Глава 19

Job's response to Bildad's speech in the second conversation. 1–22. Job's situation should evoke in friends a feeling of compassion and regret, but in no case should there be accusations or accusations. 23–29. Job's faith in the future resurrection of the flesh. Job 19:1. And Job answered and said: Job 19:2. How long will you torment my soul and torment me with your speeches? Job 19:3. Behold, you have disgraced me ten times already and are not ashamed to oppress me. The friends' discussions about the death of the wicked and his offspring contain fairly clear hints about the fate of Job (see Job 15.29–34, 18.13–19). In their eyes, he is a sinner, which is directly expressed by Eliphaz (Job 15.4–5). Such accusations, coupled with a lack of compassion, cause torment to the innocent sufferer (cf. Job 17.2). And since in their repeated speeches (“ten” is a round number) the friends have apparently exhausted all arguments, it is time for them to shut up and stop tormenting (v. 2). Job 19:4. If I really made a mistake, then my mistake remains with me. And indeed, friends do not have the right and sufficient grounds to treat Job mercilessly. If he sinned, he only harmed himself, and in no case harmed them. Why are they so armed against him? Job 19:5. If you want to lord it over me and reproach me with my shame, Job 19:6. then know that God has overthrown me and surrounded me with His net. Apparently, a sufficient reason for the arrogant behavior of friends (“to show off”; cf. Ps 34.26, 37.17, 54.13) is Job’s terrible illness, testifying to his wickedness. But in this case, one must take into account the fact that God deals with him more strictly than he deserves. Job 19:7–22. Friends treat Job mercilessly, and yet his situation should arouse a feeling of compassion. Job 19:7. Here, I shout: insult! and no one listens; I cry, and there is no judgment. Job 19:8. He has blocked my way, and I cannot pass, and has put darkness in my paths. The innocently punished Job demands an impartial trial (Job 9.35, 13.18–22), but does not find it. And while this state lasts, he does not have the opportunity to avoid the great disasters that contain it (“he has blocked my way, and I cannot pass through” v. 8; cf. Lamentations 1.6–7), even to understand the reason for them “he has put darkness in my paths” (v. 8; cf. Job 3.23). Job 19:9. He took away my glory from me and took the crown from my head. Job 19:10. All around I have been ruined, and I am leaving; and like a tree, He plucked out my hope. Job 19:11. He was kindled with His anger against me and considers me among His enemies. Job 19:12. His armies came together and directed their way towards me and positioned themselves around my tent. These disasters consist, first of all, in the deprivation of what in the past created his glory, gave him honor and respect in society (v. 9; cf. Job 39.7 and especially v. 14, according to which his crown was truth, the infidelity of which he is now accused of); secondly, in the defeat of a serious disease (v. 10), destroying the flesh (v. 20), even the bones (Job 30.17), and leading to death (“and I depart” v. 10; cf. Job 10.21, 16.22), so that Job is like an overthrown house “he destroyed it all around”, Heb. “Ittetseni”, from “tatsa”, used to designate a destroyed building - Court. 9.45 ; Jer 39.8, and thirdly, in the divine wrath that has continued to this day (vv. 11–12). God treats him as if he were a hostile fortress: “His armies,” the disasters that befell Job, make attack after attack (cf. Job 6.4, 10.17, 16.13–14). Job 19:13–19. As a result of such relations of God to Job, he, previously respected, now does not encounter manifestations of love, loyalty, respect and affection from anywhere. Everyone avoids him, and some even despise him. Job 19:13. He has removed my brothers from me, and those who know me are alien to me. Job 19:14. My loved ones have left me, and my acquaintances have forgotten me. Job was abandoned by his brothers (“ah” - brothers in the literal sense, as in Ps 68.9) and forgotten by those who knew and were close - persons who stood in the most intimate relationship with him (Ps 37.12). Job 19:15. The strangers in my house and my maids consider me a stranger; I became a stranger in their eyes. Job 19:16. I call my servant, and he does not answer; with my mouth I must plead with him. Those who did not stand in such a relationship with him became even more distant from him. He became a complete stranger to those who found shelter in his house (cf. Job 31.31–32); "newcomers", Heb. “Garei Beiti” (cf. Exodus 3.22); the previously favored servants, who received the most humane treatment from him (Job 31.13), now do not respond to his call, and he, their master, must beg them in order to achieve some service. Job 19:17. My breath is disgusting to my wife, and I must beg her for the sake of the children of my womb. Job became unbearable even for the closest creature, his wife; She is disgusted by the foul breath of the leper, and he must ask for her help in the name of “the children of his womb.” Who is meant by “the children of my womb” remains unsaid. It was as if Job could not understand children in the proper sense, since they died. Children from concubines, as LXX understands: “υίοὺς παλλακίδων” - “sons of concubines”, also, because there is no mention of them in the book, and, in addition, Job represented an example of chastity (Job 31.1). According to Delim, Knabenbauer and others, “the children of my womb” are the children of that the womb, which was Job’s own, that is, the children of his mother’s womb, his brothers. But if by “children of my womb” we mean children in the literal sense, then the meaning and power of this passage is not diminished in the least, Job begs his wife to help him in the name of the former love that united them as spouses, and the manifestation of which were the dead children. Job 19:18. Even small children despise me: I rise, and they mock me. The example of adults also affects minors. Unable to distinguish between good and evil, but more cruel than their elders, they mock the sufferer (cf. 2 Kings 2.23) when he rises, that is, he makes some unnatural movements, as if exhausted by illness. Job 19:19. All my confidants abhor