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Matthew Henry
From his Commentary on the Whole Bible. Henry comments on passages, not single verses — this entry covers Job 42:1–6. His three-level outline is real structure in the source text, so it is rendered as structure.
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.
Historical interpretation
Historical Reception
2 surviving comments on this verse. Each one is dated, so this reads as a timeline rather than a list.
4. To hear, is, with us, to adapt our ear which is in one place to a sound which comes from another. But with God, on the other hand, to Whom nothing is external, hearing is properly for Him to perceive our longings which are rising up beneath Him. For us then to speak to God, Who is acquainted with the hearts even of those that hold their peace, is not for us to utter what we think with the words of our throat, but to long for Him with eager desires. And because a person asks a question in order to be able to learn that of which he is ignorant, for a man to question God, is for him to acknowledge that he is ignorant in His sight. But for God to reply, is for Him to instruct with His secret inspirations him who humbly acknowledges his ignorance. Blessed Job then says; Hear, and I will speak. As if he were saying, Mercifully understand my desires, in order that, while Thy mercy receives and furthers them, they may rise up to Thee in greater number. For as often as good wishes obtain their effect, they are multiplied. Whence it is written in another place; I have called, for Thou hast heard me. [Ps. 17, 6] For he says not, Because I called, Thou hast heard me: but, I have called, for Thou hast heard me. For he who had been heard when speaking, when he had been heard, and his wishes had been successful, exclaimed; I will question Thee, and answer Thou me. As if he were saying, From the contemplation of Thy knowledge I acknowledge myself to be ignorant. Answer me therefore when I question Thee, that is, teach me who humbly confess my own foolishness. For that he himself was questioning God from his longing after humility, and was seeking for God to answer him by the instruction of inspiration, is declared in the following words. For he announced that he would put a question, and yet added nothing in the shape of a question. For as thinking only humbly of himself, and as acknowledging the favours he had mercifully received from God.
To hear is, with us, to adapt our ear, which is in one place, to a sound that comes from another. But with God, on the other hand, to whom nothing is external, hearing is properly for him to perceive our longings that are rising up beneath him. For us then to speak to God, who is acquainted with the hearts even of those that hold their peace, is not for us to utter what we think with the words of our throat but to long for him with eager desires. A person asks a question in order to be able to learn that of which he is ignorant; for a person to question God is to acknowledge that he is ignorant in his sight. But for God, to reply is for him to instruct with his secret inspirations the one who humbly acknowledges his ignorance.
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Summary
Job 42:4 powerfully articulates the culmination of Job's spiritual journey, marking his profound transformation from a stance of demanding answers and asserting self-righteousness to one of humble submission and eager receptivity before the sovereign God. This pivotal verse signifies Job's full acknowledgment of divine majesty and his readiness to engage with the Almighty on God's own terms, demonstrating a radical reorientation of his intellect, will, and spirit in the wake of God's overwhelming revelation from the whirlwind.
Context
Literary Context
Job 42:4 is strategically positioned within Job's climactic and repentant response to God, immediately following the Lord's awe-inspiring speeches delivered from the whirlwind, spanning from Job 38 through Job 41. Throughout the preceding chapters, Job had relentlessly pleaded for a direct confrontation with God, yearning for a legal hearing where he could present his case, demand an explanation for his inexplicable suffering, and vigorously assert his own righteousness (e.g., Job 13:3 and Job 23:3-7). However, God's divine response was not a judicial defense of His actions but an overwhelming revelation of His boundless wisdom, omnipotent power, and meticulous providential care over all creation, far transcending human comprehension. Within Job's humble confession and repentance in Job 42:1-6, verse 4 stands as a profound turning point. Here, Job remarkably adopts the very language God used to challenge him (compare Job 38:3 and Job 40:7), but now with a posture of profound humility, eager submission, and a readiness to listen, fundamentally contrasting his earlier contentious and demanding stance.
