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Commentary on Job 42 verses 1–6
The words of Job justifying himself were ended, Job 31:40. After that he said no more to that purport. The words of Job judging and condemning himself began, Job 40:4, Job 40:5. Here he goes on with words to the same purport. Though his patience had not its perfect work, his repentance for his impatience had. He is here thoroughly humbled for his folly and unadvised speaking, and it was forgiven him. Good men will see and own their faults at last, though it may be some difficulty to bring them to do this. Then, when God had said all that to him concerning his own greatness and power appearing in the creatures, then Job answered the Lord (Job 42:1), not by way of contradiction (he had promised not so to answer again, Job 40:5), but by way of submission; and thus we must all answer the calls of God.
I. He subscribes to the truth of God's unlimited power, knowledge, and dominion, to prove which was the scope of God's discourse out of the whirlwind, Job 42:2. Corrupt passions and practices arise either from some corrupt principles or from the neglect and disbelief of the principles of truth; and therefore true repentance begins in the acknowledgement of the truth, Ti2 2:25. Job here owns his judgment convinced of the greatness, glory, and perfection of God, from which would follow the conviction of his conscience concerning his own folly in speaking irreverently to him. 1. He owns that God can do every thing. What can be too hard for him that made behemoth and leviathan, and manages both as he pleases? He knew this before, and had himself discoursed very well upon the subject, but now he knew it with application. God had spoken it once, and then he heard it twice, that power belongs to God; and therefore it is the greatest madness and presumption imaginable to contend with him. "Thou canst do every thing, and therefore canst raise me out of this low condition, which I have so often foolishly despaired of as impossible: I now believe thou art able to do this." 2. That no thought can be withholden from him, that is, (1.) There is no thought of ours that he can be hindered from the knowledge of. Not a fretful, discontented, unbelieving thought is in our minds at any time but God is a witness to it. It is in vain to contest with him; for we cannot hide our counsels and projects from him, and, if he discover them, he can defeat them. (2.) There is no thought of his that he can be hindered from the execution of. Whatever the Lord pleased, that did he. Job had said this passionately, complaining of it (Job 23:13), What his soul desireth even that he doeth; now he says, with pleasure and satisfaction, that God's counsels shall stand. If God's thoughts concerning us be thoughts of good, to give us an unexpected end, he cannot be withheld from accomplishing his gracious purposes, whatever difficulties may seem to lie in the way.
II. He owns himself to be guilty of that which God had charged him with in the beginning of his discourse, Job 42:3. "Lord, the first word thou saidst was, Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? There needed no more; that word convinced me. I own I am the man that has been so foolish. That word reached my conscience, and set my sin in order before me. It is too plain to be denied, too bad to be excused. I have hidden counsel without knowledge. I have ignorantly overlooked the counsels and designs of God in afflicting me, and therefore have quarrelled with God, and insisted too much upon my own justification: Therefore I uttered that which I understood not," that is, "I have passed a judgment upon the dispensations of Providence, though I was utterly a stranger to the reasons of them." Here, 1. He owns himself ignorant of the divine counsels; and so we are all. God's judgments are a great deep, which we cannot fathom, much less find out the springs of. We see what God does, but we neither know why he does it, what he is aiming at, nor what he will bring it to. These are things too wonderful for us, out of our sight to discover, out of our reach to alter, and out of our jurisdiction to judge of. They are things which we know not; it is quite above our capacity to pass a verdict upon them. The reason why we quarrel with Providence is because we do not understand it; and we must be content to be in the dark about it, until the mystery of God shall be finished. 2. He owns himself imprudent and presumptuous in undertaking to discourse of that which he did not understand and to arraign that which he could not judge of. He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame to him. We wrong ourselves, as well as the cause which we undertake to determine, while we are no competent judges of it.
III. He will not answer, but he will make supplication to his Judge, as he had said, Job 9:15. "Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak (Job 42:4), not speak either as plaintiff or defendant (Job 13:22), but as a humble petitioner, not as one that will undertake to teach and prescribe, but as one that desires to learn and is willing to be prescribed to. Lord, put no more hard questions to me, for I am not able to answer thee one of a thousand of those which thou hast put; but give me leave to ask instruction from thee, and do not deny it me, do not upbraid me with my folly and self-sufficiency," Jam 1:5. Now he is brought to the prayer Elihu taught him, That which I see not teach thou me.
