What Sort of Friends? 399 blatherers of lies, and false oracles, all of you. The translation “worthless physicians”, beloved throughout the history of interpretation, should now be relegated to history. Near Eastern Studies Christopher HAYS Fuller Theological Seminary 135 N. Oakland Ave. Pasadena, CA 91182, USA SUMMARY Most translations of Job 13,4 have Job calling his companions something like “smearers of a lie” and “worthless physicians”. Instead, in light of philological and comparative data, he seems to be comparing his friends to the Rephaim, and false gods. In this way, he complains that they have spoken falsely as sources of wisdom and would mislead their hearers — just as the spirits of the dead were so often said to have done. The verse might thus be translated in this way: “You, however, are blatherers of lies, and false oracles, all of you.