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Job 15

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1 ὑπολαβὼν δὲ Ελιφας ὁ Θαιμανίτης λέγει 2 πότερον σοφὸς ἀπόκρισιν δώσει συνέσεως πνεύματος καὶ ἐνέπλησεν πόνον γαστρὸς 3 ἐλέγχων ἐν ῥήμασιν οἷς οὐ δεῖ ἐν λόγοις οἷς οὐδὲν ὄφελος 4 οὐ καὶ σὺ ἀπεποιήσω φόβον συνετελέσω δὲ ῥήματα τοιαῦτα ἔναντι τοῦ κυρίου 5 ἔνοχος εἶ ῥήμασιν στόματός σου οὐδὲ διέκρινας ῥήματα δυναστῶν 6 ἐλέγξαι σε τὸ σὸν στόμα καὶ μὴ ἐγώ τὰ δὲ χείλη σου καταμαρτυρήσουσίν σου

1 Then answered Eliphaz the Themanite: 2 This is not a wise man’s way, to answer with windy sophistries, as if thou hadst the sirocco in thy blood, 3 ill matched for the contest, prating to thy hurt. 4 Worse, if thou hadst thy way, all reverence should be abolished, all devotion at an end. 5 Thy tongue takes its instructions from a sinful heart; this is rebel speech. 6 No need for me to prove thee a guilty man, thy words prove it; thy own lips arraign thee.

1 Respondens autem Eliphaz Themanites, dixit: 2

Numquid sapiens respondebit quasi in ventum loquens,
et implebit ardore stomachum suum? 3
Arguis verbis eum qui non est æqualis tibi,
et loqueris quod tibi non expedit. 4
Quantum in te est, evacuasti timorem,
et tulisti preces coram Deo. 5
Docuit enim iniquitas tua os tuum,
et imitaris linguam blasphemantium. 6
Condemnabit te os tuum, et non ego:
et labia tua respondebunt tibi.

7 τί γάρ μὴ πρῶτος ἀνθρώπων ἐγενήθης ἢ πρὸ θινῶν ἐπάγης 8 ἦ σύνταγμα κυρίου ἀκήκοας εἰς δὲ σὲ ἀφίκετο σοφία 9 τί γὰρ οἶδας ὃ οὐκ οἴδαμεν ἢ τί συνίεις ὃ οὐχὶ καὶ ἡμεῖς 10 καί γε πρεσβύτης καί γε παλαιὸς ἐν ἡμῖν βαρύτερος τοῦ πατρός σου ἡμέραις 11 ὀλίγα ὧν ἡμάρτηκας μεμαστίγωσαι μεγάλως ὑπερβαλλόντως λελάληκας 12 τί ἐτόλμησεν ἡ καρδία σου ἢ τί ἐπήνεγκαν οἱ ὀφθαλμοί σου 13 ὅτι θυμὸν ἔρρηξας ἔναντι κυρίου ἐξήγαγες δὲ ἐκ στόματος ῥήματα τοιαῦτα 14 τίς γὰρ ὢν βροτός ὅτι ἔσται ἄμεμπτος ἢ ὡς ἐσόμενος δίκαιος γεννητὸς γυναικός 15 εἰ κατὰ ἁγίων οὐ πιστεύει οὐρανὸς δὲ οὐ καθαρὸς ἐναντίον αὐτοῦ 16 ἔα δὲ ἐβδελυγμένος καὶ ἀκάθαρτος ἀνὴρ πίνων ἀδικίας ἴσα ποτῷ

7 Tell me, was thine some primeval birth; wast thou made before the hills? 8 Hast thou overheard the secrets of God’s council-chamber, that thou thinkest him no match for thee in wisdom? 9 What knowledge hast thou but we share it, what discernment greater than ours? 10 We too have ancients among us, grey-headed men that have seen more days than any father of thine. 11 It should be no great matter for God to comfort thee, if thy untimely speech did not forbid it;[1] 12 what mean these transports, why does that eye roll so wildly? 13 What pride is this that would cross God himself, moving thee to rash utterance? 14 It is not in man to live a life all blameless; never son of woman yet found acquittal. 15 Fickle natures God finds among his very angels; the purity of heaven itself does not suffice him; 16 what of man, the abominable, the defiled, athirst ever for wrong-doing?

