Job 31:35

Oh, that one would hear me!.... Or, "who will give me a hearer?" (l) Oh, that I had one!

Oh that one would hear me! behold, my desire is, that the Almighty would answer me, and that mine adversary had written a book. Job returns to his wish (Job 13:22; Job 19:23).

Oh that one would hear me! Oh that I might have my cause heard by any just and impartial judge! That the Almighty would answer me, i.e. answer my desire herein; either by hearing me himself, or by appointing some indifferent person to judge whether I be such a hypocrite as my friends make me, or an upright person, and whether I have not cause to complain. Mine adversary; whosoever he be that shall contend with me, or accuse me, God himself not excepted, nay, possibly being chiefly intended, though for reverence to him he forbore to express it. So this is another of Job’ s irreverent and presumptuous expressions, for which he is so sharply reproved afterwards. Had written a book, i.e. had given me his charge written in a book or paper, as the manner was in judicial proceedings, that I might put in my answer into the court, which I am ready to do.

Job 31:35 Oh that one would hear me! behold, my desire [is, that] the Almighty would answer me, and [that] mine adversary had written a book.Ver. 35. Oh that one would hear me] Quis det mihi auscultantem mihi? Oh that after all this purging and praising of myself (wherein I take no pleasure, but that I must do it, unless I will betray mine innocence, and lie under heavy imputations), some one would help me to a fair trial! that God, who is best able, would undertake the business, and effectually vindicate me from these calumnies and contumelies that are cast upon me. That the Almighty would answer me] i.e. That he would give a reason why he dealt so harshly with me. This was Job’ s desire, or mark he aimed at, with confidence enough, Hac in re petenda nimis importunus est (Merl.); but sure he should have carried this matter with more modesty and lowly mindedness, with more reverence and godly fear, since our God is a consuming fire; since he is greater than our consciences; neither may we ever forget the infinite distance and disproportion that is between him and ourselves. And that mine adversary had written a book] Heb. The man of my contention; mine antagonist, that he had made his declaration, and set down his charge. By these and the following expressions, Job denoteth his innocence and plerophory of faith, wherewith he was well acquainted, and whereby he was exceedingly supported. Oh that we could as bravely bear all contumelies and contempts for our consciences; wearing them as crowns and confirmations of our conformity to Christ.

(35) Oh that one would hear me!—The rendering noticed in the margin is probably the right one—Oh that I had one to hear me! Lo, here is my mark! i.e., my signature, my declaration, which I am ready to subscribe; and oh that mine adversary had written a book! More correctly, perhaps, “That I had the book or indictment that my adversary hath written; would that I had it in black and white before me, that I might deal with it accordingly, and answer it point to point.” Here, then, is the same deviation from strict sequence of order that we observed in Job 29:18. Job 31:35-37 ought to come after Job 31:38-40; but the writer’s ideas of symmetry and order were not as ours, and this, in some respects, may be more natural, though, strictly speaking, less correct.

Verse 35. O that one would hear me!] I wish to have a fair and full hearing: I am grievously accused; and have no proper opportunity of clearing myself, and establishing my own innocence. Behold, my desire is] Or, הן תוי hen tavi, "There is my pledge." I bind myself, on a great penalty, to come into court, and abide the issue. That the Almighty would answer me] That he would call this case immediately before himself; and oblige my adversary to come into court, to put his accusations into a legal form, that I might have the opportunity of vindicating myself in the presence of a judge who would hear dispassionately my pleadings, and bring the cause to a righteous issue. And that mine adversary had written a book] That he would not indulge himself in vague accusations, but would draw up a proper bill of indictment, that I might know to what I had to plead, and find the accusation in a tangible form.

35. The words “one that would hear me,” though spoken generally, refer of course to God. It is He that Job desires to hear him. In the third clause he names Him his adversary, i. e. opponent in the plea concerning his innocence. And he desires that he had the charge, Heb. book, i. e. the libellus, libel or indictment, which his accuser had written and handed in against him. The middle clause consists of two exclamations which force themselves in between the two parts of the wish which he expresses. By the first, behold my signature, Job means to say that he affixes his signature to all the protestations of his innocence just made in the preceding verses of the chapter, and attests them as his plea on his side. By the other, let the Almighty answer me, he challenges God, his accuser, to put in His plea in answer to his own. The language is evidently taken from the judicial practice of the time, according to which both charge and defence were laid before the court in writing. This is known to have been the practice in Egypt, though perhaps in many parts of the East the proceedings may have been oral. The word signature or sign (Ezekiel 9:4) is tav in Heb. This is the name of the letter T, the old form of which was a cross, but the inference that Job’s signature, or that signatures in his time, had the form of a cross is scarcely warranted.

O that one would hear me! - This refers undoubtedly to God. It is, literally, “Who will give to me one hearing me;” and the wish is that which he has so often expressed, that he might get his cause fairly before God.

Fifth strophe — The statement he has made, Job would dare to sign in the presence of God, and carry about as a triumphant declaration that he has not been guilty of deceit and hypocrisy.