Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Job 35:1 - 35:8

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Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Job 35:1 - 35:8


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Job's Standpoint of the Futility of Piety False

v. 1. Elihu spake moreover, since Job made no move to answer him, and said,

v. 2. Thinkest thou this to be right, that thou saidst, My righteousness is more than God's?
Did Job believe he was right in making such assertions?

v. 3. For,
or that, thou saidst, What advantage will it be unto thee, namely, to Job? and, What profit shall I have if I be cleansed from my sin, literally, "more than by my sin"? Job had charged God with being indifferent to moral character in dealing with men and stated that in the present controversy his cause was more just than that of God Himself. In other words, it made no difference how pious or how sinful a person was, God acted simply according to whim in sending afflictions.

v. 4. I will answer thee, and thy companions with thee,
all those to whose level of wickedness Job had lowered himself.

v. 5. Look unto the heavens and see,
trying to comprehend, to some extent, God's majesty by contemplating the throne of His power; and behold the clouds which are higher than thou, their lofty heights illustrating God's immeasurable exaltation over the world.

v. 6. If thou sinnest, what doest thou against Him?
How will any sin affect his relation to the great and exalted God? Or if thy transgressions be multiplied, what doest thou unto Him? Had he ever thought about the effect such conduct would have on his status with God?

v. 7. If thou be righteous, what givest thou Him, or what receiveth He of thine hand?
Neither the sins of men nor their good deeds have any effect upon the blessedness of the great God; in either case only their own condition is affected. Cf Psa_16:2; Pro_9:12; Luk_17:10.

v. 8. Thy wickedness may hurt a man as thou art
, producing its harmful effects; and thy righteousness may profit the son of man, it might avail him for his own person, but serve no further ends. The entire section sets forth the frailty of men in comparison with the absolute blessedness of God.