Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Job 37:24
Men do therefore fear him: he respecteth not any [that are] wise of heart.
24. wise of heart ] That is, wise in their own thoughts. God has respect unto the humble a final exhortation to Job to abstain from presumptuous complaints of God, and to unite with mankind everywhere in fearing Him.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Men do therefore fear him – There is reason why they should fear him, or why they should treat him with reverence.
He respecteth not any that are wise of heart – He pursues his own plans, and forms and executes his own counsels. He is not dependent upon the suggestions of people, and does not listen to their advice. In his schemes he is original and independent, and people should therefore regard him with profound veneration. This is the sum of all that Elihu had to say – that God was original and independent; that he did not ask counsel of people in his dealings; that he was great, and glorious, and inscrutable in his plans; and that people therefore should bow before him with profound submission and adoration. It was to be presumed that he was wise and good in all that he did, and to this independent and almighty Sovereign man ought to submit his understanding and his heart. Having illustrated and enforced this sentiment, Elihu, overwhelmed with the awful symbols of the approaching Deity, is silent, and God is introduced to close the controversy.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 24. Men do therefore] Therefore men, anashim, wretched, miserable, ignorant, sinful men, should fear him.
He respecteth not any] No man is valuable in his sight on account of his wisdom; for what is his wisdom when compared with that of the Omniscient? Whatever good is in man, God alone is the author of it. Let him, therefore, that glorieth, glory in the Lord.
THUS ends the speech of Elihu; a speech of a widely different description, on the whole, from that of the three friends of Job who had spoken so largely before him. In the speeches of Eliphaz, Zophar, and Bildad, there is little besides a tissue of borrowed wise sayings, and ancient proverbs and maxims, relative to the nature of God, and his moral government of the world. In the speech of Elihu every thing appears to be original; he speaks from a deep and comprehensive mind, that had profoundly studied the subjects on which he discoursed. His descriptions of the Divine attributes, and of the wonderful works of God, are correct, splendid, impressive, and inimitable. Elihu, having now come nearly to a close, and knowing that the Almighty would appear and speak for himself, judiciously prepares for and announces his coming by the thunder and lightning of which he has given so terrific and majestic a description in this and the preceding chapter. The evidences of the Divine presence throng on his eyes and mind; the incomprehensible glory and excellency of God confound all his powers of reasoning and description; he cannot arrange his words by reason of darkness; and he concludes with stating, that to poor weak man God must for ever be incomprehensible, and to him a subject of deep religious fear and reverence. Just then the terrible majesty of the Lord appears! Elihu is silent! The rushing mighty wind, for which the description of the thunder and lightning had prepared poor, confounded, astonished Job, proclaims the presence of Jehovah: and out of this whirlwind God answers for and proclaims himself! Reader, canst thou not conceive something of what these men felt? Art thou not astonished, perplexed, confounded, in reading over these descriptions of the thunder of God’s power? Prepare, then, to hear the voice of God himself out of this whirlwind.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Men do therefore fear him; for this cause, to wit, because of Gods infinite and excellent perfections, and especially those mentioned in the foregoing verse, men do or should (for the future tense is oft used potentially, as Hebricians know) fear or reverence him, and humbly submit to him, and not presume to quarrel or dispute with him, as thou, O Job, hast done.
He respecteth not, Heb. he doth not, or will not behold, to wit, with respect or approbation; he beholdeth them afar off with scorn and contempt.
Any that are wise of heart, i. e. such as are wise in their own eyes, that lean to their own understandings, and despise all other men in comparison of themselves, and scorn all their counsels; that are so puffed up with the opinion of their own wisdom, that they dare contend with their Maker, and presume to censure his counsels and actions; which he hereby intimates to be Jobs fault, and to be the true reason why God did not respect nor regard him, nor his prayers and tears, as Job complained. And so this is also a tacit advice and exhortation to Job to be humble and little ill his own eyes, if ever he expected or desired any favour from God.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
24. dorather, “ought.“
wisein their ownconceits.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Men do therefore fear him,…. Or should, because of his greatness in power, judgment, and justice; and because of his goodness, in not afflicting for his pleasure’s sake, but for the profit of men; and therefore they should reverence and adore him, submit to his will, patiently bear afflictions, serve him internally and externally, with reverence and godly fear;
he respecteth not any [that are] wise of heart; that are wise in a natural sense: these are not always regarded by God, or are his favourites; neither temporal blessings, nor special grace, or the knowledge of spiritual things, are always given to the wise and prudent, Ec 9:11. Or that are wise in their own conceit; there is a woe to such; and there is more hope of a fool than of him, Isa 5:21. Or he is not “afraid” of them c, as some choose to render the word; he fears not to reprove them and correct them for their faults, or the schemes they form to counterwork him; for he can take them in their craftiness, and carry their counsel headlong. Or “every wise in heart shall not see him” d: the world by wisdom knows him not; nor can any look into his heart, his thoughts, purposes, and designs, and into the causes and reasons of his actions; nor have those that are truly wise perfect vision and knowledge of him now,
1Co 13:9.
