search for my faults?
You know I have not sinned, but who can rescue me from your hand?
You have formed and made me. Will you then turn and destroy me?
Remember that you molded me from clay. Will you turn me to dust again?
Did you not pour me out like milk and curdle me like cheese?
You wrapped me up in skin and flesh, knit me together with bones and sinews.
In your goodness, you gave me life and watched over my breathing with care.
Yet this is what you hid in your heart, I know what was in your mind:
You wanted to see if I sinned, and not let my fault be forgiven.
If I am guilty—alas for me! If I am innocent— I dare not lift my head, humbled and shamed by my affliction.
Exhausted, you hunt me like a lion; you want to prove that you are stronger.
You renew your attack on me; you intensify your rage, wave after wave, as your forces assault me.
Why did you bring me out of the womb? I wish I had died unseen,
a being that had not existed— carried straight from the womb to the tomb.
Are not my days almost over? Turn away; let me recover for a while to recover
before I go to the land of no return, to the land of gloom and shadow,
to the land of chaos and deepest night, where darkness is the only light.
Commentaries
First Speech Session.
Appalled by Job’s laments and his repeated “whys,” the three friends break their wise silence and feel urged to reply. The speeches are divided into three sessions: 4:1-14:22, 15:1-21:34, and 22:1-27:23. In the first two, each friend speaks, and Job responds extensively. The third session seems somewhat disorganized, likely due to confusion in the text.
Job’s Response to Bildad.
Although these chapters contain numerous textual and translation issues, it is clear that they are filled with images drawn from the concept of legal justice. Job sometimes appears as a plaintiff trying to bring God to court (9:3), but, unfortunately, with the defendant and the judge being the same person, what chance does he have of obtaining justice? At other times, Job himself is the defendant who must answer because his life depends on it (9:14). Our hero’s sense of powerlessness becomes increasingly clear, especially in light of God’s overwhelming creative power. Despite everything, Job’s language grows progressively bolder and honest. He is unsure of what to do or say because his words seem useless. He cannot win the contest. And even if he could clear his name, God would tarnish it again (9:25-31). Forgotten by his friends, Job seeks a third person, an impartial mediator (cf. 16:19; 19:25), who could establish justice between God and him, but he knows this is impossible. In despair, he begins to hate life again (9:33-35b). He laments and appeals to God’s memory, reminding Him of the good days when the Creator made him (10:9-12). Why is God now persecuting him and cornering him like a wild animal? (10:16). As in 3:11 and 7:15, he again calls on death, from which there is no return (10:18-22).