the Week of Proper 24 / Ordinary 29
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King James Version
Job 31:35
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"If only someone would listen to me! Look, I will sign my name to my defense. Let the Almighty answer me. Let my accuser write out the charges against me.
Oh that I had one to hear me! (lo, here is my signature, let the Almighty answer me;) and that I had the indictment which mine adversary hath written!
Oh that I had one to hear me! (Look, here is my signature, let the Almighty answer me); And [that I had] the indictment which my adversary has written!
("How I wish a court would hear my case! Here I sign my name to show I have told the truth. Now let the Almighty answer me; let the one who accuses me write it down.
"If only I had someone to hear me! Here is my signature— let the Almighty answer me! If only I had an indictment that my accuser had written.
Oh that one would hear me! behold, my desire [is], [that] the Almighty would answer me, and [that] my adversary had written a book.
Oh that I had one to hear me! (Behold, here is my signature, let the Almighty answer me); Let the accuser write my indictment!
"Oh, that I had one to listen to me! Look, here is my signature (mark); Let the Almighty answer me! Let my adversary write out His indictment [and put His vague accusations in tangible form].
Oh, that I had one to hear me! (Here is my signature! Let the Almighty answer me!) Oh, that I had the indictment written by my adversary!
who yyueth an helpere to me, that Almyyti God here my desire? that he that demeth,
Oh, that I had one to hear me! Here is my signature-let the Almighty answer me; let my accuser compose His indictment.
Why doesn't God All-Powerful listen and answer? If God has something against me, let him speak up or put it in writing!
Oh that I had one to hear me! (Lo, here is my signature, let the Almighty answer me) And that I had the indictment which mine adversary hath written!
If only God would give ear to me, and the Ruler of all would give me an answer! or if what he has against me had been put in writing!
I wish I had someone who would listen to me! Here is my signature; let Shaddai answer me! I wish I had the indictment my adversary has written!
Oh that I had one to hear me! Behold my signature: let the Almighty answer me! And let mine opponent write an accusation!
"How I wish someone would listen to me! I will sign my name to all I have said. Now let God All-Powerful answer me. Let him make a list of what he thinks I did wrong.
Oh that I had one to hear me!--Lo, here is my signature, let the Almighty answer me--
O that one would heare me! beholde, my desire is, that the Almightie would answere me, and that mine aduersary had written a booke.
If only I had one to hear me! See, here my name is written. Let the All-powerful answer me! May what is against me be written down!
O that I had one to hear me! (Here is my signature! Let the Almighty answer me!) O that I had the indictment written by my adversary!
Oh that I had some to heare me! beholde my signe that the Almightie will witnesse for me: though mine aduersary should write a booke against me,
O that one would hear me! If God is present, let him answer me, and let him write the sentence in a book.
Will no one listen to what I am saying? I swear that every word is true. Let Almighty God answer me. If the charges my opponent brings against me were written down so that I could see them,
Oh that I had one to hear me, Lo! my crossmark, May, the Almighty, answer me! And would that, a book, mine opponent had written!
Who would grant me a hearing, that the Almighty may hear my desire: and that he himself that judgeth would write a book,
Oh, that I had one to hear me! (Here is my signature! let the Almighty answer me!) Oh, that I had the indictment written by my adversary!
O that I had one which woulde heare me: beholde my signe in the whiche the almightie shal aunswere for me, though he that is my contrarie partie hath written a booke against me.
(Oh that I had a hearer,)and if I had not feared the hand of the Lord; and as to the written charge which I had against any one,
If only I had someone to hear my case!Here is my signature; let the Almighty answer me.Let my Opponent compose his indictment.
Oh that I had one to hear me! (Behold, here is my signature, let Shaddai answer me); Let the accuser write my indictment!
O that I had someone hearing me! Here is my signature; let Shaddai answer me! As for the written communication that my adversary has written,
Oh that I had one to hear me! See, my mark! Let the Almighty answer me, and let my Accuser write an indictment.
Who giveth to me a hearing? lo, my mark. The Mighty One doth answer me, And a bill hath mine adversary written.
O that I had one which wolde heare me. Lo, this is my cause. Let ye Allmightie geue me answere: & let him that is my cotrary party, sue me with a lybell.