me, and those whom I loved have turned against me. Job evokes a feeling of disgust among his confidants, the people to whom he previously confided all his secrets (Ps. 54.15), and a feeling of enmity among those who enjoyed his love. Job 19:20. My bones stuck to my skin and my flesh, and I was left with only the skin around my teeth. Besides everything else, the very sight of a sufferer involuntarily evokes compassion. The disease destroyed everything: he was left with only bones stuck to his skin; flesh is found only in the teeth, in the form of gums. Job 19:21. Have mercy on me, have mercy on me, my friends, for the hand of God has touched me. Job 19:22. Why do you persecute me like God, and cannot be satisfied with my flesh? Job’s bodily strength is exhausted, and for him leprosy is enough, with which God struck him (Hebrew “naga”, used to denote leprosy. Lev. 13.23). Therefore, friends should not increase his suffering by “eating his flesh” - new disasters (Ps 26.2; Mic 3.3), i.e. accusations and slander (Dan 3.8, 6.2-5). Job 19:23. Oh, if only my words were written down! If they were written in a book Job 19:24. with an iron cutter and tin - they were carved on stone for eternity! The request addressed to friends for a condescending, compassionate attitude (v. 21) remains unanswered. In view of this, Job expresses the desire that at least future generations will treat him with sympathy and sympathy. This is also possible under the condition of familiarizing them with his innocence and faith in God, the means of which is to write his words on stone with an iron chisel (about this, see in the Introduction) - not everything he said, since not all of it testifies to his rightness, but only the words of Art. 25–27. Job 19:25. But I know that my Redeemer lives, and on the last day He will raise this decaying skin of mine from the dust, “I know,” says Job, “my Redeemer, or rather my Goel, lives.” The Jews called a goel a person who had the right to take revenge not only for murder, but also for honor, property, to demand justice and even to carry it out himself (Lev. 25.25; Numbers 35.19; Deut. 19.6, 12; Ruth 3.13, 4.4, 6). The name “goel” is also applied to God, as the deliverer of the Jewish people from Egyptian slavery (Ex 6.6, 15.3; Ps 73.2, 76.16) and Babylonian (Is 43.1, 44.22), and in general, as the judge and avenger of all the oppressed and oppressed (Ps 119.154; Lamentations 3.58). And as the expression “lives”, applied to God, shows (Deut. 5.26; Judges 8.19; 1 Sam. 17.26, 36; Isa. 37.17, etc.); God is also Job's goel, his protector, and deliverer. “And he on the last day” is a mistranslation of the Hebrew phrase: “veacharon al afar yakum,” literally meaning “and the last one will stand over the dust.” As Job’s defender, God will “stand up,” that is, appear (“godfather” in the meaning of “stand up” is used about a witness - Deut. 30.5; Ps. 26.12, 34.11 and about God the judge - Isa. 2:19, 21, 28:21, 33:10; Ps. 11.6, 93.16) over the dust (alafar), by the dust of Job and his grave (Job 7.21, 14.18, 20.11, 21.26) “the last,” that is, at the end of the existence of this world (“the last” is the one who will outlive everyone, Is 44.6). “He will restore this decaying skin of mine from the dust” is an incorrect translation of the Hebrew text: “veahar ori nikfu zot.” “Ahar” – behind, behind, after (Ps 72.24). “Nifa” is the piel form of the verb “nakaf” - to surround (Is 15.8, 29.1; Ps 16.9, 21.17; Josh 6.3, 11; etc.), found only in the prophet Isaiah with the meaning “to cut down”, “to destroy” (Is 10.34, cf. Job 17.6, 24.13). “Ori” – my skin; “zot” – this. With the addition of the words of verse 26: “and from my flesh (mibsari) I will see God,” the entire passage (veahar ori nikfu zot) can be translated as “after my skin is destroyed, from my flesh I will see God.” Job 19:27. I will see Him myself; my eyes, not the eyes of another, will see Him. My heart melts in my chest! Job is quite confident in the fulfillment of his words, and this confidence turns into passionate expectation: “my heart is melting in my chest,” or more precisely: “my insides are faint” (“kalu” from “kala” denoting passionate expectation: cf. Ps 68.4, 72.26, 83.3, 118.81–82). Job is convinced that God will appear as his protector at the end of this world. By this time, his body will decay, and, nevertheless, “out of his flesh,” he will see the Lord with his own eyes. The possibility of contemplating God with bodily eyes after the decay of the flesh is determined only by the fact of the resurrection of the body and its union with the soul. An expression of Job's faith in the future resurrection is also seen in this place in ancient translations. “I know,” we read in the text of LXX, “that He is eternal who must redeem me and resurrect on earth my skin that endures this, for these things came to me from the Lord, which I myself know, which my eyes have seen, and not anyone else.” “Ego scio,” says Peshito’s Syrian translation, “quod liberator meus vivens est, et in fine super terram manifestabitur, et super cutem meam circumverunt haec et super carnem meam.” The Vulgate translation is even more expressive: “I know that my Redeemer lives, and on the last day I will be raised from the earth. I will be clothed again in my own skin, and in my flesh I will see my God. I will see Him myself, my eyes will see Him, and not another.” With the understanding of the ancient translations according to the understanding of the fathers and teachers of the eastern and western churches, Clement of Rome, Origen, Cyril of Jerusalem, Epiphanius, Ambrose of Milan, St. Augustine, etc. Job 19:28. You should say: why are we pursuing him? It's as if the root of evil was found in me. Job 19:29. Fear the sword, for the sword is the avenger of iniquity, and know that there is judgment. A warning to friends. The right of judgment over Job belongs to God-Goel (v. 25): He will prove his innocence. If friends, despite the full faith of the sufferer’s speech, continue to act as accusing judges, pointing out the causes of disasters in alleged sins, then they should fear the sword - divine punishment (Job 15.22, 27.14; Zech 13.7). On the inevitability of the latter (v. 29), see Job 13.7–10. You might be interested in: