Job 34

TODAY’S ENGLISH VERSION

Elihu

1-2 You men are so wise, so smart;

listen now to what I am saying.

3 You can tell good food when you taste it;

why can-’t you tell wise words when you hear them?

4 It is up to us to decide the case. 5 Job claims that he is innocent,

and that God refuses to give him justice.

6 He asks, How could I lie and say I am wrong?

I am fatally wounded, but I am sinless.

7 Have you ever seen anyone like this man Job?

He never shows respect for God.

8 He likes the company of evil men

and goes around with sinners.

9 He says that it never does any good

to try to follow God’s will.

10 You men understand. Listen to me.

Will Almighty God do what is wrong?

11 He rewards people for what they do

and treats them the way they deserve.

12 Almighty God does not do evil;

he is never unjust to anyone.

13 Did God get his power from someone else?

Did someone put him in charge of the world?

14 If God took back the breath of life, 15 then everyone living would die

and turn into dust again.

16 Now listen to me, if you are wise. 17 Do you think the Almighty hates justice?

Are you condemning the righteous God?

18 God condemns kings and rulers,

when they are worthless or wicked.

19 God created everyone;

he does not take the side of rulers, or favor the rich over the poor.

20 A man may die suddenly at night.

God strikes men down and they perish; he kills the mighty with no effort at all.

21 He watches every step men take. 22 There is no darkness dark enough

to hide a sinner from God.

23 God does not need to set a time

for men to go and be judged by him.

24 He does not need an investigation

to remove leaders and replace them with others.

25 Because he knows what they do,

he overthrows them and crushes them by night.

26 He punishes sinners where all can see it, 27 because they have stopped following him

and ignored all his commands.

28 They forced the poor to cry out to God,

and he heard their calls for help.

29 If God decided to do nothing at all,

no one could criticize him.

If he hid his face, men would be helpless.

30 There would be nothing that nations could do

to keep oppressors from ruling them.

31 Job, have you confessed your sins to God,

and promised not to sin again?

32 Have you asked God to show you your faults,

and have you agreed to stop doing evil?

33 Since you object to what God does,

can you expect him to do what you want?

It is your decision, not mine;

tell us now what you think.

34 Any sensible person will surely agree;

any wise man who hears me will say

35 that Job is speaking from ignorance,

and that nothing he says makes sense.

36 Think through everything that Job says;

you will see that he talks like an evil man.

37 He refuses to stop sinning;

in front of us all he mocks and insults God.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 34:1-37

Elihu believes he is defending God. How so?

Give the fourfold outline of his discourse.

To whom does he address his wordssurely not to the three friends?

What more is involved in hearing than mere listening? Cf. Job 34:3.

What is theodicy? Discuss. Cf. Job 34:4.

Somebody seems to be a liar. Who is it? Discuss. Does Elihu fairly represent Job’s complaint?

Job is represented as a monumental scoffer. Explain how. Cf. Job 34:7.

According to Elihu, Job fulfills Psalm one. In what way?

Is piety for profit? How does this question relate to America?

Who has accused God of wickedness? Discuss the point of verse ten.

The question is not why does God not prevent injustice?. What is the basic question? Discuss.

Elihu repeats himself in Job 34:12. What is repeated?

Is power itself moral? How is God related to the injustice in the world? Discuss. Cf. Job 34:13.

We can never gain an adequate perspective on evil until we know something. What is it? Discuss.

There is the dilemma of victims and victors in the face of injustice. Explain.

Elihu has given a bold assertion, not a balanced argument. How so?

Discuss the thesis of natural leadership.

It is fallacy to suggest that we are all created equal. Discuss. Cf. Job 34:19.

What is emphasized in Job 34:20?

Job is both right and wrong about God as revealed in Job 34:21. Explain.

God does not need to go to court. Why not?

Was there a need for the inquiry before God requested by Job?

Do we have any examples of the truthfulness of Job 34:25-26? Discuss. Cf. Job 34:27.

How can we correlate the cries of the oppressed with the response of God? Discuss.

Job’s fundamental question does not relate to the wicked, but to the innocent. Discuss.

Explain the problem and the solution in the word together in Job 34:29.

God does not always remove an unrighteous ruler. Explain Job 34:30.

The meaning of Job 34:31 is not clear. What is its meaning?

Elihu is putting words in Job’s mouth. Are they the right words?

If we do not like the way God runs the cosmos, what can we do?

Job 34:1-9

C.

THE SOURCE OF JUSTICE (Job 34:1-37)

Job is walking with wicked men when he attributes injustice to God. (Job 34:1-9)

TEXT 34:1-9

**1 Moreover Elihu answered and said,

2 Hear my words, ye wise men;

And give ear unto me, ye that have knowledge.

3 For the ear trieth words,

As the palate tasteth food.

4 Let us choose for us that which is right;

Let us know among ourselves what is good.

5 For Job hath said, I am righteous,

And God hath taken away my right:

6 Notwithstanding my right I am **accounted **a liar;

My wound is incurable, **though I am **without transgression.

7 What man is like Job,

Who drinketh up scoffing like water,

8 Who goeth in company with the workers of iniquity,

And walketh with wicked men?

9 For he hath said, It profiteth a man nothing

That he should delight himself with God.**

COMMENT 34:1-9

**Job 34:1**Elihu now turns to defend God from the charges of Job, who has argued from his own particular case which is reinforced by evidence of other injustices around him to God’s responsibility for his situation. Elihu deals with a general, a priori theological assumption, and deduces Job’s sin from it. Elihu’s second discourse in Job 34:1-37 divides into four divisions: (1) Job is an impious manJob 34:2-9; (2) Response to Job’s charges against GodJob 34:10-15; (3) Defense of omniscience and impartiality of GodJob 34:16-30; and (4) Exposes Job’s rebellion against GodJob 34:31-37.

**Job 34:2**Once more he calls on his audience to pay attention. He addresses the bystanders and appeals to their sense of righteousnessJob 34:10; Job 34:34 for support. After Job 32:11 ff, Elihu could hardly be referring to Job’s three friends by the phrase you wise men.

**Job 34:3**Here we have an almost verbatim quotation from Job 12:11. The ear is the faculty of man’s reason. Hearing is more than listening. In both Old Testament and New Testament, we often find the word rendered disobedience to be to not hear, Isaiah 6:1 ff; Matthew 13:1 ff; Acts 28:16 ff; Romans 9:1 ff; and Hebrews 3; Hebrews 4. The parallelism between the ears and the palate is crystal clear.

**Job 34:4**We must determine whether Job has made a just charge against God. We must decide whether Job’s or the traditional orthodox view toward the question of theodicy is correct.

**Job 34:5**Elihu in part quotes Job’s words and in part summarizes themJob 27:2. After a process of discrimination, we will reach a sound conclusion. He proceeds to rip Job’s words to shreds.

**Job 34:6**Job has repeatedly claimed that though he is innocent, he is made to appear impious. Should I lie, i.e., Should I confess guilt when I am innocent? The LXX has he lies, that is, God lies, instead of as in the Hebrew, I lie. Perhaps the implication is if Job is right, then that is tantamount to making God a liar. Since God cannot be a liar, that necessitates Job’s repentance and confession of sin. Job’s challenge of God’s justice stems from Job’s sinfulness, not God’s unrighteousness or partiality. The phrase my wound is literally my arrow or my dart. My condition cannot be healed, though I am without sin, so Elihu reports Job’s position. Elihu avoids the crude oversimplification of Job’s friends by rejecting the thesis that Job’s sufferings are sure proof of his evil heart, and that rewards are the infallible results of repentance.

**Job 34:7**Job had spoken of God scoffing at the sufferings of the innocentJob 9:23, Zophar of Job’s scoffing at traditional doctrinal understandingJob 11:3, and Eliphaz at the innocent scoffing at the misfortunes of the impiousJob 22:19. Elihu charges that Job is an irreligious man who is a public menace. As with Job’s three friends, mercy, grace, love, compassion are not words which Elihu understands.

