TEXT [Commentary]

  2.   Job’s views condemned (34:10-37)

10 “Listen to me, you who have understanding.

Everyone knows that God doesn’t sin!

The Almighty can do no wrong.

11 He repays people according to their deeds.

He treats people as they deserve.

12 Truly, God will not do wrong.

The Almighty will not twist justice.

13 Did someone else put the world in his care?

Who set the whole world in place?

14 If God were to take back his spirit

and withdraw his breath,

15 all life would cease,

and humanity would turn again to dust.

16 “Now listen to me if you are wise.

Pay attention to what I say.

17 Could God govern if he hated justice?

Are you going to condemn the almighty judge?

18 For he says to kings, ‘You are wicked,’

and to nobles, ‘You are unjust.’

19 He doesn’t care how great a person may be,

and he pays no more attention to the rich than to the poor.

He made them all.

20 In a moment they die.

In the middle of the night they pass away;

the mighty are removed without human hand.

21 “For God watches how people live;

he sees everything they do.

22 No darkness is thick enough

to hide the wicked from his eyes.

23 We don’t set the time

when we will come before God in judgment.

24 He brings the mighty to ruin without asking anyone,

and he sets up others in their place.

25 He knows what they do,

and in the night he overturns and destroys them.

26 He strikes them down because they are wicked,

doing it openly for all to see.

27 For they turned away from following him.

They have no respect for any of his ways.

28 They cause the poor to cry out, catching God’s attention.

He hears the cries of the needy.

29 But if he chooses to remain quiet,

who can criticize him?

When he hides his face, no one can find him,

whether an individual or a nation.

30 He prevents the godless from ruling

so they cannot be a snare to the people.

31 “Why don’t people say to God, ‘I have sinned,

but I will sin no more’?

32 Or ‘I don’t know what evil I have done—tell me.

If I have done wrong, I will stop at once’?

33 “Must God tailor his justice to your demands?

But you have rejected him!

The choice is yours, not mine.

Go ahead, share your wisdom with us.

34 After all, bright people will tell me,

and wise people will hear me say,

35 ‘Job speaks out of ignorance;

his words lack insight.’

36 Job, you deserve the maximum penalty

for the wicked way you have talked.

37 For you have added rebellion to your sin;

you show no respect,

and you speak many angry words against God.”

NOTES

34:14 take back his spirit. The Heb. has a double reading for this verse; expressed fully it says “If it were his intention and he withdrew his spirit and breath” (NIV), but this is clearly overloaded. There are two Masoretic traditions for the first verb of the verse (Gordis 1978:388). “If he were to turn his thoughts inwards” (REB) is a translation of the western Masoretic tradition for the first line of the verse, but it has likely come about by a copyist error. The eastern Masoretic tradition (followed by NLT) forms a natural parallel with the second line.

34:18 he says to kings. The MT appears to have the interrogative “is it not he who says . . .” (NIV, KJV), but the vocalization is anomalous; the form contains an article and not an interrogative, as is recognized by most translations.

34:20 In a moment they die. The reference is specifically to the wicked—that is, the rich tyrants who receive no favors from God (34:19).

34:23 We don’t set the time. This verse is often interpreted to make the subject of this line “he [God]” and say that God has not appointed a time for mortals to come into judgment (RSV, NRSV, NAB), which is sometimes interpreted to mean that God has no need to call mortals before him for judgment (NIV) or that there is no opportunity for mortals to present cases before God (REB). Neither of these interpretations fits the argument of Elihu. Job’s complaint has been that God’s time of reckoning remains unknown to mortals (24:1), and his demand was that retribution be swift (21:19, 30-31). In order to defend God’s governance of the world, Elihu must insist that mortals do not determine the time when God will judge. The first line of the verse carries the sense that it is not proper or not permitted for humans to set the time.

