A vivid exhibition of the activity of God, which is seen to be benevolent, as well as mighty and just, both in the destinies of men, and in the natural world outside of man
Job 36-37
Introduction: announcing that further important contributions are about to be made to the vindication of God
Job_34:1-4
1 Elihu also proceeded and said:
2 Suffer me a little, and I will show thee
that I have yet to speak on God’s behalf.
3 I will fetch my knowledge from afar,
and will ascribe righteousness to my Maker.
4 For truly my words shall not be false;
he that is perfect in knowledge is with thee.
a. Vindication of the divine justice, manifesting itself in the destinies of men as a power benevolently chastening and purifying them: Job_34:5-21
á. In general: Job_34:5-15
5 Behold God is mighty, and despiseth not any;
He is mighty in strength and wisdom.
6 He preserveth not the life of the wicked;
but giveth right to the poor.
7 He withdraweth not his eyes from the righteous;
but with kings are they on the throne;
yea, He doth establish them forever, and they are exalted.
8 And if they be bound in fetters,
and be holden in cords of affliction;
9 then He sheweth them their work,
and their transgressions that they have exceeded.
10 He openeth also their ear to discipline,
and commandeth that they return from iniquity.
11 If they obey and serve Him,
they shall spend their days in prosperity,
and their years in pleasures.
12 But if they obey not, they shall perish by the sword,
and they shall die without knowledge.
13 But the hypocrites in heart heap up wrath;
they cry not when He bindeth them.
14 They die in youth,
and their life is among the unclean.
15 He delivereth the poor in his affliction
and openeth their ears in oppression.
â
. In Job’s change of fortune in particular:Job_34:16-21
16 Even so he would have removed thee out of the strait
into a broad place, where there is no straitness;
and that which should be set on thy table should be full of fatness.
17 But thou hast fulfilled the judgment of the wicked;
judgment and justice take hold on thee.
18 Because there is wrath, beware lest He take thee away with His stroke;
then a great ransom cannot deliver thee.
19 Will He esteem thy riches? no, not gold,
nor all the forces of strength.
20 Desire not the night,
when people are cut off in their place.
21 Take heed, regard not iniquity:
for this hast thou chosen rather than affliction.
b. Vindication of the divine justice, revealing itself in nature as supreme power and wisdom;
Job_36:22 to Job_37:24
á. The wonders of nature, as revelations of divine wisdom and power:
Job_36:22– Job_37:13
22 Behold, God exalteth by His power;
who teacheth like Him?
23 who hath enjoined Him His way?
or who can say, Thou hast wrought iniquity?
24 Remember that thou magnify His work,
which men behold.
25 Every man may see it;
man may behold it afar off.
(1) Rain, clouds, and thunder: Job_36:26— Job_37:5
26 Behold, God is great, and we know Him not,
neither can the number of His years be searched out.
27 For He maketh small the drops of water;
they pour down rain according to the vapour thereof;
28 which the clouds do drop,
and distil upon man abundantly.
29 Also can any understand the spreading of the clouds,
or the noise of His tabernacle?
30 Behold, He spreadeth His light upon it,
and covereth the bottom of the sea.
31 For by them judgeth He the people;
He giveth meat in abundance.
32 With clouds He covereth the light;
and commandeth it not to shine by the clouds that cometh betwixt.
33 The noise thereof showeth concerning it,
the cattle also concerning the vapour.
Job 37
1 At this also my heart trembleth,
and is moved out of his place.
2 Hear attentively the noise of His voice,
and the sound that goeth out of His mouth,
3 He directeth it under the whole heaven,
and His lightning unto the ends of the earth.
4 After it a voice roareth:
He thundereth with the voice of His excellency;
and He will not stay them when His voice is heard.
5 God thundereth marvellously with His voice;
great things doeth He, which we cannot comprehend.
(2) The forces of winter, such as snow, rain, the north-wind, frost, etc.: Job_37:6-13.
6 For He saith to the snow: Be thou on the earth;
likewise to the small rain,
and to the great rain of His strength.
7 He sealeth up the hand of every man;
that all men may know His work.
8 Then the beasts go into dens,
and remain in their places.
9 Out of the south cometh the whirlwind;
and cold out of the north.
10 By the breath of God frost is given;
and the breadth of the waters is straitened.
11 Also by watering He wearieth the thick cloud;
He scattereth His bright cloud;
12 and it is turned round about by His counsels;
that they may do whatsoever He commandeth them
upon the face of the world in the earth.
13 He causeth it to come, whether for correction,
or for His land, or for mercy.
â
. Final admonitory inferences from what precedes for Job_38:14-24
14 Hearken unto this, O Job; stand still,
and consider the wondrous works of God.
15 Dost thou know when God disposed them,
and caused the light of His cloud to shine?
16 Dost thou know the balancings of the clouds,
the wondrous works of Him which is perfect in knowledge?
17 How thy garments are warm,
when He quieteth the earth by the south wind?
18 Hast thou with Him spread out the sky,
which is strong, and as a molten looking-glass?
19 Teach us what we shall say unto Him;
for we cannot order our speech by reason of darkness.
