Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Job 34:1
Furthermore Elihu answered and said,
Furthermore, Elihu answered and said – That is, evidently, after a pause to see if Job had anything to reply. The word answered in the Scriptures often means to begin a discourse, though nothing had been said by others; see Job 3:2; Isa 14:10; Zec 1:10; Zec 3:4; Zec 4:11-12. Sometimes it is used with reference to a subject, meaning that one replied to what could be suggested on the opposite side. Here it maybe understood either in the general sense of beginning a discourse, or more probably as replying to the sentiments which Job had advanced in the debate with his friends.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
CHAPTER XXXIV
Elihu begins with an exhortation to Job’s friends, 1-4;
charges Job with accusing God of acting unrighteously, which
he shows is impossible, 5-12;
points out the power and judgments of the Almighty, 13-30;
shows how men should address God, and how irreverently Job has
acted, 31-37.
NOTES ON CHAP. XXXIV
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
1. answeredproceeded.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Furthermore Elihu answered and said. It is reasonable to suppose that Elihu made a considerable pause, to see whether Job would make any reply to what he had delivered, or object to what he had said; which he gave him free liberty to do, if he had anything upon his mind: but perceiving he was not inclined to return any answer to him, he went on with his discourse; and which is called a further answer to him: for though Joh had made no reply to which this could be called an answer, yet as there were several things remaining for Elihu to answer to, and which he proposed to answer and did, it may with great propriety here be said that he answered him.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
1 Then began Elihu and said:
2 Hear, ye wise men, my words,
And ye experienced ones, give ear to me!
3 For the ear trieth words,
As the palate tasteth by eating.
4 Let us find out what is right,
Let us explore among ourselves what is good.
After his first speech Elihu has made a brief pause; now since Job is silent, he begins anew. , lxx correctly, here as in all other instances where the phrase occurs: , taking up the word he said. The wise and the knowing (Arab. ulama ), whose attention he bespeaks, are not Job and the three (Umbr., Hahn), who are indeed a party, and as such a subject for the arbitrative appearance of Elihu; also not every one capable of forming a judgment (Hirz.); but those in the circle of spectators and listeners which, as is assumed, has assembled round the disputants (Schlottm.). In Job 33:4 Elihu does not expressly mean his own ear, but that of the persons addressed: he establishes his summons to prove what he says by the general thought brought over from Job 12:11, and as there (comp. Job 5:7; Job 11:12), clothed in the form of the emblematic proverb, – that as there is a bodily, so there is also a mental organ of sense which tries its perceptions. is not intended as expressing a purpose ( ad vescendum ), but as a gerundive ( vescendo ). The phrase , occurring only here, signifies neither to institute a search for the purpose of decision (Schult. and others), since does not signify to decide upon anything, nor to investigate a cause (Hahn), which would be , but to test and choose what is right, , 1Th 5:21, after which the parallel runs: cognoscamus inter nos (i.e., in common) quid bonum .
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| The Address of Elihu. | B. C. 1520. |
1 Furthermore Elihu answered and said, 2 Hear my words, O ye wise men; and give ear unto me, ye that have knowledge. 3 For the ear trieth words, as the mouth tasteth meat. 4 Let us choose to us judgment: let us know among ourselves what is good. 5 For Job hath said, I am righteous: and God hath taken away my judgment. 6 Should I lie against my right? my wound is incurable without transgression. 7 What man is like Job, who drinketh up scorning like water? 8 Which goeth in company with the workers of iniquity, and walketh with wicked men. 9 For he hath said, It profiteth a man nothing that he should delight himself with God.
Here, I. Elihu humbly addresses himself to the auditors, and endeavours, like an orator, to gain their good-will and their favourable attention. 1. He calls them wise men, and men that had knowledge, v. 2. It is comfortable dealing with such as understand sense. I speak as to wise men, who can judge what I say, 1 Cor. x. 15. Elihu differed in opinion from them, and yet he calls them wise and knowing men. Peevish disputants think all fools that are not of their mind; but it is a piece of justice which we owe to those who are wise to acknowledge it, though our sentiments do not agree with theirs. 2. He appeals to their judgment, and therefore submits to their trial, v. 3. The ear of the judicious tries words, whether what is said be true or false, right or wrong, and he that speaks must stand the test of the intelligent. As we must prove all things we hear, so we must be willing that what we speak should be proved. 3. He takes them into partnership with him in the examination and discussion of this matter, v. 4. He does not pretend to be sole dictator, nor undertake to say what is just and good and what is not, but he is willing to join with them in searching it out, and desires a consultation: “Let us agree to lay aside all animosities and feuds, all prejudices and affectation of contradiction, and all stiffness in adhering to the opinion we have once espoused, and let us choose to ourselves judgment; let us fix right principles on which to proceed, and then take right methods for finding out truth; and let us know among ourselves, by comparing notes and communicating our reasons, what is good and what is otherwise.” Note, We are then likely to discern what is right when we agree to assist one another in searching it out.
II. He warmly accuses Job for some passionate words which he had spoken, that reflected on the divine government, appealing to the house whether he ought not to be called to the bar and checked for them.
1. He recites the words which Job had spoken, as nearly as he can remember. (1.) He had insisted upon his own innocency. Job hath said, I am righteous (v. 5), and, when urged to confess his guilt, had stiffly maintained his plea of, Not guilty: Should I lie against my right? v. 6. Job had spoken to this purport, My righteousness I hold fast, ch. xxvii. 6. (2.) He had charged God with injustice in his dealings with him, that he had wronged him in afflicting him and had not righted him: God has taken away my judgment; so Job had said, ch. xxvii. 2. (3.) He had despaired of relief and concluded that God could not, or would not, help him: My wound is incurable, and likely to be mortal, and yet without transgression; not for any injustice in my hand,Job 16:16; Job 16:17. (4.) He had, in effect, said that there is nothing to be got in the service of God and that no man will be the better at last for his (v. 9): He hath said that which gives occasion to suspect that he thinks it profiteth a man nothing that he should delight himself with God. It is granted that there is a present pleasure in religion; for what is it but to delight ourselves with God, in communion with him, in concurrence with him, in walking with him as Enoch did? this is a true notion of religion, and bespeaks its ways to be pleasantness. Yet the advantage of it is denied, as if it were vain to serve God, Mal. iii. 14. This Elihu gathers as Job’s opinion, by an innuendo from what he said (ch. ix. 22), He destroys the perfect and the wicked, which has a truth in it (for all things come alike to all), but it was ill expressed, and gave too much occasion for this imputation, and therefore Job sat down silently under it and attempted not his own vindication, whence Mr. Caryl well observes that good men sometimes speak worse than they mean, and that a good man will rather bear more blame than he deserves than to stand to excuse himself when he has deserved any blame.
2. He charges Job very high upon it. In general, What man is like Job? v. 7. “Did you ever know such a man as Job, or ever hear a man talk at such an extravagant rate?” He represents him, (1.) As sitting in the seat of the scornful: “He drinketh up scorning like water,” that is, “he takes a great deal of liberty to reproach both God and his friends, takes a pleasure in so doing, and is very liberal in his reflections.” Or, “He is very greedy in receiving and hearkening to the scorns and contempts which others cast upon their brethren, is well pleased with them and extols them.” Or, as some explain it, “By these foolish expressions of his he makes himself the object of scorn, lays himself very open to reproach, and gives occasion to others to laugh at him; while his religion suffers by them, and the reputation of that is wounded through his side.” We have need to pray that God will never leave us to ourselves to say or do any thing which may make us a reproach to the foolish, Ps. xxxix. 8. (2.) As walking in the course of the ungodly, and standing in the way of sinners: He goes in company with the workers of iniquity (v. 8), not that in his conversation he did associate with them, but in his opinion he did favour and countenance them, and strengthen their hands. If (as it follows, v. 9, for the proof of this) it profits a man nothing to delight himself in God, why should he not lay the reins on the neck of his lusts and herd with the workers of iniquity? He that says, I have cleansed my hands in vain, does not only offend against the generation of God’s children (Psa 72:13; Psa 72:14), but gratifies his enemies, and says as they say.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
JOB – CHAPTER 34
ELIHU’S ADDRESS TO JOB AND HIS THREE FRIENDS
Verses 1-37:
Verses 1, 2 begin a direct address of Elihu, the young Buzite, offspring or decent of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, to Job and his three more aged friends from afar, Job 32:2. He called on these three wise men and Job, all his elders, to give him their earnest hearing, as he addressed the three wise ones, much as he had Job, specifically, in chapter 33.
Verses 3, 4 relate Elihu’s clever approach to the three feigned wise friends of Job, as they leaned forward to give respect to his declamation. He first asserted that the hearing ear tested his words, discerning what was said, just as the mouth (palate) discerned taste of food and drink. He appealed to the vanity of the three friends of Job, as wise men to join him in formulating or restating a good or ideal, uniform judgment, regarding Job’s afflictions, their cause and a remedy.
Verse 5 then relates that Job had contended “I am righteous,” as verified Job 9:22; Job 33:9; Job 22:17; Job 35:3; Mal 3:14. There is surely nothing wrong with ones being righteous. He added that Job had further complained that “God hath taken away my judgment,” or his right, and he had, according to his three friends, by reason of the afflictions as recounted Job 13:18; Job 27:2.
Verse 6 further relates that Job had said, “should I lie against my rights?” or I would lie if I did not declare my innocence of guilt of great magnitude. He further lamented that his wound was of Incurable nature, without his having transgression to cause it. This premise Elihu understood, Job 9:17; Job 27:2; Job 16:17.
Verses 7, 8 Inquire what man exists, or ever existed, among men who could “drink up scorning continually,” like a camel drinks up water? Elihu played up the ego of Job’s three feigned wise friends by sanctioning their sentiments that Job’s suffering was of Divine warning from God for his sins; when Job had scoffed at their claims, Elihu intimated that he was repeatedly scoffing at God who had sent them to help him and he had rejected it, to the fullest measure; In rejecting their counsel Elihu asserted that Job had joined hands with lawless people, infidels and the wicked, denying that the God of the universe always sent punishment to identify men in their wickedness, therefore Job was a disreputable scorner against God, Job 9:22-23; Job 9:30; Job 31:7-15; Mal 3:14.
Verse 9 charges further infidelity against Job for claiming that it profits man nothing to delight himself Intimately with God, continually, Psa 50:18; Job 9:22-23; Job 9:30; Job 31:2-15; Mal 3:14.
Verse 10 expresses Elihu’s first personal judgment regarding God’s affliction upon Job. He appealed again for rapt attention from these “men of understanding,” of brave hearts, a phrase of flattery, more than honor. Then he added that it was far from God, out of character for God to do wickedness, for the Almighty to commit iniquity repeatedly; His judgment was that God did not do wrong in sending afflictions upon Job, without regards to the cause or occasion for the existing afflictions, a scriptural premise; Man is to believe that God’s acts or deeds are righteous or just, whether one understands them or not … So true! Deu 32:4; Gen 18:25; Rom 9:14; See also 2Ch 19:7; Jer 12:1; Jas 1:13.
Verse 11 declares that “for the work of man He (God) will render or recompense to each according to (or in harmony with) His ways, His course of conduct,” Even as He does it, partly here and partly (more fully, finally) hereafter, as set forth Jer 32:19; Mat 16:27; Rom 2:6; 2Co 5:10-12; 2Pe 1:17; Rev 22:12.
Verse 12 contends that God will not do wickedly in sending judgment, nor will He, as the Almighty pervert or distort judgment, showing respect of person, to any degree; This seems to be in opposition to Job’s assumption that God was permitting him to be afflicted unjustly, v.5; Job 8:3.
Verse 13 rhetorically affirms that no one has given Him (the Almighty) administrative charge of the earth, has He? He would not act to inquire of His own people or property, would He? Job 34:23. No one else has formed, disposed, or placed the whole world here, besides Him, has he? Isa 44:7. He established the circle of the globe.
Verses 14, 15 certify that if He were to regard Himself (only), and gather to Himself His spirit and breath that He has given to man, and beast, all flesh would perish together, as set forth Gen 3:19; Psa 104:29-30; Ecc 12:7; La 3:22; Act 17:28.
Verse 16 takes a turn from Elihu’s addressing the wise in general, the more aged before him of v.2, and directly addresses Job, “and now (at this point) if thou (you as an individual) have continuing faculties of understanding, listen cautiously and give heed to my voice of reasonings,” that are about to follow, Jas 1:19.
Verses 17, 18 set forth a barrage of rhetoric questions to Job, questions that imply their own answer. It is not right or just for one who continually hates right or justice to rule is it? The answer is “no,” God must be just for He governs, Psa 149:8.
It is added, “you will not condemn Him who is preeminently just, will you?”
Verse 18 continues that “it is not fitting, proper, or becoming (for a servant) to say to a king, thou art wicked, is it?” or to say to royal princes, “you are all ungodly, is it?” The necessary answer implied is, such would absolutely not be proper! If this is true of earthly monarchs, Elihu suggests, how much more important it is to question the Heavenly King in His majesty! For He justly judges the great and the small, as “no respector of persons,” 2Ch 19:7; Rom 2:11; Eph 6:9; Col 3:25.
Verse 19 Inquires how much less shall the majestic King over His own universe show respect of person or partiality than earthly kings toward the person of princes, or the rich above the poor of His domain! Elihu then concludes rightly, “For they are all the work of His hands,” His creation and His property in His universe; To do any of them wrong would be to do Himself wrong, See? Job 31:15. See also Act 10:34; Pro 22:20.
Verse 20 adds that in a moment, a brief time, they shall all die, and be troubled at midnight, an unexpected time. For death comes in such a time of midnight unexpectancy; Yet it awaits all; Even the “mighty (the strongest) shall be taken away from life, without a hand,” a hand strong enough to hold off death, Ecc 9:5; Heb 9:27: The rich and the princes must go at death’s call, as surely as the poor, the impoverished, the common laborer, Job 14:1-3; Psa 90:10.
Verse 21 declares that the Lord’s eyes are continually upon or scrutinizing, surveying, monitoring or computerizing, the ways of man and observes all his repeated actions; As certified Job 31:4; 2Ch 16:1; Psa 34:15; Pro 5:21; Pro 15:3; Jer 16:17; Jer 32:19.
Verse 22 states that there exists no darkness or shadow of death sufficiently bleak or opaque, behind, beneath, or within which repeated workers of iniquity may hide or conceal themselves from the eyesight or righteous judgment hand of Almighty God, Amo 9:2-3; Psa 139:12; Rev 20:11.
Verse 23 adds that God will not lay upon man more (in chastening, affliction, or judgment) than is right or just! So that man has no moral or ethical ground on which to enter any defensible controversy with God, regarding judgment, Ezr 9:13; La 3:32; Isa 27:8; 1Co 10:13.
Verses 24, 25 declare that God repeatedly breaks mighty men of the earth, without number, any searching out, or respect for their stature among men; And He sets other men in their places, without consulting any, since none is above Him, as the Almighty, as Certified Psa 2:9; Job 12:18; Dan 2:21. He further said to know (be continually cognizant or aware of) their kind of works and overturns or destroys them, brings them to great judgment loss In the night; which means unexpectedly, as He did Pharaoh in the Red Sea, Belshazzar the night of his drunken feast, and Herod upon his throne, as cited Exo 14:27-28; Dan 5:24-30; Act 12:21-23.
Verse 26 asserts that God strikes the wicked in open view of others, much like a public execution, not just in some solitude place, Job 40:12; Exo 14:30.
Verse 27 concludes that his judgment falls because wicked men, turned back from or away from Him, and did not will to consider any of His ways, Pro 1:22-30.
Verse 28 concludes that the obstinate, rebellious, self-willed, covetous wicked who cared for or respected none of His ways, caused the cry of the oppressed poor to come up to Him; and He continually gave ear to the cry of the afflicted, as an holy, just, and righteous God, Deu 24:14-15; Ecc 5:3; Jas 5:4. See also Exo 22:23; Psa 37:39-40; Ecc 3:16.
Verse 29 relates Elihu’s inquiry, just who is capable of making troubles when God sends peace and quietness, Pro 16:7; Isa 26:3; who can condemn what God sends of good or bad, blessings or chastening, and judgment? Rom 8:33-34. When the Lord hides His face, refuses to condone evil, leaves men to perish for any cause, who can behold or confront Him? the implied answer is, No one, v.17; Psa 133:1; Job 23:8-9. Whether He turns from a man or a nation, none can confront Him defensively to charge Him with wrong, Psa 13:1; Psalms 2 Kg 18:9-12.
Verse 30 states that this state exists so that the hypocrite may not reign, have jurisdiction in continuing wrong, lest the people be entrapped, snared to their death, 1Kg 12:28, 30; Pro 29:2-12. See also 2Kg 21:9; Psa 12:8; Ecc 9:18; Hos 5:11.
Verse 31 continues Elihu’s judgment that surely it is meet, proper, or becoming for one to say to God, when under affliction as Job had been, “I have done iniquity or acted lawlessly; I will do It (practice it) no more,” apparently implying that Job should do this In Elihu and Job’s three feigned friends from afar’s presence. Though no hypocrite, Job did have sins, but to confess to the kind of sins of which he had been charged by the three friends, he asserted he would be lying, Job 40:3-5; Lev 26:41; Mic 7:9; Lev 5:1; Lev 5:17; Neh 1:7; 1Jn 1:8-9.
Verse 32 continues that it would be proper for Job to pray that “that which he could not see or comprehend” he desired God to teach him, to open his understanding, help him recall, and pledge to God “if I have done lawlessly, morally or ethically, i will do it no more.” For God promises to teach His people, Job 10:2; Psa 32:8; Psa 19:12; Psa 139:23; Pro 28:13; Eph 4:22.
Verse 33 further extends Elihu’s opinion that if confession In this manner could be a thing of Job’s voluntary will, God would recompense, repay, or respond helpfully to such a prayer, If he had such guilt, v.31, 32. But, whether or not Job petitioned God, as Ellhu thought he should, Elihu thought Job should speak firmly and stand firmly on what he knew in his soul was right, Rom 14:11-12.
Verses 34, 35 challenge men of understanding (like the three friends of Job) and a wise man, as Job was, to hearken or give special attention to him once again, a little further. He then added v. 35 that Job had spoken void of knowledge and that his words were without wisdom, two grave, serious, false charges, Job 38:2; 1Ti 1:7.
Verses 36, 37 recount the desire of young Elihu to continue his abstract of legal opinion about Job’s afflictions, the cause and possible remedy, to be further heard. He desired to see him “tried,” as in a court of justice, a tribunal, unto the end. Because of his answers for wicked men, or he had prejudged that Job’s views favored wicked men rather than the righteous; He further addressed the vanity of the three friends of Job, by asserting that Job added rebellion (against their instruction) to his other sin; He (Job) repeatedly clapped his hands among them, the three and, Elihu, to their chagrin; and multiplied his words against God. Job had clapped his hands in scorn or derision at the platitudes and applications that each of these self-esteemed wise men had applied to him in his afflictions, Job 27:23; Eze 21:17. Adding to his original sin, he sinned in their presence, Elihu concluded, by vainly multiplying words against God, Job 11:2; Job 35:16.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
ELIHUS SECOND SPEECH
Probably after waiting for a reply from Job, and none being forthcoming, Elihu resumes. Job. 34:1.Furthermore Elihu answered (took up speech), and said. Jobs silence probably indicative of the effect produced by Elihus first speech. Elihu now addresses himself partly to the three friends and others present, and partly to Job himself. The first part of his speech addressed to the former. In the preceding chapter, Elihu vindicates Gods goodness; in this, His justice.
I. His introduction. Job. 34:2-4.
I. Bespeaks their careful attention, and appeals to their sound judgment. Job. 34:2.Hear my words, O ye wise men (the three friends, and perhaps others), and give ear unto me, ye that have knowledge. Observe
(1) Wisdom and knowledge required to judge correctly of statements made respecting things pertaining to God and His moral government.
(2) The part of a wise man to give earnest attention to what is advanced on such subjects.
(3) A wise speaker willing to be corrected by men of judgment and understanding.
2. Invites an impartial examination of his statements. Job. 34:3.For the ear trieth words, as the mouth tasteth meat. Observe
(1) Man is furnished by his Creator with means for testing statements on moral and religious truth, as well for trying the food which he is to eat.
(2) Private judgment in reference to such subjects mans duty as well as his right. His duty carefully and impartially to examine, and so either to adopt or reject. The Berans commended, because they not only received the word with all readiness of mind, but searched the Scriptures daily whether these things were so (Act. 17:11). The New Testament ruleProve all things; hold fast that which is good. Believe not every spirit; but try the spirits whether they be of God. Why even of yourselves judge ye not what is right? Judge ye what I say. (1Th. 5:21; 1Jn. 4:1; Luk. 12:57; 1Co. 10:15). The Old Testament rule: Cease, my son, to hear the instruction that causeth to err from the words of knowledge: To the law and to the testimony; if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them (Pro. 19:27; Isa. 8:20).
3. Exhorts to a faithful treatment of the subject in hand. Job. 34:4.Let us choose to us judgment (let us examine among ourselves, and choose as our conclusion what is the right view of the case): let us know among ourselves (learn, and so acknowledge and adopt) what is good (right and true on the subject in hand). Like that of the Saviour: Judge not according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment (Joh. 7:24). And that of the Apostle: Be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect, even the will of God (Rom. 12:2). Observe
(1) The part of a wise man to contend, not for victory, but for truth;
(2) What is right and true alone is good. A false view and a wrong course never, in the end, a profitable one.
II. Elihus charge against Job. Job. 34:5-9.For Job hath said, &c. Jobs language, rather than his life, the subject of Elihus censure. The friends had, by inference, condemned Jobs life previous to his affliction; Elihu condemns, as a matter of fact, his language under it. His general charge against Job, that he seemed to accuse God of acting unjustly towards him. More especially
1. That he justified himself as righteous. Job. 34:5.For Job hath said: I am righteous,without transgression, i.e., such as to merit such treatment. Reference to such parts of Jobs speeches as chap. Job. 9:17; Job. 13:18; Job. 16:17. Job maintained his innocence in opposition to what his friends suspected and believed, and to what his present calamities seemed to indicate. This, even in Elihus judgment, improperly maintained by Job, as reflecting on his Makers character and government. Jobs language, though relatively true, yet too strong and unqualified, and apparently uttered in a self-righteous spirit. Declarations of personal righteousness like those of Job, unbecoming in a sinner. Lawful for a man boldly to declare his righteousness only as he is righteous in Christ. Surely shall one say: In the Lord have I righteousness: in Him shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory (Isa. 45:25).
2. That he charged God with injustice and wrong in the way He treated him. (Job. 34:6)God hath taken away my judgment (deprived me of my righteousness in treating me as a guilty person; or, has put aside my righteous cause); my wound is incurable (or grievous) without transgression [on my part to deserve it]. Jobs actual language (ch. Job. 27:2). Observe
(1) Complaint against Gods dealings an implied challenge of His justice.
(2) Gods righteousness to be acknowledged in all the circumstances of our lot. The proper language of a sufferer: The Lord is righteous: He hath not dealt with us after our sins (2Ch. 12:6; Jer. 12:1; Psa. 103:10).
3. That he had used contemptuous language in regard to God. Job. 34:7.What man is like Job (or, what man is there like Job,a man having so high a character for piety), who drinketh up scorning like water? Reference to Jobs daring and irreverent language, in which he challenged God to a controversy on his case, and appeared to make his own righteousness less questionable than Gods in the matter. Such language used by Job frequently, and with apparent eagerness and pleasure, like a thirsty animal taking a large draught of water. Same metaphor employed by Eliphaz in reference to mankind, and with respect to sin in general (ch. Job. 15:16). Jobs language unusual in any, but especially in a person of his character. Observe
(1) Perseverance and pleasure in doing or saying what is wrong a serious aggravation of the sin;
(2) A grief and offence to the godly when a pious man is found speaking or acting in a way unlike himself. Thus Abraham in Egypt; David in the matter of Uriah; Peter in the high priests palace. Davids prayer always necessary: Keep back thy servant, &c.; Set a watch before my mouth, &c. (Psa. 19:12-14; Psa. 141:3).
4. That he appeared to adopt the language and sentiments of the ungodly. Job. 34:8.Which goeth in company with the workers of iniquity, and walketh with wicked men,namely, in using such language and adopting such sentiments. Observe
(1) The part of the ungodly to entertain unjust thoughts of God, and to speak irreverently in regard both to Himself and His dealings.
(2) A godly man to be careful not to countenance the ungodly in their views and language, either by what he says or does.
(3) The views and language of the ungodly in reference to God and His dealings to be carefully avoided, as well as their company.
(4) A man appears to be the companion of those whose language, views, and practices he adopts. The proper language of a godly man: I am a companion of all them that fear thee (Psa. 119:63). His prayer: Gather not my soul with sinners (Psa. 26:9).
5. That he seemed to deny that there was any benefit in true religion (Job. 34:9). For he hath said, It profiteth a man nothing that he should delight himself in God. True piety also characterised, though by a different Hebrew word, in ch. Job. 27:10, as a delighting in God. The expression in the text indicates
(1) To have friendly and familiar intercourse with God;
(2) To have pleasure in such intercourse;
(3) To make it ones care to please God;
(4) To be satisfied with Him as ones portion. The character of the godly to walk with God, and have delight in such walk (Gen. 5:22-24). ObserveTrue religion a delighting oneself in God (ch. Job. 27:10).
Delight in God
Is
(1) Characteristic of the godly, and that which distinguishes them from the world.
(2) Enjoined as a duty (Psa. 37:5; Php. 3:1; Php. 4:4). Gladness required in serving him (Deu. 12:12; Deu. 12:18; Deu. 28:47; Psa. 100:2; Isa. 64:5).
(3) Promised as a reward of piety, especially in regard to the Sabbath (Job. 22:26; Isa. 58:14). Implies
1. The excellence and loveliness in God. God worthy to be delighted in
(1) In Himself and His perfections;
(2) In what He has become to us in and through Jesus Christ.
2. The inwardness and spirituality of true religion. True religion a thing of the heart; the seat of delight. Not a thing of form or ceremony; or of bodily service; or of mere morality or outward obedience. A thing of delight, because a thing of love.
3. The happiness and pleasantness of true piety. Not only causes delight, but is itself a delighting. Wisdoms ways pleasantness and peace. Delight and pleasure a necessary accompaniment of true religion. God the object of true religion, not as a Being merely to be feared or served, but delighted in. God sufficient in Himself to fill every intelligent creature with joy. His favour life; His loving kindness better than life. Believers though not seeing Christ, yet believing and so loving Him, rejoice in Him with joy unspeakable and full of glory (1Pe. 1:8).
Delight in God shewn
1. By holding fellowship with Him. We cultivate the society of those we delight in. Hence true religion a walking with God, (Mic. 6:8; Gen. 5:22; Gen. 6:9).
2. By obeying His will and seeking to please Him. Impossible willingly to disobey or grieve the person we delight in. To walk with God, and to please God, spoken of in Scripture as one and the same thing (Gen. 5:22; Gen. 5:24, compared with Heb. 11:5).
3. By ceasing to love and delight in the world. Impossible to love and please two masters of opposite characters. The love of the world incompatible with the love of God (Mat. 6:24; 1Jn. 2:14-15). The world a crucified thing where Christ is delighted in (Gal. 6:14).
4. By attending upon His ordinances. His ordinances the means of fellowship with God, and helps to the enjoyment of Him. His banqueting house, where His banner over us is love (Son. 2:4). The sanctuary and the Sabbath a delight when God Himself is so (Psa. 26:8; Psa. 63:1-2; Psa. 80:1; Psa. 80:10; Isa. 58:13).
5. By cheerfully acquiescing in His appointments. Delight in a person leads to delight, and at least to a cheerful acquiescence, in what he says and does. Strictly true in regard to God, all whose sayings and doings are known and believed to be right.
The profitableness of true religion, or delighting oneself with God, apparently denied in some of Jobs expressions, as ch. Job. 9:22-23; Job. 21:7-15. The reference, however, only to this life and the outward dispensations of Divine Providence. The language ascribed by Elihu to Job never really used by him. His employment of it Satans great object. At times strongly tempted to it. Suggested by his wife. Asaph tempted in like circumstances to employ it (Psa. 73:12-14). The language of unbelief (Mal. 3:14). Godliness profitable to all things. Has the promise of both worlds (1Ti. 2:8; 1Ti. 6:6).
III. Elihus defence of God against Jobs cavils and complaints.(Job. 34:10-30). First addresses himself to the three friends and those present at the debate. Job. 34:10.Therefore hearken unto me, ye men of understanding. Afterwards addresses his discourse to Job himself. Job. 34:16.If now thou hast understanding, hear this; hearken to the voice of my words. Elihus self-imposed task, to justify the ways of God to man. Intelligence in the hearers required to judge of statements made on such a subject. Elihus arguments are
1. Iniquity and injustice incompatible with the Divine nature. Job. 34:10-12.Far be it from God (as a thing profane to think of) that He should do wickedness, and from the Almighty that He should commit iniquity. For, the work of a man (or the reward of his work) shall He render unto him, and cause every one to find according to his ways: Yea, surely God will not do wickedly, neither will the Almighty prevent judgment (act unrighteously, or pass an unrighteous sentence). Injustice not merely denied of God, but denied as a thing not for a moment to be thoughtas a thing utterly incongruous with His nature as God, and not possible to be found in Him. The idea of iniquity incompatible with the idea of God. Gods ways to be believed to be just and right, simply because they are His, and because they cannot be otherwise. The thought of injustice and wrong in God to be repelled with loathing and execration, as profane and abominable. Observe
(1) Some things to be not simply denied, but execrated; as injustice in God. Others to be not so much argued, as simply but strongly asserted; as that God is just (Rom. 3:4-5).
(2) A man finds according to his ways either in this life or the next. Every work brought into judgment (Ecc. 11:9; Ecc. 12:14; 2Co. 5:10; Rev. 20:12). Sentence against an evil work only not speedily executed (Ecc. 8:11). Sin sometimes punished in this life in the natural course of things which God has established. Sometimes punished by special and unexpected acts of His Providence, as in the case of Herod (Act. 12:23). The impenitent sinner escaping punishment all through life is overtaken at last, and finds according to his ways. The rich man dies and is buried, prosperous and luxurious to the last: but in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torments (Luk. 16:23).
2. Injustice incompatible with Gods absolute supremacy and independence as the Creator and Governor of the Universe. Job. 34:13.Who hath given him a charge over the earth (or, committed the earth to his charge, as a superior commits a charge to a subordinate)? or who hath disposed the whole world? (placed the universe in the state in which we find it). Observe
(1) As Creator, Proprietor, and Supreme Ruler of the Universe, God can be under no temptation to injustice. To be unjust would be to wrong Himself.
(2) God accountable to no superior. That the world exists at all, and is ruled by Him, is not from necessity imposed upon him, but from the benevolence of His own nature. God therefore to be called to account for his doings by none of His creatures.
3. Man dependent on Gods mere goodness for life and all he enjoys. Job. 34:14-15If He set His heart upon man (or, against man, to deal strictly with him according to his deserts; or, if He directed His attention only to Himself); if He gather (or He would gather) unto Himself [as its author, (Ecc. 12:7)] his spirit and his breath [which He first breathed into mans nostrils to make him a living soul, Gen. 2:7]; all flesh shall (or should) perish together (as at the general deluge, Gen. 6:3; Gen. 6:17), and man shall (or should) turn again unto dust [according to the original sentence pronounced on man after the Fall, Gen. 3:19]. Observe
(1) Mans life and breath entirely in the hands of God. Given by God at first, and only continued at His pleasure. In Him we live, and move, and have our being (Act. 17:28).
(2) A sinners continuance in life the fruit and evidence of Divine goodness. His life forfeited to justice as a transgressor of the Divine law (Gen. 2:17; Rom. 6:23).
(3) Injustice or wrong, therefore, on the part of God to His creatures, entirely out of the question. Hence
(4) murmuring and complaining against God to be for ever silenced: Wherefore doth a living man complain (Lam. 3:39).
4. Injustice on the part of God incompatible with His being the Ruler of the Universe. Job. 34:17; Job. 34:19Shall even he that hateth right govern? (Heb., bind, as with authority and law; or bind up, as a wound or fracture, a ruler being properly a healer, Isa. 3:7). And wilt thou condemn him that is most just (or, him that is at once just and mighty?) Is it fit to say to a king (even an earthly sovereign), thou art wicked (Heb. Belial, wickedness), and to princes, ye are ungodly? How much less to Him that accepteth not the persons of princes, nor regardeth the rich more than the poor? for they all are the work of His hands. Observe
(1) The mere fact of God being the Supreme Ruler of the Universe a sufficient proof of His justice. Justice implied in the rule even of an earthly sovereign. An unjust ruler to be regarded as a monsteran exception to the ordinary course of things, and soon therefore coming to an end. The exercise of justice necessary to, and therefore supposed in, the continuance of government. He that ruleth over men must be just (2Sa. 23:3). Abrahams plea: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? (Gen. 17:25). God just, because mighty.
(2) Rulers under the most solemn obligation to be just. If the charge of iniquity is not to be made by the subject, it is not to be incurred by the sovereign.
(3) Rulers to be not only just, but beneficent. A ruler to be a healer. The State more or less sick and wounded by sin and its consequences (Isa. 1:5-6; Jer. 8:22). The part of a ruler to heal and bind it upby just laws, wholesome authority, wise institutions, and godly example. The ruler a healer only as he rules in the fear of God (2Sa. 23:3). Examples: Hezekiah; Josiah; Alfred.
(4) Reverence due to rulers and those in authority. Rulers not to be reviled by their subjects (Exo. 22:28). Gods vicegerents and representatives, and therefore called by his name (Exo. 22:2; Psa. 82:1; Psa. 82:6).
(5) God impartial in His government. As His creatures, all on an equal footing in His sight. Differences among men disregarded by God. No difference of treatment either from fear or favour. Hence (i.) warning to the sick; (ii.) comfort to the poor; (iii.) example to rulers and magistrates.
