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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
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God clearly said to him, “Do you think that I have dealt with you in any other way than that you might appear to be righteous?” That was in order, he says, to make you speak as you are speaking now, and not in order to condemn you. This is a justification for all that happened before. Actually he has not been delivered yet from his trial when he speaks so, but he is still in the midst of his torments when he makes his retraction. I attach no importance to myself, he says; I am only going to present the justification of God with regard to what has happened before. I was not even worthy of that. It is when Job has condemned himself that God justifies him. And what does he say? He has said to his friends that they must expiate their guilt and constantly calls Job his servant.
6. For the less a person sees himself, the less is he displeased with himself; and the more he discerns the light of greater grace, the more blameworthy does he acknowledge himself to be. For when he is elevated within, by all that he is, he endeavours to agree with that standard which he beholds above him. And because human weakness still impedes him, he perceives that he differs therefrom in no slight degree, and every thing within him is burdensome, which does not agree with that inward standard. This standard blessed Job more fully beholds, as he was making progress after his suffering, and with great self-reproach is at variance with himself, saying; Therefore I reproach myself. But because there is no knowledge of reproach, if the lamentations of penitence do not also follow, it is rightly added, after the reproach,
And do penance in dust and ashes.
7. For to do penance in dust and ashes, is, after having contemplated the supreme Essence, to acknowledge himself to be nothing else but dust and ashes. Whence the Lord in the Gospel says to the reprobate city, If the mighty works which have been done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have done penance long ago in sackcloth and ashes. [Mat. 11, 21] For by ‘sackcloth,’ is set forth the roughness and the piercing of sin, but in ‘ashes’ the dust of the dead. And therefore both of these are wont to be used in penance, in order that by the piercing of sackcloth we may know what we have done through sin, and that in the dust of ashes we may consider what we have become through judgment. Let piercing sins then be considered in sackcloth, let the just punishment of sins, which succeeds by the sentence of death, be considered in ashes. For since insults of the flesh have sprung up after sin, let man behold in the roughness of the sackcloth what he has done through pride, let him behold in the ashes how far he has gone through sin. But by sackcloth can be designated also the very compunction of grief which arises from remembrance and penitence. For blessed Job in saying, I reproach myself, is wounded as it were by a kind of sackcloth, when he is galled in his mind by the sharp stings of reproaches. But he does penance in ashes; because he carefully observes what he has been made by a just judgment after his first sin, saying, I do penance in dust and ashes. As if he plainly said, I do not boast myself of any gift of my Creator, because, having been taken from the dust, I know that I return to dust by the sentence of death which has been inflicted on me.
8. Having heard then all the words of Job, having known also all the answers of his friends, let us turn the sight of our mind to the sentence of the inward Judge, and say to Him; Behold, Lord, we have heard both the sides of those who are disputing in Thy sight, and we know that Job, in this contest, goes through his virtuous deeds, and that his friends maintain against him the glory of Thy justice. But Thou knowest what amid these things is the opinion of our mind. For we cannot possibly blame the sayings of those whom we know to be contributing to Thy defence. But, behold, the parties are present, and wait the sentence; bring forth therefore, O Lord, from Thine invisible rule the most discriminating sentence of Thy judgment, and show us which has spoken most rightly in this contention.
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Summary
Job 42:6 encapsulates the pivotal climax of Job's spiritual odyssey, marking his profound shift from self-justification and questioning God's ways to absolute humility and genuine repentance. Following a direct, overwhelming encounter with the Almighty's majesty and unsearchable wisdom from the whirlwind, Job abandons all former defenses, recognizing his own finite understanding and unworthiness, and fully submits to the incomprehensible sovereignty of God.
Context
Literary Context
Job 42:6 serves as the climactic and culminating statement of Job's response to God's divine speeches found in Job 38-41. Throughout the preceding 37 chapters, Job, while maintaining his integrity, had wrestled intensely with his suffering, often lamenting his plight and, at times, even challenging God's justice and perceived silence. His friends, operating under a rigid retribution theology, insisted that Job's immense suffering must be a direct consequence of hidden sin. However, God's revelation from the whirlwind does not offer an explanation for Job's suffering but rather overwhelms him with the unsearchable depths of His power, wisdom, and sovereign control over all creation. Job's initial, more restrained response in Job 40:4-5 ("Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth.") foreshadows this ultimate, full confession. The immediate preceding verse, Job 42:5, "I had heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee," directly sets the stage for Job's profound self-abhorrence and repentance, indicating that a direct, experiential encounter with God's holiness has shattered his previous understanding and self-perception, leading to this transformative confession.