20 Shall it be told Him that I speak?
if a man speak, surely he shall be swallowed up.
21 And now men see not the bright light
which is in the clouds:
but the wind passeth, and cleanseth them.
22 Fair weather cometh out of the north:
with God is terrible majesty.
23 Touching the Almighty, we cannot find Him out.
He is excellent in power and in judgment,
And in plenty of justice; He will not afflict.
24 Men do therefore fear Him:
He respecteth not any that are wise of heart.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1. Instead of the predominantly anthropological and ethical doctrine of the three preceding discourses, Elihu puts forth, in this his closing discourse, reflections which are pre-eminently theological. God, the infinitely mighty and wise Being, who is at the same time just, and possessed of fatherly love, stands in the foreground of his descriptions, alike in the first and shorter division (Job_36:5-21), which describes His righteous interposition in determining the lots of mankind, and gives further expression to the favorite thought of the speaker touching the hand of God chastising men with severity indeed, and yet ever with a merciful purpose, and in the and yet ever with a merciful purpose, and in the Job_36:22 to Job_37:24), which treats of the majestic manifestation of God’s activity in the wonders of His creation, first in the way of description (Job_36:22 to Job_37:13) then in the way of application, closing with admonitory inferences from the themes of his description for the benefit of Job. It is in this last half especially that this fourth discourse of Elihu exhibits itself as the immediate preparation for the concluding act of the whole poem, providing the transition to the interposition of God. This magnificent physico-theological section is vividly introduced by the threefold
äֵï
at the head of each of the three strophes—ch. Job_36:22 seq.; 26 seq.; 30 seq.; and this threefold successive
äֵï
compels us to find the beginning of this section in Job_36:22, and not (with Ewald, Vaihinger, Dillm., etc.) in Job_36:26 (see below on Job_36:22). Add to this the predominance throughout the description of the references to the majestic phenomena of lightning, thunder, storm and rain, and the conjecture formerly adopted by Cocceius, J. H. Michaelis, Reimarus, Starke, Lange, and latterly by Rosenmüller, Umbreit, v. Gerlach, V. Andreä, Schlottmann, Böttcher [Scott, Noyes, Barnes, Bernard, Carey] becomes probable, that the poet conceived that thunder-storm out of which he represents God as speaking to Job, Job_38:1 sq. as already beginning during this last discourse of Elihu, and furnishing him in many particulars with the occasion and material for his descriptions. This is a hypothesis, which, as we shall see, serves to give essential help in understanding not a few of the details of the splendid description—granting that the absence of definite historical data in the text of our book, or in the most ancient exegetical tradition makes it impossible that it should be regarded as more than a probability.
2. The Introduction:Job_36:1-4 : An announcement that further, and yet more important instruction is about to be communicated respecting the nature and operations of God (comp. 1Co_12:31).—And Elihu continued and spoke.—This new introductory formula, compared with Job_34:1 and Job_35:1, is intended to intimate that a long silence on the part of Job did not this time precede. [
åéñó
not
åéòï
, as hitherto, because in Job 35. Job was not summoned to speak. Dillmann. “Elihu had spoken three times, i. e., as many times as any of the other friends, but Job does not reply, and he proceeds. The silence of Job, who had replied to every speech of the three friends, is a proof that Job was conscious that Elihu had reason on his side, and is an answer to those who disparage Elihu.” Wordsworth].
Job_36:2. Wait for me a little, and I will teach thee;i. e., hear my instructions only a little while longer (not: “let me first collect my thoughts a little;” Hirzel).
îְòַè = æְòֶéø
, used also in Isa_28:10; Isa_28:13.
ëִּúֵּø
, Aramaic, equivalent to the Hebr.
äåֹçִéì
, expectare.—For there are yet words (to be said) for Eloah:i. e., for I know of something still further, and yet better to say in justification of Eloah (
ìàìåä
, Dat. commodi) than what has been said hitherto.
Job_36:3. I will fetch my knowledge (comp. Job_37:16) from afar.—
ìְîֵøָçåֹ÷
, as in Job_39:29, and Isa_37:26, “from afar,” altius repetendo (Merc.) [“out of the wide realm of history and nature.” Del.]. Elihu has already in mind the wonders of the Divine government in nature and in history, in view of which he will praise God’s righteousness (lit. “give [= ascribe] right to his Maker”) [
ôֹּòֵì
so used only here]. Hence these expressions, which involve no empty self-praise, but have their basis in the inspiring greatness of the object to be described.
Job_36:4. For one faultless in knowledge, [lit. knowledges] stands before thee;i. e., one who has studied and learned to know God’s greatness in His works, one who is penetrated with the sense of the Divine exaltation, and who for that reason is raised above the danger of going astray, or speaking falsehood.
úְּîִéí ãֵּòåֹú
here cannot signify “an honest thinker” (Hirzel, and many of the older commentators) for in Job_37:16 it [
úְּîִéí ãֵּòִéí
] is used of the perfect knowledge of God. [“As Elihu there attributes absolute perfection of knowledge in every direction to God, so here, in reference to the theodicy which he opposes to Job, he claims faultlessness and clearness of perception.” Del.] The Vulg. renders correctly as to the meaning: et perfecta scientia probabitur tibi.