5. Judgments inflicted on sinners, especially on powerful oppressors. Job. 34:20-28. In a moment (suddenly and speedily) shall they die (or, theyi.e., the ungodlyespecially the rich and powerfuldie, viz., under the infliction of Divine judgments), and the people (as distinguished from the princes) shall be troubled (or are troubled, viz., by the judgments inflicted) at midnight (unexpectedly and in a time of quiet and security, as 1Th. 5:2), and pass away (as at the Deluge, and the destruction of the Cities of the Plain, or as by earthquakes, &c.): and the mighty shall be (or are) taken away without hand [of man, or any human agency or violence]. For His eyes are upon the ways of man (both rulers and ruled), and He seeth all his doings. There is no darkness nor shadow of death where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves [from His eye, or elude His vengeance]. For He will not lay upon man more than is right, that he should enter into judgment with God (giving him occasion to complain of being punished beyond his deserts; or, He does not direct His attention long to a man for him to go to God in judgment, as if needing long investigation into his case in dealing judicially with him). He shall break (or he breaks) in pieces (by His judgments) mighty men without number (or without enquiry), and set others in their stead (putting down one and setting up another, as Psa. 75:7). Therefore (or, for) he knoweth their works, and he overturneth them in the night (or in a night; or he turneth night upon them, i.e. the night of calamity and death, as in the case of Belshazzar, Dan. 5:30; and of Herod, Act. 12:23; so that they are destroyed. He striketh them (by His judgments) as wicked men (as other wicked men; or, because they are wicked men) in the open sight of others. Because they turned back from Him (or, from following after Him, viz., by adhering to His service and obeying His commands), and would not consider [seriously and attentively] any of His ways [whether in Providence or precept, so as to stand in awe and sin not]: so that they cause [by their oppression] the cry of of the poor to come unto Him, and (or, so that) He heareth the cry of the afflicted. Observe
(1) Judgments manifestly inflicted on tyrants and oppressors, a proof of the justice of the Divine government. The Lord is known by the judgment which He executeth (Psa. 9:16). History full of such judgments.
(2) The ungodly often overtaken and cut off by Divine judgments unexpectedly. This still to be the case (1Th. 5:3).
(3) Impossible for the wicked, either by power or prudence, to escape Gods righteous judgments. God omniscient as well as omnipotent. His eye as penetrating as His arm is powerful.
(4) Ungodly men and oppressors often visited with signal and manifest judgments, as a warning to others and a testimony to the justice of the Divine government. So that a man shall say: Verily there is a reward to the righteous; verily there is a God that judgeth in the earth (Psa. 58:11). Open sinners often made open sufferers.
(5) Perseverance in His service, and consideration of His word and works, required by God of His intelligent creatures, whether rulers or ruled. The want of it regarded by Him as a grievous sin.
(6) Disobedience and neglect in regard to God, as well as oppression and cruelly in regard to man, the frequent ground of suffering in this life, and, if unrepented of, the certain cause of misery in the next.
6. The dependence of all upon God for quietness and comfort. Job. 34:29.When He giveth quietness (or forgives), who then can make trouble (or condemn)? and when He hideth His face (as in displeasure, or as withdrawing His help and favour; or When He hideth the face, i.e., condemns, or treats as a condemned criminal), who then can behold Him (enjoy His favour, or reverse the sentence of death)? Whether it be done against (or towards) a nation, or against a man only? Observe
(1) God the Sovereign Dispenser of quiet and comfort to individuals. His to forgive or to condemn. His sentence irreversible. Hence the prophets challenge in the person of the Messiah (Psa. 50:7-9), and the apostles triumph in the name of believers (Rom. 8:31-34). The part of God to give peace (Psa. 85:8; Isa. 45:7; Isa. 57:19). Able to make even a mans enemies to be at peace with him (Pro. 16:7). Speaks peace and gives rest to an awakened sinners conscience. To do this, the object of(i.) The atoning death of Jesus. (ii.) His resurrection, as declarative of the Divine acceptance and efficacy of His death. (iii.) His ascension into heaven and session at Gods right hand as the Advocate of believing sinners. (iv.) The mission of the Holy Ghost as the Comforter and Witness-bearer of the Saviours work (Rom. 8:34; Rom. 15:16). Quiet and rest to the troubled conscience the object of the Saviours mission (Isa. 61:1-3; Luk. 2:10). His invitation and promise (Mat. 11:28). Peace and rest the fruit of faith in Him (Isa. 26:3; Rom. 5:1; Rom. 15:13; Heb. 4:3).
(2) God the Dispenser of rest and quietness to nations and Churches. To nations (1Ch. 22:9; 1Ch. 22:18). To Churches (Act. 9:31). Nations and men equally in Gods power (Isa. 40:15-17). His to make wars to cease to the ends of the earth (Psa. 46:9); to make peace in our borders (Psa. 147:14); or in righteous judgment, to stir up one nation against another (Isa. 13:17).
(3) None able to frustate Gods work and purpose, whether of mercy or of judgment (Isa. 27:3-4; Isa. 43:14).
7. The Divine benevolence in the judgments inflicted on oppressors. Job. 34:30.That the hypocrite (or profligate) reign not, lest the people be ensnared (or, That there be no ensnarings or offences to the people). Observe
(1) Kings and rulers subject to Gods ordination (Rom. 13:1). His to say who shall and who shall not reign. His prerogative to put down one and set up another (Psa. 75:6-7). Examples: David set up instead of Saul (2Sa. 6:21); Jeroboam as ruler of the ten tribes instead of Rehoboam (2Ch. 11:4).
(2) A grievous evil to a people when a profane, wicked prince rules over them (Psa. 12:8).
(3) Gods benevolence seen in His cutting short the reign of profane rulers (Eze. 21:25). Men usually not suffered long to continue in the power which they abuse. The reason,God is careful of the welfare of mankind.
(4) A people apt to imitate the example of their rulers. An ungodly king a snare to his subjects. A dissolute prince makes a dissolute people. Example: The reign of the second Charles.
(5) Gods benevolence, as seen in the judgments He inflicts on tyrants and oppressors, an evidence of the justice of His government. A benevolent Being cannot be unjust.
IV. Mans duty under the Divine chastisements. Job. 34:31-32.Surely it is meet to be said unto God, I have borne chastisement, I will not offend any more: that which I see not, teach thou me: if I have done iniquity, will do no more. Elihu performs to Job the part of the messenger and interpreter he himself describes (chap. Job. 33:23). Teaches what is mans
Duty under Chastisement
1. To turn to God. Job. 34:31.It is meet to be said unto God. The afflicted to direct himself to God, who is dealing with him, and against whom he has sinned. Gods object in chastisement to bring the individual to Himself. Thus the prodigal, in his distress, returned to his father. Gods call under chastisement: Return unto the Lord thy God (Hos. 14:1). His complaint against Israel, that they returned, but not to Him (Hos. 7:16; Hos. 7:10). God both speaks to us in chastening, and wishes to be spoken to: It is meet to be said unto God: Take with you words, and turn to the Lord (Hos. 14:2). No benefit from affliction till we speak to God in it.
2. To acknowledge and accept the chastisement: I have borne chastisement. Gods will that His chastening should be accepted and acknowledged. The condition on which He promised returning mercy to Israel (Lev. 26:41-42). The language of penitent Israel: Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised (Jer. 31:18). The mark of a humbled heart, to accept or submit to chastisement (Lev. 26:41). Divine chastening neither to be despised nor despaired under (Heb. 12:5). The prophet our example under chastisementI will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against Him (Mic. 7:9). Divine chastisement to be borne
(1) submissively;
(2) Patiently;
(3) Humbly;
(4) Lovingly;
(5) Thankfully. The chastisement of a believer not that by a master, but by a father. To be borne not as a slave, but as a child. The lesson Job now needed especially to be taught.
3. To confess our sin. I have done iniquity. Gods aim in chastisement to bring us to confession of sin. Only acknowledge thine iniquity (Jer. 3:13). Forgiveness and mercy promised only upon confession (1Jn. 1:9; Pro. 28:13).
4. To resolve upon amendment. I will not offend any more. If I have done iniquity, I will do no more. The language put into the mouth of penitent Israel: What have I to do any more with idols? Neither will we say any more to the work of our hands: Ye are our gods (Hos. 14:8; Hos. 14:3). Mercy promised to those who confess and forsake their sins (Pro. 28:13). To abandon what we confess, the only proof of sincerity. The offence to be avoided may be either one of omission or of commission; may be either in spirit or demeanour, in heart or in life. God jealous over His peoples inward affection as well as their outward conduct: I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember, therefore, from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else, &c. (Rev. 2:4-5).
5. To pray for Divine teaching. Job. 34:32.What I see not, teach thou me. A mark of humility and sanctified affliction when we seek and ask for Divine teaching. That teaching needed and desired
(1) In regard to sin. Sin the cause of suffering, and occasion for chastisement. To be seen and known in order to be confessed, forsaken, and forgiven. To be shown both as to its nature and its prevalence in ourselves. But little of sin seen by us in comparison with the sad reality. Much both of the malignity and demerit of sin at first unknown to us. Much sin unseen by us as existing in ourselves, both in heart and in life. Who can understand his errors? Cleanse thou me from secret faults (Psa. 19:12). Davids prayer (Psa. 139:23-24). The mark of sincerity to desire to know our sin, instead of cloaking or palliating it.
(2) In regard to duty. The penitent only partially acquainted with his duty. His desire to know the Lords will in order to do it (Psa. 86:11). The penitents inquiry that of Saul on the way to Damascus, Lord what wilt thou have me do? (Act. 10:6).
V. Elihus reproof of Job (Job. 34:33; Job. 34:35).The reproof directed
1. Against his murmuring and discontent. Job. 34:33.Should it be according to thy mind? he will recompense it, whether thou refuse or whether thou choose, and not I? (or, According to thy mind, shall he recompense it, i.e., thy conduct,because thou refusest and thou choosest, and not I?the words supposed to be uttered by God himself): therefore speak what thou knowest (i.e., as to how God shall treat theespoken in irony). In Elihus judgment Jobs spirit and language under his afflictions open to severe censure
(1) On account of its rebelliousness. As if not God but Job himself were to rule in the matter of his treatment and appointment of his lot. The part of rebellion to wish to take the mode and measure of our chastisement out of Gods hand into our own. This rebellion implied in all murmuring and discontent under trials. The language of piety and duty: Not my will, but thine, be done: The cup that my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it? (Luk. 22:42; John 18)
(2) On account of its pride. The highest pride to think to arrogate to ourselves the distribution of rewards and punishments, or to prescribe how God shall deal with us. Murmuring and discontent imply the supposed possession of a wisdom superior to our Makers.
2. Against his ignorance. Job. 34:34-35.Let men of understanding tell me, and let a wise man hearken unto me (implying that Job had not spoken as such). Job hath spoken without knowledge, and his words were without wisdom. Observe
(1) To cavil with our Makers treatment of us, indicative of ignorance both in regard to God and ourselves. Jobs want of knowledge and wisdom indicated in(i.) Erroneously judging of Gods dealings with him; (ii.) Sitting in judgment on those dealings at all; (iii.) Wishing to enter into controversy with God on the justice of them; (iv.) Charging God with undue severity in them. There proof given by Elihu seconded afterwards by the Almighty himself. Jobs ignorance and want of understanding in what he had spoken afterwards acknowledged and repented of.
(2) Humbling to subject ourselves to the reproof which we have administered to others. Job now reproved for what he had at first reproved his wife.
(3) Gods dealings with us not according to our ignorance, but His wisdom.
(4) The disposal of our lot best left in Gods own hands.
VI. Elihus desire in regard to Job. Job. 34:36-37My desire is, &c.
1. The desire itself. Job. 34:36.That Job may be tried unto the end (fully, or more literally, unto victory,until the end has been served in Jobs humiliation and confession; the wish granted (ch. Job. 41:4-5; Job. 42:2-6.) Observe
(1) Elihus earnestness and zeal indicated in the wish with which he concludes his final speech. A speaker should exhibit warmth as well as wisdom. People more likely to be persuaded when logic is accompanied with feeling. A preachers light rather to resemble that of the sun than the moon.
(2.) Elihus wish apparently exhibits more zeal for the truth than sympathy with the tried. Wishes Jobs trial still further to be continued. Apparently inconsistent with his former profession. The wish, however, both wise and benevolent, though apparently harsh. The best wish for the afflicted is that the affliction may produce the effects intended by it,the spiritual benefit of the sufferer. Better the continuance of a trial than its premature removal. To have affliction removed before the heart is humbled, a curse rather than a blessing.
2. The ground of the desire. Job. 34:36-37.These are
(1) His apparently ungodly sentiments. Because of his answers for (among, with, or like) wicked men. Some of Jobs utterances apparently in favour of ungodliness, and only found in the lips of ungodly men. Sad when a godly man appears, even for a short time, to pass over to the side of the wicked, either in the sentiments he utters or the conduct he exhibits. An aggravation in the open sin of the godly that it associates them for the time with the workers of iniquity (Psa. 141:4). Care needed under temptation, lest we utter what may appear to favour ungodliness, and afford an excuse to the ungodly. Jobs answers afterwards recalled and deeply repented of.
(2) His obstinacy and rebellion. He addeth (or will add) rebellion to his sin. A distinction between sin and rebellion. So between the sin of ignorance and the presumptuous sin. The latter much more heinous. Sin committed through the infirmity of our nature; rebellion, through the perversity of our choice. Believers sin; unbelievers add rebellion to their sin. Noah and Abraham, David and Peter, sinned; Pharaoh and Saul, Judas and Herod, rebelled in their sin. Sin greatly aggravated by rebellion and stubbornness in it. In Jobs case, rebellion only at times approached. Was Satans desire, and would probably have been his victory. Elihus wish to prevent this result. Rebellion far from Jobs heart and intention. The lips may sometimes utter what the heart abhors.
(3) His pride and contempt. He clappeth (or will clap) his hands among us. The token of triumph and contempt. Job victorious in the contest, but, in Elihus judgment, had carried himself unbecomingly in his victory. Though victorious in the argument, not yet humbled in his spirit. Had not yet recanted his bold and irreverent language, and seemed still to glory in his innocence. Carried himself as victor not only over men, but God himself. Elihus desire to correct this unseemly spirit.
(4) The impiety of his language. He multiplieth (or will multiply) his words against God. Jobs language had at times appeared to assume this character. Irreverent and rebellious language a heinous sin. Gods complaint against Israel in the days of Malachi: Your words have been stout against me (Mal. 3:13). Words ordinarily the index of the heart (Mat. 12:34). The characteristic of the ungodly to speak against God. The sin as early as the days of Enoch, before the flood (Jud. 1:14). That for which Christ will execute judgment on the wicked at His second appearing (Jud. 1:15). For every idle word that men speak they shall give account at the day of judgment; still more for every rebellious one (Mat. 12:37). The confession of Isaiah that of every child of God (Isa. 6:5). The character of men universally. The believers lips touched with the live coal from off the altar, and their iniquity taken away (Isa. 6:7). A pure language (or lip) one of the gifts of grace (Zep. 3:9).
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
C.
THE SOURCE OF JUSTICE (Job. 34:1-37)
1.
Job is walking with wicked men when he attributes injustice to God. (Job. 34:1-9)
TEXT 34:19
1 Moreover Elihu answered and said,
2 Hear my words, ye wise men;
And give ear unto me, ye that have knowledge.
3 For the ear trieth words,
As the palate tasteth food.
4 Let us choose for us that which is right;
Let us know among ourselves what is good.
5 For Job hath said, I am righteous,
And God hath taken away my right:
6 Notwithstanding my right I am accounted a liar;
My wound is incurable, though I am without transgression.
7 What man is like Job,
Who drinketh up scoffing like water,
8 Who goeth in company with the workers of iniquity,
And walketh with wicked men?
9 For he hath said, It profiteth a man nothing
That he should delight himself with God.
COMMENT 34:19
Job. 34:1Elihu now turns to defend God from the charges of Job, who has argued from his own particular case which is reinforced by evidence of other injustices around him to Gods responsibility for his situation. Elihu deals with a general, a priori theological assumption, and deduces Jobs sin from it. Elihus second discourse in Job. 34:1-37 divides into four divisions: (1) Job is an impious manJob. 34:2-9; (2) Response to Jobs charges against GodJob. 34:10-15; (3) Defense of omniscience and impartiality of GodJob. 34:16-30; and (4) Exposes Jobs rebellion against GodJob. 34:31-37.
Job. 34:2Once more he calls on his audience to pay attention. He addresses the bystanders and appeals to their sense of righteousnessJob. 34:10; Job. 34:34 for support. After Job. 32:11 ff, Elihu could hardly be referring to Jobs three friends by the phrase you wise men.
Job. 34:3Here we have an almost verbatim quotation from Job. 12:11. The ear is the faculty of mans reason. Hearing is more than listening. In both Old Testament and New Testament, we often find the word rendered disobedience to be to not hear, Isa. 6:1 ff; Mat. 13:1 ff; Act. 28:16 ff; Rom. 9:1 ff; and Hebrews 3; Hebrews 4. The parallelism between the ears and the palate is crystal clear.
Job. 34:4We must determine whether Job has made a just charge against God. We must decide whether Jobs or the traditional orthodox view toward the question of theodicy is correct.
Job. 34:5Elihu in part quotes Jobs words and in part summarizes themJob. 27:2. After a process of discrimination, we will reach a sound conclusion. He proceeds to rip Jobs words to shreds.
Job. 34:6Job has repeatedly claimed that though he is innocent, he is made to appear impious. Should I lie, i.e., Should I confess guilt when I am innocent? The LXX has he lies, that is, God lies, instead of as in the Hebrew, I lie. Perhaps the implication is if Job is right, then that is tantamount to making God a liar. Since God cannot be a liar, that necessitates Jobs repentance and confession of sin. Jobs challenge of Gods justice stems from Jobs sinfulness, not Gods unrighteousness or partiality. The phrase my wound is literally my arrow or my dart. My condition cannot be healed, though I am without sin, so Elihu reports Jobs position. Elihu avoids the crude oversimplification of Jobs friends by rejecting the thesis that Jobs sufferings are sure proof of his evil heart, and that rewards are the infallible results of repentance.
Job. 34:7Job had spoken of God scoffing at the sufferings of the innocentJob. 9:23, Zophar of Jobs scoffing at traditional doctrinal understandingJob. 11:3, and Eliphaz at the innocent scoffing at the misfortunes of the impiousJob. 22:19. Elihu charges that Job is an irreligious man who is a public menace. As with Jobs three friends, mercy, grace, love, compassion are not words which Elihu understands.
Job. 34:8Psalm one is an excellent commentary on this verse. Who takes the path of evil menJob. 11:11; Job. 22:15; Job. 31:5? By expressing his views, Job finds himself in the company of the ungodly.
Job. 34:9Elihu correctly attributes to Job the view that piety is not for profitJob. 9:22; Job. 10:3; Job. 21:7; Mal. 3:13-14. Elihus next discourseJob. 35:5 ffis preoccupied with an effort to refute the thesis. This fundamental assumption is part of the American Dream, i.e., piety is to be rewarded by prosperity. As America enters her third century, one of the conditions of spiritual survival will be how production, prosperity, piety, and poverty are correlated, with a biblical world-life viewpoint, as opposed to a humanistic-naturalistic-pragmatic survival-security perspective. Job is our contemporary. The same God who shattered His silence for Job can and will speak to the crises of the last quarter of the twentieth century.
2.
God will do no wickedness nor injustice, but imparts to every man according to his deeds. (Job. 34:10-15)
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
XXXIV.
(1) Furthermore Elihu.Elihu here hardly makes good the profession with which he starts, for he begins immediately to accuse Job in no measured language. Elihu makes, indeed, a great profession of wisdom, and expressly addresses himself to the wise (Job. 34:2), and insists upon the necessity of discrimination (Job. 34:3-4). It is to be observed that Job himself had given utterance to much the same sentiment in Job. 12:11.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
ELIHU’S SECOND DISCOURSE.
1. Elihu spake Literally, answered. (See note on Job 3:2.) Elihu waits for Job to respond. The chapter is devoted to establishing the justice of God. Elihu does not argue so much from instances of divine providence as from the necessity of the divine nature, and from the fact that God founded, upholds, and continues to govern, the world. His reasoning is not inductive, but rather through the intuitions of the moral sense. Man feels that God must do right a like argument to that which Goethe employs in proof of the divine existence. His government is comprehensive and impartial. The high and the low are punished with equal severity. That government is founded in wisdom: certainly man can not improve upon it. (Job 34:33.) The language is more severe than we should have expected from the opening remarks of Elihu; yet it is marked by a deference which was wanting on the part of the friends. He who speaks under the divine impulse must at times utter unwelcome truths.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Job 34:3 For the ear trieth words, as the mouth tasteth meat.
Job 34:3
[25] Keith Moore, interviewed by Kenneth Copeland, Believer’s Voice of Victory (Kenneth Copeland Ministries, Fort Worth, Texas), on Trinity Broadcasting Network (Santa Ana, California), television program.
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Job Accused of Falsehood and Blasphemy
v. 1. Furthermore Elihu answered and said, v. 2. Hear my words, O ye wise men, v. 3. For the ear trieth words, v. 4. Let us choose to us judgment, v. 5. For Job hath said, I am righteous, v. 6. Should I lie against my right, v. 7. What man is like Job, who drinketh up scorning like water? v. 8. Which goeth in company with the workers of iniquity, and walketh with wicked men, v. 9. For he hath said, It profiteth a man nothing that he should delight himself with God,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
EXPOSITION
Job 34:1-37
In this chapter Elihu turns from Job to those whom he addresses as “wise men” (verse 2), or “men of understanding” (verse 10). Whether these are Job’s three special friends, or others among the company which had perhaps gathered to hear the debate, is uncertain. He makes the subject of his address to them Job’s conductscarcely a polite thing to do in Job’s presence. Job, he says, has scorned God and charged him with injustice (verses 5-9). He will vindicate him. This he proceeds to do in verses 10-30. He then points out what Job’s course ought to be (verses 31-33), and winds up by an appeal to the “men of understanding” to endorse his condemnation of Job as a sinner and a rebel (verses 34-37).
Job 34:1, Job 34:2
Furthermore Elihu answered and said, Hear my words, O ye wise men. Having, as he may have thought, reduced Job to silence by the fame of his reasonings, Elihu, wishing to carry with him the general consent of his audience, makes an appeal to them, or, at any rate, to the wise among them, to judge Job’s conduct and pronounce upon it. It is probable, as Schultens remarks, that a considerable number of influential persons had by this time collected together to hear the discussion which was going on. To these Elihu specially addresses himself: Give ear unto me, ye that have knowledge.
Job 34:3
For the ear trieth words, as the mouth tasteth meat. A proverbial expression, already used by Job in the dialogue (Job 12:11). “It is as much the business of the ear to discriminate between wise and foolish words, as of the palate to distinguish between wholesome and unwholesome food.”
Job 34:4
Let us choose to us judgment; i.e. “Let us seek to come to a right conclusion (mishphat) on each subject that comes before us for consideration.” Let us know among ourselves that which is good. “Let us know, discern, and recognize that which is right and good.” Excellent sentiments, but somewhat pompously put forth by a young man addressing elder ones.
Job 34:5
For Job hath said, I am righteous. Job had maintained his “righteousness” in a certain sense, i.e. his integrity, his honesty, his conviction that God would ultimately acquit him; but he had not maintained his sinlessness (see the comment on Job 33:9). He had not even said, in so many words, “I am righteous.” The nearest that he had come to saying it was when (in Job 13:18) he had exclaimed, “I know that I shall be held righteous,” or “justified.” And God hath taken away my judgment. Job had said this (Job 27:2), but in the sense that God had withheld from him the judgment on his cause which he desired, not that he had perverted judgment, and wrongfully condemned him.
Job 34:6
Should I lie against my right? This was an essential portion of Job’s argument (see Job 27:4). Against the theory of his secret heinous wickedness put forward by his “comforters,” he maintained consistently his freedom from conscious deliberate opposition to the will of God, and refused to make the confessions which they suggested or required, on the ground that they would have been untruein making them he would have “lied against his right.” In this certainly Job “sinned not.” But it was essential to the theory of Elihu, no less than to that of Eliphaz and his friends, that Job was suffering on account of past iniquity, whether he were being punished for it in anger or chastised for it in love (see Job 33:17, Job 33:27). My wound (literally, my arrow; comp. Job 6:4) is incurable without transgression; i.e. without my having committed any transgression to account for it.
Job 34:7
What man is like Job, who drinketh up scorning like water? This comment is not only unnecessary, but unfair. It was not for Elihu, who professed a desire to “justify” (or completely exonerate) Job, to aggravate his guilt by means of rhetorical comment; and the comment itself was unfair, for Job had not indulged in scorn to any extent, much less “drunk it up like water” (comp. Job 15:16). He had in no respect scorned God; and if he had occasionally poured some scorn upon his “comforters” (Job 6:21; Job 12:2; Job 13:4-13; Job 16:2; Job 21:2-5; Job 26:2-4), must it not be admitted that they had deserved it? It was the duty of Elihu to act as moderator between Job and the “comforters,” whereas he here seeks to exasperate them, and lash them up to fury against their afflicted friend. Perhaps Job’s impassive attitude has embittered him.
Job 34:8
Which goeth in company with the workers of iniquity. It is impossible to supply any other antecedent to “which” than Job himself. Elihu therefore accuses Job of having turned aside from righteousness, and betaken himself to the “counsel of the ungodly, the way of sinners, and the seat of the scornful” (Psa 1:1). This is grossly to exaggerate Job’s faults of temper, and puts Elihu very nearly on a level with Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar in respect of misconception and rudeness. And walketh with wicked men. If no more is meant than that Job has adopted principles and arguments commonly used by wicked men (Canon Cook), the language employed is unfortunate.
Job 34:9
For he hath said, It profiteth a man nothing that he should delight himself with God. Again it must be remarked that Job had not said this. The nearest approach to it is to be found in Job 9:22, where this passage occurs: “It is all one; therefore I say, He destroyeth the perfect and the wicked” (Revised Version). Elsewhere Job speaks, not generally, but of his own individual case, remarking that his righteousness has not saved him from calamity (Job 9:17, Job 9:18; Job 10:15; Job 17:9 -17, etc.). And the fact is one that causes him the deepest perplexity.
Job 34:10
Therefore hearken unto me, ye men of understanding (comp. Job 34:2). Elihu repeats himself, wishing to call special attention to his justification of God (Job 34:10-30). Far be it from God, that he should do wickedness. Elihu probably means that to do wickedness is contrary to the very nature and idea of God; but he does not express himself very clearly. And from the Almighty, that he should commit iniquity. An evil God, a God who can do wrong, is a contradiction in termsan impossible, inconceivable idea. Devil-worshippers, if there are or ever have been such persons, do not conceive of the object of their worship as really God, but as a powerful malignant spirit. Once rise to the height of the conception of a Power absolutely supreme, omniscient, omnipresent, the Author of all things, and it is impossible to imagine him as less than perfectly good.
Job 34:11
For the work of a man shall he render unto him. God “rewardeth every man according to his work” (Ps 62:13), renders to each one good or evil, according as his own deeds have been the one or the other. But this must be understood of the man’s whole conduct, and God’s entire treatment of him. Such an absolute rectitude of God’s moral government, considered as a whole, is implied and involved in his absolute and perfect justice. And cause every man to find according to his ways. We “find according to our ways” when, having “ploughed iniquity, and sown wickedness, we reap the same” (Job 4:8), or when, on the other hand, having “sown in righteousness, we reap in mercy” (Hos 10:12). Exact retribution is the law of God’s rule; but the exactness cannot be seen, or tested, or demonstrated in this life. It will appear, however, and be recognized by all, at the consummation of all things.
Job 34:12
Yea, surely God will not do wickedly, neither will the Almighty pervert judgment. Elihu is fond of rhetorical amplification, like most young speakers. Job 34:11, Job 34:12 contain nothing that is really additional to the statement in Job 34:10.
Job 34:13
Who hath given him a charge over the earth? The argument seems to be that if God had “received a charge,” and were in possession of a mere delegated authority, like the subordinate gods of heathen nations, he might have an interest apart from that of those whom he governs, and so be tempted to be unjust; but as he is the Author of all and the sole Ruler of all, his interest must be bound up with the true interests of his creatures, and cannot clash with them. He can thus never be unjust, since he can have no temptation to be unjust. Or who hath disposed the whole world? rather, Who hath laid upon him the whole world?. Elihu repeats the idea of the previous clause in other words.
Job 34:14
If he set his heart upon man, if he gather unto himself his spirit and his breath. Two renderings are proposed, both supported By about equal authority:
(1) “If he (i.e. God) set his heart upon himself, if he should gather to himself his own spirit, and breath,” then all flesh would perish, etc.
(2) “If he [i.e. God] set his heart upon [or, ‘against’] man, if he were to gather to himself man’s spirit and man’s breath,” then, etc.
The difference is not great. God could, either by withdrawing from man the breath and spirit which he has given him, or simply by withholding from man the quickening and sustaining influences which he is perpetually putting forth, reduce all humankind to nothingness. Being so completely master of man, he would surely not condescend to treat him with injustice. Injustice implies something of opposition, struggle, rivalry.
Job 34:15
All flesh shall perish together (comp. Psa 104:29). Without God’s sustaining hand, all creatures would fall back into nothingness. And man shall turn again unto dust. Either Elihu refers here to Gen 3:19, or else he has a traditional knowledge of man’s origin, handed down from a remote antiquity, which is in entire conformity with the Hebrew belief.
Job 34:16
If now thou hast understanding, hear this. The appeal is not to Job, but to any wise and intelligent man among the many hearers who were present (see the comment on verses 1, 2). Hearken to the voice of my words (comp. verses 2, 10).
Job 34:17
Shall even he that hateth right govern? Is it conceivable that there can be at the head of the universe, its Ruler and Guide, One who hates justice? The appeal is to the instinctive feeling that in the one God perfect goodness and omnipotence are united. Its spirit is exactly that of Abraham’s question, “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (see Gen 18:5). And wilt thou condemn him that is most just? rather, him that is both just and strong (see the Revised Version).
Job 34:18
Is it fit to say to a king, Thou art wicked? and to princes, Ye are ungodly? Would any subject of an earthly king deem it fitting to accuse his sovereign of wicked and unjust conduct? Would he even tax those who stood next to the kingthe princes and great officers of the courtwith ungodliness? If a sense of what is becoming and seemly would restrain a man from the use of language of this sort towards his earthly ruler, can it be right that he should allow himself in such liberty or speech towards his heavenly King, his absolute Lord and Master? Job had not really used such language of God, though the complaints which he had made with respect to God’s treatment of him might not unreasonably be held to imply some such accusation.
Job 34:19
How much less to him that accepteth not the persons of princes! How much less becomingly is such language used of One so far above princes that he regards them as on a level with all other men, and pays them no special respect! Worldly rank is, of course, nothing with God. All mankind are his subjects and servants, whom he differentiates one from another solely by their moral and spiritual qualities. Nor regardeth the rich more than the poor. If earthly rank is of no account with God, much less is abundance of possessions. The parable of the rich man and Lazarus places his complete indifference in a strong light. For they all are the work of his hands. All classes of men, rich and poor, powerful and weak, are equally God’s creatures, brought into the world by him, given by him their several stations, and regarded by him with favour or disfavour, according as they conduct themselves in their various occupations and employments.
Job 34:20
In a moment shall they die. All lie under the same law of death
“Pallida Mors aequo pulsat pede pauperum tabernas
Regumque turres.”
(Horace,’Od.,’ 1.4, 11. 13, 14.)
“In a moment,” whenever God wills, they pass from life and disappear, the rich equally with the needy, the powerful prince as much as the outcast and the beggar. And the people shall be troubled at midnight, and pass away. (comp. Exo 12:29; 2Ki 19:35). Such sudden catastrophes are infrequent; but it is within the power of God to produce them at any time. When they occur, they strikingly exemplify the equality of his dealings with all classes of men, since none escape (Exo 11:5; Exo 12:29). And the mighty shall be taken away without hand; i.e. without human agency (comp. Dan 2:34).
Job 34:21
For his eyes are upon the ways of man, and he seeth all his goings. Elihu proceeds to a fresh argument. The omniscience of God is a security against his acting unjustly. He knows exactly each man’s powers, capacities, temperament, temptations, circumstances He can exactly me, sure each man’s due, and will assuredly mete it out to each without partiality or prejudice.
Job 34:22
There is no darkness, nor shadow of death, where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves. “All things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do” (Heb 4:13). However careful wicked men may be to conceal their misdeeds by “waiting for the twilight” (Job 24:15), or doing them “in the dark” (Job 24:16), they will find it quite impossible to escape the all-seeing eye of the Almighty, which is as clear-sighted in the deepest darkness as in the brightest light (“Yea, the darkness is no darkness with thee, but the night is as clear as the day; the darkness and light to thee are both alike,” Psa 139:11, Prayer-book Version).
Job 34:23
For he will not lay upon man more than right; rather,for he needeth not further to consider a man (see the Revised Version). He has no need to consider any man’s case twice; he sees it at the first glance, and judges it infallibly. That he should enter into judgment with God. Were it not so, a man might perhaps claim to have a second trial, and, pleading in his own defence, might “enter into judgment with God,” or (according to others) “go before God in judgment;” but God’s absolute omniscience precludes this.
Job 34:24
He shall break in pieces mighty men without number; rather, in ways that are unsearchable, or in ways past finding out (see the Revised Version). And set others in their stead.
