Chapter Thirty-Four

Elihu’s second speech. 1–4. Introduction. 5–9. The position of Job as analyzed by Elihu. 10–30. Divine Justice. 31–32. The necessity of humility before God. 33–37. Job deserves punishment.

Job 34:1. And Elihu continued and said: Job’s silence in response to Elihu’s proposition (Job 33:32) gives him the right to continue speaking. Already his first speech, disclosing the thought about the educative, corrective character of sufferings, excludes the possibility of assuming divine injustice; accordingly, the second speech is devoted to substantiating the proposition that divine governance follows the principles of the strictest justice.

Job 34:2. Hear, wise men, my words; and listen to me, you discerning ones! Job 34:3. For the ear discerns words, as the palate distinguishes taste in food. Job 34:4. Let us decide between ourselves and learn what is good. If the mind possesses the capacity for judgment, as the palate possesses the capacity to discern taste in food (Job 12:11), then the “wise ones” – not Job and his friends, who lack wisdom (Job 32:8-12) – but those standing around listening can discuss how just Job’s words are.

Job 34:5. Behold, Job has said: I am righteous, but God has deprived me of justice. Job 34:6. Shall I lie about my righteousness? My wound is incurable without fault. According to his declaration, he is righteous (Job 9:15 and so forth), but God has deprived him of justice (Heb. “gzir” – right), the possibility to prove his innocence (cf. Job 27:2). In view of this, although truth is on his side, he appears in the position of a liar, because the very testimony of innocence loses its force – appears as a lie in view of the fact of suffering. They are a convincing proof of his sinfulness (Job 9:20). Job would find himself in the same position of a liar if, contrary to his consciousness of righteousness (Job 27:3-6), he acknowledged himself guilty. In view of the impossibility of justice, of vindication, his innocent wounds, inflicted by divine wrath – sufferings (cf. Job 6:4) are not subject to healing (cf. Job 23:13-14).

Job 34:7. Is there a man like Job, who drinks mockery like water, Job 34:8. keeps company with those who do wickedness and walks with evil men? Job 34:9. For he has said: It profits a man nothing that he should be pleasing to God. Job’s denial of divine justice (vv. 5–6) gives Elihu the right to attribute to him the thought of the uselessness of piety toward God (v. 9; cf. Job 22:2). Although Job has not directly expressed such a view, except (Job 21:15), his complaints that the Lord equally destroys the righteous and the guilty (Job 9:22; Job 21:7 and so forth), rewards sinners (Job 21:7 and so forth), provide sufficient ground for such a conclusion. In denying divine justice and the benefit of piety, Job has no equal in impiety; he finds complete satisfaction in it (“drinks mockery like water,” cf. Job 15:16). By his views Job is a partner in lawlessness (v. 8; cf. Job 21:14-15).

Job 34:10. So listen to me, wise men! God cannot have unrighteousness, nor the Almighty injustice. Job 34:11. For He deals with man according to his deeds and according to the ways of a man He repays him. Job 34:12. Truly, God does not do wrong, and the Almighty does not pervert justice. A general statement about divine justice (v. 12; cf. Job 8:3).

Job 34:13. Who besides Him cares for the earth? And who governs the whole universe? Job 34:14. If He were to turn His heart to Himself and take away His spirit and breath from it – Job 34:15. suddenly all flesh would perish, and man would return to dust. The Synodal reading of v. 13 represents not quite an accurate rendering of the original. Literally it should be translated thus: “Who entrusted the earth to Him and who set the universe on its foundation?” God cannot act unjustly, since the governance of the world is not an obligation imposed upon Him from the outside, but the deed of His free will. Equally, the world is not the possession of anyone else, but His own creation (Job 32:8). And how disinterestedly He governs it is evident from the fact that His life-giving spirit sustains all that exists and does not permit its destruction (vv. 14–15; cf. Ps 103:29). Divine love, which called the world into being and ensures its continuation, excludes the possibility of arbitrariness and vouches for justice.