3. First Division: Proof of God’s righteous dealings in allotting the destinies of men: a. In general: Job_36:5-15 (three short strophes: Job_36:5-7; Job 8-12; Job 13-15).
Job_36:5. Behold God is mighty, yet He disdaineth nothing.—
åְìֹà éִîְàָí
, objectless, as in Job_42:6; comp. Job_8:20. The meaning is, although He is exalted in power (
ëַּáִּéø
as in Job_34:17), He nevertheless does not disdain to interest Himself even in the smallest of His creatures, and to maintain its right inviolate (comp. Job_36:6-7).—Mighty is He in strength of understanding (lit. “of heart,”
ìֵá
as in Job_34:34), i. e., in the possession of an all-embracing intellectual energy, by virtue of which He sees through right and wrong everywhere, and orders everything in the highest wisdom; comp. Job_12:13.
Job_36:6. He preserveth not the ungodly in life.—Comp. Job_34:19 seq., as also Job’s presumptuous assertion of the contrary in Job_24:22 seq., against which Elihu here declares himself. [But He will grant the right of the afflicted].
Job_36:7 continues the affirmation of Job_36:6 b.—And (even) with kings on the throne (comp. Psa_9:5 [4] He makes them (i. e., the righteous, or “the afflicted” of Job_36:6 b, for both conceptions here flow together into one) to sit down forever, so that they are exalted.—Comp. the parallel passages as to thought—ch. Job_5:11; 1Sa_2:8; Psa_113:7, etc. Inasmuch as the particular point respecting which we should look for something to be said here is how widely God’s care for His people extends, how high He can exalt them, the rendering of the Vulg. and of Luther—“who makes kings to sit on the throne”—is unsuitable, as also that of Ewald, which suffers besides from too great artificiality: “Kings for the throne, i. e., who merit the throne, He makes to sit down, etc.”
Job_36:8-12 constitute a single period, which develops the thought, that if God subjects to suffering His righteous ones (who continue to be the logical subject here, not “the ungodly,” as Hahn thinks), He does this with a view to their chastisement and purification—But if they i are bound with chains (
æִ÷ִּéí
to be understood figuratively; comp. Job_36:13), holden in cords of distress; comp. Job_13:27; Isa_28:22; Psa_107:10 seq.
Job_36:9-10 are with Tremellius, Cocceius, Schultens, Ewald, Dillmann, etc., to be construed as still belonging to the protasis; the apodosis begins with
éְëַìּåּ
, in Job_36:11 b, the first verb in the whole long series which stands without
åְ
consecut., and is by that very fact marked as introducing the apodosis. [Most commentators, (and so E. V.), introduce the apodosis with the beginning of Job_36:9. But in addition to the argument from the use of the Vav. consec., it would seem to be more in harmony with Elihu’s conception, which unites the discipline with the suffering, to take the entire process described in Job_36:8-10 as one hypothesis, finding its consequent in Job_36:11 b.—E.]—And He declareth to them their doing.—
ôֹּòַì
, maleficium, evil-doing, like
îַòֲùֶׂä
, Job_33:17.—And their transgressions, that (
ëִּé
, quod objective) they act proudly (
éִúְâַּáָּֽøåּ
, lit. to show themselves strong, i. e. in opposing God): “exceeded,” E. V. is ambiguous, the intransitive use of it being rare.—E.]. In respect to “the opening of the ear for instruction” (Job_36:10 a), comp. Job_33:16, where the rarer form
îֹñָø
is used instead of the usual form
îåּñָø
found here. [Lit. “to the instruction,” that which forms the design of the chastisement.]—And commandeth them to turn (lit. “saith to them, that they turn”) from vanity.—
àָåֶï
, emptiness, nothingness, referring to the manifold sins of infirmity into which man easily falls, even when the essential spirit of his heart is holy, the taints proceeding from daily contact with the vain world (comp. Joh_13:10 seq.; 1Jn_1:9 seq.; 1Jn_2:16), by reason of which the purifying discipline of God becomes necessary.
Job_36:11-12, double apodosis to the antecedent propositions contained in Job_36:8-10, expressed by means of two subordinate antecedent conditional clauses, introduced by
àִí
, together with the consequents corresponding to each. This construction, which partially reminds us of Job_8:5 seq., was necessary, because, where disciplinary suffering is divinely appointed, the result in every case involves a two-fold possibility—either that the one who is chastised should humble himself, and be made better, or that he should continue presumptuously to resist.—In respect to
òáã
, “to humble himself, to submit, to betake himself to obedience,” comp. 1Ki_12:7; Mal_3:18; Psa_2:11.—In respect to
ðְòִéîִéí
, amœna, pleasantness, comfort, see Psa_16:6. Respecting
òָáַø áְּùֶׁìַç
, “to perish by the dart” (or “in the dart”), gee Job_33:18.—On
áִּáְìִé ãָֽòַú
, “in ignorance,” or “through ignorance,” see Job_35:16; also Job_4:21.
