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Job 35

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Elihu Challenges Job's Claims 1–4

1
Moreover Elihu answered and said,
2
Thinkest thou this to be thy right, Or sayest thou, My righteousness is more than God’s, ​
3
That thou sayest, What advantage will it be unto thee? And, What profit shall I have, more than if I had sinned?
4
I will answer thee, And thy companions with thee.

Human Actions Do Not Affect God 5–8

5
Look unto the heavens, and see; And behold the skies, which are higher than thou. ​
6
If thou hast sinned, what effectest thou against him? And if thy transgressions be multiplied, what doest thou unto him? ​
7
If thou be righteous, what givest thou him? Or what receiveth he of thy hand? ​
8
Thy wickednessmay hurta man as thou art; And thy righteousness may profit a son of man.

Why Cries Go Unanswered 9–16

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By reason of the multitude of oppressions they cry out; They cry for help by reason of the arm of the mighty.
10
But none saith, Where is God my Maker, Who giveth songs in the night, ​
11
Who teacheth us more than the beasts of the earth, And maketh us wiser than the birds of the heavens?
12
There they cry, but none giveth answer, Because of the pride of evil men.
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Surely God will not hear an emptycry, Neither will the Almighty regard it. ​
14
How much less when thou sayest thou beholdest him not, The cause is before him, and thou waitest for him! ​
15
But now, because he hath not visited in his anger, Neither doth he greatly regard arrogance; ​
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Therefore doth Job open his mouth in vanity; He multiplieth words without knowledge. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Job 35

Verse 2

My righteousness is more than God's — 'Right' is mishpat, justice, and 'righteousness' is tsedeq. Elihu states Job's position in the sharpest form, as in 32:2 and 34:5. When the LORD answers, he asks the same question in his own words: 'wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous?' (40:8).

Verse 5

the clouds which are higher than thou — Two verbs of seeing, nabat, to look intently, and ra'ah, to see, send Job's eyes upward. 'Behold' is shur, which occurs three times in this chapter (vv.5, 13, 14). Eliphaz had used the same height: 'Is not God in the height of heaven?' (22:12). Isa 55:9 sets God's ways above ours as heaven is above earth.

Verse 6

If thou sinnest, what doest thou against him? — 'Transgressions' is pesha, rebellion, and 'multiplied' is rabab, to become many. Elihu's answer is that the harm falls on men, as Prov 8:36 says of the one who sins against wisdom, 'he … wrongeth his own soul', and Jer 7:19, 'do they not provoke themselves to the confusion of their own faces?'

Verse 7

what receiveth he of thine hand? — Elihu's question has an answer in Scripture: 'my goodness extendeth not to thee' (Ps 16:2). God has no need: he 'giveth to all life, and breath, and all things' (Acts 17:25). Paul asks, 'who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?' (Rom 11:35).

Verse 10

who giveth songs in the night — 'Songs' is zamir, a song sung to an instrument, the word of 2 Sam 23:1, 'the sweet psalmist of Israel'. God as the giver of the night song is found in Ps 42:8, 'in the night his song shall be with me'. At midnight Paul and Silas 'sang praises unto God' in prison (Acts 16:25).

Verse 13

God will not hear vanity — 'Vanity' is shav, emptiness or falsehood, the word of Job 11:11 and 31:5. 'Regard' is shur, to look at, the verb again of vv.5 and 14. Elsewhere 'The LORD is far from the wicked: but he heareth the prayer of the righteous' (Prov 15:29), and he says of empty prayers, 'I will not hear' (Isa 1:15).

Verse 14

judgment is before him — 'Judgment' is din, a cause or sentence. 'Thou shalt not see him' (shur) is Job's sense of 9:11, 'he goeth by me, and I see him not'. 'Trust' is chul, to wait or to twist in expectation, the verb behind 'wait patiently for him' in Ps 37:7. The verse turns the case into waiting before the judge.

Verse 15

he hath visited in his anger — 'Visited' is paqad, to visit for good or for judgment, as in Ps 89:32, 'Then will I visit their transgression with the rod'. 'Extremity' is pash, a word that occurs only here, and the clause 'yet he knoweth it not' is hard to place; the KJV reads it as Job taking no notice of what God has done.

Verse 16

in vain — 'Vain' is hebel, breath or vapour, the word of 'vanity of vanities' in Eccl 1:2. 'Multiplieth' is kabar, to heap up, and 'without knowledge' is bli da'ath, repeating 34:35. The LORD uses the same words in 38:2, and Job's reply takes them over in 42:3, 'I uttered that I understood not'.