Job 42
OGCTODAY’S ENGLISH VERSION
Then Job answered the Lord.
Job
2 I know, Lord, that you are all-powerful;
that you can do everything you want.
3 You ask how I dare question your wisdom
when I am so very ignorant.
I talked about things I did not understand,
about marvels too great for me to know.
4 You told me to listen while you spoke
and to try to answer your questions.
5 Then I knew only what others had told me,
but now I have seen you with my own eyes;
6 so I am ashamed of all I have said
and repent in dust and ashes.
CONCLUSION
7 After the Lord has said all this to Job, he told Eliphaz, I am angry with you and your two friends, because you did not speak the truth about me, the way my servant Job did. 8 Now take seven bulls and seven rams to Job and offer them as a sacrifice for yourselves. Job will pray for you, and I will answer his prayer and not disgrace you the way you deserve. You did not speak the truth about me as he did. 9 Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar did what the Lord had told them to do, and the Lord answered Job’s prayer. 10 Then, after Job had prayed for his three friends, the Lord made him prosperous again and gave him twice as much as he had had before. 11 All Job’s brothers and sisters and former friends came to visit him and feasted with him in his house. They expressed their sympathy and comforted him for all the troubles the Lord had brought on him. Each of them gave him some money and a gold ring. 12 The Lord blessed the last part of Job’s life even more than he had blessed the first. Job owned 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 2,000 head of cattle, and 1,000 donkeys.13 He was the father of seven sons and three daughters. 14 He called the oldest daughter Jemimah, the second Keziah, and the youngest Keren-Happuch. 15 There were no other women in the whole world as beautiful as Job’s daughters. Their father gave them a share of the inheritance along with their brothers. 16 Job lived 140 years after this, long enough to see his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. 17 And then he died at a very great age.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 42:1-17
What is meant by saying God’s will and power are coterminous?
Job’s complaint has never been against God’s power, but rather against what?
What is meant by saying there are no -value free-’ decisions? Discuss.
The only ones who speak out against God are those who are ignorant of what? Cf. Job 42:3.
Please explain in detail how verse five becomes the heart of Job’s restoration.
We are OK only when?
Show how Job’s experience and understanding, and commitment can become ours. Cf. Job 42:6.
There is a very important principle to learn from the fact that Job’s friends were so very confident that they were speaking on behalf of God. Discuss.
Notice carefully the factors involved in the sacrifice of verse eight. What are the lessons taught by it?
What are we to make of the fact that Elihu is not mentioned by God? In what way does Job become like our Lord? Is all suffering redemptive?
Job’s prosperity was restored, but not as a reward. Discuss.
Job’s friends (like many today) were really not friends at all. Discuss why.
Why make his daughters so prominent?
It would seem from the names given to these girls they were but representative of a social condition that prevailed in Job’s day. Discuss.
How do the scriptures consider grandchildren? Cf. Psalms 128:6; Proverbs 17:6.
Notice the very meaningful statement about life under the comment on Job 42:17. Discuss.
In what way can we see God and be satisfied today?
What part of this grand book has appealed to you the most? Please be specific.
If you were going to add something to this book as a text, what would it be?
Please refer to the further questions for discussion in the section immediately following.
Job 42:1-6
D. MAN IN GOD’S IMAGE VS. GOD IN MAN’S IMAGE (Job 42:1-6)
TEXT 42:1-6
**42 Then Job answered Jehovah and said,
2 I know that thou canst do all things,
And that no purpose of thine can be restrained.
3 Who is this that hideth counsel without knowledge?
Therefore have I uttered that which I understood not,
Things too wonderful for me, which I knew not.
4 Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak;
I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.
5 I had heard of thee by the hearing of the ear;
But now mine eye seeth thee:
6 Wherefore I abhor **myself,
And repent in dust and ashes.
COMMENT 42:1-6
**Job 42:1**Job responds to Yahweh in complete submission. The following verses can connect also with Job 40:4 ff.
**Job 42:2**No purpose of Yahweh can be withheld from HimGen 17:11. God’s will and power are co-terminus. Job’s complaint had never been against God’s power, only His will. Job had lodged his confrontation with God concerning His indifference to moral matters, not His inability to execute justice. His wisdom and omnipotence have been acknowledged from the very beginning. Now Job affirms in faith not only God’s wisdom and power but also His goodness and graciousness. He cares for all His creation. His brief excursion throughout the system and societies of nature has provided perspective from which preview His purpose. Now he has a personal knowledge by acquaintance of his vindicator. God’s purpose is not a segment but a circle. In order to understand God’s ways with man, we must not absolutize any single degree of the cosmic circle, because ignorance of the meaning of the whole will ensue. There are no value free decisions, the assertions of many social and behavioral scientists to the contrary. All decisions entail value presuppositions. Now Job knows this fact of reality.
