Job 36
OGCTODAY’S ENGLISH VERSION
Elihu went on talking.
Elihu
2 Be patient and listen a little longer
to what I am saying on God’s behalf.
3 My knowledge is wide; I will use what I know
to show that God, my Creator, is just.
4 Nothing I say to you is false;
you see before you a truly wise man.
5 How strong God is! He despises no one;
there is nothing he doesn-’t understand.
6 He does not let sinners live on,
and he always treats the poor with justice.
7 He protects those who are righteous;
he lets them rule like kings, and lets them be honored forever.
8 But if people are bound in chains,
suffering for what they have done,
9 God shows them their sins and their pride. 10 He makes them listen to his warning
to run away from evil.
11 If they obey God and serve him,
they live out their lives in peace and prosperity.
12 But if not, they will die in ignorance
and go to the world of the dead.
13 Those who are godless keep on being angry,
and even when punished, they don-’t pray for help.
14 They die while they still are young,
worn out by a life of disgrace.
15 But God teaches men through suffering
and uses distress to open their eyes.
16 God brought you out of trouble,
and let you enjoy security; your table was piled high with food.
17 But now you are getting the punishment you deserve. 18 Be careful not to let bribes deceive you
and not to let riches lead you astray.
19 It will do you no good to cry out for help;
all your strength can-’t help you now.
20 Don-’t wish for night to come,
the time when nations will perish.
21 Be careful not to turn to evil;
your suffering was sent to keep you from it.
22 Remember how great is his power;
God is the greatest teacher of all.
23 No one can tell God what to do
or accuse him of having done evil.
24 God has always been praised for what he does;
you also must praise him.
25 Everyone has seen what he has done;
but no one understands it all.
26 We cannot fully know God’s greatness
or count the number of his years.
27 It is God who takes water from the earth
and turns it into drops of rain.
28 He lets the rain pour from the clouds
in showers for all mankind.
29 No one knows how the clouds move,
or how the thunder roars through the sky.
30 He sends lightning through all the sky,
but the depths of the sea remain dark.
31 This is how he feeds the people
and provides an abundance of food.
32 He seizes the lightning with his hands,
and commands it to hit the mark.
33 Thunder announces the approaching storm,
and the cattle know it is coming.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 36:1-33
What is the theme of this the final speech of Elihu?
What are the two fundamental issues of this speech?
This man really has confidence in his message. Why?
Is this message for God or from God? Cf. Job 36:3.
Elihu is a total stranger to modesty. How is this fact shown?
There is another way of translating verse five, i.e., other than appears here. How so?
Elihu flatly contradicts Job in verse six. Who is right? Discuss.
Two grand benefits are promised to the righteous in verse seven. What are they?
Elihu makes his sole creative contradiction to the issue under scrutiny in verse eight. What is it?
What is the purpose of affliction? Cf. Job 36:9.
God has a way of opening our inner ear. How does He do it? Cf. Job 36:10.
The meaning of the Hebrew word for hearing has a lesson in it for all hearers. What is it? Cf. Job 36:11.
If the ungodly will not learn from discipline, they must cross over. What does this mean? Cf. Job 36:12.
The impious of heart nourish anger. Why? With what result? Discuss.
Male prostitutes are discussed in Job 36:14. What is said?
The essence of Elihu’s speech is in Job 36:15. What is it?
A charge is made against Job in Job 36:16. What is it? Was it true? Discuss.
Elihu charges that Job’s attitude toward justice is continually condemning him. In what way? Cf. Job 36:17.
What is meant by the greatness of the ransom in Job 36:18?
What is the meaning of Job 36:19?
Explain in your own words the meaning of Job 36:20.
Elihu knows why Job is sufferingeven if Job does not. What reason is given in Job 36:21?
God is Job’s teacher, but what is the lesson? Elihu knows. Cf. Job 36:22.
Has Job been telling God what to do? Is the charge in Job 36:23 a fair one?
Praise is at the heart of true righteousness. Cf. Psalms 102:28. Is this true?
A beautiful picture appears in Job 36:27. What is it?
Is Matthew 5:45 involved in Job 36:28?
Does God live in the bottom of the sea, or in the highest heaven? Cf. the meaning of Job 36:29-30.
How do thunderstorms and seas judge peoples? Cf. Job 36:31.
Express in your own words the meaning of the figure of speech in Job 36:32.
There are many possible meanings to Job 36:33. Which do you prefer? Why?
Job 36:1-16
E.
GODPERSON, PROMISE, PURPOSE, AND PEOPLE (Job 36:1-33)
God deals with men according to their deeds; the penitent he restores, others perish. (Job 36:1-16)
TEXT 36:1-16
**1 Elihu also proceeded, and said,
2 Suffer me a little, and I will show thee; For I have yet somewhat to say on God’s behalf.
3 I will fetch my knowledge from afar,
And will ascribe righteousness to my Maker.
4 For truly my words are not false:
One that is perfect in knowledge is with thee.
5 Behold, God is mighty, and despiseth not any:
He is mighty in strength of understanding.
6 He preserveth not the life of the wicked,
But giveth to the afflicted their right.
7 He withdraweth not his eyes from the righteous:
But with kings upon the throne He setteth them for ever, and they are exalted.
8 And if they be bound in fetters,
And be taken in the cords of affliction;
9 Then he showeth them their work,
And their transgressions, that they have behaved themselves proudly.
10 He openeth also their ear to instruction,
And commandeth that they return from iniquity.
11 If they hearken and serve him,
They shall spend their days in prosperity, And their years in pleasures.
12 But if they hearken not, they shall perish by the sword,
And they shall die without knowledge.
13 But they that are godless in heart lay up anger:
They cry not for help when he bindeth them.
14 They die in youth.
And their life perisheth among the unclean.
15 He delivereth the afflicted by their affliction,
And openeth their ear in oppression.
16 Yea, he would have allured thee out of distress
Into a broad place, where there is no straitness; And that which Is set on thy table would be full of fatness.**
COMMENT 36:1-16
**Job 36:1**Elihu begins his fourth and most impressive speech Chapter s 36-37. He will pour out his wisdom on Job concerning God’s greatness and the mystery of His unfathomableness. If Job only knew God, he would bow in submissive awe. This speech anticipates Yahweh’s speeches in Chapter s 38-41 in describing the marvels of His creation. The speech is divided into two fundamental issues: (1) The divine discipline of sufferingJob 36:2-25, which deals with the cause and purpose of sufferingJob 36:2-15, Mid the application of these points to Job personallyJob 36:16-25; and (2) The work and wisdom of GodJob 36:26, Job 37:24, God’s work in natureJob 36:2, Job 37:13; and the magnificent transcendence of GodJob 36:14-24.
**Job 36:2**The verb -ktr here means wait or bear with me, Judges 20:43; Psalms 22:12; and Habakkuk 1:4. The verb can also mean surround, and is so interpreted by Blommerde who renders the phrase as Form a circle around me,. He also suggests that we should understand the preposition as from, not on God’s behalf. This would reinforce Elihu’s judgment that his wisdom is God’s wisdom.
**Job 36:3**Elihu will bring his wisdom from afar and report the truth from God, rather than to my maker as in the A. V.[351] Elihu is thus God’s infallible interpreter; so Job, you fail to listen at your own peril.
[351] For analysis of this preposition, see M. Dahood, Vetus Testamentum, 1967, p41, note 4.
**Job 36:4**Elihu is a total stranger to modesty. He repeatedly asserts his own genius. The parallelism precludes that the second line refers to GodJob 37:16, rather than Elihu. The word rendered perfect means complete as God had earlier testified of JobJob 2:3.
**Job 36:5**God is all powerful as has been asserted previously by both Job and Elihu. There is no object in the text for despise and thus it must be supplied. Of all emendations suggested, Dhorme’s is most feasible and enlightening. God is great in might and He does not despise the pure in heart[352]Job 9:22 ff and Isaiah 57:15.
[352] Dhorme, Job, pp. 539ff; see also for Rabbinic tradition, S. Esh, Vetus Testanentum, 1957, pp 19Off; and M. Dahood, Psalms, Vol. II, note 2, on Psalms 75:7 for his defense of rendering the divine description as the Old One.
**Job 36:6**Earlier Job had asked why the wicked are allowed to liveJob 21:7. Elihu replies to his query that God does not allow them to live, thus contradicting Job’s allegation. God punishes the unrighteous and rights the wrongs which have been inflicted upon the poor. Yes, but when? Why do we still have so many poor?
