Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Bill Rea <cctr114 AT it.canterbury.ac.nz>]

Myron wrote:-


>        "By the hearing of the ear I heard about you, but now my eye has
>seen you.  Therefore I despise [myself] and I am comforted [or I change my
>mind] concerning the dust and ashes."

And later expanded on this saying:-

>I am suggesting yet another option, that
>Job is 3) comforted.  All the suffering which he has endured (the dust and
>ashes) have been worth it because it was through this experience that Job's
>understanding of God became personal.

I don't think the dust and ashes are symbolic of the suffering
Job endured. In the Hebrew scriptures it appears in times of
extreme grief or repentance people really did use dirty dust
and grubby ashes as part of the outward expression of how they
felt. Unless we have compelling reason to believe otherwise the
dust and ashes in verse 6 are intended to be genuine article. 

In the discussions we've had, while comfort hasn't been explicitly
mentioned, I think it's been there except in the proposal that
Job remains defiant. I don't think it's a seperate third possible
interpretation but part of the repentance interpretation. I won't
speak for those proposing the ``refusing to be miserable''
interpretation.

Bill Rea, Information Technology Dept., Canterbury  University  \_ 
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