Historical & Cultural Context
The Book of Job is a profound exemplar of ancient Near Eastern wisdom literature, meticulously engaging with the perennial and universal problem of suffering, particularly the inexplicable suffering of the righteous, and the intricate nature of divine justice. Within the cultural milieu of the ancient world, the concept of a "divine lawsuit" or "controversy" was a recognized and often utilized literary motif, where a human might challenge a deity or vice versa, seeking vindication or explanation. Job initially sought precisely such a confrontation, demanding his day in court with the Almighty. However, the book masterfully subverts this expectation, ultimately demonstrating that God's wisdom and justice operate on a plane far beyond human categories of understanding or legalistic frameworks. The setting of the narrative is likely patriarchal, predating the Mosaic Law, characterized by a direct and personal relationship between individuals and God, unmediated by a formal covenant or priesthood. The vivid emphasis on God's absolute power over creation, particularly His detailed descriptions of untamed, fearsome beasts like Behemoth and Leviathan in Job 40 and Job 41, would have resonated deeply with an ancient audience that perceived the raw, untamed forces of nature as direct manifestations of divine power, utterly beyond human control or comprehension.
Key Themes
This verse profoundly contributes to several overarching and interconnected themes woven throughout the book of Job and fundamental to biblical theology. Firstly, it powerfully highlights the theme of divine sovereignty and human finitude. God's majestic speeches from Job 38 to Job 41 underscore His absolute control, incomprehensible wisdom, and unchallengeable authority over all creation, compelling Job to recognize his own limited understanding and his proper, humble place within the cosmic order. Secondly, Job's response exemplifies humility and repentance as the indispensable and appropriate responses to a genuine, transformative encounter with God's overwhelming majesty. His earlier self-righteousness and contentious spirit give way to a profound sense of unworthiness, awe, and contrite submission, as seen in Job 42:6. Thirdly, the verse points to the transformative power of divine revelation. It is not through intellectual argument, legalistic debate, or philosophical reasoning, but through a direct, overwhelming experience of God's manifest presence and power that Job's entire perspective is radically altered. Finally, it underscores the theme of true wisdom, which is ultimately found not in human knowledge, philosophical speculation, or self-derived reasoning, but in reverent submission to God and a willing, receptive posture to listen to His divine declaration, a truth Job himself articulates earlier in Job 28:28.
Exposition and Analysis
Key Word Analysis
This primitive root (H8085) means "to hear intelligently," often implying attention, understanding, and obedience. Causatively, it can mean "to tell." In Job's transformed utterance, it signifies his profound shift from merely hearing about God to truly listening to God with an open heart and mind, ready to receive and obey, contrasting his earlier desire for God to "hear" his complaints.
This primitive root (H7592) means "to inquire," "to request," or "to demand." Crucially, it is the same verb God used when challenging Job in Job 38:3 and Job 40:7 ("I will demand of thee"). When Job uses it here, it is not a defiant demand of God, but rather an acceptance of God's earlier challenge, signifying his submission to God's terms of engagement and inviting God to question him further.
Derived from the primitive root (H3045) meaning "to know" (properly, to ascertain by seeing), this verb in the Hiphil stem means "to cause to know," "to make known," or "to inform." In this context, it refers to God revealing His truth and wisdom to Job. Job's use of this word indicates his earnest desire for God to continue His divine instruction, acknowledging God as the ultimate source of knowledge and revelation, a stark contrast to his earlier belief that he possessed sufficient understanding to challenge God.
Verse Breakdown
"Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak"
This opening clause signifies a profound and dramatic reversal in Job's posture. Throughout the earlier chapters, Job had repeatedly demanded that God listen to him and respond to his accusations and pleas for justice. Now, in a posture of profound humility, Job earnestly requests God's attention, not to present a legal case or to argue his innocence, but to offer his confession and articulate his newfound understanding. The phrase "and I will speak" is no longer an assertion of his right to contend with God, but rather an expression of his readiness to humbly articulate his repentance and the transformative impact of God's majestic revelation upon him. It is a statement of contrite confession, not a renewed challenge.