Job 34:25
Therefore (i.e. to that end‘ or with that object in view) he knoweth (rather, taketh knowledge of) their works. As God governs the world, and governs it, to a large extent, by exalting some men and depressing others, he is bound to take strict account of their conduct, that he may exalt the worthy and depress the unworthy. And he overturneth them in the night (comp. Job 34:20). So that they are destroyed; literally, crushed. God’s judgments fall on men suddenly, either “in the night,” or as “In the night, i.e. suddenly, unexpectedly, when they are quite unprepared; and fall on them with “crushing” force, with a might that is wholly irresistible,
Job 34:26
He striketh them as wicked men; i.e. as open and acknowledged malefactors. In the open sight of others; literally, in the place of beholders; i.e. publicly, openly, where their fate is an example to others.
Job 34:27
Because they turned back from him (On the sin of “turning back,” see 2Ki 17:15, 2Ki 17:16; Pro 26:11; 2Pe 2:22.) And would not consider any of his ways (comp. Psa 28:5; Isa 5:12). The folly and wickedness of such conduct is reproved by Solomon in the strongest terms, “Because I have called, and ye refused: I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; but ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; when your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Thou shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me: for that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord: they would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof. Therefore shall they eat the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their Own devices. For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them” (Pro 1:24-32).
Job 34:28
So that they cause the cry of the poor to come unto him. Elihu views the wicked man as almost certainly an oppressor, whose misdeeds “cause the cry of the poor to come before God,” and provoke God, the Avenger of the poor and needy, to visit him with chastisement. And he heareth the cry of the afflicted (comp. Exo 2:23, Exo 2:24; Exo 22:23, Exo 22:24; Psa 12:5, etc.) God’s ears are ever open to the cry of the oppressed, and his hand is ever heavy upon those who “afflict” the weak and defenceless (Isa 1:24; Isa 3:12-15; Amo 5:11, Amo 5:12; Mic 3:1-4; Hab 1:13).
Job 34:29
When he giveth quietness, who then can make trouble? literally, Who then can condemn? The sentiment is the same as that of St. Paul in the Epistle to the Romans, “If God be for us, who can be against us? Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth?” (Rom 8:31-34). And when he hideth his face, who then can behold him? When God hideth away his face, then all flesh is troubled (Psa 104:29); man shrinks into himself, and despairs of happiness; nature itself seems to fail and fade. None nan behold him when he hides himself; none can do more than deprecate his anger, and pray, “Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us” (Psa 4:6). Whether it be done against a nation, or against a man only. The results are similar, whether God withdraws the light of his countenance from a nation or from an individual. In either case, there is no help from without; ruin and destruction follow.
Job 34:30
That the hypocrite reign not, lest the people be ensnared; rather, that an ungodly man reign not, that a people be not a snare. (So Schultens, Professor Lee, and others.) The passage is obscure from its brevity; but this seems to be the best sense. God withdraws his favour from an ungodly king or from a wicked nation, that the king may cease to injure men by his rule, and the nation cease to be a snare to its neighbours.
Job 34:31
Surely it is meet to be said unto God, I have borne chastisement. (So Rosenmuller and others.) If the passage be thus rendered, Elihu must be considered as, like Eliphaz (Job 5:8), Bildad (Job 8:5), and Zophar (Job 11:13-15), counselling Job to submit himself to God, acknowledging his sin, accepting his punishment, and promising amendment for the future (verse 22). But perhaps it is better to regard the passage as interrogative, and Elihu as askingWhat man, among those whom God has cast down and punished, has ever sought to deprecate his wrath by contrition, confession, and promise of amendment, implying that, had they done so, God would have relented and forgiven them? (see the Revised Version). In this case no direct counsel is offered to Job; but still an indirect hint is given him. I will not offend any more. This is preferable to the marginal rendering of the Revised Version, “though I have not offended.”
Job 34:32
That which I see not, teach thou me; i.e. “If in anything I fail to see thy will, teach thou it me. Make thy way plain before my face.” If I have done iniquity, I will do no more. The hypothetical form seems to be preferred, as more acceptable to Job, who maintained his righteousness, than a positive confession of sin.
Job 34:33
Should it be according to thy mind? he will recompense it. The two clauses should be taken together, and the translation should run, “Should God recompense” (i.e. make his awards) “according to thy pleasure'” or “as thou wiliest?” Elihu turns to Job and directly addresses him, “Can he expect that God will make his decreescondemn and absolve menjust as Job thinks right?” Whether thou refuse; rather, since thou refusest them. Job had refused to acknowledge the justice of God’s awards and decisions. Or whether thou choose; and not I; rather, but thou must choose, and not I. It is Job who must determine how he will act. Elihu, a friend, can only point out and recommend a course, as he had done in verses 31, 32. It is for Job himself to determine what course he will take. Therefore speak what thou knowest; i.e. “Say what thou hast determined on.”
Job 34:34
Let men of understanding tell me, and let a wise man hearken unto me. As Job does not answer him, Elihu turns to his “men of understanding” (supra, verses 2, 10). He feels sure that he will at least have carried them with him, and that they will join in the condemnation of Job’s words as wanting in true wisdom. “Men of understanding,” he says, “will say unto me, yea, every wise man that heareth me will say, Job speaketh without knowledge,” etc. (see the Revised Version).
Job 34:35
Job hath spoken without knowledge, and his words were without wisdom; literally, not in wisdom. The words intended are, of course, those in which Job has seemed to tax God with injustice (see the comment on verse 9).
Job 34:36
My desire is that Job may be tried unto the end; literally, Would that Job were tested to the uttermost!“tested'” i.e; as gold is tested, by the touchstone, and “to the uttermost,” so that there should be no doubt as to the result. Elihu had his wish. Job was tried as severely as possible, and the issue was pronounced by God himself. “Ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath“ (Job 42:8, Revised Version). Because of his answers for wicked men; rather, after the manner of wicked men (comp. above, verses 5, 6, 9.). This was the view which Elihu took of Job’s rash words.
Job 34:37
For he addeth rebellion unto his sin. Elihu holds that it is Job’s “sin” which has brought on him his chastisement, and regards his expostulations and complaints as flagrant “rebellion” against the Most High. He clappeth his hands among us; i.e. he applauds himself, approves of his own conduct, and, instead of repenting, makes a boast of it. And multiplieth his words against God. Job had continued to the last (Job 31:1-40.) to justify himself and protest his integrity; which, in the view of Elihu, was to tax God with injustice.
HOMILETICS
Job 34:1-37
Elihu to the bystanders: the case of Job tried.
I. THE COURT CONSTITUTED.
1. The panel. Job, a good man, a great sufferer, sorely calumniated deeply perplexed, involved in doubt and darkness, and guilty of much presumption.
2. The judges. Either the three friends ironically addressed as “wise men,” or the bystanders, among whom were doubtless many possessed of sound wisdom and discretions” wise” and “knowing ones” (verse 2), “men of understanding,” literally, “men of heart,” i.e. persons of intelligence and ripe experience, capable of forming a judgment upon so high a matter as that about to be submitted to them.
3. The prosecutor. Elihu. Details of his personality have been given in Job 32:2. A young Arabian prophet claiming to speak under a Divine impulse, end introduced for the purpose of delivering a preliminary verdict upon Job’s case, with a view to preparing Job for the subsequent theophany of Jehovah (Job 38:1).
4. The address. Elihu invites the court of jurymen to attend to the details of the case, as he should present it for their consideration, to use discrimination in sifting what the ear heard, so as to separate the essential from the accidental, the important from the unimportant, the pertinent from the irrelevant, the ear being endowed with a faculty of trying words as the palate is with a capacity for tasting meats (verse 3), and, in the exercise of a sound judgment, to resolve upon arriving at the truth (verse 4). What are here commended to the listeners and spectators beside the “ash-heap” as indispensable qualifications for judging the case of Job aright, viz. attention, discrimination, and probation, are needful for all inquirers after truth, and are specially enjoined upon believing students of the Word of God, who are commanded not only, like the Beroeans, “to receive the Word with all readiness of mind,” and “to search the Scriptures daily” (Act 17:11), but, like the Thessalonians, to “prove all things, and hold fast that which is good” (1Th 5:21).
II. THE INDICTMENT PREFERRED.
1. That Job had declared himself to be righteous. Elihu doubtless alludes to those passages in which Job had asserted his innocence as against the baseless aspersions of his friends (Job 9:17, Job 9:21; Job 10:7; Job 13:18; Job 16:17). Though true in the sense that Job was guiltless of flagrant wickedness, yet in the judgment of Elihu such vehement protestations of stainless integrity as had fallen from his lips were hardly becoming in a sinful creature (vide Job 32:2, homiletics).
2. That Job charged God with injustice. Again Elihu faithfully reports what he regards as the substance of Job’s contention, that he would be guilty of falsehood and hypocrisy were he to admit the correctness of his friends’ allegations (Job 27:4); that the seemingly incurable malady which had overtaken him (God’s arrow, as in Job 6:4; Job 16:9; Job 19:11) had come upon him although he was “without transgression” (Job 10:17), and that consequently God had taken away his right (Job 27:2), which he supposes to mean, had denied him justice and treated him as a criminal, while in reality he was innocent.
3. That Job had indulged in blasphemy. In charging Job with “drinking up scorning like water,” i.e. uttering blasphemous censures against God, Elihu, it has been said (Canon Cook), “goes now for the first time far beyond the truth,” since “Job’s words” of fierce and bitter remonstrance “were wrung from him by agony, and by the taunts of his unfriendly counsellors,” while “his scorn was altogether directed against them, not, as Elihu seems to assume, against God.” But it may be questioned whether this is not an illustration of forgetting to act upon Elihu’s canon, “Let us choose to us judgment: let us know among ourselves what is fight.” Excusable as was the scornful contempt Job hurled against the friends, it is impossible to recall the wild, passionate, often reckless and unreasonable appeals and expostulations he addressed to God without agreeing with Elihu that at such moments he did overstep the limits of a just and holy moderation, and came perilously near, if he did not actually touch, the bounds of an impious and blasphemous irreverence. “We cannot but feel that he often pushed his inferences against the Divine justice and providence much too far, as indeed he himself confessed he had when at last he saw Jehovah face to face” (Cox).
4. That Job had adopted the sentiments and maxims of the ungodly. Without explicitly asserting that Job had himself been a ribald and profane jester at holy things, Elihu affirms that by maintaining that “it profiteth a man nothing that he should delight himself with God” (verse 9), Job had practically gone over to the side of the irreligious. Though nowhere is the above declaration stated in so many words, it is by no means an unnatural inference from Job’s words (Job 9:22; Job 21:7; Job 24:1; Job 30:26). A reasoner is not unfairly held responsible for what may be deduced by just and necessary consequence from his premises, even though he himself should tail to perceive, or, perceiving, should not mean, what these premisses involve. Now, Job had relatedly insisted on the apparently anomalous distribution of good and evil among mankind; and while, as an answer to the friends, that was perfectly legitimate, it was possible to so exhibit that perplexing circumstance as to make it carry the conclusion that the supreme Governor of the universe was indifferent to the characters of his subject intelligences, and that a good man derived no advantage from his piety, while a wicked man suffered no disadvantage in consequence of his irreligion. This, in the judgment of Elihu, Job had done, and against this Elihu proceeded to protest.
III. THE COUNTER–PROPOSITION STATED. The position taken by Elihu was the negative of Job’s, viz. that the perpetration of wrong against any of his creatures was on the part of God simply impossible, that with him such a thing as perversion of judgment was inconceivable, and that, when rightly comprehended, the principle of the Divine administration was one of absolute equity. The three friends maintained, not only that such was the principle of the Divine administration, but that its operation was always visible. Job contended that the operation of such a principle was not always visible in God’s dealings with mankind, and hence Job sometimes doubted whether that was the principle on which the universe was governed, though in his inmost soul he felt that it ought to be. Elihu affirms that, whether visible or not to human intelligence and in particular cases, such and no other was the law or rule of the Divine procedure.
IV. THE NEEDFUL DEMONSTRATION OFFERED.
1. The absolute supremacy of God. (Verses 13-15.) The argument has three points.
(1) God governs the world with no delegated authority. No one hath given him a charge over the whole earth, or committed to him, as to a satrap or underling, the viceroyalty of the globe (verse 13). On the contrary, he rules with a right that is essential and underived, indisputable and irresponsible.
(2) God governs the world with no insufficient power. Were God selfishly to fix his attention on himself alone (Grotius, Eichhorn, Delitzsch, Umbreit, Carey, Cook, Cox), rather than on man, regarding him as an enemy (Vulgate, Targums, De Wette, Rosenmuller), and in consequence to gather unto himself his Spirit and his breath, by which all living creatures are sustained (Job 12:9, Job 12:10), the result would be the complete extinction of all animated being on the face of earth (verse 15). The meaning is that God has all creatures so entirely in his hand that they are nothing, and can do nothing except in so far as they are upheld by him. Hence
(3) God governs the world for no selfish end. If he did, he could easily dispose of a rebel universe by reducing it to dust or consigning it to annihilation. That he does not is proof that he regards not himself alone, or, in other words, that he is impelled by considerations of unselfish love for man. And this being so, it is manifestly impossible that God can inflict injustice on a creature whom he loves.
2. The immaculate purity of God. (Verse 17.) Elihu’s argument amounts to this: that the necessary basis of all government is rightintegrity in the Person and equity in the Law of the Ruler; that without this every administration, human or Divine, would fall into anarchy and confusion; and that, consequently, unless these conditions were supplied by the supreme Governor of mankind, the administration he conducted would sooner or later be overwhelmed in ruin. If it be true that the stability of any government depends ultimately upon the righteous character of its rulers and the equitable nature of its laws, much more must the moral administration of the universe be founded on the immaculate holiness of God and the unchangeable justice of his laws.
3. The strict impartiality of God. According to Elihu it is little short of lese-majesty, or high treason, for a subject to accuse either kings or princes of corruption (Exo 22:28), thereby denying them the first and most indispensable qualification of a ruler.
“The king-becoming graces
Are justice, verity, temperance, stableness.”
(Shakespeare.)
And “he that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God ‘ (2Sa 23:3). What, then, must it be to impeach him who “accepteth not the persons of princes, nor regardeth the rich more than the poor?” (verse 19). Respect of persons, a common enough failing even with good people (Deu 1:17; Deu 16:19; Jas 2:1, Jas 2:9), is impossible with God (2Sa 14:14; Act 10:34; 1Pe 1:17), whose impartiality towards men is based on the consideration that they are all alike “the work of his hands” (verse 19), therefore all alike possessed of the same essential dignity, amenable to the same high authority, and entitled to be cared for by the same paternal government. And as It is based on the fundamental equality of men in the sight of Heaven, so is it proved by the palpable fact that all alike are subjected to the same impartial doom (verse 20); great and mighty potentates dying in a moment, like Belshazzar (Dan 5:30) or like Pharaoh (Exo 14:28), or, being taken away without hand (cf. Dan 2:34; Dan 8:25), i.e. by some supernatural visitation, like the rebellious princes of the congregation (Num 16:29) or like Herod (Act 12:23), and their peoples being troubled at midnight, like the Egyptians (Exo 12:29), or soddenly and unexpectedly overthrown, like the antediluvians (Gen 7:22) and the inhabitants of the cities of the plain (Gen 19:24, Gen 19:25).
4. The all-encompassing omniscience of God. (Verse 21.) The eyes of the Supreme are constantly on the ways of man. There is no darkness nor shadow of death where workers of iniquity can hide themselves from his penetrating glance. With such accuracy can he read the human heart, that he does not require to regard a man twice in order to understand his character and conversation. He has no need to pause before bringing the individual into judgment. Job’s demand that God should hold a court of assizes and put his case to trial was wholly superfluous. So thoroughly does God comprehend man by the glance of his omniscient eye that he can proceed to break the mighty without investigation, making short work of their trial, and setting others in their stead (verse 24). Clearly, reasons Elihu, a God who thus exactly and fully comprehends every case that is brought before him is not likely to be guilty of committing wickedness by perverting judgment.
5. The unchallengeable righteousness of God. (Verses 24-30.) Elihu means that the absolute integrity of God may be established by a consideration of the character of his judgments, which are:
(1) Sudden. “He overturneth the wicked in the night” (verse 25); i.e. instantaneously and unexpectedly, which, of course, he would not and could not do unless he were completely satisfied with the righteous character of his judgments. But “he knoweth their works” without investigation, in virtue of his omniscience; and hence he does not hesitate, as if fearing miscarriage of justice, to proceed to swift execution.
(2) Public. “He striketh them as wicked men”i.e. as convicted malefactors, about whose criminality there can be no question”in the open sight of others,” literally, “in the place of spectators.” “He that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.” But God, whose works are all of them verity and judgment, and done in truth and uprightness (Psa 111:7, Psa 111:8), has no need to shun observation or be afraid of criticism. Hence he never does resort to star-chambers or secret inquisitions, but courts the greatest possible publicity for all he does.
(3) Retributive. When God steps out of his place to inflict sufferings on men, it is never for the gratification of any private feeling of revenge, never in the reckless exercise of merely arbitrary power, but always for the vindication of insulted justice, always for the punishment of some outrageous display of wickedness. When mighty tyrants are struck down in the open sight of others, it will generally be found, says Elihu, that it has been “because they turned back from him, and would not consider any of his ways,” but proceeded to such a height of daring impiety, oppressing and trampling on the poor, that they “caused the cry of the poor to come unto him,” and in a manner obliged him to hear the cry of the afflicted (verse 28). Examined into, every such case will be found in its most essential features to be in complete accord with the eternal fitness of things.
(4) Unimpeachable. They are so evidently right, so self-justifying, in fact, that no one can venture to assail them on the ground of inequity. “When he giveth quietness”i.e. maketh peace by striking down the oppressor of the poor (Delitzsch, Gesenius, Carey), rather than “when he striketh to the earth” (Umbreit)”who then will condemn him?” or “who then will make a noise?” as if he had perpetrated an injustice. And vice versa, “when he hideth his face,” in the sense of being angry with and punishing an individual or a nation (Psa 30:8; Psa 104:29), “who then can behold him, i.e. make him visible, and cause him to restore his favour, as if by withdrawing his regard he had been guilty of doing wrong? The universal conscience feels, says Elihu, that the Almighty in so acting is acting rightly.
(5) Beneficent. And not only so, but God’s judgments evince the most benevolent and philanthropic design, being dictated by a lofty regard for the general welfare of mankind, to the end that “the hypocrite'[literally, ‘the ungodly,’ such as lead others to impiety] reign not, that they be not snares to the people” (verse 30), as wicked rulers commonly are; e.g. Jeroboam (1Ki 12:28), Omri (1Ki 16:25, 1Ki 16:26), Ahab (1Ki 16:31), Jehoahaz (2Ki 13:2), and other monarchs both of Israel and of Judah. It is a special mercy to a people when God cuts short the lives of wicked kings.
V. THE COUNSEL GIVEN. To adopt the model confession next recited (verses 31, 32), in which are three things worthy of consideration.
1. A humble submission to God‘s chastisements. “Surely it is meet to be said unto God; I have borne!” (sc. chastisement). Resignation in affliction is the duty of all (Pro 3:11); it is specially incumbent on God’s people (Luk 21:19), indispensable as a condition of returning favour (Le 26:40 42), and one of the surest signs of a truly penitent heart (Jer 31:18). Nothing enables one to manifest genuine resignation like the clear recognition of God’s hand in affliction (Mic 6:9; 1Sa 3:18; Jas 4:7), and of the true design of affliction to chastise rather than punish (Heb 12:5; Psa 119:75). Resignation in affliction and submission to Divine chastisement were exemplified by Aaron (Le Job 10:3), the children of Israel (Jdg 10:15), Eli (1Sa 3:18), David (2Sa 15:26), Job (Job 1:21; Job 2:10), Mic 7:9. St. Paul (Act 21:14).
2. A hearty promise of amendment. “I will not offend any more” (verse 31); “If I have done iniquity, I will do no more” (verse 32). Such a promise distinctly involved the confession that one had offended; and without confession there can be no forgiveness (Pro 28:13; 1Jn 1:9), as, on the other hand, without amendment there is no evidence that confession is sincere (Job 22:23; Isa 1:16; Eze 14:6; Hos 14:8).
3. An earnest desire after Divine instruction. “That which I see not teach thou me” (verse 32). Converted souls are always more or less deeply sensible of their ignorance, especially in regard to spiritual things, as e.g. the wickedness of their own hearts (Jer 17:9), the subtlety of sin (Psa 19:12), the specific purposes of providential dispensations (Joh 13:7), the right path of holy living (Jer 10:23); and with reference to all these and many other points they are ever ready to receive heavenly enlightenment, saying, “Teach me to know thy way” (Psa 27:11), and “to do thy will” (Psa 143:10).
VI. THE APPLICATION MADE.
1. An appeal to Job.
(1) A question. “Shall he”i.e. God”recompense it ‘ (so. man’s wickedness, and actions generally) “according to thy mind?” i.e. shall God adopt a mode of government or principle of administration to please thee?
(2) A reason. “For thou hast found fault” (Delitzsch); “For thou hast despised” (sc. his judgments) (Cook). That is, Job had expressed dissatisfaction with God’s dispensations. Whence the obvious inference arose that Job deemed these dispensations should have been framed according to his ideas.
(3) A duty. “So that thou hast to choose, and not I,” meaning that in the circumstances Job had better make up his mind about that better plan of government for the world than God’s, and publish it as soon as possible: “And what thou knowest speak out.”
2. An address to the bystanders. Finding Job silent, Elihu turns to the listeners and spectators, whom he dexterously salutes as “men of understanding’ and “wise ones,” asking them to say whether it is not the case that they agree with him in the verdict, “Job speaketh without knowledge, and his words are without wisdom” (verses 34, 35). A severe verdict, whether the audience appealed to endorsed it or not! Yet Jehovah afterwards affirmed its truth (Job 38:2). And surely it is an index of folly for puny man, as Job did, to sit in judgment on God.
3. A declaration by Elihu.
(1) Elihu’s desire. That Job’s trial might be further continued, which may signify either that Job’s sentiments might be more thoroughly examined, or that Job’s afflictions might be further prolongedthe first, a wish becoming a genuine seeker after and an earnest preacher of the truth; and the second, though seemingly harsh, yet not necessarily unkind or inconsistent with the obligations and claims of friendship.
(2) Elihu’s reason. Generally, that Job’s affliction had not yet produced that beneficial effect upon him for which it was intended. Particularly, that
(a) his sentiments were irreligious”his answers were “after the manner of evil men;”
(b) his wickedness was great”he addeth rebellion,” or the most aggravated form of transgression, “that of blasphemous speeches” (Delitzsch), “unto sin,” i.e. his unconscious and unintentional errors;
(c) his scorn was conspicuous” among us he clappeth” (se. his hands), expressive of triumphant contempt, showing that “though victorious in the argument,” he was “not yet humbled in spirit” (Robinson); and
(d) his irreverence was extremehe “multiplieth his words against God,” “carrying himself as victor, not only over men, but also over God” (Robinson).
Learn:
1. That good men, in pronouncing judgment upon their fellows, should proceed with the utmost care and caution.
2. That God’s people should be studious in giving utterance to words calculated to leave wrong impressions in the minds of hearers.
3. That saints may sometimes be mistaken for sinners because of the indiscreetness of their talk.
4. That the justice of God is a fundamental maxim in all sound theology.
5. That equally the unselfishness (or graciousness) of God must in every adequate conception of his character stand correlative with his justice.
6. That the God of the Bible is the only Deity possessed of qualifications adequate for the government of the world, not to say the universe.
7. That God’s judgments, as exhibited in his providential government of the earth, are admirably fitted to teach man righteousness.
8. That God is profoundly interested in the welfare of nations and communities as well as of private persons.
9. That the Divine administration is ever carried on in the interests of holiness.
10. That the true attitude of man in presence of the Divine government is meek and cheerful submission.
HOMILIES BY E. JOHNSON
Job 34:1-37
Elihu’s second discourse: man has no right to doubt of God’s fustier.
I. CENSURE OF JOB‘S DOUBTS. (Job 34:1-9.) In silence Job has listened to the reproof of his friend, and has apparently taken to heart the lesson that in justifiable self-defence we may carry our protests beyond the true boundary, and exaggerate our innocence while rejecting false imputations. Elihu therefore rises again, and proceeds with his second reproof. Job has represented God as a cruel, unjust persecutor of his innocence. He doubts then of the justice of the world-ruling dominion of God. To the refutation of this position the present discourse is directed. Elihu appeals to the common sense of men, to the unbiassed wisdom of experience. The ear has a power of trying words, the mind has a faculty of judgment and taste, analogous to that of the body, whereby we discriminate the false from the true, and the good from the evil, This, indeed, must be the last appeal in every controversy whether on Divine or human things. A written word, a positive revelation, is always open to diverse interpretations; and this makes it the more necessary to ascertain the broad dictates of conscience and of the common judgment, with which every true revelation agrees. The question now isDoes this common religious sense condemn the utterances and the attitude of Job or not? He has asserted, “I am innocent, and yet God has denied me justice, has taken away my right. In spite of the fact that right is on my side, I shall be a liar if I maintain it. The wound caused by the shaft of God’s wrath is incurable.” This, according to the speaker, was the effect of Job’s language. He indignantly repels it. Borrowing an expression from Eliphaz (Job 15:16), he denounces Job as one who drinks scoffing like water; and by these blasphemies associates himself with the wicked. Job denies, according to the speaker, that there is any profit or use in pietyin living in friendship with God. He had never said this in so many words; but the sense of much that he had said resembled this (Job 9:22, Job 9:23; Job 21:7, Job 21:8; Job 24:1, sqq.). Such expressions seemed to deny the very foundation of religion. Job was turning against the light within. And though he had several times censured and half recalled his own words, the offence had nevertheless been repeated.
II. PROOFS OF THE DIVINE JUSTICE. (Verses 10-30.)
1. From the creative goodness of God. (Verses 10-15.) The point is to show that God is incapable of doing wrong, of perverting justice and right in his dealings with men; to show that he rewards men according to their works, gives them the proper fruit of their sowing, causes the life-path they choose to conduct to the happy or unhappy issue, according to the rightness of their choice or otherwise. He sets before them blessing and cursing; and the responsibility of the result is theirs alone. But how may we have the conviction that all this is so? The answer is by showing that the works of God exclude the thought of selfishness; and selfishness alone can explain the perversion of right. We cannot conceive of self-seeking in God. None entrusted to him the charge of the earth; none but he has founded the circle of the earth. As first and absolute Cause, all things am his; there is no division of power, profit, or glory. Ambition, greed, jealousyevery passion that tempts men to wrong their fellowsis shut out of the very idea of God. He is ever pouring forth out of the fulness of his life and blessedness upon his creaturesthe very opposite action to that of selfishness, which draws as much as possible into itself of good, and parts with as little as possible. Only suppose for a moment that God were to become a self-absorbed Being, “directing his heart only to himself, taking in his spirit and breaths” instead of giving it forth, universal death must at once ensue; men must perish, returning to the dust. The very impossibility of such a supposition shows the impossibility of ascribing self-seeking and self-love to God. He is the Eternal Father; and as the pure parent’s love has the least alloy of self in it of any earthly love, we are to take this as the type of the nature of God. These are sublime and inspiring thoughts. God cannot injure man, or do wrong, because he would thus injure himself and sully his own glory. No one can consciously betray or wrong himself. All that we call wrong-doing implies that man has his equals as free beings by his side, and disposes of the property of others. This is impossible with God, because all things belong to him, being the product of his loving activity, his self-giving fulness of life.
2. From the idea of God as the supreme Ruler. (Verses 16-30.) As the Governor of the world, he cannot be unjust, because government can only be maintained by constant and equal righteousness, and must be destroyed by the lack of it. God is at once the Just and the Mighty, because he could not exercise the one quality without the other. Experience, the great teacher, shows this by the constant course of events.
III. CONCLUSION. THE FOLLY AND CONTRADICTORY NATURE OF JOB‘S ACCUSATIONS AGAINST GOD. (Verses 31-37.) A reluctant confession is introduced, as if uttered by Job: “I am chastised, without doing evil; what I see not, that do thou show me! If I do wrong, I wilt do so no more!” (verses 31, 32.) He seems to say that he will repent provided only wrong be pointed out (comp. Job 7:20; Job 19:4). But, asks Elihu, shall God pass unpunished thy discontented complaint against his mode of retribution, and adopt a mode that is agreeable to thy mind? Are the laws of the Divine government to be dictated by individual wishes or notions of what is right? Is man to choose, and not God, the way in which he is to be rewarded or punished?. And say, then, what is the true retribution? Speak! But this direct appeal must convince the murmurer of his inability to suggest a better method of administering the world. God’s ways may not be clear to us in many particulars; but we should recollect, as Bishop Butler teaches, that we See only “parts of a scheme imperfectly understood.” Were all known, doubt and distress would cease. In conclusion, the speaker sums up his meaning in the words of the men of understanding to whose judgment he appeals, condemning the want of true insight in the words of Job, and expressing the hope that he may be further tried, because of his replies “in the manner of the reprobate,” because he adds insult to sin, adopts the tone of the scoffer, and multiplies words against God. Whether this view of Job’s state of mind be right or wrong, “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation.” Blessed he who can exclaim, amidst sufferings which he cannot but feel to he dissociated from guilt, “Search me, O God, and try me; prove me, and know my thoughts; and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”J.
HOMILIES BY R. GREEN
Job 34:10
The righteousness of the Divine dealings.
Elihu’s words continue. His accusation against Job is that he saith, “I am righteous.” He “addeth rebellion unto his sin” (verse 37). And in his own self-justification he casts a shadow upon the Divine procedure. “He multiplieth his words against God ‘ (verse 37). Such is Elihu’s contention. He says Job declares,” God hath taken away my judgment.” To defend the Divine work and so bring Job to acknowledge his sin is the purpose of Elihu. He here declares the righteousness of the Divine dealings. “Far be it from God to do wickedness.” The righteousness of God’s ways is seen
I. IN HIS ABSOLUTE IMPARTIALITY TOWARDS MAN. “He accepteth not the person of princes, nor regardeth the rich more than the poor.” Truly there is no respect of persons with God. “The work of a man shall he render to him n (verse 11), be it good or evil.
II. IN THE PERFECT RIGHTEOUSNESS OF THE DIVINE NAME is to be found the utmost pledge of justness. “Surely God will not do wickedly, neither will the Almighty pervert judgment” (verse 12). “For he will not lay upon man more than right” (verse 23). This is further illustrated
III. IN THE SELF–IMPOSED GOVERNMENT OF THE WORLD. “Who hath given him a charge over the earth?” If he please he can “gather unto himself his spirit and his breath.” Then would “all flesh perish together, and man would turn again to dust.” He has no temptation to depart from right in his dealings with men, since all are entirely in his hand. But a further and striking evidence of the righteousness of the Divine ways is seen
IV. IN THE JUDGMENT UPON THE UNGODLY, The evil ones “he striketh as wicked men in the open sight of others’ (verse 26). Elihu finds a further confirmation of this
V. IN THE EFFECTUAL PURPOSES OF THE DIVINE BENIGNITY. “When he giveth quietness, who then can make trouble?” etc. (verse 29). All this is done “that the hypocrite reign not.” From all this he would lead Job to confession. “If I have done iniquity, I will do no more.” So must the purpose of the righteous ways of God be to lead:
1. To consciousness of evil.
2. To confession of known wrong.
3. To amendment of life.
4. To patience under Divine afflictions.
This Elihu teaches, though he knows not yet the purpose of Job’s suffering.R.G.
HOMILIES BY W.F. ADENEY
Job 34:3
The test of truth.
I. IT IS LEFT FOR MAN TO TEST TRUTH. There is no unmistakable oracle. In the multitude of voices we have to discover which is the cry of truth, which that of error. We know the voice of God, not because we are assured beforehand that it is he and he only who will speak to us, but because we detect the heavenly utterance in contrast with the many syren-songs that would fain allure us to destruction, detect it by its own tones, and not merely because of any authority that assures it to us. The Church may claim to guide us in this important quest; but the Church consists of human members, who have to use those faculties which God has given them, although no doubt the Church is aided with the presence of the Holy Spirit in her midst. So when individual men seek for truth, God’s Spirit is for them a Light and Guide. Still, the search must be made; words must be tried and sifted.
1. This is a warning against credulity. Many voices claim our attention. Let us be careful that we are not deceived.
2. This is a stimulus to thought. We are not to be like the dull earth that gives growth to whatever seeds fall into itugly weeds as much as beautiful flowers, poisonous plants as well as fruitful crops. We have an independent capacity to sift and winnow, choose and reject. Therefore let us use our minds.
3. This is for the cultivation of our souls. The very effort of testing truth contributes to mental and spiritual growth. When we hold it after testing it, the truth is more real to us than if we had received it without an effort.
4. This should drive us to prayer. How shall we distinguish between the many specious voices? Our unaided faculties are likely to err. Therefore let us seek light from above, not to supersede our own powers, but to strengthen and illuminate them.
II. THE TEST OF TRUTH IS LIKE THE TASTE OF FOOD.
1. It is natural. God has given us a natural sense of taste by which to discriminate between what is wholesome and what is noxious in our food, and he has implanted in us a similar faculty of mental and spiritual discernment.
2. It should be trained. In some respects the natural appetite is not a safe guide. The child may delight in sweet but unwholesome delicacies. Some poisons are not distasteful. Therefore the mere perception of agreeableness is not sufficient. Some very pleasant because flattering ideas are very false and hurtful. What is “just to our taste” may be neither true nor good for us. To select favourite ideas is not to obtain certain truths. We have to train the truth-testing faculty to recognize sterling worth in what is not attractive, and to reject meretricious charms.
3. It may be corrupted. The appetite may be vitiated. An unhealthy liking for unwholesome food may be engendered by practice; good, wholesome food may seem disgusting to one who is in a bad state of health. Corrupt thoughts and feelings lead to a degeneration of the truth-testing faculty. Even the natural sense for truth is blunted. The needle ceases to point to the north. The chemical reagent is impure, and so it fails to act as a test. The false and impure soul chooses lies and rejects truth.