IV. He puts himself into the posture of a penitent, and therein goes upon a right principle. In true repentance there must be not only conviction of sin, but contrition and godly sorrow for it, sorrow according to God, Co2 7:9. Such was Job's sorrow for his sins.
1.Job had an eye to God in his repentance, thought highly of him, and went upon that as the principle of it (Job 42:5): "I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear many a time from my teachers when I was young, from my friends now of late. I have known something of thy greatness, and power, and sovereign dominion; and yet was not brought, by what I heard, to submit myself to thee as I ought. The notions I had of these things served me only to talk of, and had not a due influence upon my mind. But now thou hast by immediate revelation discovered thyself to me in thy glorious majesty; now my eyes see thee; now I feel the power of those truths which before I had only the notion of, and therefore now I repent, and unsay what I have foolishly said." Note, (1.) It is a great mercy to have a good education, and to know the things of God by the instructions of his word and ministers. Faith comes by hearing, and then it is most likely to come when we hear attentively and with the hearing of the ear. (2.) When the understanding is enlightened by the Spirit of grace our knowledge of divine things as far exceeds what we had before as that by ocular demonstration exceeds that by report and common fame. By the teachings of men God reveals his Son to us; but by the teachings of his Spirit he reveals his Son in us (Gal 1:16), and so changes us into the same image, Co2 3:18. (3.) God is pleased sometimes to manifest himself most fully to his people by the rebukes of his word and providence. "Now that I have been afflicted, now that I have been told of my faults, now my eye sees thee." The rod and reproof give wisdom. Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest and teachest.
2.Job had an eye to himself in his repentance, thought hardly of himself, and thereby expressed his sorrow for his sins (Job 42:6): Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes. Observe, (1.) It concerns us to be deeply humbled for the sins we are convinced of, and not to rest in a slight superficial displeasure against ourselves for them. Even good people, that have no gross enormities to repent of, must be greatly afflicted in soul for the workings and breakings out of pride, passion, peevishness, and discontent, and all their hasty unadvised speeches; for these we must be pricked to the heart and be in bitterness. Till the enemy be effectually humbled, the peace will be insecure. (2.) Outward expressions of godly sorrow well become penitents; Job repented in dust and ashes. These, without an inward change, do but mock God; but, where they come from sincere contrition of soul, the sinner by them gives glory to God, takes shame to himself, and may be instrumental to bring others to repentance. Job's afflictions had brought him to the ashes (Job 2:8, he sat down among the ashes), but now his sins brought him thither. True penitents mourn for their sins as heartily as ever they did for any outward afflictions, and are in bitterness as for an only son of a first-born, for they are brought to see more evils in their sins than in their troubles. (3.) Self-loathing is evermore the companion of true repentance. Eze 6:9, They shall loathe themselves for the evils which they have committed. We must no only angry at ourselves for the wrong and damage we have by sin done to our own souls, but must abhor ourselves, as having by sin made ourselves odious to the pure and holy God, who cannot endure to look upon iniquity. If sin be truly an abomination to us, sin in ourselves will especially be so; the nearer it is to us the more loathsome it will be. (4.) The more we see of the glory and majesty of God, and the more we see of the vileness and odiousness of sin and of ourselves because of sin, the more we shall abase and abhor ourselves for it. "Now my eye sees what a God he is whom I have offended, the brightness of that majesty which by wilful sin I have spit in the face of, the tenderness of that mercy which I have spurned at the bowels of; now I see what a just and holy God he is whose wrath I have incurred; wherefore I abhor myself. Woe is me, for I am undone," Isa 6:5. God had challenged Job to look upon proud men and abase them. "I cannot," says Job, "pretend to do it; I have enough to do to get my own proud heart humbled, to abase that and bring that low." Let us leave it to God to govern the world, and make it our care, in the strength of his grace, to govern ourselves and our own hearts well.