"Oh, if only someone would give me a hearing! I've signed my name to my defense—let the Almighty One answer! I want to see my indictment in writing. Anyone's welcome to read my defense; I'll write it on a poster and carry it around town. I'm prepared to account for every move I've ever made— to anyone and everyone, prince or pauper.
"Oh that I had one to hear me! Here is my signature; Let the Almighty answer me! And the indictment which my adversary has written,
Oh, that I had one to hear me! Here is my mark. Oh, that the Almighty would answer me, That my Prosecutor had written a book!
"Oh that I had one to hear me! Behold, here is my signature; Let the Almighty answer me! And the indictment which my adversary has written,
Oh that I had one to hear me!Behold, here is my signature;Let the Almighty answer me!And the indictment which my accuser has written,
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
Oh: Job 13:3, Job 17:3, Job 23:3-7, Job 33:6, Job 38:1-3, Job 40:4, Job 40:5
my desire is, that the Almighty would answer me: or, my sign is that the Almighty will answer me, Job 13:21, Job 13:22, Psalms 26:1
mine: Job 13:24, Job 19:11, Job 19:23, Job 19:24, Job 33:10, Job 33:11, Matthew 5:25
Reciprocal: Numbers 5:23 - write these 1 Samuel 12:5 - The Lord Job 9:3 - he will contend Job 9:19 - who shall Job 10:7 - Thou knowest Job 11:5 - General Job 16:21 - plead Job 19:7 - no judgment Job 38:3 - for Isaiah 41:1 - let us Jeremiah 36:2 - a roll Habakkuk 2:1 - when I am reproved
Cross-References
And the angel of God spake unto me in a dream, saying, Jacob: And I said, Here am I.
And he said, Lift up now thine eyes, and see, all the rams which leap upon the cattle are ringstraked, speckled, and grisled: for I have seen all that Laban doeth unto thee.
Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
And if a woman have an issue, and her issue in her flesh be blood, she shall be put apart seven days: and whosoever toucheth her shall be unclean until the even.
Ye shall fear every man his mother, and his father, and keep my sabbaths: I am the Lord your God.
Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man, and fear thy God: I am the Lord .
Bathsheba therefore went unto king Solomon, to speak unto him for Adonijah. And the king rose up to meet her, and bowed himself unto her, and sat down on his throne, and caused a seat to be set for the king's mother; and she sat on his right hand.
Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.
Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward.
Even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
Oh, that one would hear me!.... Or, "who will give me a hearer?" l Oh, that I had one! not a nearer of him as a teacher and instructor of many, as he had been, Job 4:3; or only to hear what he had delivered in this chapter; but to hear his cause, and hear him plead his own cause in a judiciary way; he does not mean an ordinary hearer, one that, comes out of curiosity into courts of judicature to hear causes tried, what is said on both sides, and how they will issue; but, as Bar Tzemach paraphrases it,
"who shall give me a judge that shall hear me,''
that would hear his cause patiently, examine it thoroughly, and judge impartially, which is the business of judges to do, Deuteronomy 1:16; he did not care who it was, if he had but such an one; though he seems to have respect to God himself, from what he says in the next clause, and wishes that he would but hear, try, and judge his cause:
behold, my desire [is, that] the Almighty would answer me: answer to what he had said, or had further to say in his own defence; this is a request he had made before, and now repeats it, see Job 13:22; some render it, "behold my mark", or "scope" m; so Mr. Broughton, "behold my scope in this"; this is what I aim at, what I design and mean by wishing for an hearer, that the Almighty himself would take the cause in hand, and give me an answer: or, "behold my sign" n; the sign of my innocence, appealing to God, leaving my cause to be heard, tried, and judged by him, who is my witness, and will answer for me; see Job 16:19; as well as desiring mine adversary to put down in writing what he has against me; or, "behold my signature" o; the plea I have given is signed by my own hand: now "let the Almighty answer me"; a bold expression indeed, and a making too free with the Almighty, and was one of those speeches Job was to be blamed for, and for which he was after humbled and repented of:
and [that] mine adversary had written a book; or "the man of my contention" p: either that contended for him, as Aben Ezra, that pleaded for him, was his advocate in court, whom he would have take a brief of him, and so distinctly plead his cause; or rather that contended against him, a court adversary, by whom he means either his three friends, or some one of them, whom he more especially took for his enemy; see Job 16:9; and who he wishes had brought a bill of indictment, and put down in a book, on a paper in writing, the charge he had against him; that so it might be clearly known what could be alleged against him; and that it might be particularly and distinctly examined; when he doubted not but he should be able to give a full answer to every article in it; and that the very bill itself would carry in it a justification of him: or it may be, rather he means God himself, who carried it towards him as an adversary, at least in a providential way; he had before requested that be would show him wherefore he contended with him, Job 10:2; and now he desires he would give in writing his charge against him, being fully confident, that if he had but the opportunity of answering to it before him, he should be able sufficiently to vindicate himself; and that he should come off with honour, as follows.