4. It needs correction. After all, the test of truth is not like a bodily sense. It is not immediate. It involves reflection. But, in order that the reflection may be true and sound, the whole spiritual nature needs to be pure and simple and healthy. It is dangerous to rely too much on our private faculty of testing truth. Our only safety is in keeping close to Christ, who is the Truth, and to Christ’s Church. which he bade us “hear” (Mat 18:17).W.F.A.
Job 34:10
The certain justice of God.
Job appeared to have arraigned the Divine justice. Elihu emphatically asserts its absolute perfection. Whatever else we may fail to see, one landmark must not be lost sight of. God is perfectly free from all evil. We may not understand his ways of action, but most assuredly he is acting justly.
I. THE GROUNDS OF FAITH IN THE CERTAIN JUSTICE OF GOD. Why can we thus dogmatically assert that God is perfectly just? Notice three grounds of assurance.
1. The essential character of God. We understand the very idea of God to involve justice. He would not be God if he ceased to be just. Now, his absolute justice is like his infinite power. There is no reason for limiting it. If either attribute exists at all, it is most natural to suppose that it exists in perfection. There is nothing to limit God. God is too great to be tempted to be unjust.
2. The revealed character of God. All through the Bible the justice of God is asserted and reasserted. Those men who knew God best affirmed most clearly that he was just.
3. The tried character of God. We know God in life. We may not be always able to assure ourselves of the justice of what God does while he is doing it. Then it may look dark and dreadful. But how often have we found, on looking back on the most gloomy tracts of life, that the clouds have passed, and the justice of God has been made clear as the noonday!
II. THE TRIAL OF FAITH IN THE CERTAIN JUSTICE OF GOD. To each individual man the fact of God’s justice must be a matter to be taken on faith. That is to say, though there is good evidence for it, we cannot see how it obtains in our own personal circumstances. This is to be expected, however, and may be accounted for by various causes.
1. Partial views. We cannot see the whole pattern at which God is working, and therefore the crossing threads often seem to us confusing and wrongly placed.
2. Perverted ideas. We judge of God by our own standard. But that standard may have been warped. Then what is straight in God looks crooked to us, simply because our rule is crooked.
3. Trial of faith. There is a reason in God’s providential government why he should permit us to be in the dark as to the meaning and purpose of some of his actions. He wishes to lead us to trust him. If we could see all, faith would have no scope, no exercise, and therefore no development. It would perish for want of use.
III. THE EXERCISE OF FAITH IN THE CERTAIN JUSTICE OF GOD.
1. In our own lives. Here we are called upon to walk by faith. When the way is hard and painful, let us call to mind the truth that God is doing well with us, though we cannot see how.
2. In history. Nations are led by the King of kings. Through strange revolutions he is bringing about his righteous will. If we could believe this, we should view the dark and threatening aspect of the world without dismay.
3. In nature. Here, too, God is acting for the good of the whole, and in justice to each. The fierce strife of nature looks cruel. But peace! God is just.
4. In redemption. Here God shows himself both a just God and a Saviour, upholding righteousness while he has pity on sinners.W.F.A.
Job 34:29
The peace of God.
I. PEACE IS A BLESSING OF THE HIGHEST VALUE. There is a quietness of death; the defeated are stilled; lethargy and inertness are quiet. And there is no blessedness in these things. True peace is alive, watchful, full of power and faculty, yet calm. The peace which our souls crave is inward restfulness. This may be found with much external activity, with much life and thought within also, but without confusion or tumult. The activity is harmonious. It is possible for peace to coexist with many sorrows. Peace is deeper than pain. When it dwells within it gives a strength as well as a sense of satisfaction, so that suffering which otherwise would seem intolerable becomes quite bearable, though it can never cease to be distressful. The deepest desire is not for joy; it is
. Now he seems to turn round on this principle and repudiate it. Yet he is not inconsistent, for there must be limits to private judgment. We cannot sit in judgment on Providence. Let us, then, consider in what respect the decision as to truth is to be removed from the court of our own reason and judgment. What are the limits to private judgment? We may consider these from two points of viewfrom that of our own imperfection, and from that of God’s greatness.
I. THE LIMITS THAT RESULT FROM OUR OWN IMPERFECTION.
1. Ignorance. The best judge cannot decide aright till all the facts are laid before him. We know but a few of the circumstances that determine the action of Providence; and we do not know the laws and principles that have to be applied.
2. Prejudice. We are not impartial judges; our justice is not blindfold; our scales are not even. Pride, self-interest, and passion blind our eyes and warp our judgment.
3. Sin. This is worse than prejudice; it is a directly deceiving influence. It leads us to ignore moral distinctions, and even to call evil good. We are unjust judges concerning truth when we are the enemies of the highest truth and justice.
4. Natural weakness. Apart from all these defective conditions, there are natural conditions that limit our powers of judgment. With all possible enlightenment and moral rectification we should still remain human, i.e. we should still be creatures of very small capacity in regard to the great problems of the universe. These problems are too high for us; we cannot attain unto them. They baffle thought.
II. THE LIMITS THAT RESULT FROM THE GREATNESS OF GOD. Our imperfection limits us in judging all questions; but more especially does it limit us in estimating the action of God. The special idea of Elihu is that we cannot judge of God’s providential dealings with us. The three friends were wrong in their defence of itas Job said, “speaking wickedly for God; ‘ and Job was wrong in thinking hardly of it. For neither party was in a position to decide about it. We cannot choose our own course in the world wisely, much less can we decide how God shall act. The greatness of God and of his works far exceeds the range of our view.
1. Supreme wisdom. Ideas quite above our comprehension rule in the purposes of God.
2. Large designs. God is not confined to the consideration of a single individual or a little circle; he administers a universe. Therefore his schemes and purposes must far exceed our view in the extent of their range as well as in the character of their aim.
3. Perfect goodness. God must decide aright, for in him is no evil. His holiness and love should make us feel that we dare not sit in judgment on his actions. If they are dark to us, they are so from excess of light.W.F.A.
Job 34:36
The completion of trial.
Elihu wishes Job to be “tried unto the end.” His desire strikes us as cruel. Yet, perhaps unknown to himself, great good may come out of the fulfilment of it.
I. THERE IS AN END OF TRIAL. As we look down the long vista of troubles we can see no terminus; it seems to run on for ever into the darkness. But whatever may be the appearance, the reality is not everlasting. “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” Never was night more long. Its slow hours drag on wearily; yet they must pass, and day must come in God’s good time. The long life of trouble will end at last in the peace of the grave. But many earthly troubles pass like stormy noons, and there is “light at eventide.”
II. A GOOD USE OF TRIAL MAY HASTEN THE END OF IT. So long as we fret against it God may find it necessary to keep it with us. If we are slow in learning our lesson we must be kept long at school. But when the lesson is learnt the school may be broken up.
III. THE COMPLETION OF TRIAL IS SEEN IN ITS FRUITS The fire has not done its work if the dross has not been separated from the metal. Only when the crucible shows the required chemical change is the test complete. Therefore we should be watching for results. Great troubles are wasted on men who will not submit to them, so that they may bear their de. signed fruits in patience, humility, contrition, amendment, etc.
IV. WE CANNOT JUDGE OF TRIAL TILL WE HAVE SEEN THE END OF IT. We have to read to the end of the story of Job before we can discover for what he is being led through the deep waters. The rounded life shows the place and purpose of its several episodes, but those episodes by themselves look fragmentary and meaningless. Therefore we have to “wait for the end.” When this arrives many a riddle will be solved, many a hard experience will be explained, many a black cloud will be glorified into golden splendour.
V. GOD MAY DISPENSE WITH THE NATURAL COMPLETION OF TRIAL. Trouble is not like a tunnel, from which there is no exit except at its ends. It is a burden which may be lifted whenever God sees fit. The object of trial may be obtained by other means, and it is possible that gentler methods may bring about the same results. Thus God leads to repentance by his goodness as well as by purgatorial afflictions. Therefore we should not live as though some iron fate held us to a certain amount of trial. God is a living Spirit and a loving Father; and he will nut permit his children to suffer, when peaceable methods of discipline will do the desired work for them. Our part is to take patiently what God sends, and to use it profitably, trusting God to cut short the trouble or lengthen it as he sees best.W.F.A.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
CHAP. XXXIV.
Elihu accuseth Job of charging God with injustice: he avers, that the Almighty can never act unjustly; and that humility and submission were required from man towards so great a Being.
Before Christ 1645.
Job 34:1. Furthermore Elihu answered and said Elihu goes on with his impeachment of Job. He accuses him of having charged the Almighty with a denial of justice, and with having punished him beyond his deserts, Job 34:2-6. This is a language, he tells him, which could be used only by the profligate and abandoned, among whose party he seemed willing to enrol himself; otherwise he would never have said, that God makes no difference between the righteous and the wicked; referring to chap. Job 9:22-23. That it was impossible to suppose God could act unjustly; for, were he so disposed, what could hinder him from annihilating the whole human race at once? He needed only to withdraw his preserving power, and they would instantly fall into dust. Job 34:7-15. Since then he did not act in this manner, but his ways were perfectly agreeable to righteousness, he was not to be addressed in so rude a manner as Job had made use of. Reverence and respect were due to earthly princes; how much more to him in whose sight the prince and the beggar were the same: for he was the maker of them all. Job 34:16-19. That though God would look with a merciful eye on the infirmities of human nature, when accompanied with humility; yet the arrogant were sure to find no favour at his hands; he would not fail to execute his vengeance on them, that they might be an example to others, Job 34:23-30. That submission and resignation was the behaviour fit for man in the presence of God; and that were he really a man of that knowledge which he pretended, he would not act in this manner: but it was apparent that he was not so, by his acting the part of a wicked man, and adding contumacy to his sin. Job 34:31-37.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
SECOND DISCOURSE
Proof that man is not right in doubting Gods righteousness:
Job 34
a. Opening: Censure of the doubt of Gods righteousness expressed by Job:
Job 34:1-9
1Furthermore Elihu answered and said:
2Hear my words, O ye wise men;
and give ear unto me, ye that have knowledge.
3For the ear trieth words,
as the mouth tasteth meat.
4Let us choose to us judgment:
let us know among ourselves what is good.
5For Job hath said: I am righteous;
and God hath taken away my judgment.
6Should I lie against my right?
my wound is incurable without transgression.
7What man is like Job,
who drinketh up scorning like water?
8Which goeth in company with the workers of iniquity,
and walketh with wicked men?
9For he hath said: It profiteth a man nothing
that he should delight himself with God.
b. Proof that the Divine righteousness is necessary, and that it really exists
. From Gods disinterested love of His creatures:
Job 34:10-15
10Therefore hearken unto me, ye men of understanding!
Far be it from God that He should do wickedness;
and from the Almighty, that He should commit iniquity!
11For the work of a man shall He render unto him,
and cause every man to find according to his ways.
12Yea, surely God will not do wickedly,
Neither will the Almighty pervert judgment.
13Who hath given Him a charge over the earth?
or who hath disposed the whole world?
14If He set His heart upon man,
if He gather unto Himself his spirit and his breath;
15All flesh shall perish together,
and man shall turn again unto dust.
. From the idea of God as Ruler of the world:
Job 34:16-30.
16If now thou hast understanding, hear this:
hearken to the voice of my words.
17Shall even he that hateth right govern?
and wilt thou condemn Him that is Most Just?
18Is it fit to say to a king, Thou art wicked?
and to princes, Ye are ungodly?
19How much less to Him that accepteth not the persons of princes,
nor regardeth the rich more than the poor?
for they all are the work of His hands.
20In a moment shall they die,
and the people shall be troubled at midnight, and pass away:
and the mighty shall be taken away without hand.
21For His eyes are upon the ways of man,
and He seeth all his goings.
22There is no darkness, nor shadow of death,
where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.
23For He will not lay upon man more than right;
that he should enter into judgment with God.
24He shall break in pieces mighty men without number,
and set others in their stead.
25Therefore He knoweth their works,
and He overturneth them in the night, so that they are destroyed.
26He striketh them as wicked men
in the open sight of others;
27Because they turned back from Him,
and would not consider any of His ways:
28So that they cause the cry of the poor to come unto Him,
and He heareth the cry of the afflicted.
29When He giveth quietness, who then can make trouble?
and when He hideth His face, who then can behold Him?
whether it be done against a nation, or against a man only:
30That the hypocrite reign not,
lest the people be ensnared.
c. Exhibition of Jobs inconsistency and folly in reproaching God with injustice, and at the same time appealing to His decision:
Job 34:31-37
31Surely it is meet to be said unto God
I have borne chastisement, and will not offend any more:
32That which I see not teach Thou me:
If I have done iniquity, I will do no more.
33Should it be according to thy mind? He will recompense it, whether thou refuse,
or whether thou choose; and not I:
therefore speak what thou knowest.
34Let men of understanding tell me,
and let a wise man hearken unto me.
35Job hath spoken without knowledge,
and his words were without wisdom.
36My desire is that Job may be tried unto the end,
because of his answers for wicked men.
37For he addeth rebellion unto his sin,
he clappeth his hands among us,
and multiplieth his words against God.
THIRD DISCOURSE.
Refutation of the false position that piety is not productive of happiness to men:
35
a. The folly of the erroneous notion that piety and godliness are alike of little advantage to men:
Job 35:1-8
1Elihu spake, moreover, and said:
2Thinkest thou this to be right,
that thou saidst My righteousness is more than Gods?
3For thou saidst, What advantage will it be unto thee?
and, What profit shall I have if I be cleansed from my sin?
4I will answer thee,
and thy companions with thee.
5Look unto the heavens, and see;
and behold the clouds which are higher than thou.
6If thou sinnest, what doest thou against Him?
or if thy transgressions be multiplied, what doest thou unto Him?
7If thou be righteous, what givest thou Him?
or what receiveth He of thine hand?
8Thy wickedness may hurt a man as thou art,
and thy righteousness may profit the son of man.
b. The true reason why the deliverance of the sufferer is often delayed, viz.:
. The lack of true godly fear:
Job 35:9-14
9By reason of the multitude of oppressions they make the oppressed to cry:
they cry out by reason of the arm of the mighty.
10But none saith, Where is God, my Maker,
who giveth songs in the night;
11Who teacheth us more than the beasts of the earth,
and maketh us wiser than the fowls of heaven?
12There they cry, but none giveth answer,
because of the pride of evil men.
13Surely God will not hear vanity,
neither will the Almighty regard it.
14Although thou sayest, thou shalt not see Him,
yet judgment is before Him; therefore trust thou in Him.
. Dogmatic and presumptuous speeches against God:
Job 35:15-16
15But now, because it is not so, He hath visited in His anger;
yet He knoweth it not in great extremity:
16Therefore doth Job open his mouth in vain;
he multiplieth words without knowledge.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1. Of the two charges which Elihu had brought forward against Job at the beginning of his first discourse (Job 33:9-11the one, that he regarded himself as perfectly pure and innocent,the other, that he accused God of treating him with cruel severitythe former was subjected to particular examination in the first discourse. The three remaining discourses of Elihu are devoted to the examination of the second charge in which Job represents God as a cruel, unjust, and unfriendly persecutor of his innocence, and consequently doubts the justice of Gods actions as Ruler of the Universe. Of the two discourses which are here combined together, the second (Job 34.) controverts Jobs denial of the justice of Gods conduct, proving that it is just on the positive sidea: from Gods absolutely unselfish disinterested love towards His creatures, and b: from the conception of God as Ruler of the universe (Job 34:10-30), while at the same time on the negative side it assails the folly and self-contradiction of Job in doubting the justice of the God to whom he himself appeals as Supreme Judge (Job 34:31-37). The third discourse (Job 35.) controverts more particularly Jobs doubt as to the utility of piety, his tendency, as repeatedly manifested by him, to call it a matter of indifference whether a mans actions were good or bad, seeing that no righteous retribution from God is to be looked for. In opposition to this dangerous error, which Job 34:9 had already put forward in all its pernicious force, this discourse maintains a: that such an opinion is irrational, and absolutely irreconcilable with Gods wonderful greatness (Job 34:1-8), and then defines b: the true reason why Gods righteous and saving activity is so often long delayed, the reason being : that he who is tried by such doubts is often wanting in true godly fear (Job 34:9-14); or : that he is guilty of speaking arrogantly and dogmatically against God, as had been the case in particular with Job (Job 34:15-16).These subdivisions coincide for the most part with the single strophes, except that some of the longer divisions contain two and three strophes each.Against the attempt of Kster and Schlottmann to throw suspicion on the genuineness of Job 35:1, see below on the passage.
2. The second discourse: Job 34 a. Opening: Job 34:1-9. And Elihu began and said, being incited by Jobs silence [hence as elsewhereand answered], who had nothing to reply to that which El. had hitherto brought forward. So again in Job 35:1 (but somewhat differently on the contrary in the introduction of the fourth discourse, Job 36:1).
Job 34:2. Hear, ye wise men, my words. The wise and knowing ones here appealed to (comp. Job 34:10, men of understanding) are neither all in the world capable of forming a judgment (Hirzel), nor the circle of listeners who had gathered around the disputants, i.e. to say, all those present with the exception of Job and the three, all impartial experts, whose presence is assumed (Schlott., Del., Dillm.). There is no reason apparent why Job and the three should be regarded as excluded from the number of the wise men addressed; except that they are included only in so far as they are prepared to lift themselves above their own partisan stand-point to those higher points of view established by Elihu. In other words that which is really wise and intelligent in them is set over against that which is erroneous and in need of correction.
Job 34:3. For the ear trieth words. Here Elihus own ear is intended as well as that of the wise men addressed; for it is a trial of the truth in common to which he would summon them by this appeal to the natural capacity of judgment, which man possesses. In regard to b, comp. Job 12:11. Instead of the form found there, we have here : proves, tastes in order to eat, i.e. when it would eat [or gerundive, vescendo.]
Job 34:4. The right would we choose for ourselves; i.e. in the controversy between God and Job we would test, find out, and choose for ourselves that which is right; comp. 1Th 5:21. It is to this testing and choosing in common that the knowing among ourselves what is good in b refers.
Job 34:5-9. The special theme of the investigation which now follows, accompanied by the expression of Elihus moral indignation over the fact that Job had been able to put forth such expressions. For Job has said: I am innocent; yet God has taken away from me my right. The clauseI am innocentis simply auxiliary or preparatory to what follows. The main emphasis rests on the second proposition, which is taken verbally from Job 27:2; in like manner as is taken from Job 13:18 (comp. Job 23:10; Job 27:7).
Job 34:6. In spite of my right I shall lie;i.e. notwithstanding as in Job 10:17; Job 16:17) that the right is on my side, I shall still be [accounted] a liar, if I maintain it. Job had not so expressed himself literally; nevertheless comp. the utterances, related in meaning, in Job 9:20; Job 16:8. [E. V. Should I lie against my right? i.e. confess my guilt when I am innocent?a suitable meaning, but less forcible than the above; and here it is natural to suppose that Elihu would refer to the strongest expressions which Job had used. Instead of the Masoretic Carey suggests : Concerning my right He [God] is a false one. The conjecture however is unnecessary.E.]. My arrow is incurable, i.e. the arrow of Gods wrath sticking in me, or rather the wound occasioned by the same (comp. Job 6:4); this being the case without transgression, without as in Job 8:11) my having deserved it; comp. Job 33:9.
Job 34:7 seq. Sharp rebuke of Jobs conduct in thus suspecting the divine justice: Where is there a man like Job, who drinketh scornful speeches like water?Elihu evidently borrows this harsh figurative expression from one of the earlier discourses of Eliphaz (Job 15:16), with a considerate limitation however of the charge there brought forward to Jobs scornful and blasphemous speeches against God (), which really deserved to be rebuked thus harshly, whereas the charge of Eliphaz, that he drank iniquity () as water, besides being urged indirectly and covertly, and so much the more irritatingly, was in its indefinite and general form much less accurate and must for that very reason have inflicted a much more cutting wound. The expression being thus palpably borrowed from that former attack on Job, the charge which from Antiquity has been founded on this passage of immoderate violence and bluntness on the part of Elihu, is certainly unmerited (against the Pseudo-Jerome, Gregory the Great, Beda, etc., also Delitzsch).
Job 34:8. And goes in company (lit. to the company) with evil-doers, and is wont to go about with men of wickedness. , continuation of the finite verb ; comp. Ewald, 351, 100. What is meant is, of course, only that by blasphemous speeches, such as might be quoted in the way of example, he lowers himself to the companionship of wicked men (comp. Psa 1:1 seq.), that accordingly by his frivolous and wanton sins of the tongue he puts himself on a level with the evil world. Elihu does intend an actual participation by Job in the society of evil-doers, as the following verse clearly shows.
Job 34:9. For he saith: A man hath no profit (comp. Job 22:2), if he lives in friendship with God (lit. from his having pleasure with God, i.e., in fellowship with God; comp. Psa 50:18). Job had never expressed himself in this way literally, but he had often uttered this sentiment; e.g., Job 9:22 seq.; Job 21:7 seq.; Job 24:1 seq. But how blameworthy such frivolous utterances were, he himself repeatedly acknowledged (Job 17:9; Job 21:15; Job 28:28), without however ceasing from them.
Continuation: Proof that God really is righteous in His dispensations: (a) from His love to His creatures: Job 34:10-15.
Job 34:10. Therefore men of understanding, hearken to me. Lit. men of heart (LXX. ); comp. Delitzsch, Biblical Psychology, p. 293; Beck, Umriss der bibl. Seelenlehre, 3d Ed., p. 99. Far from God be wickedness, etc. here with of the thing abjured, as in Gen 18:25. In the third member is used by abbreviation for ; comp. Job 15:3.
Job 34:11. Rather (, comp. Job 33:14) mans work He recompenseth to him, and according to a mans conduct (lit. way) He causeth it to be with him, lit. He causeth it to find him, to overtake him , only here and Job 37:13).
Job 34:12. Yea verily ( , as in Job 19:4) God doth not act wickedly, doth not act as a ( ). In respect to b comp. Job 8:3.
Job 34:13. Who hath delivered over to Him the earth? = only here, and Job 37:12 [with He paragogic therefore, not directive; see Green, 61, 6, a]. with , of the person and accus. of the thing, denotes: To trust any one with anything, to commit anything to any one, to deliver over to ones charge ( ); comp. Num 4:27; 2Ch 36:23. Without sufficient support from the language Hahn explains: Who besides (or except Him cares for the earth? and similarly Ewald: who investigates the earth against him [i.e., against man, in order to punish him when necessary]? And who hath established (founded, as in Job 38:5; Isa 44:7) the whole globe?The answer to both these questions is self-evident: None other than Himself. This reference however to Gods independent glory, and to the relation of absolute causality between Him and all that has been created, is made in order to exclude as strongly as possible the thought of any selfish, or unloving conduct whatever on the part of God.
Job 34:14. If He should set His heart only upon Himself, gather unto Himself (again) His spirit and His breath.The case here supposed is an impossible one, as Job 34:15 shows. The twice-used refers both times to God as subject, not merely the second time (as Jerome, Targ., Pesh., Grotius, Rosenm., Delitzsch [E. V. Scott, Con., Lee, Noyes] explain). In respect to the withdrawal of His spirit and breath, comp. Psa 104:29 seq.; Ecc 12:7, in which passages indeed the withdrawal of the divine vital spirit spoken of is not, as here sudden and total, but that successive and gradual process, which takes place continually in the death of individual creatures. The fact therefore that God does not, as He well might, put an end at once to the independent life of His creatures, but gives to each one of them a respite to enjoy life, this is here brought forward as proof of the disinterested fatherly love, and at the same time of the righteousness of His conduct. [Elihu says this, to assert Gods sovereignty, and the bearing of this on the main argument is, if God be sovereign, and amenable to no superior, then he can have no motive for doing what is otherwise than right. The argument is not unlike that of Abraham, Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? and that of St. Paul, Is God unrighteous who taketh vengeance? God forbid, for then how shall God judge the world? Carey].
4. Continuation. The divine justice proved: () from the conception of God as Ruler of the universe: Job 34:16-30.
Job 34:16. And if there is understanding (with thee), then hear this.So according to the punctuation of as Milra, preferred by the Targ., Pesh., Jer., and in general most of the ancients, as well as the moderns [so E. V.]. If the word be rendered as Imperative, the preceding should be taken as an optative particleand oh that thou wouldst observe, oh understand now. (Del.). This rendering however is equally destitute of support from the language as the of the LXX., and various similar renderings. The punctuation of the Masoretes [as Milel] is to be explained by their desire to remove the apparent discourtesy and insult implied in the expressionand if there is understanding with thee. But this by no means implies a real doubt of Jobs intelligence. In regard to b comp. Job 33:8. Will even an enemy of the right be able to govern? here meaning even, as in Job 40:8 seq., not the object of : num. iram osor judicii refrenabit (Schult., Umbr., Welte, etc.), against which the position of the words is decisive. Rather is here objectless, meaning to bind, to hold the reins of authority, to govern, (as elsewhere , 1Sa 9:17). [Right and government are indeed mutually conditioned, without right everything would fall into anarchy and confusion. Delitzsch]. Or wilt thou condemn (i.e., declare unjust; here in its usual sense, differing in this from Job 34:12) the All-just; lit. the mighty just One; comp. Ewald, 270, d.
Job 34:18 seq. He who exercises justice in union with omnipotence is now more particularly described in this aspect of His activity. Him, who says to a king: Thou worthless one! So according to the reading , which is attested, not indeed by the Masoretes, but by the LXX. and Vulg., and in favor of which most of the moderns declare (Hirz., Ew., Hahn., Stick., Vaih., Dillm., [Renan, Elz.], etc.). The Mas., Targ., Luth., Del. [E. V., Con., Car., Noy., Rod., Ber., Bar., Lee, Schlott.], etc., read , Inf. constr. with interrogatives is it (fit) to say to a kingThou worthless one, etc.? But it would be very difficult to connect the clause in Job 34:18 with such a question, which would express a conclusio a min. ad majus (even to a human king one would not dare to speak thus, etc.).
Job 34:19. Him, who accepteth not the person of rulers (comp. Job 32:21), and knoweth not (i.e., considers, regards not; concerning see Job 21:29) the rich before the poor, i.e., in preference to the poor (comp., Job 8:12). God exercises this strict impartiality, because, as the parenthetical clause in c explains, His creatures are all of equal worth to Him.
Job 34:20. In a moment they perish, even at midnight, i.e., suddenly and unexpectedly, at night, (comp. Psa 119:62; and for the thought Job 27:19; also below Job 34:25). Their people are shaken and pass away.The subject of the verse is those who are expressly mentioned first in the third member as the strong or mighty ones, the same who are specially distinguished in the two preceding verses as kings, princes, rulers and rich men, and who then in Job 34:23 seq. become again the principal object of consideration. The clause in b, , is neither (with Ewald) to be explained they stagger in crowds, nor (with Hirzel and others) nations are shaken. The word admits of neither rendering; in connection with the princes it can signify only their people, their subjects. And the mighty are removed (lit. the mighty one is, etc.)not by the hand of man, i.e., without needing to be touched by hand, referring to a higher invisible power as cause; comp. Job 20:27; Zec 4:6; also the expression of Daniel, , Dan 8:25; comp. Dan 2:34.
Job 34:21-24 give the reason why such a mighty administration of justice on the part of God is possible, or rather why it actually exists, by calling attention to His omniscience. In respect to Job 34:21 comp. Job 31:4; on Job 34:22 see Job 24:13 seq.; Psa 139:11 seq.; and parallel passages.
Job 34:23. For He doth not long regard man;i.e., He needs not to wait a long time for him, until he submits himself to His judicial examination, because He has him, like all His creatures, continually present before Him. [A single thought of God, without the uttering of a word, is enough to summon the whole world to judgment. Job had earnestly craved for leave to enter into judgment with God (see Job 13:8; Job 16:21; Job 23:3; Job 31:35). Elihu replies that God of His own accord, finds out men in a moment, without any effort, and summons them to judgment. Job ought therefore to change his tone, and say, Enter not into judgment with thy servant, O Lord, for in Thy sight shall no man living be justified (Psa 143:2). Wordsworth], here not again and again, a long time (Hirzel, Del. [Ber., Bar., Noy., Rod.] etc.) [nor more than right, E. V., Rashi, Wolfsohn, Elzas], but simply, more, yet, again, as e.g., Isa 5:4, and often.
Job 34:24. Respecting , instead of , comp. Job 12:24; Job 38:26. [Pesh. Vulg. E. V. Rod. render without number; but the meaning without inquiry, without undertaking a long process of investigation, is better suited to the context. E.]. In respect to in b, see Job 8:19; Isa 45:15.
Job 34:25-30 recur to the previous description of Gods fearful judgments upon the mighty of earth (Job 34:18 seq.). Therefore He knoweth their works., lit. therefore, on that account, means here accordingly, and so, hence, as a formula denoting a logical inference from that which precedes; comp. Job 42:3. Rosenmller, Umbreit erroneously: Because that He knoweth their works; for which meaning we should have rather . [Alike incorrect is the rendering forNoyes, Barnes, Rodwell]. , only here in Elihu, an Aramaizing word, used interchangeably with . And overthrows them in the night (i.e., suddenly; comp. Job 34:20) so that they are crushed; comp. Job 5:4. From this verb the object of the preceding verb is to be supplied (Pro 12:7). The object cannot be , (which is evidently an adverbial specification of time), as Umbreit renders it: He changes the night, i.e., into day.
Job 34:26. Instead of the wicked He scorns them, i.e., the mighty; lit. Ho claps, slaps them, as in Job 34:37, used metaphorically in the sense of scorning, mocking; comp. the full phrase , Job 27:23. [Vulg., E. V., Rosenm., Del., Con., Car., Noy., etc. render the verb to strike, smite, but less in accordance with the usage]. does not mean exactly in the place of execution of the wicked (Hirzel), but more in the stead, after the manner of the wicked comp. Vulg,: quasi impios) [and E. V. as wicked men]. In the place where all see it; lit. in the place of those seeing, i.e., publicly, in propatulo. [Grotius: ; Cocceius: (1) cum pudore el ignominia; (2) in exemplum].
Job 34:27-28. They, who for that reason turn away from Him, etc. points forward to that which follows (comp. Job 20:2), and is explained in , and so forth (Job 34:28). In order vividly to characterize the insolent, and persistently wicked conduct of evildoers, it is represented as their purpose to continue torturing the oppressed until their cry pierces through the clouds, and as it were compels God to hear it. [If be rendered because (LXX. E. V. Rosenm., Umbr., Hahn, Con., etc.). will be Inf. epexeget. In that case =, This however seems a less probable construction than that given above].
Job 34:29 seq. And if He giveth rest who will condemn (Him) , Hiph. of in the sense of Isa 14:7; Jdg 5:31, hence to give rest, viz. by resisting and overcoming the violence of mighty tyrants, which drives the poor to cry out for help (comp. Psa 94:13). , referring to God is prefixed for emphasis, as is the case also with at the head of the following interrogative sentence, which signifies that it would be impossible to object to that which has been ordained by God, or to condemn it (as e.g., Job had undertaken to do Job 9:22 seq.). [This is the meaning of favored by all the ancient versions, by usage, and by the parallelism, which suggests God as the object of the verb here, as in b. The meaning to make trouble (E. V.) is not inappropriate however: and either rendering leads to the same result, to wit, a rest for the oppressed against which oppressors will be impotent]. The structure of the second parallel member is essentially the same: if He hides His face (in wrath above those wicked ones)who will behold Him, again find Him graciously disposed? To the clause , from which it is separated only on account of the rhythm, belongs the close specification in the third member, together with the doubled negative statement of the end aimed at in Job 34:30 : alike above a people and above man ( serving to strengthen the correlation and correspondence expressed by ), in order that ungodly men might not rule (= that not; comp.2Ki 23:33, Kri), not ( by ellipsis, instead of the repetition of ) snares of the people;i.e., ungodly misleaders, who would plunge the people into ruin; comp. Exo 10:7; Hos 5:1.
5. Conclusion: Exhibition of the inconsistency and folly of Jobs accusations of the divine righteousness: Job 34:31-37.
Job 34:31-32. For does one say indeed to GodI expiate without doing evil; what I see not, that show Thou me; if I have done iniquity I will do it no more.So (in essential agreement with Schult., Ew., Vaih., Heil. Dillm.) are these two obscure verses to be rendered, which have been variously misunderstood by the ancient versions of expositors. For (1) , Job 34:31 a, can only be 3 Perf. sing. with interrogative (comp. Job 21:4; Eze 28:9), not Imperat. Niph. (= , dicendum est), as Rosenm., Schlottm. [E. V. Noy., Con., Rod.], etc., take it. The subject of this interrogative num. dicit however cannot be the of the preceding verses, but is indefinite, any one (comp. Job 21:22; Job 30:24.). [It is observed by Scott that the petition and confession, which Elihu recommends to Job, would be highly improper for one who knows himself to be guilty of heinous crimes, but highly fit for a person, who though good in the main, has reason to suspect somewhat amiss in his temper and conduct, for which God is displeased with him. It appears plainly that Elihu did not suppose Job to be a wicked man, suffering for his oppressions, bribery, inhumanity, and impiety, with which his three friends had charged him. Noyes]. (2) The difficult expression is most simply understood of the bearing of sins in respect of their punishment, an object which is easily supplied out of the asyndetically added circumstantial clause ; henceI bear (or expiate), without doing evil. ( as e.g., Neh 1:7; comp. Dan 6:23). This rendering of the second member of Job 34:31 is, on account of its simplicity, and the established character of the linguistic construction in all its parts, greatly to be preferred to any other, as e.g., to that of Rashi, Merc, Schlottmann [E. V. Noyes, Con., Rod., Bar.], etc. I expiate, I will do evil no more; of Hirzel I bear the yoke of punishment, and will not cast it off; of Hahn and DelitzschI have been proud, I will do evil no more; of Kamphausen (who following the LXX. reads )I have practiced oppression, I will take a pledge no moreLXX.: I have received (scil. blessings), I will not take a pledge], etc. (3) The elliptical objective clause the beginning of Job 34:32 is according to Ew., 333 b to be explained: that which lies beyond what I see, teach Thou me; i.e., that which lies beyond the circle of my vision, that which I do not see, teach Thou me respecting it. By this is meant the errors unknown to the speaker, which in Psa 19:13 are called only that here the person introduced as speaking is not a truly pious and penitent self-observer, like the poet of that Psalm, but one who confesses reluctantly, who regards himself as being, properly speaking, wholly innocent, and who (according to Job 34:32) announces himself as ready to repent only in case () iniquity should be proved upon him. And on the whole Job had indeed heretofore always expressed himself essentially in this impenitent, rather than in a truly contrite way; comp. Job 7:20; Job 19:4, etc.