**Job 36:7**God does not withdraw His eyes from the righteous in watchful concern and compassion. The Masoretic punctuation creates a problem in the middle of this verse. The righteous are left alone, while Elihu refers to a class of rulers, i.e., kings as a separate class. In the Hebrew text it is the righteous who are both protected and exalted to the seats of powerful rulers. This thought is followed in verse eightPsa 113:6 ff.
**Job 36:8**If they refers to the righteous from verse seven. When the righteous are allowed by God to suffer, it is for the express purpose of purification or refinement. Even Elihu would not adjudge all kings as righteous; he surely means those who are basically good, though not sinless. Here Elihu makes his sole creative contribution to the issue under scrutiny. Affliction is for disciplinary purposes onlyJob 5:17.
**Job 36:9**The purpose of affliction is to humble the sinner in order to destroy the power of pride, the center of sin. Exaltation breeds pride, but humiliation breeds repentance.
**Job 36:10**God opens their ear (-oznam); here it stands for their entire mind set. The word musar means discipline and is often connected with affliction.[353] When the evil man hears God, he returns, or repents of his rebellion.
[353] See especially J. A. Sanders, Suffering as Divine Discipline in the Old Testament and Post-Biblical Judaism (Colgate Rochester Divinity School bulletin, 1955); also E. F. Sutcliffe, Providence and Suffering in the Old Testament and New Testament; also W. D. Chamberlain, The Meaning of Repentance (Joplin, Mo.: College Press reprint, 1972).
**Job 36:11**Once more the thesis is presented that repentance will gain the restoration of prosperityIsa 1:19-20. If they hear (Heb. has hear), they will obey. Often in both Old Testament and New Testament the vocabulary for obedience is based in the verbal roots for hearing. Their lives will be completed in prosperity, if they will but repent. The Hebrew text describes the way that the righteous will complete their lives as in pleasures (Heb. bonne -imino)[354]Psalms 16:6; Psalms 16:11. Unmistakably this word admits of material pleasure and not some form of mystical bliss like the medieval supreme encounter with God.
[354] E. A. Speiser, Genesis, Vol. I, Anchor Bible, suggests that this word contains unmistakable connotations of sexual pleasuresee his comments on Job 2:8 and Job 18:12.
**Job 36:12**If they will not learn from God’s discipline, they must perish. Doom is the reward of the ungodly. There is strong evidence that Pope is correct regarding the translation for -brshould be cross over not fall or perish as in A. V. The image suggests crossing over into death. The meaning is the same, whether we accept the traditional rendering, as does The Qumran Targum on Job, or the more recent lexical data.
**Job 36:13**The impious of heart nourish anger. The Hebrew has put anger for the A. V. lay up anger. Perhaps this means to nourish anger, rather than contemplating about the justice of the punishmentRom 2:5; Amos 1:11; and Jeremiah 3:5. Dhorme takes this to mean that they keep their anger, reading yismeru. This represents the spirit of the verse.
**Job 36:14**They die an early and shameful death (lit. qedesimamong the male prostitutes or holy males)Deuteronomy 23:17; 1 Kings 14:24; 1 Kings 15:12; 1 Kings 22:47; 2 Kings 23:7. The Qumran Targum confirms that qedesim here refers to male prostitutes, whose lives both end early and in shame.
**Job 36:15**Here is the essence of Elihu’s first speechJob 33:16-30. If one accepts affliction as discipline for righteousness, then one may be saved. Discipline can deliver the impious; thus therapy ends in thanksgiving.
**Job 36:16**Elihu charges that Job’s earlier prosperity generated his corruption and injustice, which brought God’s judging misfortunes upon him. Yet, in marked contrast, God’s speechesChapter s 38ffinform him that he can have fellowship in suffering, not after he is restored. Technically, this and the following verses are problematic, but the essential meaning is rather clear. Job’s great wealth has drawn him away from God. Perhaps it is true that it is difficult for a rich man to enter the kingdom, but it is not impossible.[355] Job returns and God blesses him in a beautiful and marvelous wayJob 42:1 ff.
[355] For the many technical matters, see Pope, Job, p. 270, and Dhorme, Job, pp. 544-555.