**Job 42:3**This verse is almost identical with Job 38:2. Job here repeats the complaint previously lodged against him for the express purpose of admitting its validity. God’s rebuke is here acknowledged to have been justified. Only those in ignorance (Heb. verb -lmdarkness) of God’s complete purpose would speak out against Him.
**Job 42:4**Again this verse repeats, with only slight modifications, Job 33:31; Job 38:3; and Job 40:7. The marvel of memory is here set before us as Job reminisces on what Yahweh has said to himJob 13:22.
**Job 42:5**Here is the heart of Job’s restoration. In times past, Job knew God only by hearsay, literally report of earPsa 18:45 and Job 28:22. Job is now convinced of that which he formally doubted, i.e., of God’s providential care. He had asked for assurance that God was on his sideJob 19:23-27, and Yahweh has once and for all spoken by The Shattering of Silence. Job’s demand has been met.
**Job 42:6**Repentance removes himself from the center of the world. Job is truly a crucified self. After all the only alternatives are either a divided self or a crucified self. Job accepts God’s evaluation of himself. We are OK only when God says we are OK! Even in Job 9:21 Job does not loath (Heb. verb m’S) himself, but his condition.[405] Job’s habitat has been ashes for some timeJob 2:8; Isaiah 58:5; Jeremiah 6:26; Jonah 3:6; and Micah 1:10. Like the Phoenix, Job arises up out of the bitter ashes of suffering and stands whole again. But this time Yahweh is his organizing center, and neither his family nor prosperity nor their cultural advantages. To the Christian believer, Job’s redeemer, the Christ, is the orderer of all existenceCol 1:17 and Ephesians 1:10. He is truly *Christ the Center.
[405]* See the examination of L. J. Kuyper, Vetus Testamentum, 1959, pp. 91-94.
Job 42:7-9
VII. RECONCILIATION AND RENEWAL (Job 42:7-17)
A.
ELIPHAZ MAKES A GREAT BURNT-OFFERING AND JOB INTERCEDES FOR HIS FRIENDS. (Job 42:7-9)
TEXT 42:7-9
7 **And it was so, that, after Jehovah had spoken these words unto Job, Jehovah said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends; for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath. 8 Now therefore, take unto you seven bollocks and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt-offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you; for him will I accept, that I deal not with you after your folly; for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath. 9 So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went, and did according as Jehovah commanded them: and Jehovah accepted Job.
COMMENT 42:7-9**
Job 42:7Now Yahweh turns to Eliphaz and declares that He is disturbed that they have all along misrepresented Him.[406] They have distorted the will of God in their counsel to Job. Yet they uttered each word as though it had been directly authorized by Him1 Samuel 23:23. Job himself had accused them of lying in order to defend GodJob 13:4; Job 13:7-11. Job is surely vindicated now. God has not only broken His silence; He has condemned Job’s adversaries. The integrity of God’s impatient protester has now been rewarded. He has also judged pious hypocrites, even those who pretend to speak for Him. What a lesson we must all learn! Twentieth century man needs as never before to know Job’s creator-redeemer. God in His mercy has bathed this tormented soul in the healing oils of love and forgiveness. My servant, so acclaimed in the beginning and in the end, has survived the temptations of suffering and pain. He has indeed been in the furnace of affliction.
[406] See I. G. Williams, You Have Not Spoken Truth of Me, Mystery and Irony in Job, Zeitschriftfur alttestamentlische Wissenschaft, 1971, pp. 231-255.
**Job 42:8**This is an enormous sacrificeNum 23:1 ff, indicating a grave matter. Vicarious atonement is imperative for wholenessLev 4:1 ff. Intercessory prayer is a mighty force throughout the scripturesGen 18:23 ff; Exodus 8:30; Exodus 32:11 ff; Deuteronomy 9:20; Isaiah 53:12; Jeremiah 37:3; and Amos 7:2 ff. Yahweh tells them to go to Job because, literally, his face I will lift up, i.e., acceptJob 13:8. As Job is the offended party, he must intercedeJob 22:30. The intercession is for their folly (Heb. nebalah)Genesis 34:7; Deuteronomy 22:21; Joshua 7:15; and Jeremiah 29:23.
