19:23–24—As much as Job pleads with his friends to pity him, he puts no confidence in them. Instead, he looks forward to his ultimate vindication and redemption (see vv. 25–26, below), wishing that his words could be preserved as a lasting witness. Surely he will be proven right in the end! (Cf. also 16:18, above.) Job begins with the exclamation mi yitten (Oh that! Would that!), found ten times on his lips in the book but found twice in the same verse only here. His passion is palpable. Oh that my words were written down! (They have been, dear Job!). Oh that they were inscribed in a document! Job is sure that there must be ultimate justice in God’s universe and that, in the end, his protestations of innocence, coupled with his accusation of wrongdoing on God’s part, will be proven true. And so he fervently wishes that his words would be preserved in the most lasting way possible, namely, incised in rock. Witness the preservation of ancient tablets millennia later, as opposed to other records that perished over time. As to what exactly is meant by engraving his words with an iron stylus and with lead, IVPOT notes, “It has been assumed that this is describing an iron stylus that incised letters, which were filled in by lead. The Behistun inscription of Darius I of Persia in Iran appears to have been inlaid with lead. Moreover, lead tablets were used by the Hittites, as well as the Greeks and Romans.” When human civilization has failed, his words will remain—bold, confident, defiant, enduring.