02_Biblica_1_B_Pinker_Layout 1 30/01/13 13:15 Pagina 515 515 ON THE MEANING OF JOB 4,18 Taking hlht as having the meaning “weakness” provides a sense that eminently fits a natural event and human behavior. It is possible that God considers some natural events lacking sufficient force or quickness of movement. From this perspective, the neutral sense of “he notes” would be most appropriate for My#y in 4,18b. Indeed, Grabbe suggested such an interpretation without any elu- cidation 63. However, some support for this sense of My#y can be garnered from My#m in 4,20b, where the meaning “notice” would aptly fit 64. Also, in Jerusalem Aramaic the corresponding I Mws could mean “to mark, name, to distinguish” (JASTROW, 965a), a sense that is very close to “note”. One finds it in the Jerusalem Tal- mud use of w%myy@:si in the sense of “they noted” (y. Berachot 5,9; y. Megilla 1,71; y. D’mai 5,24; y. Shabbath 6,8). The sense “he notes” would also well fit M#o yf in 1 Sam 22,15, which is often used in sup- " port of the generally accepted meaning “imputes, attributes”. If the preceding understandings of the critical terms in v. 4,18 are accepted, then this verse can be rendered: “Behold, in His ser- vants He does not trust, and in His emissaries He notes weakness”. Taking this interpretation as the minori part of the qal wahomer re- sults in a conclusion that it is reasonable for God not to trust humans and note weaknesses in them. Such an attitude would be justified even with respect to Job, whom Eliphaz apparently considered to be righteous (4,6). Fullerton correctly explains Eliphaz’s attitude saying that Eliphaz does not accuse Job of any specific sins which might account for his suffering. Eliphaz refers only to “the general sinfulness of man which is inherent in man’s creatureliness” 65. Job must expect to suffer, not because he sinned but because he was a man, and no man can be clean in the eyes of his creator. From this conclusion would also follow the possibility that God tests the righ- teous (5,17) so that they could manifest being worthy of his trust, or for the sake of guiding them to this status (5,18). The comparison in the qal wahomer is only an example of the more fundamental comparison between God’s creation and human deeds encapsulated in the rhetorical questions in 4,17: GRABBE, Comparative, 41. 63 See CLINES, Job, 113-114, for some of the opinions regarding My#m ylbm. 64 FULLERTON, “Entendre”, 328. 65 © Gregorian Biblical Press 2012 - Tutti i diritti riservati