7
Numquid primus homo tu natus es,
et ante colles formatus? 8
numquid consilium Dei audisti,
et inferior te erit ejus sapientia? 9
Quid nosti quod ignoremus?
quid intelligis quod nesciamus? 10
Et senes et antiqui sunt in nobis,
multo vetustiores quam patres tui. 11
Numquid grande est ut consoletur te Deus?
sed verba tua prava hoc prohibent. 12
Quid te elevat cor tuum,
et quasi magna cogitans attonitos habes oculos? 13
Quid tumet contra Deum spiritus tuus,
ut proferas de ore tuo hujuscemodi sermones? 14
Quid est homo ut immaculatus sit,
et ut justus appareat natus de muliere? 15
Ecce inter sanctos ejus nemo immutabilis,
et cæli non sunt mundi in conspectu ejus. 16
Quanto magis abominabilis et inutilis homo,
qui bibit quasi aquam iniquitatem?

17 ἀναγγελῶ δέ σοι ἄκουέ μου ἃ δὴ ἑώρακα ἀναγγελῶ σοι 18 ἃ σοφοὶ ἐροῦσιν καὶ οὐκ ἔκρυψαν πατέρας αὐτῶν 19 αὐτοῖς μόνοις ἐδόθη ἡ γῆ καὶ οὐκ ἐπῆλθεν ἀλλογενὴς ἐ{P'} αὐτούς

17 Listen, while I tell thee my mind; thou shalt hear what my own eyes have witnessed; 18 thou shalt hear what wise men have said, making known the tradition of their fathers, 19 that dwelt ever in their own land, and held no commerce with strangers.

17
Ostendam tibi: audi me:
quod vidi, narrabo tibi. 18
Sapientes confitentur,
et non abscondunt patres suos: 19
quibus solis data est terra,
et non transivit alienus per eos.

20 πᾶς ὁ βίος ἀσεβοῦς ἐν φροντίδι ἔτη δὲ ἀριθμητὰ δεδομένα δυνάστῃ 21 ὁ δὲ φόβος αὐτοῦ ἐν ὠσὶν αὐτοῦ ὅταν δοκῇ ἤδη εἰρηνεύειν ἥξει αὐτοῦ ἡ καταστροφή 22 μὴ πιστευέτω ἀποστραφῆναι ἀπὸ σκότους ἐντέταλται γὰρ ἤδη εἰς χεῖρας σιδήρου 23 κατατέτακται δὲ εἰς σῖτα γυψίν οἶδεν δὲ ἐν ἑαυτῷ ὅτι μένει εἰς πτῶμα ἡμέρα δὲ αὐτὸν σκοτεινὴ στροβήσει 24 ἀνάγκη δὲ καὶ θλῖψις αὐτὸν καθέξει ὥσπερ στρατηγὸς πρωτοστάτης πίπτων 25 ὅτι ἦρκεν χεῖρας ἐναντίον τοῦ κυρίου ἔναντι δὲ κυρίου παντοκράτορος ἐτραχηλίασεν 26 ἔδραμεν δὲ ἐναντίον αὐτοῦ ὕβρει ἐν πάχει νώτου ἀσπίδος αὐτοῦ 27 ὅτι ἐκάλυψεν τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ ἐν στέατι αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐποίησεν περιστόμιον ἐπὶ τῶν μηρίων

20 Proudly though he carry himself all his days, the godless man is on the rack; how long will his tyrannous reign last? 21 All the while, terror whispers in his ear; danger there is none, but he sees plots everywhere. 22 Treads he by dark ways, he never hopes to see light again, swords here, swords there to threaten him; 23 ventures he out in search of food,[2] he doubts not his last hour is at hand; 24 dangers threaten him, difficulties hedge him round, as though he were a king making ready for battle. 25 And all because he chose God for his enemy, matched himself against omnipotence; 26 head high in air he made the onslaught, proud of his strong sinews, 27 like a bull with hanging dewlap and well-covered flanks.[3]

20
Cunctis diebus suis impius superbit,
et numerus annorum incertus est tyrannidis ejus. 21
Sonitus terroris semper in auribus illius:
et cum pax sit, ille semper insidias suspicatur. 22
Non credit quod reverti possit de tenebris ad lucem,
circumspectans undique gladium. 23
Cum se moverit ad quærendum panem,
novit quod paratus sit in manu ejus tenebrarum dies. 24
Terrebit eum tribulatio,
et angustia vallabit eum,
sicut regem qui præparatur ad prælium. 25
Tetendit enim adversus Deum manum suam,
et contra Omnipotentem roboratus est. 26
Cucurrit adversus eum erecto collo,
et pingui cervice armatus est. 27
Operuit faciem ejus crassitudo,
et de lateribus ejus arvina dependet.

