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Job 42

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Job's Repentance 1–6

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Then Job answered Jehovah, and said,
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I know that thou canst do all things, And that no purpose of thine can be restrained. ​
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Who is this that hideth counsel without knowledge? Therefore have I uttered that which I understood not, Things too wonderful for me, which I knew not. ​
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Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak; I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.
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I had heard of thee by the hearing of the ear; But now mine eye seeth thee: ​
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Wherefore I abhor myself, And repent in dust and ashes. ​

God Rebukes Job’s Friends 7–9

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And it was so, that, after Jehovah had spoken these words unto Job, Jehovah said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends; for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath. ​
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Now therefore, take unto you seven bullocks and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt-offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you; for him will I accept, that I deal not with you after your folly; for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath. ​
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So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went, and did according as Jehovah commanded them: and Jehovah accepted Job.

The Lord Restores Job’s Fortunes 10–17

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And Jehovah turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: and Jehovah gave Job twice as much as he had before. ​
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Then came there unto him all his brethren, and all his sisters, and all they that had been of his acquaintance before, and did eat bread with him in his house: and they bemoaned him, and comforted him concerning all the evil that Jehovah had brought upon him: every man also gave him a piece of money, and every one a ring of gold. ​
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So Jehovah blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: and he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she-asses.
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He had also seven sons and three daughters.
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And he called the name of the first, Jemimah; and the name of the second, Keziah; and the name of the third, Keren-happuch. ​
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And in all the land were no women found so fair as the daughters of Job: and their father gave them inheritance among their brethren. ​
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And after this Job lived a hundred and forty years, and saw his sons, and his sons’ sons, even four generations. ​
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So Job died, being old and full of days.

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Job 42

Verse 2

no thought can be withholden — 'Canst do' is yakol, to be able. 'Withholden' is batsar, to restrain, the verb of Gen 11:6, 'nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.' Here it is God's purpose (mezimmah, a plan) that nothing can restrain: 'there is nothing too hard for thee' (Jer 32:17).

Verse 3

Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? — Job gives back the LORD's own question, 'Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?' (Job 38:2), and answers it of himself. 'Things too wonderful' is pala, matters beyond reach, as David says, 'Such knowledge is too wonderful for me' (Ps 139:6).

Verse 5

by the hearing of the ear — Shema is a report, something heard; 'now mine eye seeth thee' follows the LORD's answering Job 'out of the whirlwind' (Job 38:1; 40:6). Job had hoped for it: 'mine eyes shall behold, and not another' (Job 19:27). Isaiah's sight was of 'the Lord sitting upon a throne' (Isa 6:1).

Verse 6

repent in dust and ashes — Nacham, to repent, is also the verb of v.11, where his kin 'comforted' him. 'Dust and ashes' is the phrase Abraham used when pleading with the Lord: 'which am but dust and ashes' (Gen 18:27). Job had earlier 'sat down among the ashes' (Job 2:8) and said he was 'become like dust and ashes' (Job 30:19).

Verse 7

My wrath is kindled — Charah, to burn, the verb used of Elihu's anger at Job and at the three friends (Job 32:2–3). 'The thing that is right' is from kun, to be firm, established. 'My servant Job' is the title the LORD gave him in Job 1:8 and 2:3; it is repeated four times in vv.7–8.

Verse 8

seven bullocks and seven rams — A burnt offering (olah), the kind Job himself offered 'continually' for his sons (Job 1:5). The friends must come to Job, who 'shall pray for you' (palal, to intercede), as Abraham 'prayed unto God' and Abimelech was healed (Gen 20:17). 'Folly' is nebalah, moral foolishness, wickedness.

Verse 10

turned the captivity of Job — Shub shebut, the phrase of Deut 30:3 and Ps 126:4 for the LORD's restoring his people, here applied to one man, and 'when he prayed for his friends'. 'Twice as much' is mishneh, double, as in Isa 61:7; v.12 counts it, fourteen thousand sheep against seven thousand (Job 1:3).

Verse 11

a piece of money, and… an earring of gold — Qesitah, a weighed piece, is found only here, in Jacob's purchase of a field at Shechem (Gen 33:19) and in Josh 24:32. Earlier Job said the LORD had 'put my brethren far from me' (Job 19:13); now they eat bread with him, and 'comforted him' (nacham, v.6).

Verse 14

Jemima… Kezia… Kerenhappuch — The daughters are named, though the seven sons of v.13 are not. Yemimah may be 'dove'; Qetsiah is the word for the spice 'cassia' (Ps 45:8); Qeren-happuk is 'horn of cosmetic'. Each name belongs to a different one of the three daughters, in birth order.

Verse 15

inheritance among their brethren — The law gave a daughter her father's inheritance only 'If a man die, and have no son' (Num 27:8). Job's daughters receive theirs 'among their brethren' (tavek, in the midst), beside seven brothers, as Zelophehad's daughters were given 'a possession… among their father's brethren' (Num 27:7).

Verse 16

four generations — The 'hundred and forty years' follow the trial ('After this'). Seeing 'his sons, and his sons' sons' is the blessing of Ps 128:6, 'thou shalt see thy children's children', and of Prov 17:6; Joseph likewise 'saw Ephraim's children of the third generation' (Gen 50:23).