Job 36:17-21
- Job has had the wrong spirit toward his sufferings. (Job 36:17-21)
TEXT 36:17-21
**17 But thou art fall of the judgment of the wicked:
Judgment and justice take hold on thee.
18 For let not wrath stir thee up against chastisements;
Neither let the greatness of the ransom turn thee aside.
19 Will thy cry avail, that thou be not in distress,
Or all the forces of thy strength?
20 Desire not the night,
When peoples are cut off in their place.
21 Take heed, regard not iniquity:
For this hast thou chosen rather than affliction.**
COMMENT 36:17-21
**Job 36:17**The first verb in the verse is in the perfect tense, full of judgment, and the second is in the imperfectjudgment and justice take hold of him. Job’s own attitude toward justice is continually condemning him.
**Job 36:18**Elihu warns (hemahbeware) Job, do not let wrath entice you evil. The A. V. understands the wrath to be God’S, while the R. S. V. understands it to be Job’S. The entire issue is concerned with God’s judgment on Job’s unrighteousness, so surely the wrath (hemah) is God’S. The parallelism presents a powerful warning against the corruption of justice. Do not let the abundance (sepeq) of the reward or ransom pervert you.
**Job 36:19**Dhorme renders this very difficult verse as can one compare your crying out to him (Heb. loeto him, not lo-’) in distress? Wealth and bribery cannot influence the divine JudgePope, p. 271. The rendering of the A. V. makes little sense. The essential meaning of the verse is Job’s wealth could not save him. The verse, like the previous one, is a warning against corruption.
**Job 36:20**The most promising of all suggestions as to the meaning of this cryptic verse is that it is condemning the letting of kinship influence his judgments. As usual, night is the symbol of sudden catastropheJob 34:20; Job 34:25. People, symbol for many, a group, or a clan, are cut off without warning.
**Job 36:21**Stop rebelling against God because of His chastening hand. Because of your rebellion, you were chosen for testing. Job is being rebuked for choosing rebellion; he certainly did not choose affliction. If one amends the Hebrew text as passive (bohantayou have been tested), the sense is precisely Elihu’s major assertionthat suffering is for warning and discipline, in order to turn the sufferer from evil.
Job 36:22-33
- God knows what he is doing and his work should be magnified. (Job 36:22-33)
TEXT 36:22-33
**22 Behold, God doeth loftily in his power:
Who is a teacher like onto him?
23 Who hath enjoined him his way?
Or who can say, Thou hast wrought unrighteousness?
24 Remember that thou magnify his work,
Whereof men have sung.
25 All men have looked thereon;
Man beholdeth it afar off.
26 Behold, God is great, and we know him not;
The number of his years is unsearchable.
27 For he draweth up the drops of water,
Which distil in ram from his vapor,
28 Which the skies pour down
And drop upon man abundantly.
29 Yea, can any understand the spreadings of the clouds,
The thunderings of his pavilion?
30 Behold, he spreadeth his light around him;
And he covereth the bottom of the sea.
31 For by these he judgeth the peoples;
He giveth food in abundance.
32 He covereth his hands with the lightning,
And giveth it a charge that it strike the mark.
33 The noise thereof telleth concerning him,
The cattle also concerning the storm that cometh up.**
COMMENT 36:22-33
**Job 36:22**The purpose of Job’s suffering is here considered by Elihu. God is Job’s moreh or teacher. The content of the instruction is disciplinary suffering, if Job could only understand. This word (moreh) is also applied to God in Isaiah 30:20; Job 34:32; Job 35:11; and Psalms 32:8.
**Job 36:23**Since God is the almighty, no one can dictate **to **Him appropriate decisions; therefore, Job should stop criticizing God for his misfortunes. Instead, he should attempt to come to an understanding of what his morehteacheris saying to him. God’s power and conduct are here under scrutiny. The A. V. enjoined is from a verb which means to prescribe or determine; i.e., who can determine God’s ways for Him? Who can say that His conduct is unrighteous?
**Job 36:24**Others have sung of God’s great handiwork, while you are complaining about it. Praise is at the heart of true righteousness. If you are righteous, praise will break forth from your lipsPsa 104:33.
