I know my redeemer lives.
This famous line, long the subject of Christological interpretation, in fact
continues the imagery of a legal trial to which Job reverts so often. The
redeemer is someone, usually a family member, who will come forth and bear
witness on his behalf, and the use of “stand up” in the second verset has
precisely that courtroom connotation. (Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible, 3
vols. [New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2019], 3:514)
25a. vindicator. It is difficult to find an adequate translation of the
term gôʾēl. It designates the nearest
kinsman who was obligated to exact vengeance in a blood feud (Deut 19:6–12; 2
Sam 14:11) or otherwise look after the interests of his kinsman by redeeming
him from slavery (Lev 25:48) or regaining the family property (Lev 25:25),
including the decedent’s widow in order to provide him an heir by proxy (Ruth
4:4–6). Thus the gôʾēl is the
defender of the widow and orphan, the champion of the oppressed (Prov
23:10–11). The term is often applied to Yahweh as deliverer of Israel from
bondage in Egypt (Exod 6:6, 15:13) or from exile (Jer 50:34) and dispersion
(Isa 43:1, 44:6, 24, 48:20, 52:9). It is also applied to Yahweh’s deliverance
of the individual from imminent death (Ps 103:4; Lam 3:58). It is not clear
here whether Job has in mind a human agent who will act as his vindicator. The
strongest point in favor of taking the vindicator and guarantor as God is the
specific reference to seeing God in 26b. Dahood (Biblica 52 [1971], 346) rendered ʾaḥărôn here as “the Ultimate.” The application of the term gôʾēl to God in this context is
questionable since elsewhere in Job’s complaint it is God himself who is Job’s
adversary rather than defender. The difficulty may be alleviated by
understanding the term gôʾēl here to
refer to the agent elsewhere termed an umpire (9:33) and a witness (16:19) who
is to serve the same function as the personal god of Sumerian theology, i.e.,
act as his advocate and defender in the assembly of the gods; cf. 33:23. (Marvin
H. Pope, Job: Introduction, Translation,
and Notes, [AYB 15; New Haven: Yale University Press, 2008], 146)
Job 19:25
For I know that my Redeemer
lives: the word translated Redeemer is the Hebrew Go’el, and it is found only here in the book of Job. An rsv
footnote has “Vindicator” as an alternative translation. In other parts of the
Old Testament the word has a variety of meanings. In such passages as 2 Samuel
14:11 it means “avenger of blood,” who is a kinsmen who avenges his dead
relative. In Ruth 4:4–6 it is the relative who buys back the property of the
dead man. In Numbers 5:8 he is the one to whom restitution is made (payment
made in case of guilt). The term is applied to God as the one who delivers
Israel from slavery in Egypt (Exodus 6:6) and from exile (Jer 50:34). In Psalm
103:4 God is the one who “redeems your life from the pit.” In the context of
this verse in Job, Redeemer means generally “defender, protector, helper” and
more specifically “the one who wins my case” or “the one who stands up for me
in court.” Job is saying again that the one who will defend him in his argument
or lawsuit with God “lives.” As Rowley says, Job is not asking God to rescue
him from Sheol. That would be the task of a “deliverer.” Job wants his name and
honor vindicated. He wants everyone, now and in the future, to know that he was
innocent of wrongdoing. His vindicator, defender, is the one who will do this
for him.
A much debated question is the
identity of Job’s Go’el. For every
argument that concludes that it is God, there is an equally good argument that
it is not. Habel suggests that the obvious resolution of the identity of the
Redeemer lies in relating verse 25 to 16:19, and so tev “I know there is
someone in heaven … to my defense.” tev makes use of the same wording as in
16:19. However, tev does not thereby resolve the question (nor need it do so)
whether “someone in heaven” means God or a third party. Many modern
translations which assume it is God do this by spelling with an initial
capital, and so “Defender, Vindicator, Redeemer.” Translators who assume Job
has a third party in mind will usually spell with a lower-case initial letter.
This Handbook recommends the use
of “defender, vindicator, helper.” However, if the translator prefers to
indicate that this refers to God, there is a strong body of translations to
support that. Translators should bear in mind that people hearing the Scriptures
read do not know if a word is capitalized or not. In writing systems which do
not use capitals letters, the problem is irrelevant. gecl makes the
identification with God explicit: “I know that God, my advocate, lives.”
Vindicator may be rendered, for example, “The one who proves I am innocent” or
“The person who defends my right.” In any case “defender” and Redeemer are used
in almost the same way in this context. In some languages it may be better to
say, as frcl does, “I know, myself, that I have a living defender.”
And at last he will stand upon
the earth: just as with the first line, interpreters come to totally different
meanings for this line. rsv and others make at last an expression of time,
meaning “finally, in the end.” Not so, argues Dhorme, who sees “The First and
the Last” as titles for God, as used in Isaiah 44:6; 48:12; and so he
translates “And then, as the Last, he will arise on the earth.” Translators
differ most concerning at last and will stand upon the earth. bj follows Dhorme
“he, the last, will stand.…” mft shifts at last to line a, “I know One to champion me at last.” However, many modern
translations understand at last to be used adverbially, as in rsv and tev.
Earth translates the Hebrew “dust,” and so some take it to refer to the grave,
as in the niv footnote, “Or, upon my grave.” Most scholars, however, agree that
stand upon the earth is a courtroom expression used to mean “to take the stand
as a witness” in 31:14; Deuteronomy 19:16; Psalm 12:5; Isaiah 19:21. It is in
this sense that tev renders “come to my defense.” neb translates this line “and
that he will rise last to speak in court.” The thought is that he will have the
final word; thus frcl translates “and that he will have the final word on this
earth.” Translators may follow either interpretation; for example, “I know that
he will have the final word,” meaning that his decision will be final,
authoritative, and with no further recourse. Or one may say, for example, “he
will be my lawyer in this final court” or “he will take the stand finally for
me on this earth.” (William David Reyburn, A Handbook on the Book of Job [UBS Handbook Series (New York:
United Bible Societies, 1992], 362-64)
