Job 33:8-12

He challenges Job's claim that he suffers because God counts him an enemy. (Job 33:8-12)

TEXT 33:8-12

8 Surely thou has spoken In my hearing,

And I have heard the voice of thy words, saying,

9 1 am clean, without transgression;

I am innocent, neither is there iniquity in me:

10 Behold, he findeth occasions against me,

He counteth me for his enemy;

11 He putteth my feet in the stocks,

He marketh all my paths.

12 Behold, I will answer thee, in this thou art not just;

For God is greater than man.

COMMENT 33:8-12

Job 33:8God is too great to be guilty of the behavior alluded to in Job's charges. He has never persecuted a righteous man. At this point Elihu gets down to his self-appointed task of effectually responding to Job. After finishing his much-advertised brilliance and competence, Elihu rebukes Job. He has listened to all of the dialogue (A. V. the sound of your words); thus he is prepared to respond.

Job 33:9Job has not claimed sinlessnessJob 7:21; Job 9:21; Job 10:7; Job 13:26; Job 16:17; Job 23:7; Job 23:10 ff; Job 27:4 ff; Job 31:1 ff. Though Elihu's quotation is essentially correct, the twist he places on them distorts the essence of Job's words. Job has consistently claimed that he had never committed sins grave enough to merit the afflictions which he is experiencing. The word rendered as clean in A. V. occurs only here, and its root meaning is wash or cleanse.

Job 33:10For line one see Job 10:13 ff; Job 19:6 ff; for line two, Job 13:24. The word rendered occasions (to-' anot) means opportunities for, expressing hostility as in Judges 14:4; Judges 13:24; Judges 19:6; Judges 19:11.

Job 33:11Elihu is here quoting Job's words from Job 13:27. God watches (yismor) his every move and hinders him. This very phrase occurs also in Job 13:27 b.

Job 33:12Elihu denies the justness of Job's charges. God is above arbitrary actions such as those that Job has affirmed. But Job has already presented God's power in some of the most magnificent hymns in ScriptureJob 9:1-13; Job 12:13-25. Job has already declared that man cannot argue with God because he is greater than man (so the LXX and the Qumran Targum)Job 9:14-20; Job 9:32; Job 13:13-16; so Elihu's point is not well taken under any circumstances.