Job 9:26 - Clarke's commentary and critical notes on the Bible

They are passed away as the swift ships: as the eagle that hasteth to the prey. As the swift ships - אניות אבה oniyoth ebeh. Ships of desire, or ships of Ebeh, says our margin; perhaps more correctly, inflated ships, the sails bellying out with a fair brisk wind, tide favorable, and the vessels themselves lightly freighted. The Vulgate has, Like ships freighted with apples. Ships laden with the best fruits - Targum. Ships well adapted for sailing - Arabic. Shipes that be good under sale - Coverdale. Probably this relates to the light fast-sailing ships on the Nile, which were made of reeds or papyrus. Perhaps the idea to be seized is not so much the swiftness of the passage, as their leaving no trace or track behind them. But instead of אבה ebeh, איבה eybah, hostile ships or the ships of enemies, is the reading of forty-seven of Kennicott's and De Rossi's MSS., and of the Syriac version. If this be the true reading what is its sense? My days are gone off like the light vessels of the pirates, having stripped me of my property, and carried all irrecoverably away, under the strongest press of sail, that they may effect their escape, and secure their booty. The next words, As the eagle that hasteth to the prey, seem at least to countenance, if not confirm, the above reading: the idea of robbery and spoil, prompt attack and sudden retreat, is preserved in both images.