Job 34:33. Should He recompense it to thee according to thy will ( as in Job 23:10; Job 27:11, and often), that thou hast despised, scil. His usual way of recompensing. The question may also be expressed thus: Should He allow thy discontented fault finding, and blaming of His method of retribution to go unpunished, and take up instead with a method corresponding to thy way of thinking? which is equivalent to saying: Should He change the laws of His righteous administration (his justitia retribuens) to please thee?so that thou must choose, and not I?i.e., so that thou wouldst have to determine the mode of retribution, and not I (God). Instead of we should properly expect , but Elihu here, after the manner of the prophets, introduces God Himself as speaking, and thus makes himself the organ of God (so correctly Rashi, Rosenm., Ewald, etc.). [The abrupt and bold personation of the Deity in the first person (and not I) is not unnatural in one who is speaking on behalf of God, and representing his just prerogatives and claims. Con.]. And what knowest thou then? speak; i.e., in respect to the only true method of retribution. What more correct knowledge than all others canst thou claim for thyself respecting this obscure province of the divine way of retribution?
On Job 34:34 comp. Job 34:2; Job 34:10.
Job 34:35-37 contain the speech of the men of understanding, to whose judgment Elihu appeals as agreeing with his own.
Job 34:35. Job speaks without knowledge, and his words are without wisdom., substant. Inf. absol. Hiph., instead of the usual form ; so also in Jer 3:15.
Job 34:36. O would that Job were proved continually. cannot signify my Father, as though it were an address to God (Vulg., Saad., Luther [Bernard], etc.), for in Elihus mouth, judging by numerous parallels, we should rather look for my Maker, or my God; and the address my Father does not once elsewhere throughout the Old Testament proceed from a single person to God, and just here would have but little propriety. [Words, suggests that it may have been addressed by Elihu, as a young man, to Job; which in view of the mention of Job immediately after in the third person, would be singularly harsh]. Hence the word should either (with Targ., Kimchi, Umbr., Schlottm. [E. V.], etc.) be derived from a subst. , wish, to be assumed, and to be rendered either my desire is, or I desire; orwhich is in any case to be preferredwith Dd., Ew., Del., Dillm., be rendered as an interjectional optative particle, synonymous with , and resting on a root or .Etymologically related are the well known in the formula , (quso domine), on the other side the optative interjection, still very common with the Syrian Arabs of Damascus, abi (which is formally inflicted ab, teb, jeb; neb, teb, Jeb); comp. the elaborate and learned discussion of Wetzstein in Delitzsch, p. 431 seq.In respect to , continually, or to the extreme end, comp. the similar in Job 23:7. What Elihu here desires for Job is not that the chastisements inflicted on him should increase in severity, that his sufferings should continually grow more intense (such cruelty would in connection with his mild and friendly treatment, of Job elsewhere be simply inconceivable). It is rather that the divine operation of proving his heart and working on his conscience now going on (comp. Psa 139:23; also in Job 7:18) should be carried on until he had been brought at last to confess his guilt, and to humble himself beneath the hand of God (comp. Brentius, and von Gerlach below, Homiletical Remarks). The reason why Elihu desires that he may thus continue under the influence of the divine process of proving and punishing him,or more accurately, why he introduces the men of understanding as uttering this wish in what they say, is given in Job 34:36 b taken together with Job 34:37 : on account of his answers after the manner of wicked men () replies, viz. to the speeches of the friends rebuking him; comp. Job 21:34; here signifying in the manner, after the fashion of).
Job 34:37. Because he addeth to his sin transgression (i.e. by his presumptuous speeches against God) [hence here may be rendered blasphemy], in the midst of us he mocks (claps [his hands in scorn]; see on Job 34:26), and multiplieth his speeches against God., imperf. apoc. Hiph. (as in Job 10:17) is used instead of the unabbreviated Imperf., like Job 13:27, instead of , or like , Job 33:27, etc., towards God, against God, refers back both to this and to ; for the mocking is also described as being against God.
6. The third discourse: Job 35. First Half: The folly of the erroneous notion that piety and ungodliness are alike of little profit: Job 35:1-8. In respect to Job 35:1, comp. Job 34:1. The conjecture of Kster and Schlottmann, that the verse is a later interpolation, because Job 35. gives evidence of being a simple appendage to Job 34., has no foundation. For with just as good right might Job 34. also be regarded as a simple appendage to Job 33., because the theme of this second discourse has also received expression at the beginning of the discourse preceding (Job 30:9 sq.). All four discourses are closely bound together, and Job 33:9-11 contains the common point of procedure for all alike (see on the passage).
Job 35:2-3 formulate, in an interrogative form, the special theme of the discourse, as a repetition of that which has already been said (Job 34:9).Hast thou considered this ( pointing forwards to Job 35:3) to be right (Job 33:10), and spoken of it as my righteousness before God (coram, as in Job 4:7; Job 32:2), that thou sayest, what advantage is it to thee ( as in oh. Job 34:9), what doth it profit me more than my sin?As frequently with Elihu, the direct interrogation interchanges here with the indirect (comp. e.g.Job 34:33). The force of the whole question, moreover, is that of a strong negation: a righteous man speaks not thus. [The construction here given of these two verses seems awkward and artificial. Extremely so in particular is it to render (hast thou) defined it as my righteousness before God that thou hast said, etc. And besides how can it be said that he had made his saying that there is no profit in holiness a part of his righteousness before God? Here, moreover, it cannot well be denied that the comparative sense of , my righteousness is more than Gods, makes the proposition introduced by more complete and forcible. Had he designed to say: I am righteous before God, he would have used the verb (which Olshausen indeed proposes to read), rather than . The meaning of the claim which Job had made, according to Elihu, is not that his character was more righteous than that of God, but that his cause, as against God, was more just than that of his Almighty antagonist. In Job 35:3 Elihu gives the proof, or rather the specification in support of his charge. Job had denied that there was any profit in holiness:in other words he had charged God with indifference to moral character in his treatment of men. The rendering of E. V. is to be preferred except in the last clause, where is again comparative, and which should be rendered, notwhat profit shall I have if I be cleansed from my sin? butwhat profit shall I have more than by my sin?E.]
Job 35:4. I will answer thee words (comp. Job 33:32), and thy companions with thee, i.e. Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar, who have shown themselves incompetent to contend with thee effectively, and who deserve to be reprimanded together with thee (). We are scarcely to render (with Dillmann, etc.), who are with thee. Still more impossible is it to understand by not the three friends, but all others associated with Job in sentiment and character, the of Job 34:8; Job 34:36 (Umbr., Heil., Vaih., Del.), for constantly denotes throughout the book the three friends of Job (Job 2:11; Job 19:21; Job 32:3; Job 42:7).
Job 35:5-8. Refutation of the ensnaring proposition that it is useless to be pious by calling attention to Gods blessed self-sufficiency in His heavenly exaltation, the contemplation of which shows that of necessity man only can derive profit from his righteousness (a thought which had been already expressed by Job himself, Job 7:20; and by Eliphaz, Job 22:2 seq.).
Job 35:5. Look up to heaven, and see, etc.In the same way that Zophar (Job 11:7 seq.) points Job to the height of the heavenly vault, and its loftiest luminous fleece-like clouds (which is what means here, not precisely a synonym of heaven, or of the ether, as Vaihinger, Delitzsch, etc., say), in order to illustrate Gods absolute exaltation above the world.
On Job 35:6 seq. comp. ch Job 7:20; Job 22:2 seq.
Job 35:8. To man like thee thy wickedness availeth (i.e. it produces its effects on him), and for a son of man thy righteousness.By the son of man Job himself, or one of his kind, is again intended. The expression serves to set forth their need of help, and frailty in contrast with the exaltation and blessedness of God.
7. Continuation and close.Second Half: The true reason why sufferers remain for a long time unheard, to wit: a. Their lack of genuine reverence for God; b. The presumptuousness of their speeches against God.
a. Job 35:9-14. On account of the multitude of oppressions they cry out, they wail because of the violence (lit. because of the arm, as in Job 22:8) of the mighty ( here in another sense than in Job 32:9). The Hiph. in the sense of Kal, or as intensive of Kal (comp. Job 19:7; Job 31:18) [not Hiphil proper, they make the oppressed to cry, (E. V.) which is unsuitable in connection with ]. , oppressions, as in Amo 3:9; Ecc 4:1.
Job 35:10 seq. introduce the refutation of this objection [contained in Job 35:9, to wit, that oppression goes unpunished, hence that the wicked fare no worse than the righteous], by calling attention to the guilt of the suffering. But they do not say (as they could say)Where is Eloah my creator? This is the question asked by those who seek God (comp. Jer 2:6; Jer 2:8). intensive plur., as in Isa 22:11; Isa 54:5; Psa 149:2. Who giveth songs in the night; i.e., by granting sudden and wonderful deliverance (comp. Job 34:25).
Job 35:11. Who teaches us more than the beasts of the earthnot by them, as our mute instructors (Hahn, Delitzsch), but with a comparative rendering of , in preference to the beasts, esteeming us worthy of higher honor and blessing than they. The form is either an error of transcription, or syncopated from ; comp. in Job 15:5. On b comp. Job 12:7, where in like manner the mention of the birds of heaven is parallel to that of the beasts of the field. [A pregnant passage. The instinctive cry of distress for relief is not the prayer which God requires. The former goes up from the brute creature (comp. Psa 104:21; Joe 1:20; Psa 149:9); mans prayer should be worthy of a rational being, should proceed from the recognition of God the creator, and from gratitude for His interposition in our behalf in the night of calamity. If (as he proceeds to show) mans prayers are not heard, it is because they are too much the cry of animal instinct, not the outpouring of the heart, conscious of its wants, of God, and of His goodness.E.].
Job 35:12. There cry theybut He answers not (or: without indeed Gods answering them)on account of the pride of the evil.Respecting the construction of the verb with , before, or on account of, comp. Isa 19:20. [It seems most natural to put here in close connection with , He will not answer (so as to save them) from the force of wicked men. To make the pride of the oppressors the reason why God refuses to hear the oppressed, although the affirmation in itself might be made, would be out of harmony here. The reason as Elihu more explicitly declares in Job 35:13 is in the oppressed themselves.E.].
Job 35:13. The reason why God does not hear those oppressed when they cry: Only vanity (i.e., nothingness, empty, fruitless complaining [with restrictivethat which is only emptiness, that crying which has no heart in it]) God heareth not.but on the other hand (for this is the unspoken antithesis) He doth hear the righteous, pious prayer. And the Almighty regardeth it notviz., that crying and complaining. The neut. suffix in does not refer to the masc. , but to the crying spoken of in the preceding verse. Respecting to behold, observe, comp. Job 33:14.
Job 35:14. Much less then (would He hear thee) when thou sayest: thou beholdest Him not;i.e., He intentionally withdraws himself from thee; comp. Job 23:8 seq. In respect to quanto minus (here more precisely quanto minus si, comp. Job 4:19; Job 9:14; Eze 15:5. Neither the language nor the context justifies the rendering of Schlottmann and Delitzsch [also E. V.], who take to mean although, etimsi, which moreover receives no support from Neh 9:18. The cause lies before Him, and thou waitest (in vain) on Him;this being the continuation of the indirect address begun in a. (instead of which elsewhere we have ), the cause in controversy, the case on trial, as also to wait (instead of which elsewhere ), are both expressions peculiar to Elihu. Hirzel, Schlottmann, Delitzsch [E, V. Scott, Noyes, Barnes, Words., Ren., Rod.], etc., render this second member as an admonition to Jobthe controversy lies certainly before God, but thou shouldst calmly await His decision. But this is rendered impossible by the tone of stern censure in Job 35:15 seq. Still more out of the question (on account of ) is the rendering of Ewald who takes and as addressed to God.
.
Job 35:15-16. The complaint of Job, above cited, in respect to Gods assumed withdrawal and concealment of Himself, gives Elihu occasion to refer to Jobs presumptuous and dogmatic speeches as another reason for his being unheard. And now, because His anger has not yet punished (lit. because there is not [or nothing], which His anger has punished [visited]; i.e., because His anger has not yet interposed to punishcomp. Ew., 321, b), should He not nevertheless be well acquainted with presumption?In respect to with comp. Psa 139:14, and respecting in the sense of about (to know about anything), comp. above, Job 12:9., instead of which the LXX. and Vulg. read , seems to signify, according to the Arabic, arrogance, presumption, possibly also foolishness (the same with used elsewhere); scarcely however multitude, mass, as the Rabbis explain [nor extremity, as E. V. renders it]. The word is intended to designate Jobs presumptuous, intemperate speeches against God. The passage is in substance correctly rendered by Ewald, Delitzsch and Dillmann,only that the last named conjectures b to be a free citation from Jobs former discourses (say from Job 24:12), and thus needlessly obscures the explanation of the verse (to the extent that he conjectures either a corruption of the word , or the loss of two half verses from between a and b. The commentators follow different constructions of the passage, which in some particulars vary greatly among themselves, but which are largely agreed in taking Job 35:15 as protasis, and Job 35:16 as apodosis: on the basis of which construction Hahn e.g. translates: Especially now, because He (God) does not have regard for his (Jobs) anger, and does not trouble himself about wicked arrogance, Job opens, etc., (and so Kamph.; while Rosenm., Stick., Hirz., Schlottm., [Carey, with others who take in the sense of transgression, as, e.g., Conant, Noyes, Barnes, Rodwell, Renan] take in Job 35:15 a as subj. and understand by it Gods anger. But Job 35:16 cannot be the apodosis of Job 35:15, partly because of the way the subject is prefixed, and partly because the thought is rather the delivery of a final judgment in respect to the whole manner of Jobs appearance: But Job opens his mouth in vain (i.e., uselessly, to no purpose; as in Job 9:29; Job 21:34), and unintelligently multiplieth words.The opening of the mouth is not mentioned here as a gesture of scorn (as e.g., in Lam 2:16; Lam 3:46), but, as explained by the second member, as a symbol or means of unintelligent babbling and loquacity. here and Job 36:31=, (Job 34:37).
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
The many points of contact between the two discourses here considered and those of the three friends, especially in the words of blame and reproof addressed to Job have furnished those expositors in ancient and modern times, whose judgment respecting Elihu has been in general unfavorable, with abundant material for their disparaging judgments, and their attacks. That Elihu is a servile imitator, a mere reproducer and compiler of what has been said by previous speakers; that in repeating he weakens in many ways the statements of his predecessors; that he cites Jobs expressions, when he would controvert them, inaccurately, or in such a way as altogether to distort them; that he endeavors to surpass the three friends in the intemperate severity of his attacks on Job, etc., these and the like are the unfavorable judgments of the critics from the pseudo-Jerome, Gregory, and Bede, down to; Dillmann, and indeed even more considerate and favorably disposed critics fall in, at least in part, with this tone of remark. Thus Delitzsch asserts, at least in respect to Job 37, that the absence, in this third discourse of Elihu, of the bold original figures of the previous discourses, indicates on the part of this discourse as compared with the remainder of the poem a deficiency of skill, as now and then between Koheleth and Solomon; that not one of its thoughts is, strictly speaking, new, that, on the contrary, in one chief thought we have simply the repetition of what was said in a previous discourse of Eliphaz, to wit, that the piety of the pious profits himself; in the otherto wit, that the pious, in his necessity, does not put forth useless cries, but lifts himself in prayer to Goda repetition of what Job had said in his last discourse, Job 27:9 seq. But nevertheless Delitzsch is obliged to admit that Elihu deprives these thoughts of their hitherto erroneous application. He is constrained to acknowledge that the quickened consciousness of sin and guilt, which Elihu in this discourse occasions for Job, is perfectly in place, and must touch Jobs heart, especially in so far as it teaches him to seek the cause of his long-continued sufferings, and of the failure of his prayers hitherto to be heard n himself, in the inadequacy of his own purity and piety, in his lack of true submissiveness to Gods righteous decreeand not in any severity on the part of God. And still more favorable is his judgment respecting the value of the argument in his second discourse, directed principally against Jobs presumptuous doubt of the divine justice; respecting which he acknowledges that Elihu does not here coincide with what has been already said (especially Job 12:15 seq.), without applying it to another purpose; and that his theodicy differs essentially from that proclaimed by the friends. It is not derived from mere appearance, but lays hold of the very principles. It does not attempt the explanation of the many apparent contradictions to retributive justice which outward events manifest, as agreeing with it; it does not solve the question by mere empiricism, but from the idea of the Godhead and its relation to the world, and by such inner necessity guarantees to the mysteries still remaining to human short-sightedness their future solution (II., p. 266, comp. p. 276). When we see one of the weightiest opponents of the genuineness of the whole Elihu-section stripping of all its force and value that charge against these two chapters which is most frequently brought forward, and most persistently urged, the complaint that it is deficient in originality, and that its character is simply that of a compilation and reproduction, we shall not find it difficult to reply to the remaining objections made to the inward value and authenticity of the two discourses. As regards (a) the absence of ornament, the lack of original figures and similes which Del. urges as an objection, at least so far as Job 35. is concerned, it may be very much questioned whether the poet himself did not intend this as a characteristic of the utterances of Elihu here, whether, that is, this unadorned simplicity does not on the one side render effective support to that which Elihu has to say against Jobs intemperate speeches, greatly increasing its impressiveness, its power to speak to the heart, and to quicken the conscience, while, on the other side, it is intended to form a contrast to the final discourse which follows (Job 36-37), in which the wealth of picturesque illustration, bold imagery, and artistic rhetorical turns, which are characteristic of the book elsewhere, reappears in higher measures, and in a way which quite eclipses the splendor of the art of figurative representation as exercised by the preceding speakers. In other words, it may be questioned, whether it is not the poets purpose to introduce Elihu, the preacher of repentance, as speaking as plainly, simply, and with as little art as possible, but on the contrary to introduce Elihu, the inspired eulogist and glorifier of God, as surpassing the former speakers in the power, loftiness and adornment of his discourse, nay, even as rivalling in this respect the representation of Jehovah himself. (b) As regards the assertion that Elihu quotes those utterances of Job, which he opposes, incorrectly, and so as to distort them, this is by no means the case, as a close comparison of the quotations in question not only with similar utterances of Jobs or with such as are verbally identical, but also with the meaning of his language, teaches, and as the exegesis of the particular passages has already shown.
And finally (c): that Elihu here exhibits himself as still more inconsiderate and intemperate, in his censure of Job than the three friends, rests on the misinterpretation of particular passages which, when rightly judged according to their connection, reveal Elihu as being mildly disposed toward the person of his opponent. So in particular that passage, harsh, in some respects, which he has borrowed from the second discourse of Eliphaz, and subjected to a peculiar modification, where he speaks of drinking scorn like water (Job 34:8 seq., see on the passage). So again the wish, uttered at the close of the second discourse (or rather put in the mouth of certain men, who are there introduced as speaking), that Job might be continually proved to the end, in respect to which the necessary remarks have already been made in explaining the passage. So again the strong language at the close of Job 35. the severity of which is due simply to the circumstance that Elihu here gives expression to his indignation against that which was really most objectionable and criminal in Job, his presumptuous and intemperate speeches against God, as a cruel, unsympathizing Being. There is scarcely one of the objections which in these respects have been made to the discourses of Elihu, particularly the two discourses before us, which may not, with apparently equal justice, be urged against the concluding discourses of God, in which we also find a repetition of much of the thought in the previous chief divisions (the same being cited in part literally, in part freely), and in which Jobs fundamental moral fault, the arrogance and insolent presumption of his heart against God, is just as energetically arraigned, without for that reason occasioning any reasonable doubts touching the genuineness and originality of that section.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
The practical and homiletic material, which these two intermediate discourses furnish, is small, compared with that which may be found in many other sections. Nevertheless the treatment of the two fundamental thoughtsthat God deals righteously, notwithstanding all appearances to the contraryand that true piety is always and infallibly blessedgives rise to many thoughts of peculiar theological and moral value, showing that these two chapters are mines of genuine revealed wisdom, and that they furnish much wholesome stimulus.
Particular Passages
Job 34:1 (Job 35:1): Vict. Andre: From this point on Job learns before all else to be silent. Without saying a word, he simply takes believingly to heart whatever is now made clear to him. In this way he really becomes another man than he has been heretofore, so that at last, because his frame of mind is become truly acceptable to God, he is ready to be completely delivered from his suffering, and to be doubly blessed by God.
Job 34:2 seq. Brentius (on Job 35:3): No man, however spiritual, has the right to judge the Word of God, but only the word of man, i.e., to determine whether what men teach, declare, and decree, is the word of God. E.g., Christ shed His blood for our sinsit is permitted to no men to sit in judgment on this saying, but it is the duty of all men to yield themselves captive to this saying, and to believe it. In the meanwhile however many persons put forth many and various opinions in respect to this saying, etc.Zeyss: We are to use our ears and mouth not only for the necessities of the body, but also for those of the soul, first of all however that we may hear and speak Gods word. We are to prove and to judge whether that which is spoken be right or wrong, in accordance with Gods Word, or not in accordance with it.
Job 34:12 seq. v. Gerlach: In what belongs to another it is possible for one to do injustice; but if God should do injustice to any one, He would injure Himself, destroy His own property, for all is His. A profound, a lofty thought! No one can conscientiously belie himself, do justice to himself. All that we call injustice becomes possible only because man has his equal as a free being beside himself, and has to do with the property of others on earth. This (injustice) is impossible with God, just for the reason that all belongs to Him.Andree: In opposition to Jobs assertion, that it is of no profit to a man with God to live a pious life, Elihu maintains calmly and firmly the irrefragable truththat both the holiness of God, which excludes every thought of tyranny, and His justice, which always renders to each one his own, yea even and His love, by which He maintains the whole world in existence, belong inseparably to the divine nature itself, so that Jobs speeches condemn themselves.
Job 34:20 seq. Starke (according to the Weim. Bib., and Cramer): God has power enough to bring the proud and the mighty to the punishment which is meet for them. The raging of all His foes is vain: God can destroy them quickly. He knows our need, however, and gives close attention to it.Andree: God does not need to institute long inquiries respecting the sins of men; He has immediate knowledge of all that they do, and executes His mighty judgments, without needing the help of men. He punishes or spares, as He may think best in His unsearchable Power and Wisdom.
Job 34:36 seq. Brentius: Elihu does not imprecate any evil on Job, but asks that he may be led to the acknowledgment of his own blasphemy, a result which can be brought about only by the cross and afflictions. Hence when he prays that he may be afflicted (crucified) unto the end, he at the same time prays that he may repent, for affliction (the cross) is the school of repentance.v. Gerlach: God is asked to prove and to search out Job even to the end, i.e., most deeply and thoroughly. Not that Elihu supposes him to be guilty of such sins as the friends had conjectured in his case; but he nevertheless misses in him the profound perception of secret sins, and wishes for him accordingly what the Psalmist wishes for himself (Psa 139:23).
Job 35:9 seq. Brentius: May we not infer that God is present with us and that He favors us, in that prona cum spectent animalia cetera terram, Os homini sublime dedit, clumque videre, Jussit et erecto ad cidera tollere vultus. For when He made the beasts and birds , He created us men so that we might be wise, endowed with reason, and lords of creation. Who then, pondering these things deeply in his mind, would not in affliction call upon the Lord, or hope for His aid?Wohlfarth: We must above all things show ourselves thankful for the spiritual endowments with which God has distinguished man (above all the beasts), by cultivating them with the utmost diligence, and by using them for Gods glory, and for the salvation of the world.Andree: God can cause a joyous song of jubilee to spring forth out of the deepest night of suffering provided we only understand His gracious purposes. All of these tend to the same end, to lift us men to something better and higher than the brute, which knows not God. But presumptuous cries and empty prayers will never find a hearing with God.
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
CONTENTS
Elihu still prosecutes his animated discourse, through this chapter. He is still reproving Job, but in such a way of gentleness, that the Patriarch makes no appeal against it.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
(1) Furthermore Elihu answered and said, (2) Hear my words, O ye wise men; and give ear unto me, ye that have knowledge. (3) For the ear trieth words, as the mouth tasteth meat. (4) Let us choose to us judgment: let us know among ourselves what is good. (5) For Job hath said, I am righteous: and God hath taken away my judgment. (6) Should I lie against my right? my wound is incurable without transgression. (7) What man is like Job, who drinketh up scorning like water? (8) Which goeth in company with the workers of iniquity, and walketh with wicked men. (9) For he hath said, It profiteth a man nothing that he should delight himself with God. (10) Therefore hearken unto me, ye men of understanding: far be it from God, that he should do wickedness; and from the Almighty, that he should commit iniquity. (11) For the work of a man shall he render unto him, and cause every man to find according to his ways. (12) Yea, surely God will not do wickedly, neither will the Almighty pervert judgment.
It is beautiful to trace the order and plan of Elihu’s reasoning. He setteth out with laying it down as a truth perfectly incontrovertible, that the LORD of Heaven and Earth can never do wrong. Shall not the Judge of all the Earth do right? And, in addition to this, Elihu contendeth further, that, in all his righteous dispensations, he is everlastingly pursuing the welfare of his people: and that, whatever outward providences may seem to say, yet his love is always the same. Far be it from GOD, saith he, that he should do wickedness. And hence the conclusion is obvious. Job’s impatience under suffering was unsuitable and unbecoming. Here indeed seems to be the great difference between Job’s arguments and Elihu’s. Job was anxious to justify his own integrity, more than the glory of GOD; but Elihu, in his judgment, evidently thought with the Apostle: Let God be true, but every man a liar. Rom 3:4 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
The Speech of Elihu. III.
Job 33-34
Elihu may show us what conception of God had been formed by a young mind. If we cannot follow the thread of his argument, we can join him here and there, and consider diligently what view of the divine nature and government a mind evidently audacious and energetic, yet reverent and docile, had formed. Elihu does not come before us as necessarily young in years, but as comparatively young; he had kept silence while older men were speaking; he claims distinctly to be heard because of his inferior age: it is legitimate, therefore, to regard the whole of his exposition as one which is uttered by a youthful, modest, yet active mind.
Who was the God of Elihu? Was he a deity that could command homage? Does he sit upon an appointed place like a helpless idol? or is he intelligent, watchful, judicial, righteous? It will be interesting to discover what kind of deity was avowed and honoured so long ago.
“The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life” ( Job 33:4 ).
The Bible has no difficulty in connecting human life instantly with God. There is a wonderful sense of nearness as between the Creator and the created. Elihu does not interpose millions of ages between the creating God and the created man; he rather speaks of the creation as the very last thing that was done. Elihu does not say, I am the result of intermediate operations and causes, and secondary influences; I represent the civilisation of my line or day. He speaks as Adam might have spoken when he was turned from the hand of God a living man, a divine image. This young poet if he were only a poet stands next to God, and says I am the man whom God made; the very breath I am now breathing I received from him. All this of course may be poetry, but all this may also be fact, reality, and only poetry in the sense in which poetry is the highest truth. What do we gain by considering that we were created by the Almighty countless millions of ages ago, as compared with the thought that every one of us is his handiwork, as it were just made, the very last proof of his omnipotence and wisdom and love? We gain much by the latter view: we are thus placed very close to God; he might be looking at us now; he might be speaking of us as his latest wonder, the last miracle of his creative energy. There are the two views; let men adopt which seems right to their reason when it is illuminated by revelation. Either way we are God’s creatures; from neither theory is God excluded, only in the latter he seems to some of us to be nearer; he cannot be nearer in reality, for the ages are nothing to him, but he is nearer to our imagination, our sympathy, our need, our whole desire; it seems to suit our weakness best at least, to think that God has just made us and that in our nostrils is the breath we have but just caught from him. This was the standpoint of Elihu. It enabled him to speak with great solemnity in the argument. Elihu did not pretend to come into it as a discoverer, an inventor, a moral genius, a man gifted in the reading of riddles; he came into the argument as a distinct creation of God, a man different from any who had spoken, with an individuality that involved responsibility; he speaks as if he had overheard God, and had been empowered to tell others what God had revealed to him.
Observe how he proceeds;
“For God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not” ( Job 33:14 ).
Let the meaning be this: God does not speak in one way only; there is nothing monotonous in the divine government: God speaks “once,” “twice,” that is, in one way, in two ways, in many ways, in apparently self-contradictory ways, now in the high heavens, now in the deep earth; sometimes in visions of the night, often by moral intuitions, sudden startlings of the mind into new energies, and sudden investitures of the whole nature with new powers and capabilities. Elihu will not have God bound down to one way of revelation; Elihu rather says: God reveals himself in nature, in providence, in history, in human consciousness, in social combinations, in the mystery of life’s great circumference: whoever has a new thought has it from God; whoever has a right vision is indebted to God for his vision: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God,” that is to say, God can sustain life in a thousand different ways: if there were no wheat, it would make no difference to the sustenance of man upon the earth; if the earth refused to grow one root or fruit, God could still keep man upon the earth as vigorously and as usefully as ever: God is not confined to one method of operation; Let us then, Elihu would say, acknowledge God in whatever form he may come; do not exclude God from any part of the ministry of the universe: if you think you see him in the star, you do see him; it is the star that is lifted up in glory and suggestiveness, not the deity that is brought down into finite bounds: if any flower of the field can help you to see into heaven look through it: if you can hear music in the trill and carol of birds, hear it, and magnify it until you get some hint of the infinite music of heaven. This is not idolatry; it is the proper magnifying of nature, the proper extension of all history and providence: thus you are lifted up, and from higher levels can behold wider spaces. How much we lose in thinking that God is confined to one house, place, hour, day, week! Thus we become idolaters, and thus we exclude many from the altar who are really worshipping at it. All men are not religious in the same way: there is a diversity of operation even in the religious regions and outlooks of life. What if some men shall be found to be religious who never supposed themselves to be such? God speaketh once, yea twice, yea thrice: his voice covers the whole gamut of utterance, and men who speak truth in any department of life, of art, of science, speak God’s truth, for all truth is God’s.
So far Elihu might have been a modern teacher, so advanced, so progressive is he. From no point will he have God excluded. If a man has a dream he will say, Tell it, for even in visions of the night God shows himself. If a man can only speak through his harp, Elihu says, Play it, and we will tell you whether God or devil stretched the strings, and taught your fingers to discourse upon them. There is a spirit in man, a verifying faculty, a child-heart, that knows what the father said, and knows the very tone in which he said it.
Of one thing Elihu seems to be supremely certain
“Far be it from God, that he should do wickedness; and from the Almighty, that he should commit iniquity” ( Job 34:10 ).
Elihu now occupies moral ground. His deity is not a majestic outline; it is a heart, a conscience, the very source and centre of life. This gives comfort wherever it is realised. A thought like this enables man to give time to God, that he may out of a multitude of details shape a final meaning. Elihu says in effect, Things look very troubled now: it seems as if we were dealing with shapelessness, rather than with order and definite meaning: now the great space of the firmament is full of thunders and lightnings and tempests, and the very foundations of things seem to be ploughed up; but write this down as the first item in your creed, and the middle, and the last “far be it from God, that he should do wickedness; and from the Almighty, that he should do iniquity…. Yea, surely God will not do wickedly, neither will the Almighty pervert judgment.” Then wait: he will bring forth judgment as the morning, and righteousness as the noonday. Such doctrines establish the heart in gracious confidence. They do not blind men to the tumult and confusion which are so manifest on all the surface of life; such doctrines enable men to cultivate and exemplify the grace or virtue of patience: they acknowledge that appearances are against their doctrine, but they claim time for the Almighty: they reason analogically; they say, Look at nature; look at human life; look at any great enterprise entered into by men: what digging, what blasting of rocks, what marvellous confusion, what a want of evident form and shape and design! Yet when months have come and gone, and architects and builders have carried out their whole purpose, they retire, and say, Behold what we have been aiming at all the time, then in great temple, or wide noble bridge spanning boiling rivers, we see that when we thought all things were in confusion, they were being carried on to order and shape and perfectness and utility. So Elihu says, One thing is certain: to be God he must be good; if he were wicked he would not be God: brethren, he would say in modern language, Let us pray where we cannot reason, let us wait where we cannot move: our waiting may be service, our prayer may be the beginning of new opportunities.
Following this doctrine, and part and parcel of it, Elihu advances to say
“For the work of a man shall he render unto him, and cause every man to find according to his ways” ( Job 34:11 ).
Being righteous, he will cause the law of cause and effect to proceed whatever happens in relation to human conduct and spiritual results. This is what Paul said “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap.” That is a New Testament translation of Old Testament words “For the work of a man shall he render unto him, and cause every man to find according to his ways.” How much have we advanced beyond that doctrine? Where is the difference between the Old Testament and the New in this particular? God is of one mind; who can turn him as to the law of moral cause and moral effect? A man cannot sow one kind of seed and reap another: the sowing determines the harvest. Elihu might make a false application of this principle to Job, but the principle itself is right. It is of value as showing the conception which Elihu had formed of God’s nature. He was worshipping a God worthy of his homage. Again let us say, he was not worshipping an idol, a vain imagination of his own; and again let us apply to ourselves the holy proof of God’s rule, that whatever he does he does it from a spirit of right and with a purpose of right, and that in all his doing there is no compromise with evil, no concession to wicked principles or powers. God is righteous; true and righteous altogether. Let a man have that conception of God, and how quiet he is! Though the floods lift up their voice and roar, yet still he says, There is a river the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God: though the wicked triumph for a time, yea, in great noise and great pomp; yet, he says, his triumphing is but for a moment, his joy is but a flash, to be lost in the enclosing and eternal darkness. Without such convictions we are driven about by every wind of doctrine; the doctrines themselves, which are unformed and unsettled, trouble us. What are we to do in relation to such doctrines? To come back every night to our rocky home, to the great fortresses established in the holy revelation, to the sanctuary of God’s righteousness, to the impossibility of his thinking, being, or doing anything that is wrong. Here we find rest, and from this high sanctuary we can look abroad upon all the excitement and tumult of the times, and wait in loving and expectant patience for the growing light, for the descending revelation, for the new promise that shall give us new consolation.