Job_36:13-15 continue yet further in a peculiar way the thought of the last two verses, the precedence being given here to the lot of the wicked, which in the previous verses was spoken of in the second place; so that an inverted order of thought ensues
Job_36:13-14 corresponding to the contents of Job_36:12, Job_36:15 to that of Job_36:11.—And the impure in heart cherish wrath.—
éָùִׂéîåּ àַó
, scil.
áְּìִáָּí
(comp. Job_22:22; Psa_13:3 [2]; Pro_26:24), or possibly—“they set up wrath,” in a warlike manner, against God as their enemy. The meaning, however, can scarcely be: “they lay up with God a store of wrath,” as though
àַó
here signified not men’s own discontent, but the divine wrath, and the
èçóáõñßæåéí ὀñãÞí
of Rom_2:6 were a parallel expression (Aben-Ezra, Rosenm. [E. V. app’y, Con., Words., Carey], etc. [Considered by itself, the expression
ùִׂéí àַó
would seem to be most simply rendered by “lay up wrath.” But the second member of the verse, which speaks of the conduct of the wicked when God afflicts them, favors rather the explanation of the commentary.—Instead of showing submission to God, they treasure up rebellious wrath within. This rendering of
ùִׂéí
is justified by the reff. given above; and of
àó
by Job_18:4 (comp. also
çîä
, Job_36:18); and the analogy of
ëַּòַùׂ
and
÷ִðְàָä
in Job_5:4—E.]—They pray not (lit. “cry not,”
ùִׁåֵּòַ
, according to Job_30:20; Job_38:41) when He hath chained them (comp. Job_36:8), so that they must perish, etc.
úָּîֹú
jussive, expressing the necessary consequence of the presumption of the dissolute. Respecting
áַּðֹּòַø
, “in youth, in he fresh vigor of youth,” comp. Job_33:25.—And their life is among the polluted, i. e. like that of the polluted (comp. Job_34:36). The Vulg. correctly: inter effeminates. For the word
÷ְãֵùִׁéí
refers to the Syrian Canaanitish temple-prostitutes of the male sex, and the verse describes the effect of their incontinence in enervating, debilitating their manhood, and causing them to decay in the flower of their age [comp. Deu_23:18; 1Ki_14:24; 1Ki_15:12; 1Ki_22:47 [46]). The reference is not to the violation of women or maidens, in a military invasion (as described in Genesis 34; Judges 19, etc.). The point of comparison lies not in the violence, but in the prematureness (and shamefulness) of the death.
Job_36:15. But He delivereth the sufferer by his affliction; i. e. He rescues at last out of his misery the man who quietly and willingly endures, just by virtue of his constant endurance; He makes his suffering serve as a means of deliverance and a ransom to him (comp. Job_36:18 b). There seems to be a play upon words intended between
éְçַìֵּõ
and
áַּìַçַõ
in b, which may be approximately rendered [in German] by translating with Delitzsch: Doch den Duldenden entrückt Er durch sein Dulden, und öffnet durch Bedrückung ihr Ohr.
4. Proof of the divine righteousness,
â
. specially from Job’s experiences: Job_36:16-21.—And even thee he lures out of the jaws of distress.—So correctly most of the moderns since Ṡchultens.
äֵñéú
with
îִï
signifies, as in 2Ch_18:31, “to lure away from anything, out of anything” (not “to draw out,” as the Pesh., Targ., Rabbis explain, nor “to rescue,” as the Vulg. renders it). [Wordsworth: “He is instigating and impelling thee by means of thy affliction into a state of greater glory and happiness.”]
åְàַó äֲñִéúְêָ
is used, inasmuch as
àó
must occupy its usual place at the beginning of the sentence, for
åְäֵñִéú àַó àֹúְêָ
[
àַó
serving to connect emphatically the particular case of Job with the general proposition expressed in the preceding verse. Schlottm.], and expresses not a future, but a present sense [the pret. being used either because Elihu has in mind God’s purpose in decreeing the present suffering of Job (Del.), or because that friendly process of alluring is conceived of as having begun in the past, and being continued in the present (Schl.). The expression
îִôִּéÎöָø
figuratively describes the distress as a monster, with open jaws, threatening or attempting to swallow him.—E.].—Into a wide place under which there is no narrowness; i. e. into a wide place (
øַçַá
femin. accus. of the place aimed at), the foundation of which exhibits no narrowness, hence signifying “without narrowness in its foundation; or, which is better, a wide space, in place of which (
úçú
as in Job_34:26) is no narrowness, a wide place broken by no straits.” As to the figure comp. Psa_4:2 [1]; Job_18:20 [19], etc. [The same figure is implied in all three terms,
øַçַá
,
öָø
, and
îåö÷
, the last from
öå÷
, to be strait.]—And the setting of [=that which is set on] thy table (He makes, or becomes) fulness of fatness; the same fig. to describe a state of flourishing prosperity as in Psa_23:5 (comp. Pro_9:2; Psa_22:27 [Psa_22:26]; Psa_107:9, etc.)
