Before examining Iyov's words here, an introductory note on the style of speech is needed. Today, when someone wants to express an idea, the common preference is to "keep it tight" - brief, to the point, without extra words. But in ancient times, the style of expression was entirely different: flowery language, rich with parables and metaphors, where the full intent was conveyed through the allegory. Anyone wishing to see a remnant of this style today need only listen to a speech by an Arab leader: first pathos, and then parables. Pathos denotes an elevated form of speech, not an ordinary conversation between peers, but a lofty, dramatic oration: "Shall we have the strength to go forth, overcome, and conquer?" This is precisely how Iyov speaks here. This preface is necessary because the parable before us is relatively long, and keeping this in mind will allow us to follow the thread of the matter from start to finish.
אַחַי בָּגְדוּ כְמוֹ נָחַל, כַּאֲפִיק נְחָלִים יַעֲבֹרוּ. - My brothers have dealt treacherously like a brook; like the bed of streams they pass away.
The "brothers" - these are his friends and companions - betrayed me just as a stream betrays. And what is the betrayal of a stream? In the winter, its waters freeze and turn into ice, until one can walk and drive across it. This is well known in Europe, where wagons cross frozen rivers. It is also known that when spring arrives and the thaw begins, disasters happen: people assumed it was still safe to cross, and the ice broke beneath them, for the freezing is only on the surface layer - sometimes half a meter thick, which is more than enough to bear weight - but from below, the flowing water erodes the ice, weakening it.
The first betrayal: When the warm days arrive and the ice melts, the stream swells to its banks from the meltwater. However, in many places ice still remains in the riverbed, and the rushing water - like desert flash floods - cannot flow within the channel; instead, it surges and rises over the ice, flooding and devastating towns, regions, and everything in its path. The stream that once flowed peacefully suddenly turns destructive. This is "My brothers have dealt treacherously like a brook."
The second betrayal: Once the thaw is complete and the waters return to flow in their channels, they divide into many tributaries. Instead of a single basin holding abundant water, small channels are formed - and when the summer days arrive, they evaporate and dry up, leaving no water to drink. Water survives the heat of summer only when concentrated in large volume. This is "like the bed of streams they pass away."
הַקֹּדְרִים מִנִּי קָרַח, עָלֵימוֹ יִתְעַלֶּם שָׁלֶג. - Which are darkened by reason of the ice, upon which the snow hides itself.
When they are dark and frozen solid with ice, it seems as though "upon which the snow hides itself" - that the snow atop them will remain forever. It appears that this stream will endure like this permanently, that the ice will never depart from it, and indeed it seems so solid that one can walk and drive upon it.
בְּעֵת יְזֹרְבוּ נִצְמָתוּ, בְּחֻמּוֹ נִדְעֲכוּ מִמְּקוֹמָם. - At the time they are scorched they vanish; when it grows warm, they are extinguished from their place.
"Yezorvu" - from the root of tzerevah (scorching), where the letters zayin and tzadi interchange, as in "arei perazot" (unwalled towns), which are related to peratzot (breaches) - towns open to the surrounding fields without a wall. That is: at the time they are scorched by the heat of the sun shining on them in summer. "Nitzmatu" - the Malbim explains this from the word tzamah (a braid), meaning that whatever was bound and woven together unravels and dissolves. "Bechumo nid'achu mi-mekomam" - the waters are driven away and vanish from their place.
יִלָּפְתוּ אָרְחוֹת דַּרְכָּם, יַעֲלוּ בַתֹּהוּ וְיֹאבֵדוּ. - The paths of their way wind about; they go up into the wasteland and perish.
"Yilafetu" is an expression of grasping. The water grasps and clutches everything that lies in the path of its course. After all, when is there a fierce torrent in the streams? At the time the snows melt; and then the water, together with the thawing ice, sweeps away everything in its path. And "they go up into the void and perish" (ya'alu vatoho veyoveidu) refers to both aspects: everything that was in their path comes to naught and perishes; and even the waters themselves, as they divide into small channels, gradually evaporate - rising upward as vapor, and are lost.
הִבִּיטוּ אָרְחוֹת תֵּמָא, הֲלִיכֹת שְׁבָא קִוּוּ לָמוֹ. בֹּשׁוּ כִּי בָטָח, בָּאוּ עָדֶיהָ וַיֶּחְפָּרוּ. - The caravans of Tema looked; the wayfarers of Sheba hoped for them. They were ashamed because they had trusted; they arrived there and were dismayed.
