July 31st, 2024

108. Job 19:23-24 "engraved in bronze" or "written in a book"?

Why do you translate “engraved in bronze” in Job 19:23-24 when most translations have something like “written in a book?

Oh how I wish that my words were written down (ktb).
Oh how I wish that they were inscribed (hqq) in bronze,^[a]
that they would be engraved (htzb) in rock forever
with an iron tool and letters filled with lead.

 a. or on a scroll

There are several factors involved here.  One is the fact that the meaning of terms used in the Bible change over time. Testing shows that ancient copper-based objects were made of bronze not of brass as many older translations render the term. Another changed meaning is that the word book in the Old Testament (sepher) does not refer to a codex-style book with a hard cover like our books, but to any written document, most often a scroll written on papyrus or leather.

Another problem is that Job is not written in standard Judean Hebrew. It uses many words that occur in other Semitic dialects but not in Judean Hebrew in the same sense. The root in question here is spr. In standard Hebrew this root usually refers to a writing of some sort or to a scroll. But in other Semitic dialects the root spr may refer to copper and bronze.

Job is interested in producing a record that will last forever. The writing of Job’s words is to be inscribed in spr and engraved in rock. We don't usually think of inscribing or engraving on paper. We might engrave the metal plate used for printing but not the paper.

The Job commentaries of Dhorme and Clines both discuss spr as meaning either bronze or a writing of some sort (not necessarily on a scroll), but they split on which reading to adopt. That is why the EHV shows both interpretations by means of a footnote. The reading bronze would be a rare Joban usage (Job also uses the more normal Hebrew root for bronze nhsh). Dhorme and Clines were the main commentaries we consulted in evaluating dialectical uses in Job, and we wanted to make readers aware of the nature of Joban language and of the difficulties one encounters everywhere in Job. There are pros and cons to both renderings. We used the more difficult reading in the text (bronze) and the more commonplace reading in the footnote (scroll).