34:24 without asking anyone. The expression “which cannot be searched out” in later Heb. is an idiom for something that has no limit or number. Both the Gr. and the Qumran Targum (11QtgJob) translate it in its idiomatic sense. The Gr. is periphrastic at this point, adapting its earlier translations of the phrase (cf. 5:9; 9:10) where it means the same thing in reference to the works of God.

34:29 whether an individual or a nation. Other translations either join this phrase to the next verse (NIV), incorporate it between the verses (RSV, NRSV), paraphrase it completely (REB, NJB), or omit it and the next verse completely (NAB). A section of this chapter (34:29-33) has been disrupted from an early period, apparently before the time of the first translations. Though 11QtgJob is too fragmentary to be of help, what remains can be read as an interpretation of our present text (van der Ploeg and van der Woude 1971:60-61). The Gr. has omitted the entire section (34:28-33), probably in part because it was difficult and in part because it seemed to repeat previous arguments (Cox 1985:46). Driver and Gray (1921:1.300) justly say that these verses (34:29-33) are “as a whole unintelligible, the details being . . . very ambiguous, and the ambiguities, in the face of the extreme uncertainty of the remainder, insolvable.”

34:30 He prevents the godless from ruling. This is the sense that can be discerned from the Masoretic reading of the Heb. Gordis (1978:392-393) revocalizes the verse to say God allows a godless person to rule because of the sins of the people. This explains the result of God hiding his face.

34:31 Why don’t people say to God. Wahl (1993:89-90) follows Fohrer and others in making God the subject: should God say to you “I have erred, but I will do wrong no longer.” Job charged God with wrong. Is it reasonable to think that the Creator should be judged by the creature? This interpretation is a speculative emendation of the text, but it has the advantage of clarifying the subject of the next verses as a development of Elihu’s argument against Job.

34:33 you have rejected him. Job has either rejected God or is rejecting the judgment of God against the evildoers.

34:34 wise people will hear me say. It is wise people who heard Elihu, who will then speak words to Job. The closing section is the words of the wise (as a class) directed to Job.

34:37 added rebellion to your sin. The translation “he claps his hands among us” (RSV, NRSV, NIV) assumes an expression for derision (cf. 27:23). It is more likely that, rather than “clap” (the word “hands” is not present in Heb.), the verb means to “furnish” or “supply” (Jastrow 1016), as it commonly does in later Heb.

COMMENTARY [Text]

Job had said that the way God governs the world is unfair because the wicked prosper without suffering (21:7-13). He had found the arguments of wisdom against this state of affairs (21:17-33) to be hollow and without substance. He had further said that God had mistreated him personally, removing justice (27:2) and twisting (‘awath [TH5791, ZH6430]) what was right for him (see commentary on 19:6). Bildad had asserted that God could not be accused of twisting (‘awath) justice (8:3), and Elihu began with that same affirmation (34:12). Answers to life’s mysteries must arise from certain unshakable premises. It was unquestionably true that God must be good and just, but Job had challenged these basic ideas. For this reason, Elihu began by establishing the foundation of these truths (34:10-15). God is the Creator of the world and upholds it constantly in his care. If God should withdraw that constant provision for his world, everything would die, just as the psalmist had said (cf. Ps 104:27-30). God is certainly not going to wrong the world he created and sustains. People who violate the order God has for his creation will find that punishment comes to them, for they have violated the work God does in sustaining life in creation. At this point, the argument has advanced little. This had been the very mystery Job had expressed (10:3-7): how could God take pleasure in afflicting the work of his own hands?