**Job 36:25**All other men have looked upon creation in awe and deep satisfaction. But not you, Job. A man must have perspective (from afar off) in order to understand the greatness of God’s creation. One cannot discern the majestic magnificence of creation close at hand.
**Job 36:26**God’s greatness is here set forth in imagery revealing His control of the universe. He is not bound by time; His years are innumerable (Heb. mispar)Job 16:22 a and Psalms 102:28.
**Job 36:27**The verb -gr-’. which is rendered draweth in the A. V., basically means diminish or deductJob 36:7; Isaiah 15:2; Jeremiah 48:37; and Exodus 21:10. The A. V. rendering of --’ed as vapor is defective. The word occurs only here and Genesis 2:6.[356] Albright has argued that this means the subterranean source of fresh water.[357] The word rendered as distill in the A. V. probably means filter. The image is that God controls the cosmic water system and filters vast amounts of water from a flood or giant reservoir. God is Lord of the rain, which is necessary for life and growth.
[356] See G. Lisowsky, ed., Konkordanz zum hebraischen alten Testament, 2nd ed., 1958; and S. Mandekern, Veteris Testimenti Concordantiae Hebraicae atque Chaldaicae, 2 vols., 1955 reprint, for this root.
[357] See W. F. Albright, J.B.L., 1939, pp. 102ff.
**Job 36:28**The late G. E. Wright took -rab, abundantly, as equivalent of rebibimshowersDeu 32:2, and rendered fall upon man as showers. Rab is probably an adjective not an adverb which modifies upon many men.Perhaps adam rah should not be translated many men but man Matthew 5:45. The rain falls upon the just and the unjust. God is impartial, as even the rain demonstrates.[358]
[358] See M. Dahood, CBQ, 1963, pp. 123-124.
**Job 36:29**Who can understand the wonders of a thunder-storm, diffusion of cloudsJob 26:9, thunderingsJob 30:22, all forming a canopy or pavilion of GodPsa 18:11?
**Job 36:30God spreads His light-oro, i.e., lightning a in Job 37:3, lib, 15b. The second line makes little sense, but following Psalms 18:16 the passive form of the verb cover (ksycover, to glyuncover or reveal) can be uncover; thus God uncovers or reveals the bottom or roots of the sea by His Lordship. Perhaps the deepest part of the sea is His throne. He is Lord of both the skies and the seas.
**Job 36:31**By the thunderstorms and seas He judges (Heb. yadin) everyone, i.e., blesses them. The imagery is polarized into judgment and blessing.[359]
[359] See M. H. Pope, El in the Ugaritic Texts, 1955, where he has demonstrated that the chief god of the Ugaritic pantheon dwelt at the confluence of the subterranean seas. pp. 61-81, e.g., Baal as storm god enthroned on a mountain and fused with features of the Ugaritic God El. But God is comparable not only in that He is Lord of these domains, but He is Lord over the entire universe, not merely certain dimensions of it. See my essay on Is God in Exile? in this commentary.
**Job 36:32**Neither the K. J. nor A. V. (1901) make much sense here. How God covers (Heb. verb kissah) His hands with lightning is our problemJob 37:3; IKings 18:44. Light (Heb. -or or lightning) is the subject of the verb. Dhorme is probably correct in rendering the line with the sense that God places His hands into lightning and directs it to its target.[360] This imagery must not be identified with that of the Near Eastern gods hurling lightning bolts. Here we have anthropomorphism, but in ancient mythology the gods participated in such events. God is here presented as Lord over nature. If He can providentially control the universe, then He is capable of watching over Job.
[360] The emendations of G. R. Driver support Dhorme, Yetus Testamentum, 1955, pp. 88ff.
**Job 36:33**Peake gives a historical survey of over thirty explanations of this verse. Literally the text reads He declares His purpose concerning it; cattle also concerning what rises.[361] Dhorme presents the least amount of emendation to derive the translation The flock has warned its shepherd, the flock which sniffs the storm. This is grammatically possible; it makes sense and it emphasizes Elihu’s thesisthat God providentially guards all of nature, why not Job, too?
[361] For some of the more feasible ones, see E. F. Sutcliffe, Biblica, 1949, p. 89; and G. R. Driver, Vetus Testamentum, Supplement, 1955, pp. 88ff; Pope, Job, pp. 276-277.