**Job 34:8**Psalm one is an excellent commentary on this verse. Who takes the path of evil menJob 11:11; Job 22:15; Job 31:5? By expressing his views, Job finds himself in the company of the ungodly.

**Job 34:9**Elihu correctly attributes to Job the view that piety is not for profitJob 9:22; Job 10:3; Job 21:7; Malachi 3:13-14. Elihu’s next discourseJob 35:5 ffis preoccupied with an effort to refute the thesis. This fundamental assumption is part of the American Dream, i.e., piety is to be rewarded by prosperity. As America enters her third century, one of the conditions of spiritual survival will be how production, prosperity, piety, and poverty are correlated, with a biblical world-life viewpoint, as opposed to a humanistic-naturalistic-pragmatic survival-security perspective. Job is our contemporary. The same God who shattered His silence for Job can and will speak to the crises of the last quarter of the twentieth century.

God will do no wickedness nor injustice, but imparts to every man according to his deeds. (Job 34:10-15)

Job 34:10-15

TEXT 34:10-15

**10 Therefore hearken onto me, ye men of understanding:

Far be it from God, that he should do wickedness, And from the Almighty, that he should commit iniquity.

11 For the work of a man will he render unto him,

And cause every man to find according to his ways,

12 Yea, of a surety, God will not do wickedly,

Neither will the Almighty pervert justice.

13 Who gave him a charge over the earth?

Or who hath disposed the whole world?

14 If he set his heart upon himself,

If he gather onto himself his spirit and his breath;

15 All flesh shall perish together,

And man shall torn again unto dust.**

COMMENT 34:10-15

**Job 34:10**Bildad raised this question in Job 8:3; Elihu echoes it here in Job 34:10-12. True wise men, i.e., lit. men of heart, you know that God can do no evil. Job is not merely in error; he has committed blasphemyGen 18:25.

**Job 34:11**Whether the man be good or evil, his reward will follow from his character. Elihu, like Job’s three friends, is persuaded that God is not unjust. From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible is fully conscious that a person’s desert and his fortune are not often in harmony. The systems of society, history, and nature are so interconnected[339] that negative repercussions do, in fact, come to those who are not personally guilty of any particular heinous crime, egs. famine, earthquake, tornadoes, war, pestilence, etc. Freedom and responsibility are always within structures. There is no such thing as Sartre’s ontological Freedom, which is in reality insanity. But if there is no freedom, neither is there responsibility, i.e., basis for praise or blame for human behaviorJob 4:8; Ps. 62:13; Proverbs 24:12; Eccl. 16:14; Matthew 16:27; Romans 2:6; Galatians 6:7-10. Rowley certainly raises the appropriate question, which is not Why does God not prevent injustice? but why do men perpetrate injustice? (Job, p. 279). In the case of Job, God permitted Satanic injustice as an expression of His confidence in his servant Job. God was prepared to stake His cosmic honor on Job’s integrity. The last line as rendered in the A. V. could better read, lit., will cause it to find him.[340]

[339] Systems Analysis is the most effective method known to man which can correlate interrelatedness of the systems of the universe, whether natural or societal systems.

[340] See my theological essay on EvilSilence, Suffering, and Sin: Present Evil and the Presence of God in this commentary.

**Job 34:12**Elihu repeats what he has already declared in Job 34:10. The editors of The Qumran Targum render this verse as a rhetorical questionEh bien, Dieu fera-T-il vraiment ce qiu est faux? Well? God will certainly not do that which is false or evil? The Hebrew -omnom is rendered by sd-’ which appears in Daniel 3:14 with -hsd-’, the interrogative particle.[341]

[341] For analysis of this grammatical possibility, see H. H. Rowley, The Aramaic of the Old Testament, 1929, p. 132.