28 αὐλισθείη δὲ πόλεις ἐρήμους εἰσέλθοι δὲ εἰς οἴκους ἀοικήτους ἃ δὲ ἐκεῖνοι ἡτοίμασαν ἄλλοι ἀποίσονται 29 οὔτε μὴ πλουτισθῇ οὔτε μὴ μείνῃ αὐτοῦ τὰ ὑπάρχοντα οὐ μὴ βάλῃ ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν σκιὰν 30 οὐδὲ μὴ ἐκφύγῃ τὸ σκότος τὸν βλαστὸν αὐτοῦ μαράναι ἄνεμος ἐκπέσοι δὲ αὐτοῦ τὸ ἄνθος 31 μὴ πιστευέτω ὅτι ὑπομενεῖ κενὰ γὰρ ἀποβήσεται αὐτῷ 32 ἡ τομὴ αὐτοῦ πρὸ ὥρας φθαρήσεται καὶ ὁ ῥάδαμνος αὐτοῦ οὐ μὴ πυκάσῃ 33 τρυγηθείη δὲ ὥσπερ ὄμφαξ πρὸ ὥρας ἐκπέσοι δὲ ὡς ἄνθος ἐλαίας 34 μαρτύριον γὰρ ἀσεβοῦς θάνατος πῦρ δὲ καύσει οἴκους δωροδεκτῶν 35 ἐν γαστρὶ δὲ λήμψεται ὀδύνας ἀποβήσεται δὲ αὐτῷ κενά ἡ δὲ κοιλία αὐτοῦ ὑποίσει δόλον

28 Now he is like some plant that grows[4] amid deserted streets, upon houses uninhabited that lie in ruins; 29 no root shall he strike into the earth, of true wealth or abiding prosperity; 30 never leave the shadows, but he is withered up by the heat or carried away by the blast. 31 Let no fond hope delude him that he can buy off his doom; 32 fall he must before his time; withered every branch, 33 despoiled the vine with clusters yet unripe, shed the olive’s flower. 34 Barren, barren the schemer’s plot; the house of the bribe-taker shall burn about his ears. 35 Vainly engendered, borne in the womb, brought forth, their load of misery and infamy and shame.

28
Habitavit in civitatibus desolatis,
et in domibus desertis, quæ in tumulos sunt redactæ. 29
Non ditabitur, nec perseverabit substantia ejus,
nec mittet in terra radicem suam. 30
Non recedet de tenebris:
ramos ejus arefaciet flamma,
et auferetur spiritu oris sui. 31
Non credet, frustra errore deceptus,
quod aliquo pretio redimendus sit. 32
Antequam dies ejus impleantur peribit,
et manus ejus arescent. 33
Lædetur quasi vinea in primo flore botrus ejus,
et quasi oliva projiciens florem suum. 34
Congregatio enim hypocritæ sterilis,
et ignis devorabit tabernacula eorum qui munera libenter accipiunt. 35
Concepit dolorem, et peperit iniquitatem,
et uterus ejus præparat dolos.

[1] The Hebrew text here is usually understood as meaning, ‘Art thou not content with God’s consolations, his word spoken gently to thee?’

[2] The Hebrew text here may be corrupt, and has to be rendered with considerable interpolations: ‘He (imagines himself at some future time) wandering (to look) for food, (and saying to himself) Where (is any to be found)?’ In any case, it is probable that Eliphaz is still describing the tortures of a bad conscience, not some actual punishment of the wicked.

[3] The words ‘like a bull’ are not in the original; but the Hebrew notion of fat as a symbol of arrogance cannot well be reproduced in English without the use of simile.

[4] In the original, simply ‘he dwells’. Some have imagined that the wicked man lives among the ruins of his victims’ estates; others, that he is represented as daring God’s vengeance by rebuilding accursed cities (cf. Jos. 6.26). But in view of the plant-metaphors which follow, it seems more probable that Eliphaz is comparing the wicked to an ill-rooted plant, like Baldad in 8.11-19.

Knox Translation Copyright © 2013 Westminster Diocese
Nihil Obstat. Father Anton Cowan, Censor.
Imprimatur. +Most Rev. Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster. 8th January 2012.
Re-typeset and published in 2012 by Baronius Press Ltd