The Root of the Matter

But ye should say, Why persecute we him, seeing the root of the matter is found in me?
Be ye afraid of the sword: for wrath bringeth the punishments of the sword, that ye may know there is a judgment.

-- Job 19: 28-29 (KJV)

For sixteen chapters, Job has had to endure the accusations and mockery of his so-called "friends," whose theme is that, since God is just, Job must have done something to deserve his affliction. Here Job warns his accusers to look to themselves and to fear the "punishments of the sword."

Unfortunately, the King James Version makes a hash of Job's comeback. A better rendering of verse 28 (admittedly confusing in Hebrew) is, "My heart failed me when you said, 'What a train of disaster he has brought upon himself! The root of the trouble lies in him'" (New English Bible). Job, in short, laughs bitterly once more at the notion that he has provoked his own suffering.

Whatever their failings, the King James translators at least gave us "root of the matter," which is more faithful to the Hebrew than "root of the trouble." In either case Job does seem to mean "the source of my afflictions," so current usage is less faithful. By "root" we usually mean "true basis" or "key" rather than "origin," though in practice the distinction may be hard to draw.

 
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Michael Macrone is Associate Site Producer of GraceCom and the author of nine books on language, literature, and ideas, including the best-selling Brush Up Your Shakespeare!