Elihu hereby laid down the first premise in his argument concerning the justice of God in his rule of the world. Elihu then called for the attention of the wise to a further premise that could not be questioned: God does not show favoritism to anyone, for all are the work of his hands. God will call the most powerful king a scoundrel, no matter what his influence and prestige. If God governs this world with impartiality and without compromise, it is a given that we must be careful what we say about the leaders of this world. God could not govern if he were unjust, for then he would violate the equality that is the very foundation of created order. It is blasphemous to condemn the judge, who is the Creator, as being unjust. If God is this kind of judge and this kind of ruler, it is obvious he will demand the same standard of all other rulers. If rulers violate the law of God’s order that all are equal, then they will be swept away in judgment themselves. Nothing these people do will escape God’s notice. Since God is constantly at work in sustaining the world, he sees every step that everyone takes. There is no hiding place from the divine scrutiny, not even in death. The thick darkness described as the “shadow of death” is a reference to the place of the dead. Again, it is as the psalmist had said (Ps 139:7-12); even the place of death (Ps 139:8) does not escape the watchful eye of God.

Elihu was getting closer to closing his argument about justice. Job had complained that the day of reckoning does not come (24:1); in the end, the wicked get away with everything they do (21:19, 30-33), living a luxurious life and having a grand funeral. Elihu said that Job was asking for too much in thinking that he should be the one to set the times of judgment (34:23). In demanding to see the Day of Judgment, Job was setting a limit on how God rules his world. God cares about the poor and the needy and hears their cries (34:28). Those who have caused the poor to cry out in this way have placed themselves under judgment. God will crush even the most powerful ruler who has acted in such a harsh manner. The order of equality God has for creation cannot be violated without cost. Powerful leaders need to be especially careful to act with justice because this is the way of God. This is true for God, and it is true for all who represent his rule in his world. Job’s trouble was the mistaken thought that he should be able to determine when this judgment takes place.

Elihu concluded his argument about God’s governance of his world with a very strong statement that humans cannot determine when and how this judgment of the powers that be in this world will take place. When God grants peace, there will be no trouble, but there are also those times when God hides his face—when his light does not shine. At such times, the wicked may rule over a nation and over all of its people. He may allow the godless to rule because of the evil of the people. This is, at least, one interpretation of Elihu’s argument (see note on 34:31). This is like saying that we who live in democracies get the kind of government we deserve, but God will eventually judge the wicked. A mortal does not stand in a position to determine what that judgment should be. The time and manner of judgment remain solely in God’s control.

Elihu brought the inescapable conclusion of his argument to a close with the words “but you have rejected” (34:33). The underlying Hebrew is somewhat enigmatic in this context, but within the composition it should be expected that it will apply to Job. Job had used this verb in a similar expression on two occasions (7:16; 9:21) to say that he would not accept his life as it was after his inexplicable calamity. Unlike the friends, Elihu never condemned Job for particular transgressions. He did say that Job was wrong in thinking that he could pass judgment on what is right or best for his life. No one can determine when and how the judgment of God should come, and that was also true for Job and for his own situation. Elihu argued that Job had no right to say he refused his life as he did in his opening speech (ch 3) and his later statements. How could mortals begin to have such a presumption about judgment? How could one person reject or choose the time of judgment over against another? If mortals are in no position to decide such ordinary matters as when, where, and by what amount the rain should fall, how much less are they in a position to declare the weighty matters of judgment. If Job knew something about this, then it was time for him to speak up. Elihu does not think for a minute that Job could have anything to say about this argument.

Elihu concluded his lengthy presentation of the justice of the divine order with an affirmation that he had presented the teaching of wisdom; it could not be contravened. When the story of Job is all told, wisdom will be on Elihu’s side. Elihu had said that judgment on leaders was the result of turning away from following God (34:27). In conclusion, he said that Job had not spoken with insight—his words lacked understanding. It was no wonder that Job had to be tested to the limit. Job’s response—with respect to his ideas about what is just and right—had been that of the wicked. In this attitude he heaped sin upon sin, for he had continued to speak against the justice of God in contradiction to the very fundamental principles of equity within creation. Job had virtually put himself in the place of God in his demands for justice. No mortal belongs in the place of the Creator of all mortals. Job was wrong. There would not be an end to his suffering so long as he persisted in this kind of thinking. Only when Job allowed God to be God could there be a change in his circumstances.