Note 23 — Chapter I · JOB’S CALAMITY; THE OPENING OF THE DIALOGUES. (CHAPS. I.-XIV.)

This rendering is based on the reading of the Hebrew margin. The Hebrew text has, ‘Behold, should he slay me, for him would I wait,’ implying an expectation of a Divine interposition in Job’s favour after his death. But this idea is against the connection; besides which the restrictive particle ‘only’ (nearly = still) agrees better with the other reading and rendering. ‘Wait’ means ‘wait for a change for the better,’ as in vi. 11, which occurs in a similar context.