Then Elihu might have lived today. Verily he seems to be worshipping the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He might not be able to say so in words, to realise it in all the fulness and sweetness of its meaning; but he, in the far-away time, had a clear vision of God’s personality, God’s government, and God’s holiness.
What a comprehensive view of God he gives us
“Shall even he that hateth right govern? and wilt thou condemn him that is most just? Is it fit to say to a king, Thou art wicked? and to princes, Ye are ungodly? How much less to him that accepteth hot the persons of princes, nor regardeth the rich more than the poor? for they all are the work of his hands. In a moment shall they die, and the people shall be troubled at midnight, and pass away: and the mighty shall be taken away without hand. For his eyes are upon the ways of man, and he seeth all his goings. There is no darkness, nor shadow of death, where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves” ( Job 34:17-22 ).
Observe here the action of what may be called the moral imagination. We are at liberty to expand what we do know of God in the letter. This is the meaning of preaching. The preaching however must be the expansion of what is found in revelation. If there be in one discourse a word of man’s own making, it must be taken out. Not an evidence of man’s invention must be found in any discourse. Whatever is said must be provable by what is written. Expansion is our sphere; tender, gracious, beautiful amplification is the work to which we are called: the kingdom of heaven is like unto a grain of mustard seed, but when the mustard-tree is grown it is not an oak, nor a cedar; it is still what it was in the seed. So Elihu resorts to images, illustrations, rhetorical enlargements, and the like; but he is always tethered to the centre, always fixed in the settled and eternal truths; what he does otherwise he may do as the result of inspired genius, but it is all consonant with what is positively and definitely revealed. What then do we know of God? Nothing of ourselves. We have imaginings, conjectures, suggestions, quite a thousand in number, but as they are only imaginings, suggestions, and conjectures they are open to all kinds of disappointment; but when we come to revelation, and fix our eyes there, we feel that we are building our house upon a rock, and being built upon a rock, we can wait; we can say, Let the storm rise and fall; we have nothing to do with it whilst it rages; when it is passed we shall see what is left behind. Always distinguish between the foam and the sea, between that which is superficial and that which is central and everlasting; and be not tossed about by the wind that blows over the surface of the earth, but rest confidently and lovingly in the living God.
Elihu now comes closely to us with a gentle gospel message, and because of the gentleness of his message we are the more assured of the validity of his reasoning “For he will not lay upon man more than right” ( Job 34:23 ). This is the way by which we are to judge the Bible. If we were governed wholly by the majestic images of the Bible, we should be overwhelmed, unable to follow the high delineation; we should be blinded by excess of light; but the Bible comes down from its high revelations, and speaks comfortingly to troubled lives, to broken hearts, to weary travellers; and because it is so sympathetic and gracious in our weakness and sorrow, we begin to feel that when it rises, expands, and flames in unutterable splendour, it may be equally right there: the foot of the ladder is upon the earth; the head of the ladder is lifted up into glory, and we cannot see it. It is even so with this divine revelation of God. When he is set forth as Infinite, Eternal, Everlasting, Jehovah, Sovereign, we are lost, we cannot follow up this dizzy way of utterance; but when he is called by such terms as enable us to see that he is loving, gentle, piteous, compassionate, lifting up those that be bowed down, and comforting with tender solaces those whose hearts are sore, then we begin to feel that what was so majestic at the one end, and so tender at the other, may be harmonious, may be one, may be the very God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. A wonderful thing this for Elihu to have discovered by himself. Who ever discovered God in equal terms and equal proportions? Is this man talking out of his own emptiness and vanity of mind? Is it possible that a man younger than those who were listening to him conceived all this regarding God? Then in very deed here is the supreme miracle in the intellectual history of mankind. Here is a man who without communication with the other world has discovered a God infinite in majesty, in wisdom, in power; tender, gracious, loving in spirit; righteous, pure, holy in his nature; revealing all things to the benefit of all. One of two things must have been: either this man Elihu invented all this, and thus became practically as good as the thing which he invented; or it was revealed to him and he as an instrument revealed it to others. This latter view Christian readers of the Bible adopt. They do not believe in an invented God, but in a God revealed; in a God who will not lay upon man more than is right; in a God who knoweth our frame and remembereth that we are dust; in a God that never reaps where he has not sown; a righteous God, revealed to the world through the intuition or the experience of mankind, or by direct and startling revelation in vision and dream of the night. Be the method what it may, here he is in light, in love, in faithfulness, a God whom we adore, not with reverence only because he is great, but with sympathy and love because he is good.
The very necessity by which God loves the right makes him oppose the wicked. He will not have wicked men living as if in his complacency “He striketh them as wicked men in the open sight of others:” he overpowers them; he fills them with disdain and contempt; if he allows them to travel half-way up the hill it is that their fall may be the greater. Never did he endorse the wicked man. No spirit of evil can produce a certificate from heaven, saying, Behold how I am written of by your God, and commended by him whom ye worship as holy. This, too, was a wonderful thing for the unaided Elihu to have discovered. Appearances were against him: wicked men have not seldom had more than good men, so far as the possession of the hand is concerned; wicked men have been in high places; and yet here are men Elihu and others saying, looking on these facts, What you believe to be facts are only appearances, mere phases of things; within all is a righteous spirit, and the end of all is the confusion of every form and purpose of evil, Elihu never discovered that: this also cometh forth from the Lord of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working. We must await the issue, but here is our supreme difficulty to wait when we are impatient; to know that the right will come, and yet not to be able to show it instantaneously, when men are waiting for it, oh, that is trying! It gives the mocker opportunity to jeer. We are sure there is a proof, and we are positive that by-and-by it will be revealed, yet now, face to face with the sneerer, he seems to have it all his own way. Then what a struggle there is between faith and impatience, between confidence and weakness! how then we long that God would open a window in heaven, and would speak from some opening glory in the skies and declare himself! Yet he is far away, so far as silence can remove him; yea, he is dumb when the great controversy seems to beat against the very door of heaven. The Christian says we must wait; we can hasten nothing; we can toil as if we believed; we can confirm our faith by our life, and having done that we can do no more.
Elihu asks a question, which brings us to our right level “Should it be according to thy mind?” ( Job 34:33 ), Which is to be the supreme intelligence? That is the great question. Who is to be on the throne? Who is to be uppermost? Who is to speak the guiding word? It must either be the mind of man or the mind of God. Elihu says, Shall it be the mind of man? See what man has done; behold all the way through which he has passed, and see how he has been correcting himself, stultifying himself, coming back from his prodigalities, reversing his judgments, and rewriting his vows. The world cannot be administered according to a finite or limited mind. It comes to this, then; that such a world as ours, and such a universe as we know it, must be ruled by a mind equal to the occasion. We who cannot tell what will happen tomorrow ought to be silent rather than audible; we should wait, rather than advance: if we could prove our infallibility we might assert, but until we can establish it as a fact we must not broach it as a theory. The universe is too large for our management. We cannot manage our own affairs without blunder and mistake: how much less then could we manage the affairs of all men, and the courses of all worlds, and the destinies of all operations! It is ours to believe that God ruleth over all and is blessed for evermore; that all things, visible and invisible, are parts of a great empire, of which God is King and Lord. It is a noble faith. No man may come to the acceptance of this faith on the ground of weak-mindedness. No man can accept this faith without being mentally enlarged and ennobled. It may be assented to without reasoning and without reflection, and then it is not a religion but a superstition; or it may be received upon our knees, lovingly, adoringly, consentingly; our acceptance of it may be the last result of our inspired reasoning: then it becomes a faith, a religion, an inspiration, and we bow down before it, not ashamed because we cannot explain it, but glorying rather because its mystery will not come into human words, and all its meaning is too vast for the tiny vessel of human speech.
What God then shall we have? We must have some deity. We may deify ourselves, and thus become fools; or we may worship the God of the Bible, and thus receive an instruction which operates even more directly upon the moral than upon the intellectual nature. No man can serve God, and do evil: he may do the evil, never willingly or joyfully, but always with assurance that he ought not to have done it and that God rebukes him in a thousand ways. We cannot rightly receive the God of the Bible, and be little, mean, uncharitable, and unworthy. If we can find persons who profess to have received the God of the Bible and are yet all these things, then their profession is a lie. “By their fruits ye shall know them.” We are not asking for assent; we are asking for faith. It is one thing not to differ from a proposition, and another to live upon it and to have no other means of mental existence. That is faith. He is no Christian who simply “does not dispute” the facts of Christian history. Only he is a Christian who is crucified with Christ, as it were on the same cross, as it were pierced with the same nails, wounded with the same spear. That is Christianity. We debase the whole conception if we suppose that a man is a Christian because he does not differ from the New Testament in any energetic or aggressive way, that a man is a Christian because he passes through certain forms of Christian worship. That is not Christianity at all. A man may do all that, and a thousand times more, yet know nothing whatever of the Spirit of Christ He does not receive the God of the Bible who is not as good as that God, according to the measure of his capacity: “Be ye holy, as your Father in heaven is holy.” No man can receive the Christ of the gospels who is not dead and as much raised again as was that mighty Son of God, according to the man’s measure and capacity. To believe in God we must be one with God. To believe in Christ we must be one with Christ. When we are so identified we shall need no argument in words, for our life will be argument, our spirit will be persuasive and convincing eloquence.
Note
In his second speech Elihu returns to the main question of Job’s attitude towards God. He begins by imputing to Job language which he had never used, and which, from its extreme irreverence, Job would certainly have disowned (Job 34:5 , Job 34:9 ), and maintains that God never acts unjustly, but rewards every man according to his deeds. There is nothing in his treatment of this theme which requires comment…. The subject of the third speech is handled with more originality. Job had really complained that afflicted persons such as himself appealed to God in vain (Job 24:12 , Job 30:20 ). Elihu replies to this ( Job 35:9-13 ), that such persons merely cried from physical pain, and did not really pray. The fourth and last speech, in which he dismisses controversy and expresses his own sublime ideas of the Creator, has the most poetical interest. At the very outset the solemnity of his language prepares the reader to expect something great, and the expectation is not altogether disappointed. “God,” he says, “is mighty, but despiseth not any” ( Job 36:5 ); he has given proof of this by the trials with which he visits his servants when they have fallen into sin. Might and mercy are the principal attributes of God. The verses in which Elihu applies this doctrine to Job’s case are ambiguous and perhaps corrupt, but it appears as if Elihu regarded Job as in danger of missing the disciplinary object of his sufferings. It is in the second part of his speech ( Job 36:26 to Job 37:24 ) that Elihu displays his greatest rhetorical power; and though by no means equal to the speeches of Jehovah, which it appears to imitate, the vividness of his description has obtained the admiration of no less competent a judge than Alexander von Humboldt. The moral is intended to be that, instead of criticising God, Job should humble himself in devout awe at the combined splendour and mystery of the creation. Rev. Canon Cheyne.
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
(See the Job Book Comments for Introductory content and general conclusions and observations).
IX
ELIHU’S SPEECH, GOD’S INTERVENTION AND THE EPILOGUE
Job 32-42
The author’s introduction to Elihu’s speech consists of the prose section (Job 32:1-5 ), the several items of which are as follows:
1. Why the three friends ceased argument, viz: “Because he was righteous in his own eyes” (Job 32:1 ).
2. Elihu’s wrath against Job, viz: “Because he justified himself rather than God” (Job 32:2 ).
3. Elihu’s wrath against Job’s friends, viz: “Because they had found no answer, and yet had condemned Job” (Job 32:3 ; Job 32:5 ).
4. Why Elihu had waited to speak unto Job, viz: “Because they were older than he” (Job 32:4 ).
Elihu’s introduction (Job 32:6-22 ) consists of two sections as follows:
1. Elihu’s address to the three friends.
2. His soliloquy.
Now, an analysis of part one of this introduction consists of Elihu’s address to his three friends, with the following items:
1. He waited because he was young, and considered that days should speak and that years should teach wisdom (Job 32:6-7 ).
2. Yet there is individual intelligence, a spirit in man and the breath of the Almighty which gives understanding (Job 32:8 ).
3. And greatness, and age are not always wise, therefore, I speak (Job 32:9-10 ).
4. He had waited patiently and had listened for their reasonings while they fumbled for words (Job 32:11 ).
5. They had failed to answer Job’s argument, and therefore had failed to convince him (Job 32:12 ).
6. Now beware; do not say that you have found wisdom, for God can attend to his case, but not man (Job 32:13 ).
7. I will not answer him with your speeches (Job 32:14 ). Now let us analyze his soliloquy which is found in Job 32:15-22 and consists of the following items:
1. They are amazed and silent; they have not a word to say (Job 32:15 ).
2. Shall I wait? No; I will speak and show my opinion (Job 32:16-17 ).
3. I am full of words, and must speak or burst, therefore I will speak and be relieved (Job 32:18-20 ).
4. His method was not to respect persons nor give flattering titles, because he did not know how to do so and was afraid of his Maker (Job 32:21-22 ).
Elihu’s address to Job in 33:1-7 is as follows:
1. Hear me for the integrity and sincerity of my speech, since I have already begun and am speaking to you right out of my heart (Job 33:1-3 ).
2. I also am a man, being made as a man and since we are on a common level, answer me or stand aside (Job 33:4-5 ).
3. I will be for God, and being a man, I will not terrify you, for I will not bring great pressure upon you (Job 33:6-7 ).
The point of issue now is a general charge that Job’s heart attitude toward God is not right in view of these afflictions (Job 33:8-12 ). It will be seen that Elihu’s charge is different from that of the three friends, viz: That Job was guilty of past sins.
Elihu charged first that Job had said that God giveth no account of any of his matters (Job 33:13 ).. In his reply Elihu shows that this is untrue.
1. In that God reveals himself many times in dreams and visions in order to turn man from his purpose and to save him from eternal destruction (Job 33:14-18 ).
2. In that in afflictions God also talks to man as he often brings him down into the very jaws of death (Job 33:19-22 ). [Cf. Paul’s thorn in the flesh as a preventive.] None of the speakers before him brought out this thought. This is very much like the New Testament teachings; in fact, this thought is nowhere stated more clearly than here. It shows that afflictions are to the children of God what the storm is to the tree of the forest, its roots run deeper by use of the storm.
3. In that he sends an angel sometimes to interpret the things of God, to show man what is right for him (Job 33:23-28 ).
4. Therefore these things ought to be received graciously, since God’s purpose in it all is benevolent (Job 33:29-33 ). Elihu charged, in the second place, that Job had said that God had taken away his right and that it did not profit to be a righteous man (Job 34:5-9 ; Job 35:1-3 ).
His reply is as follows:
1. The nature of God disproves it; -he is not wicked and therefore will not pervert justice (Job 34:10-15 ).
2. Therefore Job’s accusation is unbecoming, for he is by right possessor of all things and governs the world on the principles of justice and benevolence (Job 34:21-30 ).
3. What Job should have said is altogether different from what he did say because he spoke without knowledge and his words were not wise (Job 34:31-37 ).
4. Whether Job was righteous or sinful did not affect God (Job 35:4-8 ).
Elihu charged, in the third place, that Job had said that he could not get a hearing because he could not see him (Job 35:14 ). His reply was that this was unbecoming and vanity in Job (Job 35:15-16 ).
Elihu’s fourth charge was that Job was angry at his chastisements (Job 36:18 ). He replied that such an attitude was sin; and therefore he defended God (36:1-16).
Elihu’s fifth charge was that Job sought death (Job 36:20 ). He replied that it was iniquity to suggest to God when life should end (Job 36:21-23 ).
Elihu discusses in Job 37 the approaching storm. He introduces it in Job 36:24 and in Job 36:33 he gives Job a gentle rebuke, showing him how God even tells the cows of the coming storm. Then he describes the approaching storm in Job 37 , giving the lesson in Job 36:13 , viz: It may be for correction, or it may be for the benefit of the earth, but “stand still and see.”
Elihu makes a distinct advance over the three friends toward the true meaning of the mystery. They claim to know the cause; he, the purpose. They said that the affliction was punitive; he, beneficent. His error is that he, too, makes sin in Job the occasion at least of his sorrow. His implied counsel to Job approaches the final climax of a practical solution. God’s first arraignment of Job is found in Job 38:1-40:2 . Tanner’s summary is as follows:
It is foolish presumption for the blind, dependent creature to challenge the infinite in the realm of providence. The government of the universe, physical and moral, is one; to question any point is to assume understanding of all. Job, behold some of the lower realms of the divine government and realize the absurdity of your complaint.
Job’s reply follows in Job 40:3-5 . Tanner’s summary: “I see it; I hush.”
God’s second arraignment of Job is recorded in Job 40:6-41:34 . Tanner:
To criticize God’s government of the universe is to claim the ability to do better. Assuming the role of God, suppose Job, you try your hand on two of your fellow creatures the hippopotamus and the crocodile.
Job’s reply is found in Job 42:1-6 , Tanner’s summary of which is: This new view of the nature of God reveals my wicked and disgusting folly in complaining; I repent. Gladly do I embrace his dispensations in loving faith.
There are some strange silences in this arraignment and some people have been disappointed that God did not bring out all the questions of the book at the close, as:
1. He says nothing of the heaven scenes in the Prologue and of Satan.
2. He gives no theoretic solution of the problems of the book.
3. He says nothing directly about future revelation and the Messiah.
The explanation of this is easy, when we consider the following facts:
1. That it was necessary that Job should come to the right heart attitude toward God without any explanation.
2. That to have answered concerning future revelation and the Messiah would have violated God’s plan of making revelation.
3. That bringing Job to an acceptance of God’s providence of whatever form without explanation, furnishes a better demonstration of disinterested righteousness.
This is true of life and the master stroke of the production is that the theoretical solution is withheld from the sufferer, while he is led to the practical solution which is a religious attitude of heart rather than an understanding of the head. A vital, personal, loving faith in God that welcomes from him all things is the noblest exercise of the human soul. The moral triumph came by a more just realization of the nature of God.
Job was right in some things and he was mistaken in other things. He was right in the following points:
1. In the main point of difference between him and the three friends, viz: That his suffering was not the result of justice meted out to him for his sins.
2. That even and exact justice is not meted out here on the earth.
3. In contending for the necessity of a revelation by which he could know what to do.
4. In believing God would ultimately vindicate him in the future.
5. In detecting supernatural intelligence and malice in his affliction.
He was mistaken in the following particulars:
1. In considering his case hopeless and wishing for death.
2. In attributing the malice of these things to God instead of Satan.
3. In questioning the mercy and justice of God’s providence and demanding that the Almighty should give him an explanation.
The literary value of these chapters (Job 38:1-42:6 ) is immense and matchless. The reference in Job 38:3 to “The cluster of the Pleiades” is to the “seven stars” which influence spring and represents youth. “Orion” in the same passage, stood for winter and represents death. The picture of the war horse in Job 39:19-25 has stood the challenge of the ages.
The lesson of this meeting of Job with God is tremendous. Job had said, “Oh, that I could appear before him!” but his appearing here to Job reveals to him his utter unworthiness. The man that claims sinlessness advertises his guilty distance from God. Compare the cases of Isaiah, Peter, and John. The Epilogue (Job 42:7-17 ) consists of three parts, as follows:
1. The vindication of Job and the condemnation of his three friends.
2. Job as a priest makes atonement and intercession for his friends.
3. The blessed latter end of Job: “So Jehovah blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning.”
The extent and value of the Almighty’s vindication of Job and his condemnation of the three friends are important. In extent it applies to the issues between Job and the three friends and not to Job’s heart attitude toward God. This he had correct-ed in Job by his arraignment of him. In vindicating Job, God justifies his contention that even and exact justice is not meted out on earth and in lime, and condemned the converse which was held by his friends. Out of this contention of Job grows his much felt need of a future judgment, a redeemer, mediator, interpreter, and incarnation, and so forth. Or if this contention is true, then man needs these things just mentioned. If the necessity of these is established, then man needs a revelation explaining all these things.
Its value is seen in God’s confirming these needs as felt by Job, which gives to us, upon whom the end of the ages has come, implicit confidence in the revelation he has given us, pointing out the fact that Job’s need of a redeemer, umpire, interpreter, and so forth has been supplied to the human race with all the needed information upon the other philosophic discussions of the book.
The signification of the Almighty’s “turning the captivity of Job” just at the point “when he prayed for his friends” is seen in the fact that Job reached the point of right heart attitude toward God before the victory came. This was the supreme test of Job’s piety. One of the hardest things for a man to do is to invoke the blessings of heaven on his enemies. This demand that God made of Job is in line with New Testament teaching and light. Jesus said, “Love your enemies and pray for them,” and while dying he himself prayed for his executioners. Paul who was conquered by the prayer of dying Stephen often prayed for his persecutors. This shows that Job was indeed in possession of God’s grace, for without it a man is not able to thus pray. The lesson to us is that we may not expect God to turn our captivity and blessings if we are unable to do as Job did.
The more thoughtful student will see that God does not ex-plain the problem to Job in his later addresses to him, nor in the Epilogue, because to give this would anticipate, out of due time, the order of the development of revelation. Job must be content with the revelation of his day and trust God, who through good and ill will conduct both Job and the world to proper conclusions.
QUESTIONS
1. What is the author’s introduction to Elihu’s speech and what the several items of it?
2. What is Elihu’s introduction (Job 32:6-22 ) and what the two sections?
3. Give an analysis of part one of this introduction.
4. Give an analysis of his soliloquy?
5. Analyze Elihu’s address to Job in Job 33:1-7 .
6. What is the point al issue?
7. What did Elihu charge that Job had said and what Elihu’s reply?
8. What did Elihu charge, in the second place, that Job had said and what Elihu’s reply?
9. What did Elihu charge in the third place, that Job had said, and what Elihu’s answer to it?
10. What was Elihu’s fourth charge and what was Elihu’s answer?
11. What Elihu’s fifth charge and what his reply?
12. What does Elihu discuss in Job 37 ?
13. What the distinct advances made by Elihu and what his error?
14. What God’s first arraignment of Job?
15. What Job’s reply?
16. What God’s second arraignment of Job?
17. What Job’s reply?
18. What the strange silences in this arraignment and what your explanation of them?
19. What the character of the moral solution of the problem as attained by Job?
20. In what things was Job right and in what things was he mistaken?
21. What can you say of the literary value of these chapters (Job 33:1-42:6 )?
22. Explain the beauties of Job 38:31 .
23. What of the picture of the war horse in Job 39:19-25 ?
24. What the lesson of this meeting of Job with God?
25. Give an analysis of the epilogue.
26. What the extent and value of the Almighty’s vindication of Job and his condemnation of the three friends?
27. What the signification of the Almighty’s “turning the captivity of Job” just at the point “when he prayed for his friends”?
28. Does God give Job the explanation of life’s problem, and why?
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
Job 34:1 Furthermore Elihu answered and said,
Ver. 1. Furthermore Elihu answered and said ] i.e. He prosecuted his former discourse, he thus pronounced (as the Vulgate hath it) in answer to some of Job’s former speeches, which he here reciteth, but not so candidly; and refelleth, but not so mildly as was meet. Pronuncians itaque Eliu, Elihu going on still in his anger and speech. True it is, that Job in his heat had let fall very many lavish and inconsiderate speeches, as is to be seen almost throughout the tenth chapter; but yet it was far from him ever to say either that himself was without sin or that God was unjust, as Elihu would bear him down; very odiously taking up certain sayings of his that way sounding, and very gravely calling forth the rest there present to give sentence with him against Job. Yet is not Elihu to be censured for a proud, arrogant person (as some make him), but to be esteemed, Sapiens et egregius vir, as Lavater here styleth him, a wise and excellent man; though he should have considered that the Spirit of God is neque mendax, neque mordax, a spirit of truth and of meekness.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Job Chapter 34
Well, Elihu proceeds (Job 34 ), and now he blames Job again. He says, “Hear my words, ye wise men, and give ear unto me, ye that have knowledge. For the ear trieth words, as the mouth tasteth meat. Let us choose to us judgment: let us know among ourselves what is good. For Job hath said, I am righteous” (vers. 2-5). And he was, in the sense in which his three friends denied; but he was not righteous in glorifying God. No, he found fault with God. “For Job hath said, I am righteous: and God hath taken away my judgment. Should I lie against my right? my wound is incurable without transgression.” Well, he says that is insufferable; such language is highly improper. “What man is like Job, who drinketh up scorning like water “; for there was a good deal of the pride of his heart that came out in Job. “Which goeth in company with the workers of iniquity.” He says: ‘It is bad enough for unbelieving men to say something like that; but you – Job!’ “Therefore hearken unto me,” etc. Now he appeals to Job. “Who has given him a charge over the earth, or who has disposed all the world?” Who is one that has committed anything to him, to dispose of the whole world? Who has done that for God? “If he set his heart upon man” – He has only to leave man, and he perishes.
You see, Elihu had not in the least that idea which many pious men have now, that all the world goes on well by the principle of gravitation. Well, there is not a doubt God gives an impulse to all the heavenly orbs, and the earth among the rest. He gave them their motion; but then it is God who keeps it up. Men attribute this to second causes. But it is not in the way of motion to be perpetual. That is all a great mistake; there is no such thing, and God it is that keeps everything going, and if God were to withdraw for a moment the immediate action of His power, everything would collapse. That is what Elihu teaches here. “If he set his heart upon man, if he gather unto himself his spirit and his breath – all flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto dust. If now thou hast understanding, hear this: hearken to the voice of my words. Shall even he that hateth right govern?” That is, he shows the monstrousness of Job finding fault with God. “And wilt thou condemn him that is most just?” “Why,” he says, “it is not fit to say so to a king.” A king may have his faults, but his office is one that demands reverence from men. We are not only to fear God’ but to honour the king. Here you have it. He was anything but, what people call, in these days, “a liberal.” “Is it fit to say to a king, Thou art wicked?” etc. (vers. 18-21), Every now and then God does allow, and what is the effect of it? A revolution. People do not know why it is; but when men are always crying for some change, or something new, God allows it to come, and they are overwhelmed. It is the very thing that they do not want; because the upshot, almost always, of a revolution of men against government is that there is a worse government that follows. But there is a true despot at the same time flattering the people while he is taking advantage of them in every possible way. “For he will not lay upon man more than right,” etc. (vers. 23-27).
Then he shows another side, when God gives quietness. God, after all, spite of the restless wickedness of the devil, is always above him. Not only above man, but above Satan and all his power. “When he giveth quietness, who then can make trouble? and when he hideth his face, who then can behold him? whether it be done against a nation, or against a man only; that the hypocrite reign not, lest the people be ensnared. Surely it is meet to be said unto God, I have borne chastisement” – that is what he was pressing upon Job. “I will not offend any more” etc. (vers. 29-36). Job had spoken very unguardedly. “For he addeth rebellion unto his sin, he clappeth his hands among us, and multiplieth his words against God.”
Fuente: William Kelly Major Works (New Testament)
answered = addressed. See note on Job 4:1.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Chapter 34
Furthermore Elihu went on then [Job didn’t answer], he said, Hear my words, O ye wise men; give ear unto me, that have knowledge. For the ear tries words, as the mouth tastes meat ( Job 34:1-3 ).
That’s a very picturesque phase, isn’t it? The ear tries words even as your mouth tastes meat. You taste it, see what it’s like. Your ears listen to it, you know, and judges it, see what it tastes like.
Let us choose to us judgment: let us know among ourselves what is good. For Job hath said, I am righteous: and God has taken away my judgment. Should I lie against my right? my wound is incurable without transgression ( Job 34:4-6 ).
This is what Job is saying. And then Elihu answers,
What man is like Job, who drinks up scorning like water? ( Job 34:7 )
Here you guys have been scorning him and the guy is just drinking it up like water. You ever see anybody like that? He’s saying, “I’m righteous,” you know. “I’m afflicted for nothing.” This guy is just drinking up your scorn like water. Have you ever seen anybody like Job?
For he hath said, It profits a man nothing that he should delight himself with God. Therefore hearken unto me, ye men of understanding: far be it from God, that he should do wickedness; and from the Almighty, that he should commit iniquity. For the work of a man shall he render unto him, and cause every man to find according to his ways. Yes, surely God will not do wickedly, neither will the Almighty pervert judgment. Who hath given him a charge over the earth? or who hath disposed the whole world? If he set his heart upon man, if he gathers unto himself his spirit and his breath; All flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto dust. If thou hast understanding, hear this: hearken to the voice of my words. Shall even he that hates right govern? and will you condemn him that is most just? Is it fit to say to a king, Thou art wicked? and to princes, You are ungodly? How much less to him that accepts not the persons of princes, nor regards the rich more than the poor? for they are all the work of his hands ( Job 34:9-19 ).
God has created all men. And we’re really… Paul said, “Who are you, oh man, who judges another man’s servant.” Before his own master, he either stands or falls. God is able to make him to stand. We’re not really to be guilty of condemning and judging our neighbor. “Judge not, lest ye be judged” ( Mat 7:1 ). So Elihu is sort of pointing out this very same thing. God has made each man.
In a moment they will die, the people will be troubled at midnight, and pass away: and the mighty shall be taken away without a hand. For his eyes are upon the ways of man, he sees his goings. There is no darkness, nor shadow of death, where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves. For he will not lay upon man more than right; that he should enter into judgment with God. He will break in pieces mighty men without number, and set others in their stead. Therefore he knows their works, he overturns them in the night, and they are destroyed. He strikes them as wicked men in the open sight of others; Because they turned back from him, and would not consider any of his ways: So that they cause the cry of the poor to come unto him, and he hears the cry of the afflicted. When he gives quietness, who then can make trouble? and when he hides his face, who then can behold him? whether it be done against a nation, or against a single individual: That the hypocrite reign not, lest the people be ensnared. Surely it is necessary to be said unto God, I have borne chastisement, I will not offend any more: That which I see not teach thou me: if I have done iniquity, I will do it no more ( Job 34:20-32 ).
So he’s really saying to Job, “Now, Job, you’d be much better off to say to God, ‘If I have borne this chastisement, I won’t offend You anymore and, Father, show me what it is. Teach me if I’ve done inequity that I will do it no more.'”
Should it be according to thy mind? he will recompense it, whether you refuse, or whether you choose; and not I: therefore speak what you know. Let men of understanding tell me, and let wise men hearken unto me. Job has spoken without knowledge, and his words were without wisdom. My desire is that Job may be tried to the end because of his answers for wicked men. For he hath added rebellion unto his sin, he claps his hands among us, and multiplies his words against God ( Job 34:33-37 ).
Elihu is really laying it on. “Job, I wish God would even do worse to you, man. I wish He’d take you right out to the end. ‘Cause here you are clapping your hands at us and yelling at us and this kind of stuff and telling us that God is not fair.” “
Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary
Job 34:1-3. Furthermore Elihu answered and said, Hear my words, O ye wise men; and give ear unto me, ye that have knowledge. For the ear trieth words, as the mouth tasteth meat.
I wish that verse was always true, especially concerning those who hear what purports to be the gospel; I only wish they would test and try what they hear, just as, with their mouth, they taste what they eat. But, as there are some persons who will eat anything that is set before them, so there are some who will accept anything that they hear, without exercising any spiritual discernment whatever. It is cleverly put, they say, and therefore they receive it; yet they would scarcely be foolish enough to eat unhealthy food simply because it was skillfully carved.
Job 34:4-5. Let us choose to us judgment: let us know among ourselves what is good. For Job hath said, I am righteous: and God hath taken away my judgment.
Yes, Job had said something like that, yet not quite that. He had denied the charges of gross sin which his friends brought against him, and he had, in that sense, declared that he was righteous, and so he was. There may have been in Job a little of the spirit which Elihu here denounces; he may, perhaps, have thought that God had not dealt well with him, in letting him fall into so much trouble, seeing that he was a righteous man. This notion, Elihu will not permit to pass unchallenged. Mistaking Jobs meaning, he denounces it, just as I have heard preachers sometimes give a description of Calvinism such as it never was, and then they have proceeded to burn the man of straw which they have themselves made. It is one of the easiest things in the world to misquote or misinterpret your opponents statement, and then denounce it, and think you have confuted him, whereas you have only dissipated the chimera of your own brain. Elihu proceeds to deal with Job in this fashion.
Job 34:6-9. Should I lie against my right ? my wound is incurable without transgression. What man is like Job, who drinketh up scorning like water? Which goeth in company with the workers of iniquity, and walked with wicked men. For he hath said, It profiteth a man nothing that he should delight himself with God.
He did not mean that Job did really go into the company of the wicked; but that, in his saying that it had been no profit to him that he should delight himself with God,which Elihu declares that Job said, though I do not remember that he ever did say so,he was making himself the associate of ungodly men. Any of us would be doing so if we, in our sorrowful moments, should say that we had derived no profit from delighting ourselves with God. It would not be true; it would be a rebellious and wicked speech, and, in some degree, it would be an atheistic speech.
Job 34:10. Therefore hearken unto me, ye men of understanding : far be it from God, that he should do wickedness; and from the Almighty, that he should commit iniquity.
That was well spoken. Let us never, even for a moment, imagine that God can do anything that is unrighteous or unjust. God is a sovereign, and therefore he may do as he wills with his own grace; but there is never any injustice in any of the acts of his sovereignty. He is infinitely wise, and just, and merciful, in all that he does. He does as he wills, but he never wills to do anything that could possibly be better done. His own will is the best that can be.
