Job 23:9 | KD | STEP | Will He contend with me with great power? No, indeed; He will only regard me! 7 Then the upright would be disputing with Him, And I should for ever escape my judge. 8 Yet I go eastward, He is not there, And westward, but I perceive Him not; 9 Northwards where He worketh, but I behold Him not; He turneth aside southwards, and I see Him not. The question which Job, in , puts forth: will He contend with me in the greatness or fulness of His strength, i.e., (as ) with a calling forth of all His strength? he himself answers in , hoping that the contrary may be the case: no, indeed, He will not do that. לא is here followed not by the כּי, which is otherwise customary after a negation in the signification imo , but by the restrictive exceptive אך, which never signifies sed , sometimes verum tamen ( ; comp. supra , ), but here, as frequently, tantummodo , and, according to the hyperbaton which has been mentioned so often, is placed at the beginning of the sentence, and belongs not to the member of the sentence immediately following it, but to the whole sentence (as in Arabic also the restrictive force of the Arab. innamâ never falls upon what immediately follows it): He will do nothing but regard me (ישׂים, scil . לב, elsewhere with על of the object of regard or reflection, ; ; Jdg 19:30, and without an ellipsis, ch. ; also with אל, , or ל, ; here designedly with בּ, which unites in itself the significations of the Arab. b and fı̂ , of seizing, and of plunging into anything). Many expositors (Hirz., Ew., and others) understand as expressing a wish: “Shall He contend with me with overwhelming power? No, I do not desire that; only that He may be a judge attentive to the cause, not a ruler manifesting His almighty power.” But , taken thus, would be purely rhetorical, since this question (shall He, etc.) certainly cannot be seriously propounded by Job; accordingly, is not intended as expressing a wish, but a hope. Job certainly wishes the same thing in ; ; but in the course of the discussion he has gradually acquired new confidence in God, which here once more breaks through. He knows that God, if He would but be found, would also condescend to hear his defence of himself, that He would allow him to speak, and not overwhelm him with His majesty.

‏ Job 23:9

Job 23:6-9 6 Will He contend with me with great power?

No, indeed; He will only regard me! 7 Then the upright would be disputing with Him,

And I should for ever escape my judge. 8 Yet I go eastward, He is not there,

And westward, but I perceive Him not; 9 Northwards where He worketh, but I behold Him not;

He turneth aside southwards, and I see Him not.

The question which Job, in Job 23:6, puts forth: will He contend with me in the greatness or fulness of His strength, i.e., (as Job 30:18) with a calling forth of all His strength? he himself answers in Job 23:6, hoping that the contrary may be the case: no, indeed, He will not do that. ^{▼▼With this interpretation, לא should certainly have Rebia mugrasch; its accentuation with Mercha proceeds from another interpretation, probably non ituque ponet in me (manum suam), according to which the Targ. translates. Others, following this accentuation, take לא in the sense of הלא (vid., in Dachselt), or are at pains to obtain some other meaning from it.} לא is here followed not by the כּי, which is otherwise customary after a negation in the signification imo, but by the restrictive exceptive אך, which never signifies sed, sometimes verum tamen (Psa 49:16; comp. supra, Job 13:15), but here, as frequently, tantummodo, and, according to the hyperbaton which has been mentioned so often, is placed at the beginning of the sentence, and belongs not to the member of the sentence immediately following it, but to the whole sentence (as in Arabic also the restrictive force of the Arab. innamâ never falls upon what immediately follows it): He will do nothing but regard me (ישׂים, scil. לב, elsewhere with על of the object of regard or reflection, Job 34:23; Job 37:15; Jdg 19:30, and without an ellipsis, ch. Job 1:8; also with אל, Job 2:3, or ל, 1Sa 9:20; here designedly with בּ, which unites in itself the significations of the Arab. b and fı̂, of seizing, and of plunging into anything). Many expositors (Hirz., Ew., and others) understand Job 23:6 as expressing a wish: “Shall He contend with me with overwhelming power? No, I do not desire that; only that He may be a judge attentive to the cause, not a ruler manifesting His almighty power.” But Job 23:6, taken thus, would be purely rhetorical, since this question (shall He, etc.) certainly cannot be seriously propounded by Job; accordingly, Job 23:6 is not intended as expressing a wish, but a hope. Job certainly wishes the same thing in Job 9:34; Job 13:21; but in the course of the discussion he has gradually acquired new confidence in God, which here once more breaks through. He knows that God, if He would but be found, would also condescend to hear his defence of himself, that He would allow him to speak, and not overwhelm him with His majesty.