Abstract

VAN WOLDE, Ellen. The Problem of the Potsherd: Job 2:8 in a New Perspective. Old testam. essays [online]. 2018, vol.31, n.3, pp.692-704. ISSN 2312-3621.  http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/2312-3621/2018/v31n3a16.

The famous verse in the prologue of the book of Job, which is commonly translated with "Job took a potsherd to scrape himself while he was sitting among the ashes, " is the object of study here. In this analysis of Job 2:8, three components are extensively discussed; (1) The syntactic structure that shows that the subject of the action of "taking" is the satan and not Job; (2) The semantic analysis of the occurrences of the noun •——, which demonstrates that this word does not designate "potsherd," but "pot"; and (3) The semantic analysis of the infinitive hitpael •—•—•, which explains the satan's goal in bringing Job a pot, namely to squeeze out his inflamed boils that cover him from head to toe.

Keywords : Book of Job; translation; interpretation.

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