Albert Barnes Commentary Job 21:24

"His pails are full of milk, And the marrow of his bones is moistened." — Job 21:24 (ASV)

His breasts - Margin, “milk pails.” The marginal translation is much more correct, and it is difficult to understand why such an improbable statement has been introduced into our common version. But there has been great variety in the translation. The Vulgate renders it, Viscera ejus plena sunt adipe - “his viscera are full of fat.” So the Septuagint, τὰ ἔγκατα αὐτοῦ πλήρη στέατος ta enkata autou plērē steatos.

The Syriac translates it as “his sides;” Professor Lee, “his bottles;” Noyes, “his sides;” Luther, “sein Milkfass” - “his milk-pail;” Wemyss, “the stations of his cattle;” Good, “his sleek skin.” In this variety of renderings, what hope is there of ascertaining the meaning of the word? It is not easy to account for this variety. However, it is clear that Jerome and the Septuagint followed a different reading from the present. Instead of עטיניו ‛ăṭı̂ynāyv, they read בטיניו baṭı̂ynāyv - from בטן beṭen, meaning “the belly.” Furthermore, instead of the word חלב châlâb as it is currently pointed, meaning “milk,” they understood it as if it were pointed חלב cheleb, meaning “fat”—the same letters, but different vowels.

The word translated as “breast” (עטין ‛ăṭı̂yn) occurs nowhere else in the Hebrew Scriptures. It has therefore become necessary to seek its meaning in the ancient versions and in the cognate languages. For a full examination of the word, the reader may consult Bochart, Hieroz. P. 1, Lib. ii. c. xliv., pp. 455, 458; Rosenmuller, where Bochart’s remarks are abridged; or Lee on Job, “in loc.”

The Chaldee renders it ביזיו, “his breasts.” Junius and Tremellius, Piscator, and others do as well. Among the rabbis, Moses Bar Nackman, Levi, and others render it as denoting the breasts, or “mulctralia”—“milk-vessels”—signifying, as some have supposed, “the lacteals.” This idea would admirably suit the connection, but it is doubtful whether it can be maintained; the presumption is that it would have been in advance of the physiological knowledge in the time of Job. Aben Ezra explains it as referring to the places where camels lie down to drink—an idea found in Arabic, which also suits the connection well.

According to this, the sense would be that these places abounded with milk—that is, that he was prosperous and happy. The Hebrew word עטין ‛ăṭı̂yn, as has been observed, occurs nowhere else.

It is supposed to be derived from an obsolete root, the same as the Arabic “atana, to lie down around water, as cattle do.” The derivative then denotes a place where cattle and flocks lie down around water. In that case, the passage would mean, “the resting places of his herds are full, or abound with milk.” Yet, according to Castell, Golius, and Lee, the primary idea is that of saturating with water: softening—namely, a skin with water—or dressing a skin for the purpose of using it as a bottle. Perhaps the word was used with reference to the place where camels came to drink because it was a place that was “saturated” with water or abounded with water. The Arabic verb, according to Castell, is also used in the sense of freeing a skin from wool and hairs—a lana pilisve levari pellem—so that it might be dressed for use.

From this reference to a “skin” thus dressed, Professor Lee supposes that the word here means “a bottle,” and that the sense is that his bottles were full of milk; that is, that he had great prosperity and abundance. But it is very doubtful whether the word can bear this meaning, or whether it is ever used in this sense. In the instances of the word’s use adduced by Castell, Schultens, and even by Professor Lee, I find no instance where it means “a skin” or denotes a bottle made of a skin. The application of the “verb” to a skin is only in the sense of saturating and dressing it. The leading idea in all forms of the word, and in its common Arabic usage, is “that of a place where cattle kneel down for the purpose of drinking.” It then signifies a well-watered place, where a man might lead his camels and flocks to water.

The noun would then mean a watering place—a place of great value, which a man with large flocks and herds would greatly prize. The thought here, therefore, is that places of this kind in the possession of the man referred to would abound with milk; that is, he would have abundance.

Are full of milk - Milk, butter and honey are, in the Scriptures, emblems of plenty and prosperity. Many of the versions, however, render this as “fat” here. The change is only in the pointing of the Hebrew word. But, if the interpretation given above is correct, then the word here means “milk.”

And his bones are moistened with marrow - From the belief that bones full of marrow are an indication of health and vigor.