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Job Defends God Against the Suspicion of Arbitrariness
v. 1. Lo, mine eye hath seen all this, mine ear hath heard and understood it, gotten the knowledge for itself, namely, concerning all that had been set forth in the last chapter regarding the wisdom and omnipotence of God.
v. 2. What ye know, the same do I know also; I am not inferior unto you; Job in no way stood behind or beneath his friends in the proper understanding of the Lord's attributes, 12:3.
v. 3. Surely I would speak to the Almighty, that is, in spite of the fact that Job had this knowledge and in view of the fact that it seemed folly to speak to his friends in their present attitude of antagonism, while they paraded their knowledge of God in order to confound Job, and I desire to reason with God, pleading with Him in defense of himself, confidently hoping for a vindication.
v. 4. But ye are forgers of lies, literally, "daubers, smearers, of lies," such as invented falsehoods to gain their ends. Ye are all physicians of no value, miserable quacks, who were entirely unfit and incapable of applying the proper remedy to the wounds of Job.
v. 5. Oh, that ye would altogether hold your peace! He would much prefer their saying nothing at all than to have them make matters worse by their bungling talk. And it should be your wisdom; they would then not only have had a higher reputation for wisdom, but would also have come nearer to the solution of Job's difficulty.
v. 6. Hear now my reasoning, his apology or defense of himself, and hearken to the pleadings of my lips, as he, in vindicating himself, brought charges against them.
v. 7. Will ye speak wickedly for God and talk deceitfully for Him? Were they really of the opinion that they must act in favor of God by telling lies and by using deceit?
v. 8. Will ye accept His person? That is, would they show preference for His countenance, partiality for His person? Will ye contend for God, acting the part of God's advocates or lawyers? Their actions seemed to indicate that such was their intention.
v. 9. Is it good that He should search you out? Did they honestly believe that it would be well with them, that they would be safe, if He would really go to the bottom of things and search out their motives? Or as one man mocketh another, do ye so mock Him? Were they under the delusion that they could deceive God, hide from Him the real disposition and sentiment of their hearts?
v. 10. He will surely reprove you, most emphatically denouncing them, if ye do secretly accept persons, showing partiality, the motive driving them being not honest conviction, but selfish interest.
v. 11. Shall not His excellency, the display of God's exalted majesty, make you afraid and His dread fall upon you? The dread of God as the great Judge should have deterred them from their course of action in employing dishonest means against Him.
v. 12. Your remembrances are like unto ashes, literally, "your axioms, proverbs, or maxims are proverbs of ashes," for such they would become when God would set out to judge and punish them, your bodies to bodies of clay, their bulwarks, their breastworks, of reasoning upon which they relied would prove frail mud, altogether unreliable, incapable of resistance. Note that there is an occasional hint of the final outcome of the matter and the rebuke of Job's friends.