l מי יתן לי שמע לי "quis dabit mihi audientem me?" Montanus; "utinam sit mihi auditor", Tigurine version. m הן תוי "en scopum meum", Junius Tremellius. n "Ecce signum meum", Pagninus, Montanus, Beza, Bolducius so Ben Gersom. o "En Signaturam meam", Schultens. p איש ריבי "vir litis meae", Montanus, Beza, Bolducius, Drusius, Michaelis; so Vatablus, Mercerus.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
O that one would hear me! - This refers undoubtedly to God. It is, literally, “Who will give to me one hearing me;” and the wish is that which he has so often expressed, that he might get his cause fairly before God. He feels assured that there would be a favorable verdict, if there could be a fair judicial investigation; compare the notes at Job 13:3.
Behold, my desire is - Margin, “Or, my sign is that ‘the Almighty will answer me.’” The word rendered in the text desire, and in the margin sign, (תו tâv), means properly a mark, or sign, and is also the name of the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Then the word means, according to Gesenius (Lex.), a mark, or cross, as subscribed to a bill of complaint; hence, the bill itself, or, as we should say, the pleading. According to this, Job means to say that he was ready for trial, and that there was his bill of complaint, or his pleading, or his bill of defense. So Herder renders it, “See my defense.” Coverdale, “Lo, this is my cause.” Miss Smith renders it, “Behold my gage!” Umbreit, Meinel Kagschrift - My accusation. There can be no doubt that it refers to the forms of a judicial investigation, and that the idea is, that Job was ready for the trial. “Here” says he, “is my defense, my argument, my pleading, my bill! I wait that my adversary should come to the trial.” The name used here as given to the bill or pleading (תו tâv, mark, or sign), probably had its origin from the fact that some mark was affixed to it - of some such significance as a seal - by which it was certified to be the real bill of the party, and by which he acknowledged it as his own. This might have been done by signing his name, or by some conventional mark that was common in those times.
That the Almighty would answer me - That is, answer me as on trial; that the cause might be fairly brought to an issue. This wish he had frequently expressed.
And that mine adversary - God; regarded as the opposite party in the suit.
Had written a book - Or, would write down his charge. The wish is, that what God had against him were in like manner entered in a bill or pleading that the charge might be fairly investigated. On the word book, compare the notes at Job 19:23. It means here a pleading in court, a bill, or charge against anyone. There is no irreverence in the language here. Job is anxious that his true character should be investigated, and that the great matter at issue should be determined; and he draws his language and illustrations from well-known practices in courts of law.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Job 31:35. O that one would hear me! — I wish to have a fair and full hearing: I am grievously accused; and have no proper opportunity of clearing myself, and establishing my own innocence.
Behold, my desire is — Or, הן תוי hen tavi, "There is my pledge." I bind myself, on a great penalty, to come into court, and abide the issue.
That the Almighty would answer me — That he would call this case immediately before himself; and oblige my adversary to come into court, to put his accusations into a legal form, that I might have the opportunity of vindicating myself in the presence of a judge who would hear dispassionately my pleadings, and bring the cause to a righteous issue.
And that mine adversary had written a book — That he would not indulge himself in vague accusations, but would draw up a proper bill of indictment, that I might know to what I had to plead, and find the accusation in a tangible form.