"Orchot" means caravans. The caravans journeying to Tema and Sheba, names of places, looked and hoped for these waters; they waited for streams from which they could drink. But "they were ashamed because they had trusted" - they relied on this water and did not prepare water for themselves for the journey, for they thought: there are streams along the way. "They arrived there and were dismayed" - they reached the very place they had relied upon, found no water to drink, and were humiliated. Thus far the parable; from here on, the underlying meaning.
At first, when my friends arrived to comfort me, they sat on the ground for seven days and spoke not a word, out of deep grief. At that time, I likened them to a frozen river: here is a solid, stable stream upon which one can walk safely. They yielded the floor to me, while imposing silence upon themselves - like the frozen river that stands motionless, which one can step upon without fear. But once the waters warmed slightly, after "they vanish" (yezorevu), when the sun began to melt the ice and the debate began to heat them up - a flood began. And not merely an ordinary flood, but a torrent that sweeps away the righteous along with the wicked without distinction: they did not examine whether Iyov was upright or not, but hurled harsh accusations against him.
Yet I still held out hope, for ultimately a river has utility: it branches into streams, and from those streams one can drink. I thought: they have much to tell me, and at the very least their words will be like cold water to a weary soul - words of encouragement from which I can draw strength, truthful, reasoned, and sound words that can be accepted. But I saw that they spoke foolishness, futile words devoid of benefit. This is the second betrayal: I came to drink from the waters of the stream, and there is no water.
כִּי עַתָּה הֱיִיתֶם לֹא, תִּרְאוּ חֲתַת וַתִּירָאוּ. - For now you have become nothing; you see calamity and are afraid.
"Heyitem lo" (written with an alef, meaning "nothing") - but the intended meaning is "you were his" (as if with a vav), meaning you were with him. Until now you were his friends and allies, sharing in his pain and rejoicing in his joy, close to him with all your heart. "You see calamity and are afraid" (tir'u chatat vatira'u) - "chat" denotes brokenness, as in "made without fear/brokenness" (asui livli chat). Now, when you saw that he was broken and afflicted with ruin, you became frightened; you immediately drew back and began accusing him of wrongs he never committed.
הֲכִי אָמַרְתִּי הָבוּ לִי, וּמִכֹּחֲכֶם שַׁחֲדוּ בַעֲדִי. וּמַלְּטוּנִי מִיַּד צָר, וּמִיַּד עָרִיצִים תִּפְדּוּנִי. - Did I ever say, "Give to me," or "Offer a bribe for me from your wealth"? Or "Rescue me from the adversary's hand," or "Redeem me from the hand of the ruthless"?
The Malbim explains: Sometimes a person betrays his love and closeness to his fellow because he sees that this connection drains his strength and resources. At times he is forced to fight on his behalf and rescue him from an enemy, and at times his friend falls into captivity and he must spend money to ransom him. In such cases, it is convenient for him to claim, "I do not know him," so that no extraordinary effort is demanded of him. Iyov comes and says to them: Between you and me, this was not the case. Did I ask you for money - "Give to me"? Did I ask you to expend strength and fight for me - "Offer a bribe for me from your wealth"? I did not ask, "Rescue me from the adversary's hand," that you should wage war to save me from an enemy, nor did I ask, "Redeem me from the hand of the ruthless," that you should ransom me from captivity with money. Why, then, did you abandon me in my hour of distress? After all, this friendship demanded nothing of you that should cause you to desert me.
הוֹרוּנִי וַאֲנִי אַחֲרִישׁ, וּמַה שָּׁגִיתִי הָבִינוּ לִי. - Teach me, and I will hold my peace; make me understand where I have erred.
Iyov says to them: Teach me - answer me on the points I am debating with you, and I will keep silent and complain no more. But instead of showing me the right and upright path, you come and level baseless accusations against me: that the suffering came upon me because I sinned. And this is not true, for I know within myself that I did not sin. It is not that I am unwilling to accept correction from you; I am willing to accept it - but speak the truth.
And they come and argue against him: The suffering you are receiving is because you complained, because you cried out and voiced grievances against the Creator of the world. In other words: from the very fact that I complain about the suffering, you deduce that this very complaint brought the suffering upon me. Iyov says to them: That cannot be. When someone seeks to prove something, he needs external proof; one cannot prove a matter from within itself - "minei u-vei" (circular reasoning). After all, that very matter is what we are debating!
