שְׂעִפַּי יְשִׁיבוּנִי. מַחְשְׁבוֹתַי יְשִׁיבוּנִי מַעֲנֶה לְפִי, וּבַעֲבוּר שֶׁאֲנִי חָשׁ וְשׁוֹתֵק וְשַׂמְתִּי בִי שְׁתִיקוֹתַי יְשִׁיבוּנִי סְעִיפַי לַעֲנוֹת. אֲנִי שׁוֹמֵעַ מִמְּךָ יִסּוּרֵי כְלִמָּתִי, שֶׁאַתָּה תַכְלִימֵנִי, וְעַל כֵּן דְּבַר רוּחַ יַעֲנֵנִי מִבִּינָתִי לַהֲשִׁיבְךָ:

Zophar’s answer my thoughts will cause me to answer My thoughts will answer me with an answer in my mouth, and because I keep my peace and remain silent, and I put my silence within me, my thoughts will give me an answer to reply. The chastisement of my disgrace I hear from you the chastisement of my disgrace, that you disgrace me. Therefore, a word of spirit shall answer me out of my understanding, to reply to you.

my silence Heb. חושי, my silence, like (Ecc. 3:7), “a time to be silent (לחשות).”

Do...this Heb. הזאת. This is a wonder. Do you know the manner in which this has been conducted throughout all generations since time immemorial?

that the triumph of the wicked throughout all its duration, has come but recently, and will not last for any length of time.

and the joy of the flatterers is but a moment in a short time, it will end.

his dung Heb. כְּגֶלְלוֹ, dung of excrement.

and they will not find him i.e., his friends.

that glimpsed him That saw him.

His sons will placate the poor This reply was stated in reference to the people of Sodom, who were robbers and were cruel to the poor.

and his hands will return He will return the plunder of his hands.

his plunder The power of his force.

His bones are full of his youth The strength of his youth.

and it will lie on the dust with him Because he will die suddenly with his strength.

be sweet So is the custom of a wicked man: if evil is sweet in his mouth and he does not see now the moment for it to take effect. though he hide it under his tongue until the time comes when it will prosper.

His food...within him on the day of his misfortune will turn into the venom of cobras.

wealth Heb. חיל, money.

carpet viper Heb. אֶפְעֶה, a fiery serpent.

the rivulets, the flowing rivers of the Garden of Eden, which are as sweet as honey and cream.

He will return that which he labored for The loot that he stole.

when his gain becomes vast wealth When his gain becomes vast wealth, then he will lose it.

he will not rejoice Heb. יעלס, with it. Similarly, יַעֲלֹז, and so יַעַלֹץ ; the three of them are interchangeable.

When he oppressed, he abandoned the poor After he oppressed the poor, he abandoned the poor and was banished from the world and went his way, and they return and collect their stolen items from him.

[The expression] כִּי רָצַץ [means] when he oppressed, like (Exod. 18:16), “Whenever (כי) they have a concern, they come to me,” which means when they have.

For he did not know [He] never [knew] his stomach to be at rest. His stomach always says to him, “Rob and bring [food] to fill me up.” Therefore... with his beauty With the flesh of his coveted beauty.

he will not save anything because it will continuously diminish. Similar to this is (Ps. 39: 11): “You make his beauty melt away like a moth.”

Nothing remains of his food He left nothing over from his food to share with the poor.

therefore his goods shall not prosper Heb. יחיל, shall not prosper, as in (Ps. 10:5), “His ways prosper (יחילו) .” He speaks of the people of Sodom, who were stingy with travelers, for so did Ezekiel testify (16:49) concerning Sodom: “proud with plenty of food etc. and yet, she did not strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.” And our Sages explained (Sanh. 92a) אין שריד לאכלוֹ to mean that he did not allow Torah scholars to sit at his table, like (Joel 3:5): “and among the survivors whom the Lord calls.”

When his desire has been filled sufficiently when the desire of his heart has been filled sufficiently, then... he will be in straits Trouble will come upon him.

סִפְקוֹ is an expression of sufficiency, as is translated into Aramaic (Gen. 24:22): “When the camels finished (ספיקו) drinking”; (Num. 11:22): “so that it may be enough for them (היספקון).”

the hand of every laborer will come upon him The hand of the poor shall overwhelm him and come upon him.

It shall come to pass that to fill his belly, He shall send upon him His burning wrath The sending of His burning wrath will be [enough] to fill his belly. This is not an expression of a curse but an expression of prophecy and of the future.

and rain upon them The Holy One, blessed be He.

with His battle With the fury of His battle, coals, fire, and brimstone, as the matter is stated (Gen. 19: 24): “And the Lord rained upon Sodom etc.”

shall pierce him Heb. תַּחְלְפֵהוּ The arrows that the bow will shoot will pierce his body, going through from one side to the other. Another version: תַּחְלְפֵהוּ is like תַּחְליִפֵהוּ (sic), a copper bow shall confront him.

drew The one who drew the weapon upon him.

and it emerged [i.e.,] the weapon.

and its glittering blade Splendeur, or splendor (?) in French, like (Ezek. 21: 15), “in order that it glitter (ברק) .” Fourbir in Old French, to polish.

from its bitterness [From the bitterness] of the weapon it shall come forth, and from there shall be terrors and fear upon the wicked.

for what awaits him For the hidden things that lie in store for him.

fire that was not blown The fire of Gehinnom.

harm shall befall the survivor in his tent Harm will come upon the survivor who will remain in his tent. The entire portion deals with the people of Sodom. “Harm shall befall the survivor in his tent” means that even Lot who escaped from them—harm befell his tent, i.e., his wife, who became a pillar of salt. I found this in the midrash of Rabbi Tanchuma (Buber, Vayera 8).

shall rise up [This is] an expression of an enemy who rises up against him.

shall go into exile Heb. יגל, an expression of exile.

shall flow Heb. נגרות. His treasures shall be given to plunder and despoiling, like (Micah 1:4), “like water that flows (המגרים) to the earth” [sic].

appointed him by God Heb. אִמְרוֹ. What was said about him from before the Omnipresent. The word אִמְרוֹ is in the masculine gender, from the form of (Ps. 5:2), “Give ear to my words (אַמָרַי).” אִמְרָתוֹ appears (ibid. 147:15) in the feminine gender, from the form of (ibid. 12:7) “pure words (אַמָרוֹת).”