Job 34:11-17. For the work of a man shall he render unto him, and cause every man to find according to his ways. Yea, surely God will not do wickedly, neither will the Almighty pervert judgment. Who hath given him a charge over the earth? or who hath disposed the whole world? If he set his heart upon man, if he gather unto himself his spirit and his breath; all flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto dust. If now thou hast understanding, hear this: hearken to the voice of my words. Shall even he that hateth right govern?
Do you suppose that it could be so,that the Governor of all the earth should hate that which is right? This would be rank blasphemy.
Job 34:17. And wilt thou condemn him that is most just?
Wilt thou, poor puny mortal, arraign the Most High, and dare to condemn him who is most just?
Job 34:18-19. Is it fit to say to a king, Thou art wicked? and to princes, Ye are ungodly? How much less to him that accepteth not the persons of princes, nor regardeth the rich more than the poor? for they all are the work of his hands.
This is the same kind of argument as Paul used in writing to the Romans: Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Shall the potters clay resist the power of the potter, who assuredly has the right to do what he wills with his own clay? And if we do not speak lightly against princes, much less should we speak against the King of kings and Lord of lords, whose infinite majesty filleth all things, What, after all, are princes, and rich men, and great men, in comparison with the great God who made them all? They all are the work of his hands.
Job 34:20. In a moment shall they die, and the people shall be troubled at midnight, and pass away: and the mighty shall be taken away without hand.
An invisible power takes away the strength of which they boasted, and then, what does the prince become, with all his glory, or the warrior, with all his victories? What, but so much corruption that must be buried out of sight?
Job 34:21-22. For his eyes are upon the ways of man, and he seeth all his goings. There is no darkness, nor shadow of death, where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.
How gloriously is this great truth put! This Elihu was a man of real eloquence; what a weighty sentence is this! How worthy to be treasured up in the memory! There is no darkness, nor shadow of death, where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves. Not even in the grave can they be concealed from the eye of God; and if it were possible for them to hide beneath the skirts of death himself, yet would God perceive them, and drag them forth to judgment.
Job 34:23. For he will not lay upon man more than right; that he should enter into judgment with God.
For, if man were ill treated, and more were laid upon him than ought to be, he would have cause to enter into judgment with his Maker. But God will never compromise his own eternal holiness after such a fashion as this. He will not lay upon man more than is right. You who are greatly afflicted, and in sore distress, ought to believe this; and if the Spirit of God shall give you a full conviction of the truth of it, it will afford you great comfort. The waves of your distress will come just as far as God wills, but at his bidding they must stay, as stays the sea in the fullness of its pride when Jehovah says to it, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further. Therefore, leave thy case in his hands, for he will not lay upon thee more than is right.
Job 34:24-28. He shall break in pieces mighty men without number, and set others in their stead. Therefore he knoweth their works, and he overturneth them in the night, so that they are destroyed. He striketh them as wicked men in the open sight of others; because they turned back from him, and would not consider any of his ways: so that they cause the cry of the poor to come unto him, and he heareth the cry of the afflicted.
It is a dreadful thing for princes and great men when the poor begin to cry unto God against them. God will soon take up that quarrel; for, while the cries of mere politicians and partisans are unheeded by him, the cry of the afflicted always commands his attention, and he will, in due time, rectify all that is wrong.
Job 34:29. When he giveth quietness, who then can make trouble?
This is a most comforting question; for, if God gives quietness to the spirit, nobody can really trouble you. When Christ has once spoken peace to our heart, and given us a holy calm, then are we glad because we be quiet, and who is he that can raise a storm in our soul again? The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, also passeth all distraction. It cannot be broken by all the devils in hell. Oh, how blessed is this assurance!
Job 34:29. And when he hideth his face, who then can behold him?
If God will not be seen, who can possibly see him? If he grows wroth with a man, and leaves him, what can that man do? When even his own beloved people no longer see his face, what joy can be theirs? What can make day when the sun is gone? What can make joy when Christ is gone?
Job 34:29-30. Whether it be done against a nation, or against a man only: that the hypocrite reign not, lest the people be ensnared.
God has ways of dealing with his children by which he weeds out hypocrites, lays them low, and does not suffer them to have rule over his people.
Job 34:31. Surely it is meet to be said unto God, I have borne chastisement, I will not offend any more:
That is the spirit of the true-born child of God: Father, I know that what I have suffered is a chastisement from thy hand, and I accept it as such. I will not offend any more, I quit the sin that grieved thee.
Job 34:32. That which I see not teach thou me:
Show me wherefore thou contendest with me. Point out to me the evil which thou wouldest have me put away.
Job 34:32-35. If I have done iniquity, I will do no more. Should it be according to thy mind? he will recompense it, whether thou refuse, or whether thou choose; and not I: therefore speak what thou knowest. Let men of understanding tell me, and let a wise man hearken unto me. Job hath spoken without knowledge, and his words were without wisdom.
This man is getting proud and conceited, I think. He spoke well when he was defending God against all charges and complaints; but now that he turns upon Job, the patriarch is a wiser man and a better man than he is. Elihu is not fit to unloose the latchets of Jobs shoes, yet he begins to accuse him. It sometimes happens that dogs bark at their masters, yet the masters are not to be blamed; and it is not always the best man who reproves others. Sometimes, a very foolish man will be the loudest in his rebukes of those who are wiser and better than himself, and will find fault with those whom he ought to commend. It was so in the case of Elihu and Job.
Job 34:36-37. My desire is that Job may be tried unto the end because of his answers for wicked men. For he addeth rebellion unto his sin, he clappeth his hands among us, and multiplieth his words against God.
Well, thank God, we are not going to be judged by Elihu, nor by any other of our fellow-creatures; to our own Master we stand or fall, and if we trust in him, he will make us to stand even in the great day of judgment itself, blessed be his holy name!
Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible
Job 34:1-9
Introduction
Job 34
ELIHU’S SECOND SPEECH:
ELIHU’S BRUTAL ATTACK ON JOB
The whole cycle of speeches in Job is a marvel of human failure to understand. The relation between sin and suffering Job never for a moment disputed. The thing that confronted Job was that, in spite of his integrity toward God and the absence of any gross wickedness that could possibly have deserved the terrible misfortunes that had overtaken him, he was judged by his friends, and everyone else, as a wicked sinner who was getting exactly what his wicked conduct deserved.
It appears to this writer that one of the primary purposes of this book was that of contradicting that nearly universal fallacy. The false idea that wickedness is at once punished by God with retribution in kind is not true. It was not true in the days of Job; it was not true in the days of Christ; and it is not true today.
In Luk 13:1-5, Christ pointed out that those men whose blood Pilate had mingled with the sacrifices, and that those men upon whom the tower of Siloam fell were not any worse sinners than other citizens of Jerusalem; and in Joh 9:2-3, even the apostles of Christ had to be told that neither the blind man nor his parents had committed sins that resulted in his being born blind. The relevance of these New Testament passage is seen in the fact that people supposed the victims of those tragedies were being punished for their sins.
Since it was this very fallacy that was so vigorously alleged against Job by the instruments of Satan in this terrible campaign to compel him to renounce his integrity, we must conclude that the doctrine itself is a primary weapon of Satan, invented by him and continually advocated by evil men.
“Elihu continued to ignore the particular situation of Job and dealt only in generalities. Whereas Job had argued from the particular to the general, from his own case, to the character of God, as confirmed by other injustices around him, Elihu dealt only with his concept of theology (which was in error), concluding from it that Job was wicked.”
“There are three charges which Elihu brought against Job: (1) he said he was righteous (Job 9:21; Job 13:18); (2) this was an implication (in the sight of Elihu) that Job was accusing God of injustice; and (3) he even claimed that religion brought no profit to man. “It is impossible to justify this third charge from anything that Job had said. It was only a deduction made by Elihu from the general drift of what Job was saying.”
It was the erroneous views of Elihu and Job’s other accusers that led to their false judgment of him.
“This second speech of Elihu is not addressed primarily to Job, but to a group called `wise men’; and Elihu is no longer reasoning with Job with a view to helping him. He is attacking Job.”
Job 34:1-9
ELIHU’S FALSE CHARGES AGAINST JOB
“Moreover Elihu answered and said,
Hear my words, ye wise men;
And give ear unto me, ye that have knowledge.
For the ear trieth words,
As the palate tasteth food.
Let us choose for us that which is right:
Let us know among ourselves what is good.
For Job said, I am righteous,
And God hath taken away my right:
Notwithstanding my right, I am accounted a liar;
My wound is incurable, though I am without transgression.
What man is like Job,
Who drinketh up scoffing like water,
Who goeth in company with the workers of iniquity,
And walketh with wicked men?
For he hath said, It profiteth a man nothing
That he should delight himself with God.”
“Hear my words, ye wise men” (Job 34:2). The break at the beginning of this chapter means that Job had completely ignored Elihu, and that here Elihu turned to address the crowd that is imagined to have assembled to hear the speeches. Kelly pointed out that the crowd of onlookers here is “imagined,” there being no reference whatever to it in the text. However, the idea that the wise men here are a different group from the three friends is supported by the fact that, “The tone of reproof Elihu used in addressing the three friends (Job 32:7 ff) is no longer present in this chapter.”
“Notwithstanding my right, I am accounted a liar” (Job 34:6). We protest the evil rendition of Job 34:6 by Pope in the Anchor Bible. He rendered it, “Concerning my case, he (God) lies, wounded with his dart, yet sinless.” Many of the greatest scholars reject such a rendition. Atkinson translated it, “Although I am right, I am considered a liar,” which without any doubt is the true meaning of the place. The noted Albert Barnes gave it as, “In respect to my cause, I am regarded a liar. The arrow in me is fatal, though I am free from transgression.” Noyes, as quoted by Barnes, rendered it this way: “Though I am innocent I am made a liar.”
“What man is like Job, who drinketh up scoffing like water” (Job 34:7). “In this Elihu repeats the slander of Eliphaz, replacing `iniquity’ with `scoffing,’ and adding a totally groundless accusation that Job is a companion of evildoers (Job 34:8).” The word here rendered `scoffing,’ according to Keil, carries the meaning of `blasphemy.'”[11]
“For he hath said, It profiteth a man nothing that he should delight himself in God” (Job 34:9). “Again it must be remarked that Job had not said this.” The nearest approach to anything like this that Job has said is in Job 9:22, where he stated that “God destroyeth the perfect and the wicked,” with the meaning that fatal accidents happen to good and bad alike.
E.M. Zerr:
Job 34:1-2. Men is not in the original; the paragraph was meant for general use.
Job 34:3. The adaptation of the ear to language is as natural as food to taste.
Job 34:4. This was a suggestion to use the faculty of hearing to determine what is good. It implied that if that were done the words of Elihu would be accepted.
Job 34:5-6. It will help to clarify this paragraph if we enclose all of it in quotation marks after the word said. It misrepresents Job, for he never contended that he had no transgression. He maintained all the while that the afflictions were not connected with any sin that he may have committed.
Job 34:7. Job paid such little attention to the scorning or derision that was thrown at him that Elihu used the illustration of a man drinking water freely.
Job 34:8-9. This was a direct false accusation. The intimation that Job was a sinner was far enough from the real issue; but this wild statement was false almost to the extent of being vicious. Job never dignified it even with a denial.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Job gave no answer to the challenge, and Elihu proceeded. He first appealed to the wise men, asked that they would listen in order to try his words. He then made two quotations from the things Job had been saying. The first may be summarized as a contention, that he had been afflicted by God notwithstanding his integrity. This quotation is followed by an exclamation in which Elihu declared that in this attitude Job had been in the company of wicked men. The second quotation was one in which Job had suggested that nothing is gained by loyalty to God. Of course, neither of these quotations was direct. They rather summarize the conclusions which Job’s arguments seemed to warrant. Elihu immediately set himself to answer both. In this section the first only is dealt with. Elihu affirmed first that God cannot do wickedness. God’s authority is beyond all appeal. He cannot be influenced by any low motive. Therefore whatever He does is right.
Elihu proceeded to argue that God’s government is based on perfect knowledge. He sees all man’s goings. There is no need for Him to institute special trial. His judgments are the outcome of His understanding.
Therefore it is the wisdom of man to submit and learn. This Job had not done, but in what he had said he had at least suggested that God’s action had been unjust, and thus rebellion was added to sin.
Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible
the Almighty Must Be Just
Job 34:1-37
Elihu stands in Job 34:10 as Gods apologist. Gods absolute and impartial justice is at all times a matter of untold comfort. There will be no cause of ultimate complaint, but from the lips of the holiest beings in the universe, most able to pass an opinion, the cry will ascend, Great and marvelous are thy works, O Lord God the Almighty. Righteous and true are thy ways, thou King of the ages. Thy righteous acts have been made manifest, Rev 15:3-4, r.v.
Ponder those last words. Gods righteous acts have not yet been made manifest; it is therefore foolish and wrong to pass judgment upon an unfinished program. Wait, mortal man, until, at the great white throne, God shall unfold His inner reasons. If it is not fit to say to a king, Thou art vile, how much less to Him who lives through the ages, while the people are shaken and pass away, and the mighty are taken away without hand!
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
Job 34:22
The text marks a special circumstance in the character of “workers of iniquity,” namely, that they are men who wish or will wish to hide themselves; that there is that in their dispositions and practice which they wish concealed from all knowledge and judgment. This wish to hide is the acknowledgment that there is justice over the creation, that there is a righteous and retributive Power inspecting everywhere, with the consciousness that there is something obnoxious to justice. But for this consciousness all would be “children of the light.”
I. The text chiefly respects the impossibility of concealment from God and the wish that it were possible. But to a certain extent it might be truly said also with regard to human inspection and judgment. It is but imperfectly that the workers of iniquity can hide themselves even from human view. For there are innumerable vigilant eyes and minds exercising a keen inspection. Men are watching one another, in default of inspecting themselves. There is a never-sleeping suspicion. The wicked often betray one another.
II. Notice the different kinds of darkness in which sinners seek to hide themselves. (1) There is the darkness of profound dissimulation. (2) There is the darkness of deep solitude. (3) There is the darkness of night. (4) In a moral or spiritual sense, we may give the name of “darkness” to a delusive state of notions respecting religion. (5) In the grave, in the state of the dead, in the other world, there will be no hiding-place of darkness. No corner of the universe has a veil from the Creator. There is no recess into which a spirit can slide. The same all-seeing power and almighty justice are everywhere. And if we look forward through time, there is in prospect the great day of manifestation, of which the transcendent light will be such as to annihilate the darkness of all past time. It will be not only as “the light of seven days,” but as the light of thousands of years all at once.
J. Foster, Lectures, vol. i., p. 167.
References: Job 34:29.-Homiletic Magazine, vol. viii., p. 62; Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xiii., No. 737. Job 34:31, Job 34:32.-Ibid., vol. xxii., No. 1274; G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons, p. 132.
Job 34:32
What we all want is direct teaching-the teaching of Almighty God. God has many lesson-books out of which He teaches. But the Teacher Himself is always apart from and above the lesson-book. The power is all in His secret agency. That instructs; that elevates. It is a real, personal God, using all, pervading all, impressing all, a spirit working with the spirit of a man.
I. There are two classes of subjects about which we need God’s teaching. (1) The one is what we know is to be known, but as yet we do not know it. (2) The other is that about which we have not a conception; we do not know that it exists or can exist. Both equally lie in the words, “What I see not.”
II. As you attain to the knowledge of the one, the other will open to you-first of things dimly guessed; then of facts actually realised. So it will be for ever, indistinct knowledge growing distinct, and the distinct knowledge making up the idea of things indistinct, and then those indistinctnesses becoming again in their turn distinct. Then shadow out further hazes, which in their turn grow into substances, and so on in a never-ending series. And still the craving must be, “What I see not, teach Thou me.”
III. There is only one way to secure God’s own teaching. You must go into that school with clean hands and a pure heart. Over the portal of the palace of truth is the inscription-as strict in its stipulation as it is large in its undertaking-“If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine.”
J. Vaughan, Sermons, 9th series, p. 21.
References: Job 34:33.-A. Raleigh, The Little Sanctuary, p. 195; Spurgeon, My Sermon Notes: Genesis to Proverbs, p. 136; G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons, pp. 132, 287; H. F. Burder, Sermons, p. 299. Job 34-S. Cox, Expositor, 1st series, vol. x., p. 341; Ibid., Commentary on Job, p. 437. Job 35:10.-H. Melvill, Four Sermons in Cambridge, No. 2; Spurgeon, Evening by Evening, p. 295. Job 35:10, Job 35:11.-Ibid., Sermons, vol. xxvi., No. 1511. Job 35-S. Cox, Expositor, 1st series, vol. xi., p 33; Ibid., Commentary on Job, p. 455.
Fuente: The Sermon Bible
CHAPTER 34
1. Hear my words ye wise men (Job 34:1-4)
2. The refutation of Jobs accusation of God (Job 34:5-30)
3. Job needs testing to the end (Job 34:31-37)
Job 34:1-4. In beginning this part of the address, in which Elihu vindicates Gods character against Jobs insinuations, he addresses the friends of Job, and perhaps others who were gathered there. He wants them to pay the closest attention to what he will say.
Job 34:5-30. This is the main burden of his address; it is taken up with refuting Jobs charge against God. He treats Job with all fairness and quotes what he said before. The wrong Job had done in his words is found in Job 34:5-9. Then Elihu brings forth the refutation that God is unjust. He shows that God is righteous. He is God and the Almighty and He cannot do that which is evil and unrighteous. If sin or wickedness were in Him He would not be God. His creation bears witness to this. He sustains all in His goodness. Note Job 34:14 in its true rendering, Should He set His heart upon Himself, what then would become of man? All flesh would then expire and man would turn to dust again. But He does not set His heart upon Himself. Finally Elihu demonstrates the righteousness of God from His greatness and his omniscience. His judgments also declare that He is righteous (Job 34:26-30).
Job 34:31-37. And Job has not yet learned the lesson; he needs more testings. Did ever a word like the following come from his sinful lips? I have borne chastisement, I will not offend any more. Has he asked in humility to be taught? Or has he said, if I have done iniquity I will do it no more? Alas! his spirit in spite of all affliction, was still unbroken. Would that Job were tried unto the end, because he answered like wicked men, for he addeth rebellion unto his sin, He clappeth his hands among us, and multiplieth his words against God.
Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)
High Altitudes in Elihu’s Answer to Job
Job 32:1-22, Job 33:1-33, Job 34:1-37, Job 35:1-16, Job 36:1-33
INTRODUCTORY WORDS
We now come to that part of the Book of Job which presents a most remarkable message spoken by a young man of spiritual integrity. Elihu had evidently been listening to the words of Job, and of his three friends. His spirit had waxed hot within him as he listened; and yet he did not deign to make a reply until the three men utterly collapsed in their arguments and expletives against Job.
1. Men who speak for God should be taught of God. Elihu said, “Days should speak, and multitude of years should teach wisdom.” However, Elihu understood. “Great men are not always wise: neither do the aged understand judgment.” This is a message that all young people need to ponder. Men of years are not necessarily men who know God. One may be ever so well versed in human knowledge, and ever so brilliant in all things which pertain to psychical understanding, and yet, be altogether ignorant of the things of God. Here is the way Elihu put it: “There is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding” (Job 32:8).
We need this inspiration from on high-this gift of God. Daniel possessed Divine wisdom. How else could he have told the things of God and particularly those things which are being fulfilled in our own day.
2. Men who speak for God should realize that they stand in God’s stead. Elihu approached Job, not with a message of his own; neither did he come in his own name. Mark his words: “Behold, I am according to thy wish in God’s stead: I also am formed out of the clay.”
Job had desired to meet God, and lay his case before the Almighty. Elihu now tells Job that he is there in God’s stead. He feels that he can bring God’s message, because he was taught of God. Elihu’s claim may, at the first, seem like presumption. How can a man stand in God’s stead? We must stop and consider these words. Let us examine a Scripture to be found in 2Co 5:20. “Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us; we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.
The Spirit-sent believer holds a very vital relation to God in his delivery of a God-sent message. The Lord even says of Him, “He that receiveth you receiveth Me, and he that receiveth Me receiveth Him that sent Me.”
The authority of one who preaches the true Word of God is as high Heaven. There is an abiding sense of responsibility in all of this; and it lies with tremendous weight upon every one sent of God. If we are in God’s stead, we must speak the words of God. If we are in God’s stead, we must work the works of God.
3. Men who speak for God should express the compassion of God. Elihu said: “My terror shall not make thee afraid, neither shall my hand be heavy upon thee” (Job 33:7). “For I know not to give flattering titles; in so doing my Maker would soon take me away.”
We have then a twofold obligation: first, we must speak with all love; and yet, secondly, we must speak with all honesty and not with beguiling words, with which we would seek to please men. We may sum up our duty in this: “Speaking the truth in love.”
Job’s three friends had shown anything but the tender compassion of God. They had maligned Job, and criticised him, had continually charged him with wickedness, of which he knew he was not guilty. They expressed no Godlike sympathy, as they should have done.
Christ spoke bitter words of denunciation against the religious hypocrites of His day, but He spoke them with a heart of yearning. The darkest anathemas He ever uttered are recorded in Matthew twenty-three. Mark, therefore, how He closed His solemn series of terrific “woes.” Here are His closing words: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, * * how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, but ye would not!” Let us speak the truth in love.
I. HOW GOD REVEALS HIMSELF (Job 33:14-17)
1. God speaks in dreams. Not for a moment would Elihu suggest that all dreams are from God. However, it is often true that in the daytime God has but little opportunity to get in a word with those to whom He would give some warning. Thus, in the hours of the night, God does speak in “a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep faileth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed.”
Where is the individual who has not felt that he had, at some time in his life, some real message from God as he lay sleeping? And yet, we would give a warning that Elihu did not give. We believe that we need to be so in touch with the Lord, and in such fellowship with the Spirit that we will seek by day, and not when asleep at night, the will of God, and His message for our souls.
We need, moreover, to be so filled with His Word that we will receive many revelations from God in the Scriptures that come to our remembrances in special hours of need. If we will walk with God in full yieldedness to Him, it will not be difficult to find out what He has to say to us.
2. God’s purpose in speaking to us. This is the way Elihu put it:
(1) “That He may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man.” Alas, alas, so many men are rushing headlong on their way, without ever stopping to seek, much less to know, the will of God in their lives! God has said, “It is not in a man to order his steps”; and yet, few men, comparatively, ever ask God for guidance.
Why do we get into so many labyrinths of difficulty? It is because we sought to turn every one to his own way. The very essence of sin is “my way,” “my thought.” What is the finale of salvation? It is to turn men back to God, as Lord and Master. It is to save us from our transgression-going across the will of God.
The supreme call of God to the redeemed soul, is this: “Yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God” (Rom 6:13).
(2) That He may keep “back his soul from the pit, and his life from perishing by the sword.” God does not want any of us to rush heedlessly on to our doom. He wants to bless us with all spiritual blessings. He wants to fill our lives with His good things. He has no pleasure that any man should perish. Let us, then, seek His face, and learn to trust His will.
II. GOD’S PURPOSE IN PAIN (Job 33:19-22)
Some one has said, “Sweet are the uses of adversity.” God has said, “No chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but * * afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.” Back of all affliction, is the God of all grace.
1. Then He is gracious unto him. Elihu taught that all of the chastening of God led to a manifestation of God’s mercy. Man is chastened with pain upon his bed: his life abhorreth bread, and his soul dainty meat; his flesh is consumed away; his bones stick out, and his soul draweth near to the grave: then God is gracious unto him.
Elihu is right. God does use every bitter cup that we drink, every pain that we suffer, that He may perfect, strengthen, establish, and settle us. In all of our trials, God is seeking our good. In our anguish, He is leading us to His joy; in our poverty, He is leading us into His riches; in our shame, He is leading us into His glory.
What then should we do when afflictions befall us? We should drop our tired head over upon His arm and wait for His deliverance. He will be gracious unto us.
2. The basis of God’s graciousness. Here is a little expression found in the last clause of Job 33:24, which is well worth weighing. The clause reads: “I have found a Ransom.”
We do not doubt but Elihu is seeking to convey the basis upon which God’s grace operates. How can God be gracious unto the one who has sinned, and whom He has chastened? How can God deliver any soul from going down into the pit? All have sinned; and the wages of sin is death.
God’s deliverance is given on the basis of a Ransom. That Ransom is made in none other way than by the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the One who died, the Just for the unjust. He is the One who suffered for us. How truly grateful we should be because God found a basis upon which He could be just, and yet justify the ungodly!
There are some who feel that this Scripture in Job carries a wonderful message on God’s physical deliverances. This is no doubt true, particularly when sickness, with its contingent pain and bitterness, is due to sin. In such a case, the sin must be disposed of before the remedy can be applied.
Elihu, in Job 33:26, emphasizes the place of prayer, and confession, as a basis on which God’s grace, by way of His Ransom, operates. Elihu said, “He shall pray unto God, and He will be favourable unto him: and he shall see His face with joy.”
Elihu is pleading with Job to accept God’s graciousness by the way of His Ransom, and by means of the prayer of confession. Where can we find a better scriptural statement than this?
III. GOD’S RIGHTEOUS DEALINGS (Job 34:10-12)
During Job’s sickness and pain Elihu observed that Job was justifying himself. In this, Elihu contended that Job, of necessity, was condemning God. Elihu was right. To be sure, Job had been nagged on by the condemnatory words of his false friends; and besides, Job was righteous, so far as he knew. He was not guilty, as his friends asserted. However, Job should not have found fault with God. Here are the words of Elihu: “Far be it from God, that He should do wickedness; and from the Almighty, that He should commit iniquity.”
Elihu further contended that the Almighty will not pervert judgment. As the result of Elihu’s contention, he made two statements in the form of two questions.
1. “Wilt thou condemn Him that is most just?” It is not fit for a subject to say to the King, “Thou art wicked.” Nor, for the plebian to say to the prince, “Ye are ungodly.” Then said Elihu, “How much less to Him that accepteth not the persons of princes, nor regardeth the rich more than the poor?” Shall the created condemn the Creator? Shall the clay condemn the potter?
Abraham, when he prayed to God concerning Sodom, said, “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” Men may not always understand God’s dealings, but men should always bend the knee and acknowledge God’s righteousness.
All of Job’s complaints against Jehovah were due to Job’s ignorance. If he had only been able to have pierced the veil, and to have heard Satan’s challenge; or, if he had heard God’s marvelous commendation of his righteousness, he would have felt differently about it. The trouble with Job was that he argued in the dark.
2. Wilt thou condemn Him who is omniscient? Elihu presented before Job the fact that God knew all things. Here are Elihu’s words: “For His eyes are upon the ways of man, and He seeth all his goings. There is no darkness, nor shadow of death, where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.”
Man may not understand God, but God knows what is in man. God may hide Himself from the wicked, but they can never hide from Him. There is nothing that is not naked and open unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.
Since God knows the way we take, He also knows what is good for us. Elihu said, “He will not lay upon man more than right.” What then shall we do? We will trust and not be afraid. If we do not know the way, we know our Guide; if we do not know the why of our sorrows and our pains, we do know that God leads the way.
IV. GOD’S GREAT AND BENEFICENT HAND (Job 35:10-11)
We now come to one of the most beautiful verses of the whole Bible. They are words spoken by Elihu. “But none saith, Where is God my Maker, who giveth songs in the night” (Job 35:10). Elihu is intimating that Job should have been singing, instead of sighing. Some may now desire to take Job’s part. They may feel that if God sends tribulation, it is right and proper for saints to tribulate. With this, Elihu would not agree.
It was just here that Job, as a type of Christ, broke down. We have shown in a former study how the cries of Job, in the hour of his anguish, paralleled those of Christ as He went to the Cross. We have also shown how the treatment which Job received paralleled the treatment which Christ received. We now wish to observe, not the parallelism, but the contrast.
As Job faced his suffering, and drank the bitterness of his cup, he caught every now and then, through faith, a vision of ultimate victory; yet, Job continually bewailed his estate. Job wished to die. Job even condemned God, and continually bemoaned his lot.
Jesus Christ, on the contrary, as He faced the hour of His travail, faced it with joy. On the night of His betrayal, Christ uttered such words as these: “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you.” “These things have I spoken unto you, that My joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.”
In the Garden of Gethsemane, as the bitter cup was pressed to the lips of the Master, Christ said, “If it be possible, let this cup pass from Me: nevertheless not as I will, but as Thou wilt.”
There never was a moment that the Lord Jesus complained; there was never a moment that He doubted. Our Lord was a nightingale, singing in the midnight hour of His travail. We read that after He had taken the bread and had broken it, saying, “This is My body”; and that after He had taken the cup, and had poured it forth, saying, “This is My blood of the new testament, which is shed for many”; that afterward, “when they had SUNG AN HYMN, they went out.”
Thus, the Lord sang songs in the night. Is it possible for us to sing, as He sang? It was possible for Paul and Silas, for they sang at Philippi with their feet in the stocks, as they lay in the Roman jail.
V. ELIHU’S SOLEMN WARNING (Job 36:18)
We must bring this message shortly to a close, but we cannot do so until we emphasize Elihu’s three solemn warnings which he gave to Job.
1. “Beware lest.” “Beware lest He take thee away with His stroke: then a great ransom cannot deliver thee.” Elihu longed for Job to get into the place of victory, before God might take him away, Elihu taught that after death God’s great Ransom could not deliver. He who repents must repent in life, and never after death. The work of the Cross is effective by faith only among men who are yet in the flesh.
Let every one, therefore, beware lest God speak the word, “Cut him down: why cumbereth he the ground?”
2. “Remember that.” This is Elihu’s second warning. He said, “Remember that thou magnify His work, which men behold.” How marvelously did Elihu give glory to God! This is the whole duty of man.
There is a little verse in the New Testament that says: “Remember Jesus Christ.” People today are in danger of forgetting God, and of forgetting His Son our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. The world needs a renewed vision of God, and a new love for and trust in God.
3. “Behold, God.” The verse in full reads: “Behold, God is great, and we know Him not, neither can the number of His years be searched out.” The balance of Elihu’s speech, finishing the thirty-sixth and through the thirty-seventh chapter, is given to glorifying God, and to magnifying His greatness.
AN ILLUSTRATION
Let us know, with the faith of Elihu, that we have a Ransom. Let us not trust “Rotten Ships.”
Much has been said and written about rotten ships, and what a sad piece of iniquity it is for any, just for the sake of present gain, to attempt to trifle with human life, in sending men in ships that ought to have been broken up long years ago. Old unseaworthy hulks patched up and painted, then freighted with precious life, all sacrificed for the cupidity and covetousness of the owners, how the world reprobates such conduct, and cries out against it.
Would that all equally condemned the attempts to sail to Heaven in the rotten hulks of man’s providing.
When we try to gain everlasting life by anything that we do, say, or promise, ignoring the new and living way, what is it but sailing in a rotten ship that must founder. When we boast ourselves of our morality, sincerity, good deeds and intentions, ignoring the work and Person of Jesus the Saviour, what is it but a fair coat of bright paint that covers a worm-eaten, rotten ship, that will not stand one breath of God’s judgment. When we weary ourselves with the performance of outward forms and ceremonies of religion, and try to satisfy the conscience with acts of devotion and contrition, rejecting the work of Christ, who hath “by Himself purged our sins,” what is it but building again what God has destroyed, and embarking in that which will never reach the shore.
God condemned all these ways four thousand years ago, providing an “Ark,” even Christ Jesus, for the saving of the soul-the sinner’s refuge and way of escape. And what He said unto Noah, He says to you, “Come thou, and all thy house, into the Ark.”-Unknown.
Fuente: Neighbour’s Wells of Living Water
Job 34:1. Furthermore Elihu answered and said Job making no reply to what Elihu had said, probably because he saw that he had touched the particular point in which he was especially defective, Elihu carries the charge a little higher, and tells him, with more sharpness than before, that there were some words in his discourse which sounded in his ears as if he accused Gods justice and goodness: for what else did he mean when he complained that God did not do him right, and that he destroyed alike both good and bad? Which rash assertions Elihu overthrows from the consideration of the sovereign dominion, power, righteousness, and wisdom of God. That it was impossible God could act unjustly: for were he so disposed, what could hinder him from annihilating the whole human race at once? He needed only withdraw his preserving power, and they would instantly fall into dust. Since, then, he did not act in this manner, but his ways were perfectly agreeable to righteousness, he was not to be addressed in so rude a manner as Job had made use of. Reverence and respect were due to earthly princes; how much more to Him in whose sight the prince and beggar were the same! for he was the Maker of them all. That though God would look with a merciful eye on the infirmities of human nature, when accompanied with humility, yet the arrogant were sure to find no favour at his hands; he would not fail to execute his vengeance on them, that they might be an example to others. That submission and resignation were the behaviour fit for man in the presence of God; and therefore, toward the conclusion of the chapter, he represents to Job what behaviour and discourse would have better become him than that which he had used.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Job 34:5. Job hath saidGod hath taken away my judgment. See on Job 27:2. Elihu, in every accusation, takes or turns Jobs words in a wrong sense. Job meant that God had varied, in regard of him, the general rule of judging men.
Job 34:30. That the hypocrite reign not. Better, He sets up a hypocrite for a king, because of the wickedness of the people. Good princes are the best gifts of God to a nation, and a bad prince is the scourge of God to a guilty land. This doubles the calamity, by the abounding vices of both parties.
REFLECTIONS.
Satan seems to have reserved Elihu, who spake from his heart with honest intentions, to inflict on Job his last and deepest wounds, by the frequent repetitions of Jobs professions of righteousness, and of Gods visitations. The proposal to lay aside differences and prejudices, and examine the matter together, was a good one. In difficult and perplexed cases it is seldom that one mans thoughts are sufficiently clear, unbiassed and comprehensive, to judge; and in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.