Let me offer a parable: A man walks in here. I say, "He came to collect money." My friend says, "No, he came to give tzedakah." In the meantime, he neither collects nor gives, and we do not know. If I ask, "How do you know he came to collect money?" and you reply, "Well, you see that he came here!" - what kind of proof is that? That is circular reasoning, proof from within itself. But if you tell me, "I was in three other places and he came there to collect money too" - then you have proven it. That is proof from an external case. So too, someone who says, "I am a tzaddik," and you ask him, "How do you know?" and he replies, "Why, I am telling you so myself! And if you don't believe me, ask me - and I am objective, since I am a tzaddik, so you must believe me that I am a tzaddik." Ridiculous. Another person's testimony about you can be accepted; your own testimony about yourself is no proof.
I recall that at one time, someone ran an entire campaign, and on all the overpasses across the country it was written that in a certain year Mashiach would come and there would be the war of Gog and Magog, setting a precise date. I happened to speak with one of his "prophets," one of those running the campaign, and asked him: "What are you basing this on? How do you know it is true?" He replied, "Well, he said so, and he is the only one who said it." I told him, "With all due respect to what he said, that is still no proof; how can you ask me to believe today simply because he said so?" On that very day, when they went down to the Dead Sea area and Ein Gedi so they would not be harmed by what was supposed to unfold, I called him and asked, "Well, what is happening?" He answered me, "The day isn't over yet, surprises are expected." Proof of the truth of a matter must come from somewhere else: if you say, "Look, I predicted it and it came to pass" - that is evidence; but "Look, I am telling you" - that is no evidence at all. And this is what Iyov is saying: Bring me external proof that I sinned, "and make me understand where I have erred" - what my unwitting sin was.
מַה נִּמְרְצוּ אִמְרֵי יֹשֶׁר, וּמַה יּוֹכִיחַ הוֹכֵחַ מִכֶּם. - How forceful are words of uprightness, but what does reproof from you reprove?
Verifying a claim requires objective proof. But saying, "I prove it this way because that is how it seems to me, that is what I think" - this is subjective proof, and it carries no weight. What does "because I think so" mean? Bring evidence that what you think is true! And this is the meaning of "How forceful are words of uprightness" - how wonderful, forceful, fitting, and explicit words are when honesty and uprightness speak for themselves, when there is direct, clear evidence proving that the words are true. "But what does reproof from you reprove?" - what clarification is there in an argument coming from you, which amounts entirely to "because I say so"? Who says that what you imagine and what you think is truly correct?
הַלְהוֹכַח מִלִּים תַּחְשֹׁבוּ, וּלְרוּחַ אִמְרֵי נֹאָשׁ. - Do you intend to reprove words, considering the utterances of a desperate man as wind?
He says to them: Do you reckon mere words and speech as proof? Does the mere fact that you talk and raise arguments constitute evidence? "Considering the utterances of a desperate man as wind" - do you deem words of despair, trivial words, to be a spirit of prophecy? Here he alludes to Elifaz, who claimed to have seen a vision in prophecy. Iyov says to him: Do you already count empty dreams as prophecy? Is that your proof? Words spoken by a desperate man in his anguish, of what substance are they?
אַף עַל יָתוֹם תַּפִּילוּ, וְתִכְרוּ עַל רֵיעֲכֶם. - You would even cast lots over an orphan, and dig a pit for your friend.
The Malbim explains: Sometimes a debater lacks strong evidence; he has no definitive proofs, signs, or conclusive demonstrations, but only flimsy arguments - yet he defeats his opponent in the debate with them nonetheless. Iyov says: That in itself is not terrible, because no actual damage is caused. Even if the proofs are weak and the victory is not genuine, at most there is a lack of intellectual honesty. But when, based on such flimsy arguments, you cause another person monetary loss, distress, or damage - that is exceedingly grave, and you are utterly forbidden to use them.
And this is what he tells them: You come and rebuke me with mere words, and with those very words, "you cast [lots] over the orphan" - you do not rescue the orphan, the one who has no helper and supporter; "and you dig for your friend" - as in digging a pit, digging a trench before your friend for him to fall into. Even at a time like this, do you permit yourselves flimsy arguments? After all, with your claims you accuse me and cause me to suffer, saying that all my suffering came on account of things for which you have no proof whatsoever - baseless accusations. To say things that can harm others and cause them pain, you must have clear evidence. "Do you intend to rebuke words?" - do mere words count as proof when you use them to hurt an unfortunate person?
וְעַתָּה הוֹאִילוּ פְנוּ בִי, וְעַל פְּנֵיכֶם אִם אֲכַזֵּב. - And now, be pleased to turn to me, and see before your very faces whether I lie.