c “non timebit”, Osiander. d “Non videbit eum omuis sapiens corde”; so some in Drusius.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(24) Men do therefore fear him.Or, Therefore men may fear Him; but as for the wise in heart, no one even of them shall see Him. This may be, and probably is, the meaning, though the literal rendering is that of the Authorised Version, which, however, involves a somewhat doubtful sentiment in itself, for God, we may believe, does regard or respect those who are truly wise. In the original there is a very manifest play on the words, which it is impossible to preserve, between yreu and yirehmen shall fear, but none shall see.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
24. He respecteth not He regardeth not, (or, as nothing Schultens,) any of the wise of heart. “who seem to themselves to be wise.” (Vulgate.) The self-conceited wisdom of men is beneath the contempt of God. Even “the foolishness of God is wiser than men.” 1Co 1:25-29. The dispute, so long protracted, ends in the nothingness of man. Human wisdom, that flaunted high pretensions, trails in the dust. The murmuring and rebellious sufferer, who but a little before defied man and questioned God, is now abashed into silence, and by his silence acknowledges the justice of Elihu’s reasoning and rebuke, (comp. Job 6:24,) so that now naught remains but the divine disclosure, which Job has every reason to apprehend.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
REFLECTIONS
READER, it is highly profitable to follow, with our profound meditation, the Lord in all his works of nature, and to be ever ready to bless him for all the goodness he is unceasingly bestowing upon the sons of men. He maketh (as our adorable Redeemer teacheth) his sun to rise, upon the evil and upon the good: and sendeth the blessings of his rain both upon the just and upon the unjust. Oh! that men would therefore praise the Lord for his goodness, and declare the wonders that he doeth for the children of men!
But when from the world of nature we are enabled to follow the LORD into the world of grace; and when, from the common blessings of his providence, in creation, we are led to behold the special blessings of his love, in redemption, this is like passing from the outer courts of his temple into the more immediate apartment of his presence. And, in JESUS, what a vast and unlimited contemplation is thrown open to a poor sinner’s view.
Reader, cannot you tell (as Elihu beautifully expresseth it) how your garments make you warm, when the LORD quieteth the earth by the south wind? And will you any longer wonder that you are not able to explain how it is, that the robe of JESUS’S righteousness becomes a complete justifying garment, to warm the soul of a sinner, and to make him, that is in himself unclean, yet now viewed in CHRIST, holy, blessed, and sanctified? Oh that men should be unbelievers in a point of so much mercy, when their daily experience in the most common things of GOD’S providence, compels them to give a cordial assent to what they can no more explain, than how warmth or cold is induced by north and south influences!
But Reader, let you and I, from the reasoning of Elihu, not only gather improvement, both in the subjects of nature and grace, but look up to the same Almighty Teacher, which teacheth us, to profit, that from both our souls may be led on to the yet higher and more sublime point of all the same precious mercies and dispensations of our Covenant GOD in CHRIST, leading to glory. All here below is with a view to minister to this end. For this cause the Son of GOD came down from heaven to raise up our ruined nature from the miseries of the fall. And when by sin, storms and tempests, both in the natural, in the moral, and in the spiritual world, were introduced, JESUS, full of benignity, grace, and truth, came to repair the desolations of many generations, and to restore perfect order among all the works of GOD. Hail thou great, thou Almighty Repairer of the breach! the Restorer of the paths to dwell in! We bow down before thee, thou blessed precious LORD JESUS! Oh! do thou give us to see, that both in the kingdom of nature and providence, grace and glory, thou art the All in All, the portion of thy people, here and hereafter, and their life forevermore.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Job 37:24 Men do therefore fear him: he respecteth not any [that are] wise of heart.
Ver. 24. Men do therefore fear him ] They do, or should do, for his excellent greatness and goodness, Psa 130:4 Mat 10:28 . But in case they do not,
He respecteth not any that are wise of heart
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
fear: Psa 130:4, Jer 32:39, Jer 33:9, Hos 3:5, Mat 10:28, Luk 12:4, Luk 12:5, Rom 2:4, Rom 11:20-22
he: Job 5:13, Ecc 9:11, Isa 5:21, Mat 11:25, Mat 11:26, Luk 10:21, 1Co 1:26, 1Co 3:19
Reciprocal: Deu 33:9 – I have not Ecc 3:7 – and a time to speak Jer 10:7 – would Col 3:25 – and