Let us firmly believe and reverently acknowledge the righteousness and equity of God. Far be it from him that he should do iniquity, or pervert judgment; and far be it from us to say or think so. He cannot do an ill thing, or deal unjustly with any one. He never respects persons, nor suffers any service performed with a view to his glory, to go unrewarded, nor any wicked action unpunished; sooner or later he will render to every man according to his work. It is not fit to say to earthly princes, ye are wicked; but if decency and decorum are necessary in speaking of them, much more of the great God, the blessed and only potentate.
Let a sense of the perfect knowledge of God continually impress our minds: Job 34:21. He accurately observes us wherever we go, and whatever we do: his eyes are ever upon us, there is no darkness nor shadow of death where the wicked can hide themselves. This intimates that they would be glad to hide themselves, but it is in vain. He sees all their wickedness; no concealment can hide from his view, no confederacy can secure from his hand. Let us then always act and endure, as seeing him who is invisible. We are taught our duty in seasons of affliction. Then it is fit and meet to be said unto God, as in Job 34:31-32 : I have borne chastisement, I will not offend any more. That which I see not, teach thou me: if I have done iniquity, I will do no more. It is our duty to humble ourselves before him, to examine what has been amiss, and pray that he would show it unto us, that we may repent and correct it. It becomes us to form resolutions that we will offend no more, and to put them into practice immediately. A sense of the almighty power, impartial justice, and tender compassion of God, with the recollection that our comfort and peace, our times and our lives, are in his hand, should engage us to do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God.
Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Job 34:1-9. Elihu summons the wise men who hear him to seek a right decision. Job has accused God of injustice, when he is innocent. But in reality Job is the worst of scorners, for he denies the profit of religion.
Job 34:3 is quoted from Job 12:11. With Job 34:7 f., cf. Psa 1:1.
Job 34:10-15. God will not do wickedly, but will render to each man retribution. He is no deputy of some higher power (Job 34:13), but the Sovereign Lord of mans breath; when He withdraws it, man returns to dust.
In Job 34:13 b Job 34:14 read, Who setteth his heart on the whole world. If he cause his spirit to return to him and gather in to him his breath (Duhm, transferring his heart from Job 34:14 to Job 34:13 b). The meaning of Job 34:13 b then is that God can see all that takes place in the whole world, nothing escapes His notice. With Job 34:14; cf. Job 33:4, Psa 104:29 f., Ecc 12:7.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
HIS APPEAL AS TO WISE MEN
(vv.1-4)
Since Job had wisely refrained from speaking, Elihu makes an appeal to all his hearers, as to wise men (v.2). This reminds us of 1Co 10:15, “I speak as to wise men: judge for yourselves what I say.” Having heard Elihu’s first words, Job and his friends were wise to listen rather than to speak. They had knowledge enough to know that their knowledge was deficient. But in listening they could test the words of Elihu, a test that he was fully willing that they should make (v.3), just as the taste tells whether food is good or not.
Elihu did not elevate himself above them, however, but appealed to them, unitedly with himself, to choose what is true justice, to “know among ourselves what is good” (v.4). Thus he wisely seeks to draw his hearers to a consensus of opinion.
HE REFUTES JOB’S QUESTIONING OF GOD’S JUSTICE
(vv.5-9)
Elihu does not consider at all what the three friends had charged Job with, for they had no basis for their accusations. Rather, Elihu refers to what Job himself had said, “I am righteous, but God has taken away my justice” (v.5). However righteous Job was, it was unrighteous of him to dare to speak of God in this way. Further, Job had said, “My wound is incurable, though I am without transgression” (v.6). Job implied that God had brought him down to a state that could not be cured, though Job had not been guilty of any transgression (v.6). Because Job had thus spoken, Elihu asks, “What man is like Job, who drinks scorn like water, who goes in company with the workers of iniquity and walks with wicked men?” (vv.7-8).
He does not accuse Job of being wicked, but of speaking like the wicked do against God, and therefore putting himself in their company! “For he has said, it profits a man nothing that he should delight in God” (v.10). In speaking thus, Job did not realise he was inviting further trouble.
JOB’S CHARGE REFUTED
(vv.10-30)
Elihu therefore urges them to listen to his answer to Job, again crediting them with sufficient understanding to judge if he was telling the truth (v.10). Then he makes the simple, clear declaration, “Far be it from God to do wickedness, and from the Almighty to commit iniquity.” Job ought not to have had the slightest doubt about this, no matter how greatly he may have suffered. Whatever questions may have arisen in Job’s mind, the actual fact of truth remains, that “He (God) repays man according to his work, and makes man to find a reward according to his way “(v.11). He does not say when God repays man, for this is a matter that depends on God’s inscrutable wisdom; but God will never do wickedly or pervert justice (v.12), as Job had inferred God had done in his case.
Then Elihu asks, “Who gave Him charge over the earth? or who appointed Him over the whole world?” (v.13). He is asking in effect, “Is God answerable to anybody?” Did Job appoint God as the authority over the whole world? If so, of course then God would be answerable to Job! Indeed the opposite is true: Job, and every individual, is answerable to God. In fact, if God so desired, He could “gather to Himself His Spirit and His breath” by which He gives life to all mankind. What would happen then? “All flesh would perish together, and man would return to dust” (vv.14-15). How withering a rebuke to the pride of man! How clearly this tells us that we are always totally dependent on the power of God, not only in creating us, but in constantly, sustaining us in life.
Elihu appeals again to Job and his three friends, “If you have understanding, hear this; listen to the sound of my words” (v.16). He asks them pointedly, “Should one who hates justice govern? Will you condemn Him who is most just?” If one hates justice, he should not be allowed to govern. Would Job suggest this as to God? But God is most just. Even in men’s normal relationships it is not fitting to accuse a king of being worthless or a prince wicked (v.18): how much more serious it is to imply that God is not righteous.
“Yet He is not partial to princes, nor does He regard the rich more than the poor” (v.19). Job had been rich, but he should have observed that God did not favour him above others who were poor. In fact, he imagines that God showed partiality by allowing him to suffer rather that others. But this only exposed his lack of discernment. However, all men are “the work of His hands.” God is engaged in a very wise work in dealing with every individual.
Men do not have authority over their own lives: in a moment they die, in the middle of the night; the people are shaken and pass away; the mighty are taken away without a hand” (v.20). Whatever man may think or say about this, his utter helplessness is evident. God’s eyes see what man does not, for His eyes observe all the ways of man and every step he takes (v.21). Men may seek darkness to hide themselves, but their efforts in this matter are futile (v.22). They love darkness rather than light, but the darkness hides them only from the observation of other men, though they stupidly think they can deceive God.
Samuel Ridout in his book on Job, says the meaning of verse 23 is that “He (God) does not need to study a man’s ways, but at a glance, as it were, knows him and enters into judgment with him” (P. 192). “Therefore He knows their works,” as without need of patient investigation, and overthrows them, even in the night (v.25), when they think to hide themselves from view, “and they are crushed.” This often happens, but only when God decides it. Thus He may strike them in their wickedness in the open sight of others (v.26) rather than in the dark. The reason is immediately given, “Because they turned their back from Him, and would not consider any of His ways” (v.27). This was not true of Job, yet he had spoken in such a way as the wicked speak.
“They cause the cry of the poor to come to Him, for He hears the cry of the afflicted” (v.28). These were those who oppressed the poor.
Did God hear the cry of the poor? Yes indeed! Did God hear the complaints of Job? Job did not think so, but God does hear, and He will answer in His own time and way. Well might Elihu then ask, “When He gives quietness, who then can make trouble?” (v.29). At the moment God had not given quietness to Job, though He certainly did so later. On the other hand, when God hides His face, who then can understand Him, whether a nation or an individual? God does either of these things when He pleases, and submission to Him is the only proper response from man.
Each of these cases is used by God to put the hypocrite in his place (v.30), for a hypocrite would like to have the place of authority, but his thoughts are moved by his feelings, not by faith, so that he is defeated by God’s sovereign wisdom in doing things in a way that does not pamper men’s feelings. People then are not snared by the hypocrite if they simply believe God.
THUS, JOB REQUIRED TESTING
(vv.31-37)
Elihu indicates that God was testing Job. If Job was failing the test, he must be tested further. Could Job not say to God, “I have borne chastening: I will offend no more; teach me what I do not see; if I have done iniquity, I will do no more?” It was plain that Job did not see the reasons for God’s dealing with him. Why not then humbly appeal to God to teach him, rather than criticise God?
Should God repay Job according to Job’s terms – just because Job did not approve? (v.33). Elihu therefore tells Job, “You must choose, and not I.” It was Job who was being tested. Would he choose to criticise God or to submit to God? Thus, he was invited, “speak what you know.” When he criticised God, he did not know what he was talking about, but spoke what he suspected might he the case. How good to remember that the Lord Jesus always spoke what He knew (Joh 3:11).
“Men of understanding” or “wise men” would listen to such advice, and realise that Job had spoken of God without knowledge or wisdom (vv.34-35). Well might Elihu desire that Job might be tried to the utmost because his answers were like those of wicked men (v.36). Job should have known better, for he was not wicked. Yet whatever other sin he might be guilty of, Job was adding to it the serious crime of rebellion against the God of all creation, as though he could withstand God and prosper! (v.37).
Fuente: Grant’s Commentary on the Bible
3. Elihu’s second speech ch. 34
Elihu, in this speech, sought to refute Job’s charge that God was unjust. He tried to answer Job’s question, "Why doesn’t God have mercy on me?" He first addressed the three friends (Job 34:10-15, plural "you" in Hebrew) and then spoke to Job (Job 34:16-27, singular "you"). In his first speech Elihu had alluded to Eliphaz’s arguments. In this one he took up Bildad’s (Job 34:2; Job 34:34).
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Job’s plea of innocence 34:1-9
Elihu reminded the three older counselors that Job had claimed to be innocent of transgressions (cf. Job 13:18; Job 13:23; Job 14:17; Job 23:11; Job 27:2; Job 27:6). Then he sided with them and agreed that Job was guilty of sin, for which God could punish him justly.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
XXV.
POST-EXILIC WISDOM
Job 32:1-22; Job 33:1-33; Job 34:1-37
A PERSONAGE hitherto unnamed in the course of the drama now assumes the place of critic and judge between Job and his friends. Elihu, son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, appears suddenly and as suddenly disappears. The implication is that he has been present during the whole of the colloquies, and that, having patiently waited his time, he expresses the judgment he has slowly formed on arguments to which he has given close attention.
It is significant that both Elihu and his representations are ignored in the winding up of the action. The address of the Almighty from the storm does not take him into account and seems to follow directly on the close of Jobs defence. It is a very obvious criticism, therefore, that the long discourse of Elihu may be an interpolation or an afterthought-a fresh attempt by the author or by some later writer to correct errors into which Job and his friends are supposed to have fallen and to throw new light on the matter of discussion. The textual indications are all in favour of this view. The style of the language appears to belong to a later time than the other parts of the book. But to reject the address as unworthy of a place in the poem would be too summary. Elihu indeed assumes the air of the superior person from the first, so that one is not engaged in his favour. Yet there is an honest, reverent, and thoughtful contribution to the subject. In some points this speaker comes nearer the truth than Job or any of his friends, although the address as a whole is beneath the rest of the book in respect of matter and argument, and still more in poetical feeling and expression.
It is suggested by M. Renan that the original author, taking up his work again after a long interval, at a period in his life when he had lost his verve and his style, may have added this fragment with the idea of completing the poem. There are strong reasons against such an explanation. For one thing there seems to be a misconception where, at the outset, Elihu is made to assume that Job and his friends are very old. The earlier part of the poem by no means affirms this. Job, though we call him a patriarch, was not necessarily far advanced in life, and Zophar appears considerably younger. Again the contention in the eighth verse (Job 32:8) -“There is a spirit in man, and the breath of the Almighty giveth them understanding”-seems to be the justification a later writer would think it needful to introduce. He acknowledges the Divine gift of the original poet and adding his criticism claims for Elihu, that is, for himself, the lucidity God bestows on every calm and reverent student of His ways. This is considerably different from anything we find in the addresses of the other speakers. It seems to show that the question of inspiration had arisen and passed through some discussion. But the rest of the book is written without any consciousness, or at all events any admission of such a question.
Elihu appears to represent the new “wisdom” which came to Hebrew thinkers in the period of the exile; and there are certain opinions embodied in his address which must have been formed during an exile that brought many Jews to honour. The reading of affliction given is one following the discovery that the general sinfulness of a nation may entail chastisement on men who have not personally been guilty of great sin, yet are sharers in the common neglect of religion and pride of heart, and further that this chastisement may be the means of great profit to those who suffer. It would be harsh to say the tone is that of a mind which has caught the trick of “voluntary humility,” of pietistic self-abasement. Yet there are traces of such a tendency, the beginning of a religious strain opposed to legal self-righteousness, running, however, very readily to excess and formalism. Elihu, accordingly, appears to stand on the verge of a descent from the robust moral vigour of the original author towards that low ground in which false views of mans nature hinder the free activity of faith.
The note struck by the Book of Job had stirred eager thought in the time of the exile. Just as in the Middle Ages of European history the Divine Comedy of Dante was made a special study, and chairs were founded in universities for its exposition, so less formally the drama of Job was made the subject of inquiry and speculation. We suppose then that among the many who wrote on the poem, one acting for a circle of thinkers incorporated their views in the text. He could not do so otherwise than by bringing a new speaker on the stage. To add anything to what Eliphaz or Bildad or Job had said would have prevented the free expression of new opinion. Nor could he without disrespect have inserted the criticism after the words of Jehovah. Selecting as the only proper point of interpolation the close of the debate between Job and the friends, the scribe introduced the Elihu portion as a review of the whole scope of the book, and may indeed have subtly intended to assail as entirely heterodox the presupposition of Jobs integrity and the Almightys approval of His servant. That being his purpose, he had to veil it in order to keep the discourse of Elihu in line with the place assigned to him in the dramatic movement. The contents of the prologue and epilogue and the utterance of the Almighty from the storm affect, throughout, the added discourse. But to secure the unity of the poem the writer makes Elihu speak like one occupying the same ground as Eliphaz and the others, that of a thinker ignorant of the original motive of the drama; and this is accomplished with no small skill. The assumption is that reverent thought may throw new light, far more light than the original author possessed, on the case as it stood during the colloquies. Elihu avoids assailing the conception of the prologue that Job is a perfect and upright man approved by God. He takes the state of the sufferer as he finds it, and inquires how and why it is, what is the remedy. There are pedantries and obscurities in the discourse, yet the author must not be denied the merit of a careful and successful attempt to adapt his character to the place he occupies in the drama. Beyond this, and the admission that something additional is said on the subject of Divine discipline, it is needless to go in justifying Elihus appearance. One can only remark with wonder, in passing, that Elihu should ever have been declared the Angel Jehovah, or a personification of the Son of God.
The narrative verses which introduce the new speaker state that his wrath was kindled against Job because he justified himself rather than God, and against the three friends because they had condemned Job and yet found no answer to his arguments. The mood is that of a critic rather hot, somewhat too confident that he knows, beginning a task that requires much penetration and wisdom. But the opening sentences of the speech of Elihu betray the need the writer felt to justify himself in making his bold venture.
I am young and ye are very old;
Wherefore I held back and durst not show my knowledge.
I thought, Days should speak,
And the multitude of years teach wisdom.
Still, there is a spirit in man,
And the breath of the Almighty giveth them understanding.
Not the great in years are wise,
Nor do the aged understand what is right.
Therefore I say: Hearken to me;
I also will show my opinion.
These verses are a defence of the new writers boldness in adding to a poem that has come down from a previous age. He is confident in his judgment, yet realises the necessity of commending it to the hearers. He claims that inspiration which belongs to every reverent conscientious inquirer. On this footing he affirms a right to express his opinion, and the right cannot be denied.
Elihu has been disappointed with the speeches of Jobs friends. He has listened for their reasons, observed how they cast about for arguments and theories; but no one said anything convincing. It is an offence to this speaker that men who had so good a case against their friend made so little of it. The intelligence of Elihu is therefore from the first committed to the hypothesis that Job is in the wrong. Obviously the writer places his spokesman in a position which the epilogue condemns; and if we assume this to have been deliberately done a subtle verdict against the scope of the poem must have been intended. May it not be surmised that this implied comment or criticism gave the interpolated discourse value in the eyes of many? Originally the poem appeared somewhat dangerous, out of the line of orthodoxy. It may have become more acceptable to Hebrew thought when this caveat against bold assumptions of human perfectibility and the right of man in presence of his Maker had been incorporated with the text.
Elihu tells the friends that they are not to say we have found wisdom in Job, unexpected wisdom which the Almighty alone is able to vanquish. They are not to excuse themselves nor exaggerate the difficulties of the situation by entertaining such an opinion, Elihu is confident that he can overcome Job in reasoning. As if speaking to himself he describes the perplexity of the friends and states his intention.
“They were amazed, they answered no more;
They had not a word to say.
And shall I wait because they speak not,
Because they stand still and answer no more?
I also will answer my part,
I also will show my opinion.”
His convictions become stronger and more urgent. He must open his lips and answer. And he will use no flattery. Neither the age nor the greatness of the men he is addressing shall keep him from speaking his mind. If he were insincere he would bring on himself the judgment of God. “My Maker would soon take me away.” Here again the second writers self defence colours the words put into Elihus mouth. Reverence for the genius of the poet whose work he is supplementing does not prevent a greater reverence for his own views.
The general exordium closes with the thirty-second chapter, and in the thirty-third Elihu, addressing Job by name, enters on a new vindication of his right to intervene. His claim is still that of straightforwardness, sincerity. He is to express what he knows without any other motive than to throw light on the matter in hand. He feels himself, moreover, to be guided by the Divine Spirit. The breath of the Almighty has given him life; and on this ground he considers himself entitled to enter the discussion and ask of Job what answer he can give. This is done with dramatic feeling. The life he enjoys is not only physical vigour as contrasted with Jobs diseased and infirm state, but also intellectual strength, the power of God-given reason. Yet, as if he might seem to claim too much, he hastens to explain that he is quite on Jobs level nevertheless.
“Behold. I am before God even as thou art;
I also am formed out of the clay.
Lo, my terror shall not make thee afraid,
Neither shall my pressure be heavy upon thee.”
Elihu is no great personage, no heaven-sent prophet whose oracles must be received without question. He is not terrible like God, but a man formed out of the clay. The dramatising appears overdone at this point, and can only be explained by the desire of the writer to keep on good terms with those who already reverenced the original poet and regarded his work as sacred. What is now to be said to Job is spoken with knowledge and conviction, yet without pretension to more than the wisdom of the holy. There is, however, a covert attack on the original author as having made too much of the terror of the Almighty, the constant pain and anxiety that bore down Jobs spirit. No excuse of the kind is to be allowed for the failure of Job to justify himself. He did not because he could not. The fact was, according to this critic, that Job had no right of self defence as perfect and upright, without fault before the Most High. No man possessed or could acquire such integrity. And all the attempts of the earlier dramatist to put arguments and defences into his heros mouth had of necessity failed. The new writer comprehends very well the purpose of his predecessor and intends to subvert it.
The formal indictment opens thus:-
Surely thou hast spoken in my hearing
And I have heard thy words:-
I am clean without transgression:
I am innocent, neither is there iniquity in me.
Behold. He findeth occasions against me,
He counteth me for His enemy;
He putteth me in the stocks
He marketh all my paths.
The claim of righteousness, the explanation of his troubles given by Job that God made occasions against him and without cause treated him as an enemy, are the errors on which Elihu fastens. They are the errors of the original writer. No one endeavouring to represent the feelings and language of a servant of God should have placed him in the position of making so false a claim, so base a charge against Eloah. Such criticism is not to be set aside as either incompetent or over bold. But the critic has to justify his opinion, and, like many others, when he comes to give reasons his weakness discloses itself. He is certainly hampered by the necessity of keeping within dramatic lines. Elihu must appear and speak as one who stood beside Job with the same veil between him and the Divine throne. And perhaps for this reason the effort of the dramatist comes short of the occasion.
It is to be noted that attention is fixed on isolated expressions which fell from Jobs lips, that there is no endeavour to set forth fully the attitude of the sufferer towards the Almighty. Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar had made Job an offender for a word and Elihu follows them. We anticipate that his criticism, however telling it may be, will miss the true point, the heart of the question. He will possibly establish some things against Job, but they will not prove him to have failed as a brave seeker after truth and God.
Opposing the claim and complaint he has quoted, Elihu advances in the first instance a proposition which has the air of a truism-“God is greater than man.” He does not try to prove that even though a man has appeared to himself righteous he may really be sinful in the sight of the Almighty, or that God has the right to afflict an innocent person in order to bring about some great and holy design. The contention is that a man should suffer and be silent. God is not to be questioned; His providence is not to be challenged. A man, however he may have lived, is not to doubt that there is good reason for his misery if he is miserable. He is to let stroke after stroke fall and utter no complaint. And yet Job had erred in saying, “God giveth not account of any of His matters.” It is not true, says Elihu, that the Divine King holds Himself entirely aloof from the inquiries and prayers of His subjects. He discloses in more than one way bath His purposes and His grace.
“Why dost thou contend against God
That He giveth not account of any of His matters?
For God speaketh once, yea twice,
Yet man perceiveth it not.”
The first way in which, according to Elihu, God speaks to men is by a dream, a vision of the night; and the second way is by the chastisement of pain.
Now as to the first of these, the dream or vision, Elihu had, of course, the testimony of almost universal belief, and also of some cases that passed ordinary experience. Scriptural examples, such as the dreams of Jacob, of Joseph, of Pharaoh, and the prophetic visions already recognised by all pious Hebrews, were no doubt in the writers mind. Yet if it is implied that Job might have learned the will of God from dreams, or that this was a method of Divine communication for which any man might look, the rule laid down was at least perilous. Visions are not always from God. A dream may come “by the multitude of business.” It is true, as Elihu says, that one who is bent on some proud and dangerous course may be more himself in a dream than in his waking hours. He may see a picture of the future which scares him, and, so he may be deterred from his purpose. Yet the waking thoughts of a man, if he is sincere and conscientious, are far more fitted to guide him, as a rule, than his dreams.
Passing to the second method of Divine communication, Elihu appears to be on safer ground. He describes the case of an afflicted man brought to extremity by disease, whose soul draweth near to the grave and his life to the destroyers or death angels. Such suffering and weakness do not of themselves insure knowledge of Gods will, but they prepare the sufferer to be instructed. And for his deliverance an interpreter is required.
“If there be with him an angel,
An interpreter, one among a thousand,
To show unto man what is his duty;
Then He is gracious unto him and saith,
Deliver him from going down to the pit,
I have found a ransom.”
Elihu cannot say that such an angel or interpreter will certainly appear. He may: and if he does and points the way of uprightness, and that way is followed, then the result is redemption, deliverance, renewed prosperity. But who is this angel? “One of the ministering spirits sent forth to do service on behalf of the heirs of salvation”? The explanation is somewhat farfetched. The ministering angels were not restricted in number. Each Hebrew was supposed to have two such guardians. Then Malachi says, “The priests lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth; for he is the angel (messenger) of Jehovah Sabaoth.” Here the priest appears as an angel interpreter, and the passage seems to throw light on Elihus meaning. As no explicit mention is made of a priest or any priestly function in our text, it may at least be hinted that interpreters of the law, scribes or incipient rabbis, are intended, of whom Elihu claims to be one. In this case the ransom would remain without explanation. But if we take that as a sacrificial offering, the name “angel interpreter” covers a reference to the properly accredited priest: The passage is so obscure that little can be based upon it; yet assuming the Elihu discourses to be of late origin and intended to bring the poem into line with orthodox Hebrew thought, the introduction of either priest or scribe would be in harmony with such a purpose. Mediation at all events is declared to be necessary as between the sufferer and God; and it would be strange indeed if Elihu, professing to explain matters, really made Divine grace to be consequent on the intervention of an angel whose presence and instruction could in no way be verified. Elihu is realistic and would not rest his case at any point on what might be declared purely imaginary.
The promise he virtually makes to Job is like those of Eliphaz and the others, -renewed health, restored youth, the sense of Divine favour. Enjoying these, the forgiven penitent sings before men, acknowledging his fault and praising God for his redemption. The assurance of deliverance was probably made in view of the epilogue, with Jobs confession and the prosperity restored to him. But the writer misunderstands the confession, and promises too glibly. It is good to receive after great affliction the guidance of a wise interpreter; and to seek God again in humility is certainly a mans duty. But would submission and the forgiveness of God bring results in the physical sphere, health, renewed youth and felicity? No invariable nexus of cause and effect can be established here from experience of the dealings of God with men. Elihus account of the way in which the Almighty communicates with His creatures must be declared a failure. It is in some respects careful and ingenious, yet it has no sufficient ground of evidence. When he says-
“Lo, all these things worketh God
Oftentimes with man,
To bring back his soul from the pit”-
the design is pious, but the great question of the book is not touched. The righteous suffer like the wicked from disease, bereavement, disappointment, anxiety. Even when their integrity is vindicated the lost years and early vigour are not restored. It is useless to deal in the way of pure fancy with the troubles of existence. We say to Elihu and all his school, Let us be at the truth, let us know the absolute reality. There are valleys of human sorrow, suffering, and trial in which the shadows grow deeper as the traveller presses on, where the best are often most afflicted. We need another interpreter than Elihu, one who suffers like us and is made perfect by suffering, through it entering into His glory.
An invocation addressed by Elihu to the bystanders begins chapter 34. Again he emphatically asserts his right to speak, his claim to be a guide of those who think on the ways of God. He appeals to sound reason and he takes his auditors into counsel-“Let us choose to ourselves judgment; let us know among ourselves what is good.” The proposal is that there shall be conference on the subject of Jobs claim. But Elihu alone speaks. It is he who selects “what is good.”
Certain words that fell from the lips of Job are again his text. Job hath said, I am righteous, I am in the right; and, God hath taken away my judgment or vindication. When those words were used the meaning of Job was that the circumstances in which he had been placed, the troubles appointed by God seemed to prove him a transgressor. But was he to rest under a charge he knew to be untrue? Stricken with an incurable wound though he had not transgressed, was he to lie against his right by remaining silent? This, says Elihu, is Jobs unfounded impious indictment of the Almighty; and he asks:-
“What man is like Job,
Who drinketh up impiety like water,
Who goeth in company with the workers of iniquity,
And walketh with wicked men?”
Job had spoken of his right which God had taken away. What was his right? Was he, as he affirmed, without transgression? On the contrary, his principles were irreligious. There was infidelity beneath his apparent piety. Elihu will prove that so far from being clear of blame he has been imbibing wrong opinions and joining the company of the wicked. This attack shows the temper of the writer. No doubt certain expressions put into the mouth of Job by the original dramatist might be taken as impeaching the goodness or the justice of God. But to assert that even the most unguarded passages of the book made for impiety was a great mistake. Faith in God is to be traced not obscurely but as a shaft of light through all the speeches put into the mouth of his hero by the poet. One whose mind is bound by certain pious forms of thought may fail to see the light, but it shines nevertheless.
The attempt made by Elihu to establish his charge has an appearance of success. Job, he says, is one who drinks up impiety like water and walks with wicked men, –
“For he hath said,
It profiteth a man nothing
That he should delight himself with God.”
If this were true, Job would indeed be proved irreligious. Such a statement strikes at the root of faith and obedience. But is Elihu representing the text with anything like precision? In Job 9:22 these words are put into Jobs mouth:-
“It is all one, therefore I say,
He destroyeth the perfect and the wicked.”
God is strong and is breaking him with a tempest. Job finds it useless to defend himself and maintain that he is perfect. In the midst of the storm he is so tossed that he despises his life; and in perplexity he cries, -It is all one whether I am righteous or not, God destroys the good and the vile alike. Again we find him saying, “Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, yea, are mighty in power?” And in another passage he inquires why the Almighty does not appoint days of judgment. These are the expressions on which Elihu founds his charge, but the precise words attributed to Job were never used by him, and in many places he both said and implied that the favour of God was his greatest joy. The second author is either misapprehending or perverting the language of his predecessor. His argument accordingly does not succeed.
Passing at present from the charge of impiety, Elihu takes up the suggestion that Divine providence is unjust and sets himself to show that, whether men delight themselves in the Almighty or not, He is certainly All-righteous. And in this contention, so long as he keeps to generalities and does not take special account of the case which has roused the whole controversy, he speaks with some power. His argument comes properly to this, If you ascribe injustice or partiality to Him whom you call God, you cannot be thinking of the Divine King. From His very nature and from His position as Lord of all, God cannot be unjust. As Maker and Preserver of life He must be faithful.
“Far be from God a wickedness,
From the Almighty an injustice!
For every ones work He requiteth him,
And causeth each to find according to his ways.
Surely, too, God doth not wickedness.
The Almighty perverteth not justice.”
Has God any motive for being unjust? Can any one urge Him to what is against His nature? The thing is impossible. So far Elihu has all with him, for all alike believe in the sovereignty of God. The Most High, responsible to Himself, must be conceived of as perfectly just. But would He be so if He were to destroy the whole of His creatures? Elihu says, Gods sovereignty over all gives Him the right to act according to His will; and His will determines not only what is, but what is right in every case.
“Who hath given Him a charge over the earth?
Or who hath disposed the whole world?
Were He to set His mind upon Himself,
To gather to Himself His spirit and His breath,
Then all flesh would die together,
Man would return to his dust.”
The life of all creatures, implies that the mind of the Creator goes forth to His universe, to rule it, to supply the needs of all living beings. He is not wrapped up in Himself, but having given life He provides for its maintenance.
Another personal appeal in Job 34:16 is meant to secure attention to what follows, in which the idea is carried out that the Creator must rule His creatures by a law of justice.
“Shall one that hateth right be able to control?
Or wilt thou condemn the Just, the Mighty One?
Is it fit to say to a king, Thou wicked?
Or to princes. Ye ungodly?
How much less to Him who accepts not the persons of princes.
Nor regardeth the rich more than the poor?”
Here the principle is good, the argument of illustration inconclusive. There is a strong foundation in the thought that God, who could if He desired withdraw all life, but on the other hand sustains it, must rule according to a law of perfect righteousness. If this principle were kept in the front and followed up we should have a fruitful argument. But the philosophy of it is beyond this thinker, and he weakens his case by pointing to human rulers and arguing from the duty of subjects to abide by their decision and at least attribute to them the virtue of justice. No doubt society must be held together by a head either hereditary or chosen by the people, and, so long as his rule is necessary to the well being of the realm, what he commands must be obeyed and what he does must be approved as if it were right. But the writer either had an exceptionally favourable experience of kings, as one, let us suppose, honoured like Daniel in the Babylonian exile, or his faith in the Divine right of princes blinded him to much injustice. It is a mark of his defective logic that he rests his case for the perfect righteousness of God upon a sentiment or what may be called an accident.
And when Elihu proceeds, it is with some rambling sentences in which the suddenness of death, the insecurity of human things, and the trouble and distress coming now on whole nations, now on workers of iniquity, are all thrown together for the demonstration of Divine justice. We hear in these verses (Job 34:20-28) the echoes of disaster and exile, of the fall of thrones and empires. Because the afflicted tribes of Judah were preserved in captivity and restored to their own land, the history of the period which is before the writers mind appears to him to supply a conclusive proof of the righteousness of the Almighty. But we fail to see it. Eliphaz and Bildad might have spoken in the same terms as Elihu uses here. Everything is assumed that Job by force of circumstance has been compelled to doubt. The whole is a homily on Gods irresponsible power and penetrating wisdom which, it is taken for granted, must be exercised in righteousness. Where proof is needed nothing but assertion is offered. It is easy to say that when a man is struck down in the open sight of others it is because he has been cruel to the poor and the Almighty has been moved by the cry of the afflicted. But here is Job struck down in the open sight of others; and is it for harshness to the poor? If Elihu does not mean that, what does he mean? The conclusion is the same as that reached by the three friends; and this speaker poses, like the rest, as a generous man declaring that the iniquity God is always sure to punish is tyrannical treatment of the orphan and the widow.
Leaving this unfortunate attempt at reasoning we enter at Job 34:31 on a passage in which the circumstances of Job are directly dealt with.
For hath any one spoken thus unto God,
I have suffered though I offend not:
That which I see not teach Thou;
If I have done iniquity I will do it no more?
Shall Gods recompense be according to thy mind
That thou dost reject it?
For thou must choose, and not I:
Therefore speak what thou knowest.
Here the argument seems to be that a man like Job, assuming himself to be innocent, if he bows down before the sovereign Judge, confesses ignorance, and even goes so far as to acknowledge that he may have sinned unwittingly and promises amendment, such a one has no right to dictate to God or to complain if suffering and trouble continue. God may afflict as long as He pleases without showing why He afflicts. And if the sufferer dares to complain he does so at his own peril. Elihu would not be the man to complain in such a case. He would suffer on silently. But the choice is for Job to make; and he has need to consider well before he comes to a decision. Elihu implies that as yet Job is in the wrong mind, and he closes this part of his address in a sort of brutal triumph over the sufferer because he had complained of his sufferings. He puts the condemnation into the mouth of “men of understanding”; but it is his own.
Men of understanding will say to me,
And the wise who hears me will say:-
Job speaks without intelligence,
And his words are without wisdom:
Would that Job were tried unto the end
For his answers after the manner of wicked men.
For he addeth rebellion to his sin;
He clappeth his hands amongst us
And multiplieth his words against God.
The ideas of Elihu are few and fixed. When his attempts to convince betray his weakness in argument, he falls back on the vulgar expedient of brow beating the defendant. He is a type of many would be interpreters of Divine providence, forcing a theory of religion which admirably fits those who reckon themselves favourites of heaven, but does nothing for the many lives that are all along under a cloud of trouble and grief. The religious creed which alone can satisfy is one throwing light adown the darkest ravines human beings have to thread, in ignorance of God which they cannot help, in pain of body and feebleness of mind not caused by their own sin but by the sins of others, in slavery or something worse than slavery.