ðַçַú
from
ðåּçַ
, “to settle down,” referring to that which is set down on a table, or served for it, the food set on it. Fat food is used as a sign of feasts which are particularly expensive and abundant in Isa_25:6; Isa_55:2; Gen_27:28; Gen_27:39. Ewald, Vaih. and Dillm. take
øַçַá
in the second member, as also
ðַçַú
in the third (the latter in the sense of “peace”) as subj. of the whole proposition, and thus obtain the meaning: “Verily, the wide place without straits, the peace of thy table full of fat, has misled thee more than sharp distress” (Dillmann: “away from the mouth of distress” [i. e. away from obeying the teachings of adversity]). But this thought, involving as it does a serious charge against Job, is poorly connected with what goes before, and is rendered impossible by the clause
îִôִּéÎöָø
, which in connection with
äñéú
cannot well signify anything else than “out of the mouth (jaws) of adversity.”
Job_36:17. But if thou art filled with the judgment of the wicked, then (truly) will judgment and punishment take firm hold, viz., on thee, will not depart from thee (not—“will take hold upon each other, follow each other by turns [as Carey, e. g., explains, “the act of judgment and the delivery of the sentence are very closely connected;” or according to others (e. g., Barnes) such opinions (those of the wicked) would be rapidly followed by judgment]—which reciprocal meaning of
úîêְ
would have been expressed rather by the Niph.
éִúָּֽîְëåּ
. The first member is in any case, as respects the thought, a hypothetical antecedent; in order to be a strict grammatical antecedent the Pret.
îָìֵàúָ
must of course have stood at the beginning.
ãִּéï
stands in a in the sense of guilt (Rosenmüller, Stickel, Hahn), or of a “murmuring judgment, presumptuous decision” respecting God (Umbreit, Hirzel, Schlottmann, Delitzsch, etc.); only in b does it denote the divine sentence of punishment. In no case does it express in both instances precisely the same meaning, as Ewald, Arnh., Dillmann, etc., suppose. [“He, whom thou dost presume to judge with words, will judge thee in deed.” Schlottm. The rendering of E. V., Good, Lee, Carey, Renan, etc.—“Thou hast fulfilled the judgment of the wicked,” implying that Job had realized in his own experience the full measure of crime or of punishment belonging to the wicked, is certainly too harsh for the connection. The tone of the passage is strongly admonitory no doubt, but such a sentiment as that just referred to would carry Elihu too far into the camp of the opposition, represented by the friends.—E.].
Job_36:18 suitably introduces a warning to follow the threat just uttered. Here again Elihu has in mind the chief fault of Job,—his presumptuous complaining against God, and his doubt of God’s justice.—For the heat (of thy afflictions) should not mislead thee by its greatness;i. e., should not cause thee to err in respect to God’s goodness and justice, or to judge God after the manner of the wicked (comp. Job_36:17 a). [There seems to be a contrast intended between
äñéúê
in Job_36:16, and
éñéúï
, here. God would by His discipline lure, or urge him out of a narrow into a broad place: the
çîä
of this ver. would urge him against God.—E.] Hahn correctly thinks the heat (
çֵîָä
) spoken of to be the heat of his sufferings. The passage, as appears clearly enough from b, is a parallel to 1Pe_4:12 (Jam_1:2 seq.). It is less natural to understand
çֵîָä
of the heat of his passion (Delitzsch) or of his anger [against God] (Stickel, Welte, Schlottm. [Conant, Wordsworth], etc.), or of the Divine anger (Rosenm., Umbreit, Dillmann) [E. V., Good, Ber., Barnes, Noyes, Rodwell, etc.],—although these renderings cannot be called unsuitable. On the contrary the attempt of Ewald, Hirzel, Vaih., Heiligst., to identify
çֵîָä
with
çֶîְàָä
, “cream” (Job_29:6), and that in the sense of riches (“may thy riches not betray thee”), is alike insipid and destructive of the sense. It may remain doubtful whether
áְּùָׂôֶ÷
(Pausal form for
áְּùֶׂôֶ÷
), signifies “into scorn, to mock and deride” (Stickel, Umbreit, Hahn, Schlottmann, Delitzsch, etc.) or “through superfluity, through abundance” (Ewald, Heil., Dillmann) [Fürst]. The latter rendering, which regards
ùֶׂôֶ÷
as a dialectic alternate form of
ñֶôֶ÷
(Job_20:22) seems to be favored both by the preposition
áְּ
(not
ìְ
), and the parallel
øָáÎëֹּôֶø
in the second member. [To the above should be added the signification “stroke,” which may fairly be vindicated for
ùׂô÷
from the use of the alternate form
ñô÷
just referred to in Commy. (comp. Job_27:23 with Job_34:26; Job_34:37). Thus defined it may be taken here (with Kimchi, Schult., etc.), in the sense of the clapping of hands, with the idea of expulsion, or in the sense of “stroke, chastisement,” (E. V., Merc, Rosenm., Gesenius, Carey, Ber., Good, Noyes, Barnes, Rod., Elzas, etc.). The latter would be the simpler. In that case
çֵîָä
may refer to the divine wrath, which is the view taken by most of those who thus explain
,
ùô÷ áְּ
being explained as instrumental (E. V. “with His stroke”). It is better however to explain it of the anger or passionate discontent of man against God (comp.