**Job 34:13**Elihu deduces from the fact that God is all-powerful creator that He can do no wrong. This logically entails that power is moral; whatever God does is by definition moral or just. But Job has already acknowledged that God is answerable to no oneJob 9:12; but he erroneously derived from this premise that God was responsible for all the injustice in the worldJob 9:24. Camus expresses this same viewpoint in his existential literature, specifically The Plague and The Fall. Sartre is also a brilliant protagonist of God’s justice, eg. The Devil and The Good Lord, No Exit, and The Flies, etc.

**Job 34:14**If God only thought of Himself and not of all His creatures, i.e., all of creation, with benevolent mercy, then no one would survive. All flesh would perish from the earth. God gave life to all creaturesGen 2:7 and Job 33:4; and when and if He withdraws His spirit, we diePsa 104:29 and Ecclesiastes 12:7. We are all alike, dependent on an impartial God.

**Job 34:15**All flesh here indicates that when His spirit is withdrawn, only lifeless sarx remains to be ravaged by decayJob 12:10; Job 28:21; Isaiah 42:5; Psalms 104:29. God is a loving merciful Lord, not a capricious tyrant. We can never gain an adequate perspective on evil until we know God and His cosmic purpose, which is to fulfill His promises in Christ2 Corinthians 1:20. It should be all but self-evident that biblical eschatology is the basis for a Christian view of history-nature, the removal of evil is part of the biblical understanding of redemptionIsaiah 6166; Romans 8; Revelation 21.

Job 34:16-30

3. God is supreme, sees every hidden thing, and is an impartial judge. (Job 34:16-30)

**TEXT 34:16-30

16 If now thou hast understanding, hear this:

Hearken to the voice of my words.

17 Shall even one that hateth justice govern?

And wilt thou condemn him that is righteous and mighty?

18 Him that saith to a king, Thou art vile,

Or to nobles, Ye are wicked;

19 That respecteth not the persons of princes,

Nor regardeth the rich more than the poor; For they are all the work of his hands.

20 In a moment they die, even at midnight;

The people are shaken and pass away, And the mighty are taken away without hand.

21 For his eyes are upon the ways of a man,

And he seeth all his goings.

22 There is no darkness, nor thick gloom,

Where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.

23 For he needeth not further to consider a man,

That he should go before God in judgment.

24 He breaketh in pieces mighty men in ways past finding out,

And setteth others in their stead.

25 Therefore he taketh knowledge of their works;

And he overturneth them in the night, so that they are destroyed.

26 He striketh them as wicked men

In the open sight of others;

27 Because they turned aside from following him,

And would not have regard to any of his ways:

28 So that they caused the cry of the poor to come unto him,

And he heard the cry of the afflicted.

29 When he giveth quietness, who then can condemn?

And when he hideth his face, who then can behold him? Alike whether it be done unto a nation, or unto a man:

30 That the godless man reign not,

That there be none to ensnare the people.**

COMMENT 34:16-30

**Job 34:16**If God is truly all powerful, then no one can influence His decisionsGen 18:25; Romans 3:5 ff. If God is all knowing, then He must be infallible. When He observes unrighteousness, He punishes. But the dilemma remains, why some victims and some victors?Job 33:31; Job 33:33. The text has only if understanding and is in the singular, and thus invites Job’s close attention.

**Job 34:17**The cogency of Elihu’s argument has often been attacked. Cosmic control, i.e., divine government, does not guarantee justice. This is precisely Job’s point. Elihu is saying that God can condemn kings and nobles and that this power makes Him righteous. But this is bold assertion, not balanced argument. Omnipotence is neither necessary nor sufficient power of impartiality. The word rendered govern in the first line of the A. V. means bind upHos 6:1; Isaiah 1:6; Exodus 29:9. Only in this verse does it have a sense of governing a kingdom[342]compare Psalms 31:19 with Job 34:17.

[342] For possible variation, see E. F. Sutcliffe, Biblica, 1949, pp. 73ff. He suggests medical sense here, i.e., God can heal a hater of justice; also see M. Dahood, Psalms, Vol. II, p. xxiv.