**Job 42:9**Note that Elihu is not mentioned, in spite of the extensive materials in the Elihu speechesChapter s 32-37. Yahweh forgave them because of Job’s sacrifice and intercessory prayer on their behalf. His vicarious suffering approaches our Lord’s redemptive suffering as the Suffering ServantIsaiah 52:13, Isaiah 53:12; Philippians 2:5 ff. But suffering alone is not redemptive, as Dostoevsky assumed; only the suffering of our incarnate Lord and Master can redeem the fallen universeRomans 8; Revelation 21.
Job 42:10-17
**B. JOB IS RESTORED TO PROSPERITY AND BLESSED WITH CHILDREN. (Job 42:10-17)
TEXT 42:10-17
10 And Jehovah turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: and Jehovah gave Job twice as much as he had before. 11 Then came there onto him all his brethren, and all his sisters, and all they that had been of his acquaintance before, and did eat bread with him in his house: and they bemoaned him and comforted him concerning all the evil that Jehovah had brought upon him: every man also gave him a piece of money, and every one a ring of gold. 12 So Jehovah blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: and he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she-asses. 13 He had also seven sons and three daughters. 14 And he called the name of the first, Jemimah; and the name of the second, Keziah; and the name of the third, Keren-happuch. 15 And in all the land were no women found so fair as the daughters of Job: and their father gave them inheritance among their brethren. 16 And after this Job lived a hundred and forty yean, and saw his sons, and his sons-’ sons, **even **four generations. 17 So Job died, being old and full of days.
COMMENT 42:10-17
Job 42:10**Job’s prosperity is restored, but not as a reward. Being successful is not proof of being saved. Surely we have learned this much from Job, our contemporary. His fortune has returned (Heb. verb -sub)[407]Jeremiah 29:14; Jeremiah 30:3; Ezekiel 16:53; Ezekiel 39:25. This is the only occurrence of the word fortune, which is applied to an individual and not to the corporate prosperity of a nation.
[407] See R. Borger, Zeitschrift fur alttestamentlische Wissenschaft, 1955, pp. 315ff.
**Job 42:11**His wealth and its prestige attracted his relatives and friends once moreJob 19:13. Where were these fair-weather friends when he needed their consolation? The Qumran Targum ends with this verse suggesting an early literary ending of the Book of Job.
**Job 42:12**The numbers are double the amount which Job had beforeJob 1:3.
**Job 42:13**The number of children remain the same. Job’s daughters figure more prominently than his sons, who are not even mentioned by name.
**Job 42:14**The name of the first, Yemimah, means turtledove, which is a symbol of fertility and devotionHos 7:11; Matthew 10:16. Qeziah is the second and means a variety of cinnamon used as perfumeExo 30:24; Ezekiel 27:19; Psalms 45:9; and Proverbs 7:17. The third daughter’s name is Kerenhappuch (Kohl) and means powdered paint for the eyelashes and lidsJer 4:30; Eccl. 26:9; 2 Kings 9:30; and Ezekiel 23:40.[408]
[408] For vital sociological parallels between the status of women between the patriarchal age (2000-1800 B.C.) and the period of Homer (ca 1000-900 B.C.), see Cyrus H. Gordon’s Homer and The Bible, 1955, pp. 43-108, offset from Hebrew Union College Annual.
**Job 42:15**The names of Job’s daughters represent the natural, physical, and spiritual qualities engendered by the beautician’s creative touch. In the cultural context of the ancient Near East, daughters inherited only when there were no sonsNum 26:33; Numbers 27:1-8; and Numbers 36:1-12. Here is an example of women’s liberation in the ancient world, as women did not receive an inheritance when there were sons, and is unique in the Old Testament.
**Job 42:16**After his affliction, Job lived 140 years, just about double his former years. Job saw four generations, as compared to Joseph’s threeGen 50:23. Grandchildren are the crown of lifePsa 128:6 and Proverbs 17:6.
**Job 42:17**So ends the life of one of God’s great servants. The LXX adds a notation after this verse asserting that Job will share in the resurrection of the dead and further traditional details of his life. In the Shattering of Silence God vindicated Job’s integrity. Suffering men can be righteous. Our Suffering Savior is ultimate proof of this possibility. Life begins as a problem, continues as a promise, and is the fulfillment of a purpose. The dawn of God’s new day broke over the destructive darkness that all but destroyed Job, our contemporary. Vindicated Job was no longer enslaved to himself, or his former preoccupation with happiness,[409] or enjoyment of prosperity, family, health, or prestige in the community, for he now knows that before he had heard of thee by the hearing of the ear; but now mine eye seeth thee, Job 42:5.
[409] See Psychology Today, August, 1976, on our cultural preoccupation with happiness, which comes from outside; joy comes from inside a crucified self, a gift from our vindicator, through the presence of His SpiritGal 5:19 ff.