Wilderness: Part 3 “Therefore, behold, I will allure her”

Even so would he have allured thee out of the jaws of distress into a broad place, where there is no straitness; and the supply of thy table [would be] full of fatness. Job 36:16 (Darby Translation)

Even so would he have removed thee out of the strait into a broad place, where there is no straitness; and that which should be set on thy table should be full of fatness. Job 36:16 (KJV)

Indeed, God would have allured you out of the mouth of distress into a broad place where there is no situation of perplexity or privation; and that which would be set on your table would be full of fatness.
Job 36:16 (Amplified Bible)

Then indeed, He enticed you from the mouth of distress, Instead of it, a broad place with no constraint;
And that which was set on your table was full of fatness. Job 36:16 (New American Standard)

Indeed, He lured you from the jaws [a] of distress to a spacious and unconfined place. Your table was spread with choice food. ([a]Lit from a mouth of narrowness) Job 36:16 (Holman Christian Standard)

The word in the above Bible verse is translated in various ways: allured, lured, enticed, removed. At first I thought that this was the same word as used in Hosea 2:14 (Therefore, behold, I will allure her….), however, this, I discovered, is not the case. I went looking for different verses using this word and discovered that the word translated “allure” in Hosea 2:14 (pathah) is completely different than that in Job 36:16 and is used in more pejorative contexts, particularly those involving deceit and persuasion. The word “allured/removed/lured/enticed” in Job 36:16 (cuwth) is also used in contexts of persuasion, but it actually is a more literal translation in that it does mean “allure, entice” (it can also be used when someone instigates someone to evil). The definition of the second word (cuwth) does not involve seduction(the first, pathah, does); this word seems to apply to a more forthright type of persuasion, rather than one of deceit/trickery.

It is interesting that it is the deceitful/seductive “allure” that is used in Hosea 2:14. Because Israel is so foolish, God must seduce her into the wilderness, playing on her gullibility and sensuality (she has gone “whoring” after other gods) to get her alone with Him.

This makes sense when viewed in light of a following verse, Hosea 2: 16: And it shall be at that day, saith the Lord, that thou shalt call me Ishi, and shalt call me no more Baali.

Ishi means in this context (see KJV) “Husband”, while Baali means “My Lord” or “Master” (Baal is also the name of a heathen god). Israel views the Lord as a taskmaster who has laid requirements upon her, while He wants to be her Husband and His laws are only just. Israel (and all man) broke God’s laws in the Garden of Eden, ate of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and now has to live by laws. If Man had not fallen, we would not have to have laws: we would have lived by God’s will naturally.

Israel’s rightful Husband must seduce his Bride in order to get the chance to regain her affections.

In Job 36:16, God removes Israel from a place of want (“strait” place, “mouth of distress”, “mouth of narrowness”) to a broad place where all her needs are met. Her appetite is sated with fat. (Besides being very desirable in a situation of starvation, fat is also a wonderful vehicle for flavour. God gives His people sustenance and savour in the food He puts before her. In the old temple sacrifices, God always required the fat, the part with the most caloric value.)

God allures Israel from the jaws of distress. Israel doesn’t want to leave, even though she is starving. God has to persuade her, entice her, from a place of want. He lures her to a place where she has plenty to eat. This applies to physical needs as well as spiritual ones.