**Job 34:18**Elihu’s argument is crushed against the rocks of reality. A fool may be set in high placesEcc 10:5; Ecclesiastes 10:20. Present world condition hardly supports the naive but often suggested thesis of natural leadership, locally, state, nationally, or internationallyIsa 32:5. Elihu merely continues a theme set forth by Job in Job 12:17-21, i.e., God’s humiliation of the mighty. He also begs the question at hand. The word rendered in the A. V. as vile (beliyya-‘alworthlessness) is applied to such conduct as greedDeu 15:9; 1 Samuel 25:25; 1 Samuel 30:22; and sexual perversionJdg 19:22; and lying1 Kings 21:10; Proverbs 19:28.

**Job 34:19**Since all are derived from God’s creative power, He is impartial to both the rich and poor.[343] Impartiality does not mean that we are all equal in ability or capacity to produce. The fallacy that we are all equal is resident in western thought from the French Revolution (Liberty, Equality, Fraternity) to our canonical national literature, egs. Declaration of Independence, Constitution, etc. It should be empirically evident that we are not all equal in the sense of creative intelligence, abilities, etc. This central error is the basis of much human rights discussion, at least since 1948 and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of the UN. Rights entail responsibilities just like freedom does. Contemporary man has chosen security over freedomIsa 32:5; Deuteronomy 10:17; Proverbs 22:2; Acts 10:34-35; Romans 2:11; Ephesians 6:9; Colossians 3:25; and 1 Peter 1:17.

[343] P. Jouon, Biblica, 1937, p. 207 regards the “poor” as a social distinction.

**Job 34:20**Proof of God’s impartiality is His swift removal, i.e., at midnight, of the mighty. Unexpectedly God visits allLuk 12:20; 1 Thessalonians 5:2.[344] The people all violently agitated or taken away by no human hand. This emphasizes the effortlessness of God’s removal of the unjust from the world.

[344] E. F. Sutcliffe, Biblica, 1949, pp. 75ff.

**Job 34:21**God’s decisions are made with full awareness of all details. This verse is almost a verbatim citation of Job 24:23 b; Job 31:4; Eccl. 23:19. When disaster falls, it is evidence of wickedness. Job’s thesis is that God knows everything; therefore, He knows that he is innocentJob 10:7. The Prologue is proof that Job is correct concerning this point. But he is mistaken in inferring that God is indifferent to moral issues.

**Job 34:22**No human thought or act is concealed from GodJob 31:3; Psalms 139:11 ff; Jeremiah 23:24; Amos 9:2-3; Matthew 6:4.

**Job 34:23**Job has lamented that he could not bring God to a law courtJob 9:32even though God would be both adversary and judgeJob 10:2. Here, Elihu declares that God does not need to go through a legal process to establish guilt. God can summon man any time He chooses. Job has asked God for a time of hearingJob 9:32; Job 14:13; Job 24:1. The text has -odyet and the late G. E. Wright proposed a set time which would require mo-’ed.

**Job 34:24**God does not need to investigate (A. V. considerheqersearch, inquiry, and inquisition) the human situation in order to know what is going on. God’s will and power are fused by His loving mercy in all His pronouncements. Elihu says there is no need for the inquiry which Job has requested.

**Job 34:25**God knows (yakhir) their works and overthrows them in the night. Punishment comes with swift certainty to the tyrannical oppressors.

**Job 34:26**In spite of the difficulties in this verse, its meaning is that God judges the wicked in public. The A. V. rendering in the open sight means under or among as Greenfield has shown.[345]

[345] See his arguments, J. C. Greenfield, Zeitschriftf fur alttestamentlische Wissenschaft, 1961 p. 227.

**Job 34:27**Whoever turns from God is punished regardless of who he is. This verse contains only three Hebrew wordsJob 24:13. The parallel line is preserved almost intact in The Qumran Targum and supports the reading of the Hebrew text.

