Job 13:23 — ExegesisTAB

The verse opens with the interrogative kammah {כַּמָּה | kammâ} ‘how many,’ framing the line as a demand for a reckoning rather than a general lament. The fronted li {לִי | lî} ‘to me’ highlights Job as the affected party, pressing for a direct, personal accounting. Two coordinated nouns, avonot {עֲוֺנוֹת | ʿăwōnôt} ‘iniquities’ and chattaot {וְחַטָּאוֹת | wə-ḥaṭṭāʾôt} ‘sins,’ create an accumulative pairing that intensifies the moral charge. The next pair, pish'i {פִּשְׁעִי | pišʿî} ‘my transgression’ and vechatati {וְחַטָּאתִי | wə-ḥaṭṭāʾtî} ‘and my sin,’ narrows the focus from categories of wrongdoing to Job’s own alleged offense, using first person suffixes to underline accountability. The closing imperative hodi'eni {הֹדִיעֵנִי | hôdîʿēnî} ‘make known to me’ functions as the climax: Job requests disclosure and specification, not merely accusation. In English, preserving the interrogative followed by the imperative keeps the Hebrew poetic movement from question to demand, while the repeated “my” reflects the Hebrew suffix-driven emphasis on personal responsibility.