àַó
above in Job_36:13) for the reason that elsewhere
äֵñִéú áְּ
means uniformly to excite against. Thus Conant: “For beware, lest anger stir thee up against chastisement.” The thought thus obtained would be moreover altogether suitable to the connection. Elihu’s great anxiety is that Job should through submission profit by his chastisement, and that on the other hand he should not by a rebellious spirit resist, and so frustrate the object of the Divine discipline.—E.].—And let the abundance of the ransom not ensnare thee; i. e., let not the fact that thou must reckon up so large a ransom for the expiation of thy guilt, that thou must make such a severe expiation of the same, lead thee into error touching the goodness of God.
ëֹּôֶּø
here accordingly in a somewhat different sense from Job_33:24. The supposition that the reference is to Job’s “vast wealth” in earthly possessions, with which he might erroneously imagine that he could purchase his release from God (Ewald, Hirz., Vaih. [Renan], etc.), is decidedly untenable, and would impute to Job a reliance on earthly treasures, the like of which the three friends even had not once ventured to charge upon him, much less the far more considerate and just Elihu. [Schl., with better reason, assumes that the reliance, or ransom intended here is Job’s piety. “He might think in some measure that he did not need to be very exact in what he should say concerning God’s dealings, because he could put all his piety, the beneficent use which he had made of all his treasures, in the other scale of the balance.” The idea of Zöckler on the contrary seems to be that God requires a great ransom in the sense of expiation, before the sinner can be delivered. Let not the greatness of that ransom, says Elihu, lead thee into error, i. e., the error of doubting the goodness of God. The rendering of E. V., “then a great ransom cannot deliver thee,’ is not an unsuitable thought in the connection. The principal objection to it lies in the verb
ðèä
, which cannot well be rendered “deliver.” Gesenius, in order to obtain this meaning explains thus: “a great ransom cannot turn thee away, scil. from the Divine punishment, so as to avoid it.” But this is not altogether natural, and such a form of expression occurs nowhere else. This rendering, still further, seems to hang on the view that
àַó
means the Divine anger, and that
äֵñִéú áְּ
means “to take away with,” against which see above. The negative
àַì
moreover does not favor it; for although it might have been used indeed in dependence on
ôֶּï
, still such a construction would have been less natural and forcible than that with
ìֹà
. It must be confessed that no interpretation of the verse which has been suggested is free from difficulties, and Dillmann’s conjecture of a corruption of the text is not altogether without reason.—E.].
Job_36:19 seq. continue the warning against impatient and discontented conduct in distress.—Shall thy crying put thee out of distress?—
ùׁåּòַ
, “crying,” as in Job_30:24 (comp. Job_35:9, and above Job_36:13 b);
òָøַêְ
, a more choice word to express the idea of
ùִׂéí
or
ùִׂéú
, “to place,” (comp. Job_37:19): the object of
äֲéַòֲøֹêְ
is easily supplied by “thee,” or “any one.” The meaning of the question accordingly can be only: “will thy crying, thy lamentation, thy discontented raging, put thee in non-distress (
ìֹà áְּöָø
, equivalent to
áְּìֹà öָø
), take thee out of distress?” So correctly Stickel, Hahn, Del. All other renderings depart more or less from the meaning required by the context: as e. g. that of Hirz.: “Will thy riches suffice? O, not gold (
áֶּöֶø=áְּöָø
, Job_22:24 seq.), nor all treasures,” etc. [Good: “Will then thy magnificence avail? Not gold, nor,” etc.]; of Schlottmann: “Will thy treasures suffice? O not in distress,” etc.; of Ewald: “Will thy riches equip thee—without distress—with all the means of power?” of Rosenmüller, Umbreit, Ebrard [E. V.: Gesenius, Fürst, under
áöø
, though differently under
òøêְ
, Renan, Noyes, Rodwell, Conant: “Will He value thy riches without stint, and all the might of wealth?”]: “Will He value thy riches?” etc.; of Dillmann: “Will He set in order thy cry (of supplication)?” And all the efforts of strength (i. e., of thy strength)?—To
ùׁåּòֲêָ
, which is made sufficiently determinate by the subject, the notion of “efforts of strength” is here suitably appended as an additional subject.
îַàֲîָõ
from
àָîֵõ
, “to be strong, firm,” in connection with
ëֹּçַ
, can signify only a physical application of strength, not “wealth in treasures;” comp.
àַîִּéõ ëֹּçַ
, Job_9:4; Job_9:19.