[Job] openly declares that he had not learned these things before but had come to know the unconquered power of God. And since God penetrates the decisions of people and understands the thoughts of all, there is nobody who can hide from his eye, which sees everything. Who is he, he says, who being sparing of words, can hide the secrets of his mind in silence, because they have not been expressed in words?
Because this is the last book of this work, and since, the more difficult places having been treated, those which remain are less obscure, it seems good to run through it with less attention and care. For as if we had traversed a mighty ocean, we now gain sight of the shore, and lowering the sails of our intention, are not borne along with the same force as before, but yet we still hold our way from the impulse of the former blast. The storm of our anxiety has, so to speak, abated, but its violence, through now moderated, yet still wafts us on to our station on the shore. After then the Lord had shown to His faithful servant how strong and crafty is Leviathan His enemy, while He carefully disclosed his strength and craft, blessed Job replied to both.
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SUMMARY
Job 42:1 marks a pivotal moment in the Book of Job, signifying Job's profound and long-anticipated response to the LORD's majestic speeches from the whirlwind. Following an extended period of intense suffering, questioning, and theological debate with his friends, this verse introduces Job's humble and transformative answer, moving from a posture of self-defense and complaint to one of awe-filled submission and renewed understanding before the Almighty.
CONTEXT
Literary Context: Job 42:1 serves as the direct and climactic response to God's overwhelming speeches delivered from the whirlwind in Job 38-41. These divine pronouncements, commencing with God's challenge in Job 38:1, systematically showcased God's omnipotence, omniscience, and sovereign control over creation, effectively dwarfing Job's previous demands for a legal hearing and his limited human understanding. This verse brings the dramatic dialogue phase of the book to its resolution, a phase that began with Job's initial laments in Job 3 and continued through extensive exchanges with Eliphaz, Bildad, Zophar, and Elihu. Thus, Job 42:1 sets the immediate stage for Job's confession of ignorance and repentance, leading directly into his final words and the subsequent narrative of restoration found in Job 42:2-17.
Historical & Cultural Context: The Book of Job, a profound work of wisdom literature, is set in the "land of Uz," a location outside of Israel, suggesting its universal applicability beyond a specific national or religious group. The cultural backdrop is patriarchal, emphasizing a strong, though often simplistic, belief in divine justice where suffering was commonly perceived as a direct consequence of sin. Job's experience profoundly challenges this conventional wisdom. The concept of a direct divine encounter, or theophany, as experienced by Job, was a powerful and transformative event in the ancient Near East, typically evoking profound humility, awe, or fear. Job's interaction with "the LORD" (YHWH), the covenant God of Israel, even in this non-Israelite setting, underscores the book's theological depth, presenting God as the sovereign Creator and Sustainer over all peoples and all creation, not merely a tribal deity.
Key Themes: This concise verse is central to several overarching themes within the Book of Job. It powerfully illustrates the theme of Divine Sovereignty vs. Human Limitation, demonstrating that human wisdom and understanding are utterly inadequate when confronted with the infinite wisdom and power of God. It highlights the Transformative Power of Direct Encounter with God, showing that a personal revelation from the Creator can resolve deep spiritual and intellectual dilemmas in a way that no human argument or philosophical debate ever could. Furthermore, it underscores the theme of Humility and Repentance, as Job's "answer" is not a continuation of his debate but a profound acknowledgment of his own finite nature and God's unquestionable majesty, paving the way for his ultimate submission and the restoration of his fortunes as described in Job 42:10-17.
