CHAPTER XXXIV _Elihu begins with an exhortation to Job's friends_, 1-4; _charges Job with accusing God of acting unrighteously, which_ _he shows is impossible_, 5-12; _points out the power and judgments of the Almighty_, 13-30; _shows how men should address God, and how irreverently Job has_ _... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 34:3. _THE EAR TRIETH WORDS_] I do not think, with _Calmet_, that the _inward ear_, or _judgment_, is meant simply. The Asiatics valued themselves on the _nice and harmonious collection of words_, both in speaking and in writing; and perhaps it will be found here that Elihu labours as much... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 34:4. _LET US CHOOSE TO US JUDGMENT_] Let us not seek the applause of men, nor contend for victory. Let our aim be to obtain correct views and notions of all things; and let us labour to find out what is good.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 34:5. _JOB HATH SAID, I AM RIGHTEOUS_] Job had certainly said the words attributed to him by Elihu, particularly in Job 27:2, c., but it was in vindication of his aspersed character that he had asserted his own righteousness, and in a different sense to that in which Elihu appears to take... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 34:6. _SHOULD I LIE AGAINST MY RIGHT?_] Should I acknowledge myself the sinner which they paint me, and thus lie against my right to assert and maintain my innocence? _MY WOUND IS INCURABLE WITHOUT TRANSGRESSION._] If this translation is correct, the meaning of the place is sufficiently... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 34:7. _DRINKETH UP SCORNING LIKE WATER?_] This is a repetition of the charge made against Job by _Eliphaz_, Job 15:16. It is a proverbial expression, and seems to be formed, as a metaphor, from a _camel drinking_, who takes in a large draught of water, even the most _turbid_, on its settin... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 34:8. _WHICH GOETH IN COMPANY WITH THE WORKERS OF INIQUITY_] This is an allusion to a caravan: all kinds of persons are found there; but yet a holy and respectable man might be found in that part of the company where profligates assembled. But surely this assertion of Elihu was not strict... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 34:10. _FAR BE IT FROM GOD_] Rather, _Wickedness, far be that_ _from God; and from iniquity, the Almighty_. The sense is sufficiently evident without the _paraphrase_ in our version.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 34:11. _FOR THE WORK OF A MAN SHALL HE RENDER_] God ever will do _justice_; the righteous shall never be forsaken, nor shall the wicked ultimately prosper.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 34:13. _WHO HATH GIVEN HIM A CHARGE_] _Who_ is it that governs the world? Is it not God? Who disposes of all things in it? Is it not the Almighty, by his just and merciful providence? The government of the world shows the care, the justice, and the mercy of God.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 34:14. _IF HE SET HIS HEART UPON MAN_] I think this and the following verse should be read thus: - "If he set his heart upon man, he will gather his soul and breath to himself; _for_ all flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto dust." On whomsoever God _sets his heart_, t... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 34:17. _SHALL - HE THAT HATETH RIGHT GOVERN?_] Or, _Shall he who_ _hateth judgment, lie under obligation_? It is preposterous to suppose that he who lives by no rule, should impose rules upon others. God, who is the _fountain_ of all _justice_ and _righteousness,_ _binds_ man by his laws;... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 34:18. IS IT FIT _TO SAY TO A KING_, THOU ART _WICKED?_] The sentence is very short, and is thus translated by the VULGATE: _Qui_ _dicit regi, Apostata? Qui vocat duces impios?_ "Who says to a king, Apostate? Who calls leaders impious ?" Literally, _Who calls a king_ _Belial? Who calls pri... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 34:19. _THAT ACCEPTETH NOT_] If it be utterly improper to speak against a king or civil governor, how much more so to speak disrespectfully of God, who is not influenced by human caprices or considerations, and who regards the _rich_ and the _poor_ alike, being equally his creatures, and e... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 34:20. _IN A MOMENT SHALL THEY DIE_] Both are equally dependent on the Almighty for their breath and being; the _mighty_ as well as the _poor_. If the _great men_ of the earth have abused their power, he sometimes cuts them off by the most _sudden_ and _unexpected_ _death_; and even at mid... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 34:22. THERE IS _NO DARKNESS_] In this life; and _no shadow of_ _death_ in the other world-no annihilation _in which the workers of_ _iniquity may hide themselves_, or take refuge.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 34:23. _FOR HE WILL NOT LAY UPON MAN_] The meaning appears to be this: He will not call man a second time into judgment; he does not try a cause twice; his decisions are just, and his sentence without appeal. Mr. _Good_ translates: - "Behold, not to man hath he intrusted the time Of com... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 34:24. _HE SHALL BREAK IN PIECES_] In multitudes of cases God depresses the _proud_, and raises up the _humble_ and _meek_. Neither their _strength_ nor _number_ can afford them security.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 34:25. _HE KNOWETH THEIR WORKS_] He knows what they have done, and what they are _plotting_ to do. _HE OVERTURNETH_ THEM _IN THE NIGHT_] In the revolution of a single night the plenitude of power on which the day closed is annihilated. See the cases of Belshazzar and Babylon.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 34:26. _HE STRIKETH THEM AS WICKED MEN_] At other times he executes his judgments _more openly_; and they are suddenly destroyed in the _sight of the people_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 34:27. _BECAUSE THEY TURNED BACK_] This is the reason why he has dealt with them in judgment. They had departed from him in their _hearts_, their _moral conduct_, and their _civil government_. He is speaking of corrupt and tyrannical rulers. And _they did not_, would not, _understand_ any... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 34:28. _SO THAT THEY CAUSE THE CRY OF THE POOR_] They were cruel and oppressive: the poor cried through their distresses, and against their oppressors; and God heard the cry of the poor. Nothing so dreadful appears in the court of heaven against an unfeeling, hardhearted, and cruel man of... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 34:29. _WHEN HE GIVETH QUIETNESS, WHO THEN CAN MAKE TROUBLE?_] How beautiful is this sentiment, and how true! He ever acts as a sovereign, but his actions are all wise and just. _If he give_ _quietness, who dares to give trouble_? And if he give to every human being the right to worship hi... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 34:30. _THAT THE HYPOCRITE REIGN NOT_] The _Vulgate_ translates, _Who causes a wicked man to reign because of the sins of the_ _people_. This was precisely the defense which Hegiage, the oppressive ruler of the Babylonian Irak, under the caliph Abdul Malec, made when he found the people in... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 34:31. _SURELY IT IS MEET TO BE SAID UNTO GOD_] This is Elihu's exhortation to Job: _Humble thyself before God_, and say, "_I have_ _suffered - I will not offend_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 34:32. THAT WHICH _I SEE NOT_] "What I do not know, teach thou me; wherein I have done iniquity, I will do so no more.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 34:33. _ACCORDING TO THY MIND? HE WILL RECOMPENSE IT_] Mr. _Good_ renders the whole passage thus: - "Then in the presence of thy tribes According as thou art bruised shall he make it whole. But it is thine to choose, and not mine; So, what thou determinest, say." This may at least be... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 34:34. _LET MEN OF UNDERSTANDING TELL ME_] I wish to converse with wise men; and by men of wisdom I wish what I have said to be judged.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 34:35. _JOB HATH SPOKEN WITHOUT KNOWLEDGE_] There is no good in arguing with a self-willed, self-conceited man. Job has spoken like a man destitute of wisdom and discretion.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 34:36. _MY DESIRE IS THAT JOB MAY BE TRIED UNTO THE END_] אבי יבחן איוב _abi yibbachen Aiyob_, "My father, let Job be tried." So the VULGATE, _Pater mi, probetur Job_. But it may be as in the common translation, _I wish Job to be tried_; or, as Mr. _Good_ renders it, _Verily, let Job be pu... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 34:37. _HE ADDETH REBELLION UNTO HIS SIN_] An ill-natured, cruel, and unfounded assertion, borne out by nothing which Job had ever said or intended; and indeed, more severe than the most inveterate of his friends (so called) had ever spoken. Mr. _Good_ makes this virulent conclusion still... [ Continue Reading ]