Job_36:20. Pant not after the night, when (entire) peoples go up (i. e., fly up like chaff before the tempest, Isa_5:24; Psa_1:4) in their place—i. e., do not long, as thou hast foolishly done (comp. Job_13:18 sq.; Job_23:3 sq.; Job_24:1; Job_24:12), for the night of the divine judgment, with its terrors, sweeping away entire populations. In respect to
ùָׂàַó
, anhelare, to long urgently for any thing, comp. Job_7:2; for the representation of the divine judgment by a night of terror, see Job_34:20; Job_34:25; Job_35:10. In respect to
úַּçְúָּí
, “in their place,” here as regards the meaning=“from their place,” see above, Job_5:16. It is impossible, with De Wette, to take
úַּçְúָּí
as standing for
úַּçַú òַîִּéí
, “to raise up people in the place of people.” The rendering of Stickel and Hahn is harsh, and much too artificial: “when people come uppermost, with that which is under them.” The rendering of Delitzsch, however, is unnecessary, which takes
ìַòֲìåֹú
as Inf. Hiph.
=
ìְäַòֲìåֹú
: “which will remove peoples from their place.” [The rendering “in their place” does not do entire justice to the expression
úַּçְúָּí
, which is exactly rendered by our phrase, “on the spot.” So again in Job_40:12; comp. Hab_3:16; 2Sa_2:23 (“and he died on the spot”); Job_7:10. The rendering of Conant and Carey: “when [Con.: “where”] people are carried off below” (to the world below), involves a very harsh incongruity between the verb (“go up”) and the preposition (“below”). Conant argues that Elihu “is not speaking of any sudden calamity that sweeps whole races of men to the grave. This would be out of place here, for Job had desired no such thing. It was the repose of the grave for which he longed; for that night of death where successive generations sink down to the world beneath them.” Such, it is true, was Job’s conception of the night of death. But Elihu here reminds him that the night of death would be at the same time the night of divine judgment, and that so terrible is that judgment that it can sweep off whole peoples on the spot; how much less then could he, single-handed and alone, hope to face it without perishing. Let him rather repent, etc., Job_36:21.—E.]
Job_36:21 concludes these warnings against foolish murmuring and presumptuous complaining (which is here called
àָåֶï
, “vanity, wickedness,” comp. Job_5:10) in an emphatic way, by expressing the thought found in Gen_8:21, and founded on the universal experience of the race, that the heart is naturally inclined to disobedience and to rebellion against God: for to this thou hast desire more than to affliction.—
îִï
, comparative, as in Job_7:15, not causal, as though
îֵòֹðִé
meant “on account of suffering, in view of affliction” (Vulg., Luther, Stickel, etc.), nor again instrumental (Ewald: “therefore thou wast proved by suffering.”
áָּçַø òַì
here (other wise than in 2Sa_19:39 [38]) essentially the same with
áָּçַø áְּ
, to extend one’s choice to any thing, i. e., to be inclined towards any thing, to have a desire for it.
5. Second Division. Proof of the divine righteousness from the wonders of nature, from the power and wisdom revealed in the physical world.
a. Descriptive part: chs. Job_36:22 to Job_37:13. Introduction or transition:Job_36:22-25 (the first of three eight-lined strophes, Job_36:22 sq., 26 sq., 30 sq., each of which begins with
äֵï
, and which by the exact equality and similarity of their structure give evidence of being one coherent whole—a structure which has been correctly recognized by Stickel and Delitzsch [also by Schlottmann, Noyes, Wordsworth, Carey, Rodwell], but ignored by Köst., Ewald, Dillmann, etc.). Behold, God worketh loftily in His strength [E. V.: Behold, God exalteth by His power; but less suitably to the connection, this strophe being, as has just been shown, introductory to the description of God’s power in the physical world, rather than in the world of humanity.—E.].—As the meditation on truths lying in the realm of historical or ethical theology, which constitutes the preceding section, began with a
äֵï
, “behold” (Job_36:5), vividly pointing out the theme of discourse, so also the meditation which is here introduced on truths in the realm of physical theology. The conjecture is in itself sufficiently probable, that some phenomenon of external nature, perhaps a thunder-storm, which already in Job_36:5 was approaching, but which had now burst forth, with lightning, thunder, and heavy rain, furnished the occasion to this sudden and vivid transition to the description of the natural world. This conjecture receives a strong support from the emphatic double recurrence of the
äֵï
, first in Job_36:26, at the beginning of the description of the rain, and then in Job_36:30, in the transition to the description of lightning and thunder. The probability is still further increased by passages like Job_36:33, and especially by Job_37:2 sq. And finally it receives the strongest support from the article before
ñְòָøָä
in Job_38:1, which can scarcely be explained without the supposition here referred to (comp. on the passage). Who is a ruler like to him?—The usage of the language would justify, and indeed would even favor rather the rendering adopted by the Targ., Peshito, Luther, Schlottmann, Delitzsch [E. V., Lee, Noyes, Conant, Bernard, Renan, Rodwell, Barnes], etc.: “Who is a teacher like Him?” But the context, and especially the
äִùְׂâִּéá
in a, seems rather to favor the rendering supported by the LXX., which takes
=
îåִøֶä
Chald.