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Job 42:1 employs several powerful Literary Devices. It functions as a Climax for the entire dialogue section of the book, bringing to a head the tension built throughout Job's suffering and his debates with his friends. The verse signals a profound Dramatic Shift from Job's earlier laments, self-justifications, and demands for a hearing to a posture of humility and submission. This shift is directly precipitated by the Theophany that precedes it, where God's direct, overwhelming revelation from the whirlwind (Job 38:1) utterly reorients Job's perspective. The brevity of the verse, juxtaposed with the immense weight of the preceding divine speeches, creates a powerful sense of Anticipation, drawing the reader's attention to the transformative words Job is about to utter in Job 42:2-6. It also contains an element of Irony, as Job, who had long demanded an audience with God to present his case, now, having received that audience, has nothing left to say but a humble confession.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Job 42:1 encapsulates a profound theological truth: true wisdom and understanding often emerge not from intellectual prowess or human argumentation, but from a humble, awe-filled encounter with the living God. Job's journey demonstrates that while human suffering can provoke deep questions about divine justice and sovereignty, the ultimate resolution comes through divine revelation that transcends human comprehension. This verse underscores the biblical principle that God's ways are higher than our ways, and His thoughts higher than our thoughts, calling humanity to a posture of trust and submission rather than demanding explanations. It is a testament to the transformative power of God's presence, capable of silencing complaints and instilling a renewed sense of His unchallengeable authority and goodness, leading to a deeper, more accurate understanding of His character.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Job 42:1 serves as a powerful reminder that our most profound spiritual growth often occurs not in the absence of suffering or doubt, but in the crucible of questioning, followed by a humble turning to God's revealed truth. In our own lives, when faced with circumstances that defy our understanding, or when our complaints seem justified, this verse calls us to move beyond our limited human perspective. It encourages us to cease our arguments, quiet our demands for explanation, and instead, listen attentively for God's voice, trusting in His ultimate wisdom and sovereignty. Just as Job's perspective was utterly transformed by God's direct address, so too can our own complaints and questions be reframed when we truly acknowledge who God is—infinite, sovereign, and good—and submit our limited understanding to His boundless wisdom. This verse challenges us to embrace humility as the pathway to true peace and profound spiritual insight, recognizing that our greatest wisdom lies in acknowledging God's unsearchable greatness.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
Why is Job's "answer" in this verse so significant, given his previous complaints?
Answer: Job's "answer" in Job 42:1 is profoundly significant because it marks a complete and decisive shift from his previous posture of complaint, self-justification, and demanding a legal hearing from God. For many chapters, Job had passionately expressed his desire to argue his case before God, believing he had been unjustly afflicted. However, after God's majestic and overwhelming speeches from the whirlwind (Job 38-41), Job's perspective is utterly transformed. His "answer" is not a continuation of the debate but a humble confession of his own ignorance, limited understanding, and God's incomparable power and wisdom (Job 42:2-6). It signifies the end of his spiritual struggle, the resolution of his intellectual dilemmas, and the beginning of his restoration, demonstrating that true understanding and peace come through submission to divine revelation, not human reasoning or self-vindication.
What is the theological importance of "the LORD" (YHWH) being specified in this verse?
Answer: The use of "the LORD" (YHWH), God's personal, covenantal name, in Job 42:1 is theologically crucial. It emphasizes that Job's encounter was not with a generic or abstract deity, but with the specific, relational God who had entered into covenant with humanity and revealed Himself throughout salvation history. This personal name underscores the intimate yet awe-inspiring nature of the theophany. It signifies that the God who spoke from the whirlwind is the same God who is sovereign over all creation and deeply involved in the lives of His people. This personal revelation of YHWH is what ultimately breaks through Job's intellectual defenses and brings him to a place of humble worship and profound trust, as he realizes that the God he had been questioning is the very God who is worthy of all trust and adoration, whose ways are unsearchable and whose judgments are beyond tracing out (Romans 11:33).
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
Job 42:1, marking Job's humble and transformative response to God's direct revelation, finds its ultimate and most profound fulfillment in Jesus Christ. While Job encountered God through a powerful, yet veiled, theophany from the whirlwind, the New Testament declares that God has now spoken to us definitively and fully through His Son. As Hebrews 1:1-2 proclaims, "Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son." Jesus is the living Word made flesh (John 1:14), the perfect image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15), and the one in whom "are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Colossians 2:3). Job's transformation came from glimpsing God's power in creation; our transformation comes from knowing God's love and wisdom perfectly embodied in Christ, who, though equal with God, humbled himself to the point of death on a cross for our salvation (Philippians 2:5-8). Our "answer" to the LORD, therefore, is no longer a response to a voice from a storm, but a confession of faith in the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29), leading to true humility, repentance, and worship of God revealed in His Son, our Lord and Savior.