Historical & Cultural Context
The act of repenting "in dust and ashes" was a deeply ingrained and universally recognized idiom throughout the ancient Near East, signifying profound grief, deep humility, and genuine penitence. This was not merely a private act but often a public and dramatic expression of contrition and brokenness before God or man. Individuals would typically tear their clothes, put on sackcloth (a coarse, uncomfortable fabric), and sit or roll in dust and ashes as a visible, tangible sign of mourning, self-abasement, and a desperate plea for mercy. This practice is well-documented in both biblical and extra-biblical literature, reflecting a widespread cultural understanding that such an act represented a complete stripping away of pride, status, and comfort, and a recognition of one's utter dependence and unworthiness. While a physical act, it was always understood to be a reflection of an internal transformation, a sincere change of heart and mind, expressing a complete surrender to a higher authority or a profound sorrow for wrongdoing.
Key Themes
Job 42:6 powerfully encapsulates several central themes woven throughout the book of Job. Firstly, it highlights Profound Humility as the proper human response to divine majesty. Job's declaration, "I abhor [myself]," signifies a complete dismantling of his previous self-righteousness and a stark realization of his own finite understanding in the face of God's boundless wisdom and power. This resonates with the biblical call to humble oneself before the Lord, as seen in Proverbs 3:5-6. Secondly, the verse underscores the nature of True Repentance. The act of repenting "in dust and ashes" is far more than mere regret; it is a profound turning away from one's former self-justifying thoughts and a turning towards God in full, unreserved submission. This aligns perfectly with the biblical concept of teshuvah, a holistic change of heart and mind, exemplified in passages like Joel 2:13. Finally, Job's repentance is born directly out of his newfound, experiential understanding and acceptance of Divine Sovereignty. He grasps that God's absolute authority and control extend over all things, even circumstances that remain incomprehensible to human reason, leading to a trust that transcends intellectual understanding, much like the peace that surpasses all comprehension described in Philippians 4:7.
Exposition and Analysis
Key Word Analysis
This verb signifies "to spurn," "to reject," "to despise," "to loathe," or "to scorn." In Job's context, it conveys a profound sense of self-rejection or self-loathing. It is not merely regret for his words or actions, but an intense revulsion at his own previous audacity, his limited human perspective, and perhaps even his unwitting presumption in questioning God's ways. It signifies a complete stripping away of his former self-perception, particularly his self-righteousness and the pride that led him to contend with the Almighty.
This primitive root carries the sense of "to sigh," "to breathe strongly," and by implication, "to be sorry," "to pity," "to console," or (reflexively) "to rue" or "to comfort oneself." Here, it denotes a deep, internal sorrow that leads to a fundamental transformation of perspective and a turning towards God. Unlike a superficial regret, nâcham implies a genuine change of heart and purpose, a profound shift from his previous stance of demanding answers to one of humble submission and acceptance of divine mystery.
This is a potent and common biblical idiom representing extreme humility, deep grief, and profound penitence. "ʻâphâr" (dust) often signifies human mortality, frailty, and origin (e.g., Genesis 3:19), while "ʼêpher" (ashes) are the residue of destruction, often associated with mourning, desolation, and deep sorrow. To repent "in dust and ashes" is to acknowledge one's utter insignificance and unworthiness before a holy God, a complete prostration of self in recognition of divine majesty and one's own sinfulness or limited understanding. It is a symbolic act of self-abasement, signifying a complete surrender of pride and a return to one's foundational state of dependence on the Creator.
Verse Breakdown
"Wherefore I abhor [myself],"
This clause reveals the immediate and profound impact of Job's direct, experiential encounter with God. The "wherefore" directly links back to his newfound vision of God in Job 42:5, where he states, "now mine eye seeth thee." Having previously known God only by report, his direct "seeing" (experiential knowledge) of God's infinite power, wisdom, and holiness has exposed the utter inadequacy and presumption of his own arguments, complaints, and self-justification. The self-abhorrence is not a morbid self-pity, but a holy revulsion at his own limited, human perspective and the audacity of his previous challenges when confronted with the divine. It is a profound recognition of his own unworthiness and the immense gap between finite humanity and infinite Deity.
"and repent in dust and ashes."
This clause describes the outward, culturally understood manifestation of Job's internal transformation, signifying the depth and sincerity of his change of heart. The act of repenting (nâcham) signifies a fundamental change of mind and heart, a turning away from his previous stance of questioning, demanding, and defending his righteousness. The phrase "in dust and ashes" vividly portrays the depth of his contrition, humility, and submission. It is a symbolic act of self-abasement, acknowledging his place as a mere mortal, a creature of dust, before the Almighty Creator. This public and physical posture signals a complete surrender to God's sovereign will, even when that will remains mysterious and incomprehensible to human reason.