**Job 34:28**The difficulties in Job 34:28-33 perhaps caused the LXX translators to remove them from the text. The verb is infinitive and could be translated as either singular or plural. The infinitive to bring implies that the cries of the oppressed brought the oppressor to God’s attention. If He is all-knowing, their cries could bring Him no knowledge which He did not already possess. The grammar does not necessarily imply that their cries caused God’s response, but could also be understood as consequential.

**Job 34:29**This verse is very cryptic. But probably the meaning is that no man has a right to condemn God, even if He is silent in the presence of injustice. Job’s fundamental question is not Why does not God punish the wicked? but rather Why do **the **innocent suffer? **The last line reads **upon a nation or upon a man together. **The **word together is our problem in this text. Perhaps the verse means that God is watching over all His creation with unceasing vigilance, though He does often in fact hide His face from our view. His presence returns only after The Shattering of Silence. God’s visibility returns when He speaks. He has spoken with finality in Job’s redeemer, our LordJoh 1:1-18 and Hebrews 1:1-4. His silence becomes our ultimate vindication, when His silence is broken by resurrection. Blommerde renders the final line as upon nation and man he gazes.

**Job 34:30**The text reads literally from the ruling of an impious man. The A. V. rendering godless is abstract, and the text suggests an existential situation or concrete expression of unrighteousness. The last line reads from snares of the people, and means God intervenes to remove any and every unrighteous ruler. But the verse does not relate either the method of removal, or the length of time involved in the process of removal. Israel’s history is full of such examples.

Job 34:31-37

4. Job is rebellious in multiplying wicked words against God. (Job 34:31-37)

TEXT 34:31-37

**31 For hath any said unto God,

I have borne chastisement***,* **I will not offend any more:

32 That which I see not teach thou me:

If I have done iniquity, I will do it no more?

33 Shall his recompense be as thou wilt, that thou refusest it?

For thou most choose, and not I:

Therefore speak what thou knowest.

34 Men of understanding will say unto me,

Yea, every wise man that beareth met

35 Job speaketh without knowledge,

And his words are without wisdom.

36 Would that Job were tried unto the end,

Because of his answering like wicked men.

37 For he addeth rebellion unto his sin;

He clappeth his hands among us, And multiplieth his words against God.**

COMMENT 34:31-37

**Job 34:31**To God is emphatic in the verse. If one confesses to God, He does not need Job’s permission before forgiving. Chastisement of the A. V. is not in the text, which says I have borne, but what does that mean? Perhaps something like thisI am not evil, but have been led astray.[346] I will not offend suggests a declaration of innocence, rather than confession (any more is not in the text).

[346] See possibilities in G. R. Driver, Vetus Testamentum, Supplement, 1953, pp. 39ff,

**Job 34:32**The verse is a beautiful promise of obedience and a clear confession of sin. He is pleading for God’s merciful presence.

**Job 34:33**According to your judgment implies that God is free to pardon; He does not need Job’s permission. The first line contains because you reject it (in A. V. as thou refusest it) does not have an expressed object. Elihu is suggesting that if Job does not like the way God rules the universe, does he want to run the cosmos?

**Job 34:34**With such cogent arguments, how could anyone reply to Elihu? All wise men will condemn Job for arguing with God.

**Job 34:35When Job complains against God, he manifests his lack of wisdom and understandingJob 35:16; Job 38:2; and Job 42:3.

Job 34:36**Elihu would have pressed Job to the end of his ropeJob 7:18. The first line of this verse expresses wish or entreaty

(Heb. -abi wish).[347] He wishes that Job would change his attitude toward God, because he responds like all wicked men do.

[347] See thorough analysis in A. M. Honeyman, Journal of American Oriental Society, 1944, pp. 81-84, on developments of the root –‘by.

**Job 34:37 **Elihu, like Eliphaz 22, charges Job with secret sin. He merely intensifies his rebellion against God. Clapping is a gesture of open mockery. (His hands is not in the text.) Job is castigated for his contempt toward God and Elihu’s impeccable arguments.