Job 35
BSASBElihu, the younger speaker, continues his case against Job. He argues that God is so far above us that our sin and our righteousness cannot add to or take from Him, and that unanswered cries often come from pride. He ends by saying that Job talks without knowledge. Elihu has some true insights, but he is too hard on a suffering man, and God will later speak to settle the matter.
Job 35:1
Elihu takes up his speech again, as he did in chapter 34. He is the young man who waited while the older friends spoke, and now he continues alone. Job does not reply to him. The next voice after Elihu’s is God’s.
BSA: went on (“continued, spoke moreover”): Elihu has more to say, and this is the third section of his long address.
Job 35:2
Elihu charges Job with putting himself in the right and God in the wrong. Job had defended his innocence and wished to argue his case before God. Elihu takes that to mean Job thinks he is more righteous than God. Job never quite said so, but Elihu presses the point.
BSA: righteous (“having God’s nature, upright”): Elihu says Job is claiming a rightness greater than God’s own standard.
Job 35:3
Elihu quotes Job as asking what good it does to avoid sin. This is a hard saying. Job had complained that the wicked often seem to prosper (Job 21), and Elihu hears in that a claim that godliness has no payoff. Elihu reads the complaint at its worst.
BSA: profit (“be useful, benefit”): The question is about usefulness: does living rightly pay off?
See also: Job 21:7-15.
Job 35:4
Elihu promises to answer Job and the three friends together. He sees himself as speaking to the whole debate, not only to Job. His answer begins with a look at the sky.
BSA: friends (“companions, neighbors, or those close to you”): They are the men sitting with Job, who have already argued with him and failed to persuade him.
Job 35:5
Elihu sends Job to look at the sky. The clouds are far above any human reach. If the heavens are high above us, God is higher still. The picture is meant to humble Job and to remind him how small a place he stands in.
BSA: clouds (“thin vapor, lofty skies”): The clouds are a picture of great height and distance, beyond anything a man can touch.
See also: Isaiah 55:9; Psalm 8:3-4.
Job 35:6
Elihu argues that human sin cannot hurt God. He is too great to be injured by what we do. This is true in one sense, but the Bible also says sin grieves God and that He cares deeply about it. Elihu uses a true point in too narrow a way.
BSA: sin (“miss the mark, go wrong”): Sin is pictured as an arrow that falls short of the target God set.
See also: Psalm 51:4.
Job 35:7
The same holds for righteousness. God needs nothing from us, so we cannot put Him in our debt. Whatever good we do, we first received from Him. This guards us against thinking God owes us a reward, though Scripture also says He loves to bless the faithful.
BSA: hand (“outstretched, open, in surrender”): Any offering placed in God’s hand is only a gift returned to Him.
See also: Job 22:2-3; Psalm 50:9-12; Romans 11:35.
Job 35:8
Our sin and our goodness land on other people, not on God. Wickedness harms neighbors, and righteousness blesses them. Elihu’s point is that our conduct matters to those around us. He is right that people feel it, but he wrongly implies that God stands unmoved by it.
BSA: son of man (“the first human, Adam”): The phrase simply means a human being, a descendant of Adam, like Job himself.
Job 35:9
Elihu turns to the oppressed. People under heavy tyranny groan and shout for rescue from the strong. The scene is real and common, and Elihu uses it to ask why their cries often seem to go unanswered.
BSA: oppression (“unfair treatment, extortion”): The word suggests being squeezed by those with power, not just suffering in general.
See also: Exodus 2:23.
Job 35:10
Elihu says these sufferers cry out for relief but do not turn to God Himself. They want the pain to end, but they do not ask where God their Maker is. Yet He is the one who gives songs in the night, joy and hope in the darkest hours. This is a lovely thought.
BSA: songs (“musical praises, joyful melodies”): God can put a song in the heart even when circumstances are dark. night (“the time of darkness, adversity, or hardship”): The night stands for any season of trouble.
See also: Psalm 42:8; Acts 16:25.
Job 35:11
God made people different from animals. He gives us minds to learn, to understand, and to know Him. Animals cry out in pain and nothing more. Because we are wise enough to look to our Maker, merely crying for relief falls short of what we were made for.
BSA: wiser (“more intelligent, discerning”): God gave humans the ability to think and to know Him, which animals do not have.
See also: Job 12:7-9.
Job 35:12
Elihu says some cries go unanswered because they come out of pride. A person may shout in pain without humbling himself before God. Elihu offers this as one reason, but it cannot explain Job, whom God Himself called blameless.
BSA: pride (“arrogance, self-importance”): Pride keeps the heart turned toward itself, so the cry is not truly a turning to God.
Job 35:13
God does not answer empty cries that carry no real seeking of Him. The Almighty sees everything, but He does not respond to words that are only noise. Elihu is giving a general principle, though Scripture also shows God hearing honest cries of pain.
BSA: empty (“vain, false, or deceitful”): The cry is hollow because it holds no true turning toward God. Almighty (“Shadday, all-powerful”): The title stresses God’s complete power and the weight of His attention.
See also: Psalm 34:15; Isaiah 1:15.
Job 35:14
Elihu now applies this to Job. If God ignores empty cries, how much less will He be moved by Job’s complaint that he cannot see Him. Elihu tells Job that his case is before God and that he must wait. Waiting is the right posture, and Job’s impatience is the problem.
BSA: wait (“trust, expect”): Waiting on God is not just passing time but trusting Him and expecting Him to act.
See also: Job 23:8-9; Psalm 37:7.
Job 35:15
Elihu says Job complains that God has not punished wrongdoing in His anger, and that He seems to take little notice of folly. This again presses Job’s earlier remarks about the wicked escaping. Elihu thinks Job is accusing God of neglect.
BSA: punished (“visited, overseen, or reckoned with”): The word means God stepping in to look into a matter and set it right.
See also: Job 24:1.
Job 35:16
Elihu closes with a sharp verdict: Job talks a great deal but without knowledge. It is harsh, and God will later say something similar about Job’s words, yet He will also say that Job spoke rightly of Him compared with the friends. The reader is left with the need for God to speak.
BSA: knowledge (“understanding, wisdom”): Job lacked the full understanding of what was happening in heaven, which none of the speakers had.