"I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me"
This second clause is a direct and powerful echo, indeed an appropriation, of God's own challenging words to Job in Job 38:3 and Job 40:7. In those passages, God had declared, "Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me." Here, Job uses the identical challenging language but masterfully reverses the subject and object. Job is no longer defiantly demanding answers from God; instead, he is now humbly accepting God's prior challenge to him to answer. By stating "I will demand of thee," Job is essentially inviting God to proceed with the divine interrogation, acknowledging God's absolute right to question him and recognizing his own inability to provide adequate answers. Furthermore, by adding "and declare thou unto me," Job expresses his profound and eager desire for God to continue revealing His truth, wisdom, and divine ways, recognizing that all true understanding and ultimate knowledge flow solely from God's self-disclosure.
Literary Devices
Job 42:4 masterfully employs several potent literary devices to convey the profound depth of Job's spiritual transformation. The most striking is Echo and Allusion, as Job directly quotes and reconfigures God's own challenging words found in Job 38:3 and Job 40:7. This deliberate echoing creates a powerful sense of Reversal, dramatically illustrating how Job, who previously demanded answers and a legal hearing from God, now humbly invites God to question him and to continue revealing divine truth. This reversal underscores the complete paradigm shift in Job's heart and mind. Furthermore, there is a subtle yet profound Irony at play: the very language of "demand" and "declare" that God employed to assert His unchallengeable authority and expose Job's presumption is now appropriated by Job himself, not in defiance, but in profound, contrite submission. This ironic appropriation serves to highlight the immense depth of Job's humility and the completeness of his repentance, demonstrating that he has truly internalized the lesson of divine sovereignty and his own creaturely finitude.
Theological and Thematic Connections
Job 42:4 stands as a profoundly significant theological statement regarding the proper nature of humanity's relationship with the Almighty. It asserts with compelling clarity that genuine wisdom, spiritual peace, and ultimate understanding are discovered not through intellectual mastery, self-justification, or contentious debate, but through humble submission to God's incomprehensible and unchallengeable sovereignty. Job's radical transformation, from a litigant to a worshipper, vividly illustrates that an authentic, unmediated encounter with the living God invariably dismantles human pride, exposes the limitations of finite understanding, and compels a posture of profound awe, contrite repentance, and eager, receptive listening. This verse powerfully underscores the timeless biblical truth that God's ways and thoughts are infinitely higher and more profound than our own (Isaiah 55:8-9), and therefore, our proper and most blessed response is one of trust, not contention. Ultimately, it reveals that the mysterious purpose of suffering, though never fully explained, can serve as a divine crucible to bring us into a deeper, more intimate, and truly transformative knowledge of God, moving us from merely "hearing of Him by the hearing of the ear" to "seeing Him" with new spiritual eyes, as Job himself confesses in the subsequent verse, Job 42:5.
Reflection and Application
Job 42:4 serves as a profound and challenging mirror for our own spiritual journeys and responses to life's complexities. In a contemporary world that frequently champions self-assertion, individual rights, and the immediate demand for comprehensive answers, Job's transformative experience powerfully reminds us of the deep peace, authentic clarity, and spiritual freedom that emerge from humble submission to God's ultimate authority and unfathomable wisdom. When we inevitably confront trials, periods of profound uncertainty, or perceived injustices, our natural human inclination often leads us to question, to argue, or even to defiantly demand explanations from God. Yet, Job's radical reorientation teaches us a vital lesson: the most significant breakthroughs in our understanding of God and the deepening of our relationship with Him frequently occur precisely when we relinquish our desperate need for intellectual control and exhaustive comprehension, choosing instead to adopt a posture of humble receptivity and trusting surrender. This verse issues a compelling call for us to move beyond mere intellectual debate or theological speculation about God, inviting us into a living, transformative encounter with Him that reorients our entire being—our intellect, emotions, and will. It beckons us to listen more deeply to His whispers and His thunder, to trust more fully in His sovereign goodness, and to allow Him to graciously declare His truth to us, even when His divine ways remain shrouded in mystery. Ultimately, true spiritual growth is profoundly marked by a shift from demanding answers to passionately desiring God's presence, His wisdom, and His will above all else.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
How does this verse show a change in Job's attitude?