Literary Devices
Job 42:6 masterfully employs several potent literary devices to convey the profound depth of Job's transformation. The most prominent is Confession, as Job vocalizes his complete shift in perspective and attitude towards God. This is not merely an admission of guilt but a humble and heartfelt acknowledgment of his own limited understanding and unworthiness in the face of overwhelming divine majesty. Symbolism is powerfully at play with the phrase "dust and ashes," which serves as a vivid and universally understood ancient Near Eastern symbol for deep humility, mourning, and profound penitence. This physical posture represents an internal state of utter brokenness, self-abasement, and submission before God. Furthermore, the strong declaration "I abhor [myself]" can be interpreted as a form of Hyperbole, emphasizing the extreme nature of Job's self-rejection and the overwhelming intensity of his realization of God's holiness and his own finite, fallen nature. This dramatic language underscores the radical and transformative nature of his repentance, highlighting the seismic shift in his spiritual understanding.
Theological and Thematic Connections
Job 42:6 stands as a profound testament to the transformative power of a genuine, direct encounter with God. It illustrates that true repentance is not merely regret for past actions or words, but a radical reorientation of one's entire being in light of God's holiness, sovereignty, and unsearchable wisdom. Job's experience teaches that human wisdom and understanding are utterly dwarfed by divine wisdom, and that our proper posture before the Almighty is one of humility and absolute trust, even when His ways are inscrutable and His purposes remain hidden from our comprehension. This verse powerfully underscores the theme that a direct, experiential revelation of God's character often leads to a deeper awareness of one's own sinfulness, limitations, and presumption, prompting genuine contrition and a surrender of self-will and self-justification. It is a model of what happens when human pride finally bows before divine glory.
Reflection and Application
Job's journey, culminating in this profound verse, offers timeless and essential lessons for every believer navigating the complexities of faith and suffering. It reminds us that our spiritual growth often involves a painful but necessary stripping away of self-reliance, self-righteousness, and self-justification, particularly when we are confronted with life's inexplicable sufferings or God's seemingly silent hand. Like Job, we are called to move beyond a merely intellectual understanding of God to an experiential "seeing" of His majesty, which inevitably exposes our own limitations, presumption, and prompts genuine humility. True repentance, as demonstrated here, is not a one-time event but an ongoing posture of the heart—a willingness to abandon our own understanding, our perceived rights, and our pride, choosing instead to trust implicitly in God's sovereign wisdom and goodness, even when His plans remain a mystery. This verse challenges us to deeply examine whether our faith is robust enough to trust God when we don't understand His ways, and whether our humility is profound enough to repent of our own pride and limited perspective, surrendering fully to His divine will.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
What is the significance of "dust and ashes" in Job's repentance?
The phrase "dust and ashes" (Hebrew: ʿāpār wāʾēper) is a powerful and deeply symbolic biblical idiom that signifies the deepest levels of humility, grief, and profound penitence. "Dust" (ʿāpār) often represents human mortality, frailty, and our origin as creatures formed from the earth (e.g., Genesis 3:19), while "ashes" (ʾēpher) symbolize desolation, mourning, and the remnants of destruction or consumed pride. When Job repents "in dust and ashes," he is engaging in a culturally recognized act of profound self-abasement and contrition. It means he is acknowledging his utter insignificance, unworthiness, and creaturely status before the Almighty God. It's a public and physical manifestation of his internal brokenness, a complete surrender of his former self-righteousness, and a cessation of his questioning of divine justice. This act signifies a genuine change of heart and mind, a turning away from his previous stance and a full submission to God's sovereign will, even in the face of incomprehensible suffering. Other biblical figures like Daniel (Daniel 9:3) and the king of Nineveh (Jonah 3:6) also used this imagery to express deep contrition and a plea for mercy.
Christ-Centered Fulfillment
Job 42:6, though spoken millennia before the advent of Christ, profoundly prefigures the ultimate and necessary human response to a holy God—a response that is made fully possible, efficacious, and transformative only through Jesus Christ. Job's self-abhorrence and repentance in dust and ashes represent the universal human need for profound contrition and humility in the face of divine glory and holiness. Humanity, utterly tainted by sin, cannot stand before a perfectly holy God without being utterly undone, as Isaiah experienced in Isaiah 6:5. Yet, unlike Job's self-generated act of repentance, the New Covenant reveals that true, saving repentance is not merely a human effort but a gracious gift of God, enabled by the Holy Spirit, and made meaningful and redemptive by the atoning work of Jesus Christ. Jesus, the perfect Lamb of God, became sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21) so that our "dust and ashes" could be exchanged for the very righteousness of God. His sacrifice on the cross is the ultimate act of humility and obedience, allowing us, who "abhor ourselves" in light of our sin, to find complete forgiveness, reconciliation, and new life. Through Christ, our repentance is not merely an acknowledgment of our unworthiness but a turning to the One who has already borne our judgment, granting us access to God's boundless grace and a complete spiritual rebirth and newness of life (Romans 6:4). Job's encounter with God led to personal transformation; our encounter with God, through the person and finished work of Jesus Christ, leads to eternal salvation and a complete spiritual resurrection (John 3:3).