Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Job 35:13
Surely God will not hear vanity, neither will the Almighty regard it.
Surely God will not hear vanity – A vain, hollow, heartless petition. The object of Elihu here is to account for the reason why sufferers are not relieved – having his eye, doubtless, on the case of Job as one of the most remarkable of the kind. The solution which he here gives of the difficulty is, that it is not consistent for God to hear a prayer where there is no sincerity. Of the truth of the remark there can be no doubt, but he seems to have taken it for granted that all prayers offered by unrelieved sufferers are thus insincere and hollow. This was needfull in his view to account for the fact under consideration, and this he assumes as being unquestionable. Yet the very point indispensable to make out his case was, that in fact the prayers offered by such persons were insincere.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 13. Surely God will not hear vanity] He will not attend to such vain cries; they cry from their oppressions, but they cry not to God.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Either,
1. Vain and light persons, that have no true wisdom or solid piety in them, but are wholly addicted to vain and worldly things, rejoicing immoderately when they have them, and crying out for want of them, as here they do. Or,
2. Vain cries, which proceed not from faith or piety, but only from self-love and a natural sense of their misery; which is common to them with brute beasts. The abstract is here put for the concrete, as wickedness is oft put for wicked men, and pride for proud persons, and the like.
Neither will the Almighty regard it: though God be able to help them, as this title of God implies, and though he be the Judge of the world, as the former name of God signifies, to whom therefore it belongs to right the oppressed against the oppressor, yet in this case he justly refuseth to help them.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
13. vanitythat is, criesuttered in an unhumbled spirit, Job35:12, which applies in some degree to Job’s cries; still more tothose of the wicked (Job 27:9;Pro 15:29).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Surely God will not hear vanity,…. Or “a lie” z, than which nothing is more an abomination to him; if men come to him with a lie in their mouths, they cannot expect to be heard by him; he is only nigh to those who call upon him in truth: or that which is “rash” a; which is rashly uttered, and in a passionate wrathful manner, savouring of a revengeful spirit, too often the case of those that cry under oppression; see Ec 5:2; or vain and empty prayers, a speech of vanity, as Aben Ezra; which as to the matter of them are about vain and empty things; only for outward mercies, worldly goods; and not for spiritual mercies, or such things as are according to the will of God; but what are pleasing to the flesh, and sought for to consume on the lusts of it, and therefore such prayers are not heard, Ps 4:6; and as to the manner of them, they are not put up in the name of Christ, nor under the influence of the spirit of Christ, nor in the exercise of any grace, nor with reverence of God, nor with sincerity of soul, not in faith, nor with fervency: or “vanity” is put for vain men, as sin for sinners; such as are proud men, and are vainly puffed up in their fleshly mind. God hears humble penitent sinners, who find mercy with him; and humble saints, to whom he gives more grace; but not proud Pharisees, or men not humbled by afflictions; see Lu 18:11; nor light and empty persons, who are without God and Christ, destitute of the spirit, devoid of all grace, and full of all unrighteousness; unstable ones, who are vanity itself, and lighter than vanity, tossed to and fro like a wave of the sea, and double minded, Jas 1:6; nor men of vain conversations, that walk in the vanity of their minds, whose words are vain, and especially such as take the name of God in vain; and all whose actions are vain, or such that live a vain and sinful course of life; God hears not sinners, Joh 9:31;
neither will the Almighty regard it; vanity, vain prayers and vain persons; he regards the prayer of the destitute, the lowly, and the humble, but not the prayer of such as before described; he cannot “look” at, it b, nor at them: he looks to the poor and contrite, and desires to see their countenance and hear their voice in prayer; but he is of purer eyes thou to look on vain persons and their vain prayers; and a greater contempt cannot be shown to petitioners and their petitions than when those to whom they apply will not so much as look at them, but turn both a deaf ear to them, and their eyes away from them.
z “falsitatem”, Beza; “mendacium”, Pagninus, Montanus. a “Quod temerarium est”, Cocceius. b “non intuatur illud”, Pagninus, Montanus; “non videt illud”, Cocceius; so Michaelis and Schultens.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(13) God will not hear vanity.Some understand this as part of the cry in Job. 35:12 : Seeing it is all in vain, God doth not hear, neither doth the Almighty regard it.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
13. Vanity That is, a vain and empty cry, one that has no spiritual element.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Job 35:13 Surely God will not hear vanity, neither will the Almighty regard it.
Ver. 13. Surely God will not hear vanity ] Prayer without faith is but an empty ring, a tinkling cymbal. Neque enim omnes qui citharam habent, sunt citharaedi, Every sound is not music, neither is every complaint and outcry of men in extremity an effectual prayer. Those in Hosea, when pined almost, howled as dogs, growled as swine, bellowed as bulls, screeched horribly as the ravens of Arabia, Hos 7:14 , but because they cried not to God with their hearts he heard them not. It is not the labour of the lips or the loudness of the voice, but the travail of the heart, and truth in the inward parts, that he regardeth, Psa 51:6 . Wilt thou not know, O vain (or empty) man, that faith without works is dead? saith St James, Jas 2:20 ; so that prayer without faith is to no purpose. Men may cry aloud in distress, and make their voices to be heard on high; they may chatter out a charm when God’s chastening is upon them, yea, be with child, as it were, of a prayer, yet bring forth nothing better than wind, work no deliverance at all in the earth, Isa 26:16-18 . God may turn them off, and justly, with, Depart, ye workers of iniquity; get you to the gods whom ye have chosen, let them deliver you in the time of your tribulation; for I will deliver you no more, Jdg 10:13-14 .
Neither will the Almighty regard it
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
THE ALMIGHTY. Hebrew El Shaddai = GOD ALMIGHTY.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
God: Job 22:22-27, Job 27:8, Job 27:9, Pro 15:8, Pro 15:29, Pro 28:9, Ecc 5:1-3, Isa 1:15, Jer 11:11, Hos 7:14, Hos 8:2, Hos 8:3, Mat 6:7, Mat 20:21, Mat 20:22, Jam 4:3
regard: Job 30:20, Psa 102:17, Amo 5:22
Reciprocal: Job 8:3 – Almighty Psa 18:41 – General
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Job 35:13. Surely God will not hear vanity Either, 1st, Vain and light persons, that have no true wisdom nor solid piety in them: but are wholly addicted to vain and worldly things, rejoicing immoderately when they have them, and crying out in distress when they have them not. Or, 2d, Vain cries; which proceed not from true penitence, faith, or piety, but only from self-love, and such a sense of misery as is common to men with brute beasts. Neither will the Almighty regard it Though God be able to help them, as this title of God, the Almighty, implies; and though he be the Judge of the world, as the former name of God, , eel, signifies, to whom therefore it belongs to right the oppressed against the oppressor; yet, in this case, he justly refuseth to help them.