This verse dramatically illustrates Job's profound change in attitude by having him echo God's own challenging words from Job 38:3 and Job 40:7, but with a completely new posture. Previously, Job was demanding that God answer him and justify Himself (Job 13:22). Here, by saying "I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me," Job is no longer making a demand of God, but rather accepting God's prior challenge to him to answer. He is inviting God to proceed with the divine interrogation and expressing his readiness to listen to whatever God declares. This signifies a shift from self-justification and contention to humility, submission, and a deep desire to hear from God on God's terms.
What does "demand" mean in this context, given Job's humility?
While the King James Version translates the Hebrew word (H7592, shâʼal) as "demand," in the context of Job's humble confession in Job 42:1-6, it is best understood not as Job making a defiant demand of God, but rather Job accepting and internalizing God's earlier challenge to him. God had previously stated, "I will demand of thee, and answer thou me" (Job 38:3). Job is essentially saying, "You challenged me to speak and for You to declare; I am now ready for that engagement." It represents an invitation for God to continue the dialogue on the terms God Himself established, signifying Job's profound submission to God's authority and his readiness to be questioned and instructed by the Almighty, rather than to question Him.
Is it wrong to question God when we suffer?
The Book of Job, in its entirety, suggests that questioning God, in itself, is not necessarily sinful or wrong. Job spent many chapters expressing his laments, frustrations, and even direct questions to God, seeking understanding for his profound suffering. The crucial issue is not the act of questioning itself, but rather the posture of the heart behind the questions. Job's initial questioning was rooted in a desire for self-justification and a demand for God to conform to his human understanding of justice. However, after his transformative encounter with God, his contentious questions ceased, replaced by humble repentance and profound trust. While God graciously permits us to bring our honest laments and questions to Him, the ultimate spiritual goal is not necessarily to receive all the answers or to fully comprehend divine mysteries, but rather to come to a deeper, more resilient trust in God's sovereign wisdom and goodness, recognizing that His ways are infinitely beyond our full comprehension (Isaiah 55:8-9).
Christ-Centered Fulfillment
Job 42:4, with its profound depiction of a righteous sufferer moving through questioning to humble submission and receiving a deeper revelation of God, finds its ultimate and most glorious fulfillment in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Job's arduous spiritual journey from demanding answers to trusting God, from self-justification to contrite repentance, powerfully foreshadows the perfect obedience, ultimate vindication, and redemptive suffering found in Christ. While Job's suffering served as a crucible for his refinement and a magnificent display of God's sovereignty, Christ's suffering was uniquely redemptive, bearing the sin of the world as the spotless Lamb of God. Job's humble declaration, "Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me," profoundly echoes the perfect, unwavering submission of Christ. Though eternally God, Christ "made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men" and "humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross" (Philippians 2:7-8). Furthermore, Job's transformative encounter with God's revelation from the whirlwind points directly to Christ as the ultimate, final, and most complete revelation of God to humanity. As Hebrews 1:1-2 declares, "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 very "radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature" (Hebrews 1:3), through whom God has fully and perfectly "declared" Himself to humanity. Thus, Job's transformed posture of humble listening and acceptance of God's divine declaration ultimately finds its perfect embodiment, its deepest meaning, and its ultimate answer in the person and redemptive work of Jesus Christ, who perfectly revealed God and perfectly submitted to His Father's will.