Job 42:6 – is Job despising himself, or changing his mind?

Therefore I retract, and I repent in dust and ashes. Job 42:6 (NASB)

Therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes. Job 42:6 (ESV)

These two modern translations are different in one of the main verbs; in addition the ESV has a footnote for the second verb offering the alternative ‘and am comforted’—so the translations could be completely different if we followed the ESV footnote.

Therefore I despise myself, and am comforted in dust and ashes. Job 42:6 (ESV footnote)

The verb nacham (~xn) translated ‘to repent’ is in the Niphal form and we might be tempted to think that Job is repenting of sin, coming to a realization of personal sin in some way. We might then say that although Job was ‘perfect’ (Job 1:1), he came to realize that no man is perfect and that he was sinful. Or, we might say that he sinned during his trial by being rebellious against God. However, the Niphal form of nacham is used in a number of places in quite a consistent way; in particular it is used of God. For example, just taking the Perfect form of the Niphal, and putting to one side the fact that we have two verbs with the same form, one text is,

For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black: because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it. Jer 4:28 (KJV)

For this the earth shall mourn and the heavens above be dark, because I have spoken, I have purposed, and I will not change my mind, nor will I turn from it. Jer 4:28 (NASB)

Other texts: Gen 6:7; Jud 21:5; 1 Sam 15:11, 35; Jer 20:16; 42:10; Amos 7:3, 6; Zech 8:14.

This is quite a consistent pattern. One exception might be Jer 31:19, but this text might still be about changing your life rather than confessing sin. Another text is an exception because it uses nacham in the sense ‘to comfort’ (2 Sam 13:39).

The same pattern can be observed with the Imperfect Niphal except here it is worth further observing that of the 23 verses involved there are more ‘to comfort’ senses, particularly in Job (all cases) and Isaiah (all cases)—Job 7:13; 21:34; 29:25; Isa 1:24; 12:1; 51:19; 57:6; 66:13. We can be confident therefore in saying that the KJV understood in a modern way is wrong and that Job is either expressing a change of mind or taking comfort. Of these two possibilities, maybe both are intended given that the same form can function as two different verbs. However, the determination of this matter depends on how we understand ‘dust and ashes’.