Since the matter under debate is myself - whether I am righteous or wicked, and accordingly whether my afflictions are justified or unjust - I therefore ask: "Be pleased" (ho'ilu), begin; "turn to me" (penu vi), examine my deeds and scrutinize my conduct. "And to your faces, if I lie" - even if in your estimation it appears to you that I am lying, that I was not truly righteous and that all my righteousness was false. For such is the way of the world: a person sees someone suffering and says, "Does he suffer for nothing? Surely he deserves it; he surely committed improper deeds in secret, and now he is getting what he deserves." Iyov says to them: Do not rely on superficial appearances, and do not rush to pass judgment.
שׁוּבוּ נָא אַל תְּהִי עַוְלָה, וְשׁוּבוּ עוֹד צִדְקִי בָהּ. - Relent now, let there be no injustice; return again, my righteousness is still in it.
"Relent now" - examine the matter a second time, and do not rely on assumptions. And I am certain: "let there be no injustice" - upon closer examination, you will find no iniquity in me, for Iyov was thoroughly righteous. Not only that, but "return again, my righteousness is still in it" - return and investigate my deeds once more, and even if it seemed to you that there was wrongdoing here, it will become clear that, on the contrary, in that very act I behaved with righteousness and piety. This happens frequently: a person suspects his fellow of doing something bad, and in the end it turns out that not only was it not a bad deed, but an act of genuine righteousness.
An example to illustrate the point: The Midrash relates that Iyov would take the fields of the poor. An injustice, or not? Certainly an injustice! However, he would improve them and then return them to their owners. Now - an injustice, or a great act of kindness? A great act of kindness. (Incidentally, according to Halachah one may not do this, but according to some opinions Iyov lived prior to the giving of the Torah.) Here is an example: you see what appears to be an injustice, and Iyov says, return and examine it further - "my righteousness is still in it" - and you will see that in this matter too I acted righteously. And it must be emphasized again: Iyov was truly righteous, and in this dispute, the truth is on his side. His friends were incorrect in finding fault with him, and every one of his claims here is completely true. This is not a man boasting of what he lacks or speaking out of arrogance; Iyov is speaking the absolute truth.
הֲיֵשׁ בִּלְשׁוֹנִי עַוְלָה, אִם חִכִּי לֹא יָבִין הַוּוֹת. - Is there iniquity on my tongue, or can my palate not discern calamity?
You claim that I sinned, and that what I say about myself being righteous is false and untrue. Iyov tells them: Such a claim can only be interpreted in one of two ways. The first way is that I myself know full well that I am not righteous, and I am trying to deceive you, posing as a righteous and blameless man while doing my deeds in the dark. The second way is that I do not understand at all what sin is, and lack the discernment to realize the gravity of matters and how badly I have stumbled. Like someone far from Torah observance whom you meet on the street and ask, "Are you righteous or wicked?" and he immediately answers, "Righteous! I even have a 'You're a righteous man' sticker on my car." What can be said of such a person? That he lacks the discernment to understand how and to what extent he sins.
To both of these possibilities Iyov responds. "Is there iniquity on my tongue?" - do you really think I am such a wicked man, concealing his deeds with deceit on his tongue? "Or can my palate not discern calamity?" - the palate is the seat of taste and discernment; do you really think I have no sense of taste and cannot discern calamity, what is evil, what is harmful, and what is destructive? That I do not know what counts as a sin, and thus commit transgressions while still believing I am righteous? I certainly know! And if despite this you accuse me, your accusations are unavoidably false. Yet if you still maintain that I am wicked - prove it, state what I did that was improper, and I am ready to accept it from you.
Here, Iyov lays out an extended parable in the manner of the ancients: his companions are like a treacherous brook. At first, they appeared like a frozen, solid riverbed, seven days of silence upon which one could rely; then, as they grew heated in debate, they turned into a raging torrent sweeping away both the righteous and the wicked; and ultimately, when he came to drink from their words, it became clear that the channels were dry and contained no water - words of foolishness that offer no benefit. From here, he transitions to a claim that is both moral and logical: he did not ask them for money nor for power, and yet they abandoned him at the sight of his ruin; and above all - their accusations are devoid of any proof. One cannot prove something from itself, but only from external evidence, and mere words cannot be considered proof, certainly not when through them they cast lots over an orphan and dig a pit for a companion. Therefore, he asks: Turn to me, reconsider and examine this once again, and do not rely on mere outward appearances - and you will find that not only is there no iniquity in me, but that even where it seems to you there is wrongdoing, my righteousness still endures. And finally: I am not a wicked man concealing his deeds, nor a senseless boor who cannot distinguish between good and evil - and if you have a valid claim, prove it, and I am ready to accept it.