îָøֵà
(Dan_2:47), hence to mean “lord, ruler.” The Vulg. attempts to give an explanation intermediate between the
äõíÜóôçò
of the LXX. and the “teacher” of the other ancient versions by its use of legislator: quis ei similis in legislatoribus? [So Wordsworth combines “Master and Teacher;” Carey: “Master,” as expressing the ambiguity of the original. Some (e. g.. Good): “And who, like Him, can cast down?” which would be a suitable antithesis to the E. V.’-s rendering of a: “God exalteth by His power,” but is open to the same objection; see above. In favor of the sense “teacher,” Delitzsch argues: “(1)
îåֹøֶä
from
äåֹøָä
, Psa_25:8; Psa_25:12; Psa_32:8) has no etymological connection with
îø
; (2) it is, moreover, peculiar to Elihu to represent God as a teacher both by dreams and dispensations of affliction, Job_33:14 seq.; Job_34:32; and by His creatures, Job_35:11; and (3) the designation of God as an incomparable teacher is also not inappropriate here, after His rule is described in Job_36:22 a as transcendently exalted, which on that very account commands to human research a reverence which esteems itself lightly.” These considerations at least show that the educational disciplinary functions of the Divine Ruler are prominently intended here; and this is in harmony with the general tone of this strophe.—E.]
Job_36:23. Who hath appointed to Him His way?—
ô÷ã òì
, “to charge one with any thing, to prescribe anything to any one,” as in Job_34:13. It would be possible also to render it: “Who hath inspected for Him His way?” (LXX., Vulg., Seb. Schmidt, Ewald, [Good], etc.). The second member permits both renderings.
Job_36:24. Remember that thou exalt (
äִùְׂâִּéà
, in a different sense from Job_12:23) His doing, which men have greatly sung.
ùֹׁøֵø
an intensive form of
ùׁåּø
, denoting singing often repeated, or various in its character. The exhortation to the praise and glorification of the exalted activity of God stands in significant antithesis to the previous warnings against sitting in judgment on the same. [Here again, as in Job_33:27 E. V. takes the verb
ùׁåּø
in the sense of “behold,” which would be a useless and feeble tautology before the
çæä
and
äáéè
of Job_36:25.—E.].
Job_36:25. All people gaze thereon with delight (
áּåֹ
referring back to
ôָּòָìֹå
, Job_36:24 a;
çæä á
as elsewhere
øáä á
); mortals behold It from afar;—i. e., not—“they can behold it only from a great distance” (so Dillmann, who would compare Job_26:14), but—they dare not contemplate it anear, from reverential fear before the unapproachableness of His operations.
6. Continuation. Description of the storm, together with the mighty phenomena accompanying it, such as rain, clouds, lightning, thunder, etc.: Job_36:26—Job_37:5 (three strophes, the first two consisting of 4 verses each, the third of 5).
Job_36:25-29. Behold, God is exalted (
ùַׂâִּéà
as in Job_37:23, elsewhere only in the Aramaic portions of the O. T.), we know not (i. e., how very exalted He is); the number of His years is unsearchable (lit. “as for the number of his years—so [
åְ
] there is no searching;” respecting the
åְ
introducing the apodosis, comp. Job_4:6; Job_15:17). The eternity of God is here introduced as the explanatory ground (not as a mere co-ordinate “moment,” as Dillmann supposes) of the divine greatness and wisdom. As the Eternal One, God has the power to effect all the glorious wonders in the realm of His creation which are enumerated in the passage following; comp. Job_12:12 seq. [“The Omnipotence and wisdom of God, which are everywhere apparent in the universe, furnish a testimony to God’s righteousness. All attributes of the Divine Nature are rays proceeding from one centre; where one is, (here also of necessity must the others be. How can the Being who everywhere shows Himself in creation to be most perfect, be defective in this one point? Every witness therefore in Nature to God’s greatness as a Creator, rises against an arraignment of God’s righteousness. Whoso will bring a charge against God’s justice, must measure himself with the Divine Omnipotence.—At first sight it may seem surprising that the mind of the righteous sufferer is directed by Elihu and by Jehovah himself, to the wondrous formation of the clouds, to Thunder, Lightning and Snow, and to the War-horse, the Hawk, and the Eagle. But when we examine the matter more carefully, we see that such a course of reasoning is excellently fitted its purpose. An Almighty and All-wise God, who is not at the same time righteous, is in truth an inconceivable impossibility. For this reason, they who impeach God’s righteousness, are always on the high road to doubt His existence. Pelagianism leads not merely to the destruction of the true idea of God, but to blank Atheism (Hengstenberg). It must also be borne in mind that God rises from an appeal to the signs of His power and goodness in the visible world, and refers Job to His working in the invisible world, in the domain of spirits, and challenges Job to a comparison of human power with that of God in the defense and deliverance of mankind, even of Job himself, from his spiritual enemies. See below, Job_40:6-15.” Wordsworth.].
Job_36:27. For He draweth up the water drops, to wit, from the earth. This is the only rendering of
éְâָøַò
, which corresponds to the second member; not that of the LXX., Pesh., etc.; “He numbers off;” and just as little that of Stickel and Delitzsch: “He draws off [=lets fall] the drops,” i. e., out of the upper mass of waters [to which add the rendering of E. V., Mercier, etc. “He maketh small the drops of water.” The reference seems clear to the first step in the process of forming the rain, by which the d