Job 34:16. So, if you have understanding, hear this and listen to my words. The transition to further thoughts; its form is intended to arouse Job’s attention.

Job 34:17. Can one who hates justice rule? And can you condemn the Most Just One? Governance and justice are inseparably linked; without the latter, anarchy begins. If this is so, then how can one accuse of injustice the One who is the highest justice?

Job 34:18. Can one say to a king: You are wicked? And to princes: You are lawless? Job 34:19. But He does not show regard for princes, nor does He prefer the rich to the poor, because all of them are the work of His hands. If even among earthly kings one cannot strip away what is essential to their dignity – justice – then much more so with God. He, the Creator of all, makes no distinction between persons: both king and poor man are equally creatures of His hands, equal in His eyes (Wis 6:7; Rom 2:11). Strict impartiality (cf. Deut 10:17; 2 Chr 19:7) excludes the possibility of injustice.

Job 34:20. In an instant they die; in the middle of the night people are disturbed, and they disappear; the mighty are taken away not by human power. Factual proof of God’s lack of partiality toward people. He does not sustain, when He should not, their existence: they die suddenly and unexpectedly, perish not by human will, but by God’s (“the mighty are taken away not by human power”), from His hand (cf. Job 20:26; Dan 8:25; Zech 4:6).

Job 34:21. For His eyes are upon the ways of man, and He sees all his steps. Job 34:22. There is no darkness, nor shadow of death, where those who do wickedness could hide. Divine justice is presupposed by disinterested love and impartial treatment by God toward people (13–19), and it is carried out by reason of divine omniscience. The All-seeing, All-knowing Lord, for whom there are no barriers in this respect (v. 22; cf. Ps 138:11 and so forth; Sir 23:28), cannot be mistaken in his judgment of man (cf. Job 10:4).

Job 34:23. Therefore He does not require of man that he go to trial with God. The literal translation of this verse from the Hebrew is thus: “He (God) has no need to look at man twice, in order to lead him before His judgment seat.” With God’s omniscience there is no need for lengthy investigation (“twice”; Heb. “od” “long” – Gen 46:29; “still” – Isa 5:4) of man (cf. Prov 5:21) in order to bring him to trial. God knows everything before investigation, and His verdict is pronounced at once. An allusion to Job’s desire to stand trial before God (Job 23).

Job 34:24. He breaks the mighty without investigation and sets others in their place; Without such lengthy investigation, God overthrows the mighty (is it not the same with Job?) and in their place sets others – better rulers (cf. Job 8:19; Isa 65:15).

Job 34:25. therefore He makes their deeds known and overthrows them in the night, and they are destroyed. Accordingly, the very overthrow is accomplished with the swiftness of night.

Job 34:26. He strikes them as wicked men, in the sight of others, Job 34:27. because they turned from Him and did not understand all His ways, Job 34:28. so that the cry of the poor reaches Him, and He hears the wailing of the oppressed. And with all this it is entirely just: the mighty are punished for deviation from the path indicated by God, for the oppression of the weak (v. 28; cf. Ps 9:13).

Job 34:29. When He gives peace, who can disturb? When He hides His face, who can see Him? Whether it be for a nation, or for one man, Job 34:30. that a hypocrite may not reign, to the snare of the people. Neither the peace granted by God to the poor (v. 28), nor His anger striking the oppressors (“hide His face,” cf. Job 13:24; Ps 103:29; Hos 13:11), are subject to revocation by reason of their justice. And indeed, how just the latter is can be judged by the fact that the overthrow of bad rulers is carried out with the purpose that by their example and rule they do not bring the people to ruin (“so that he may not be a snare for the people” – the literal translation of the second half of v. 29; cf. Hos 5:1; Exod 10:7; Jer 23:1; Ezek 34:1-6; Job 9:24; Job 12:6).

Job 34:31. One should say to God: I have borne punishment; I will no more sin. Job 34:32. What I do not know, You teach me; and if I have committed iniquity, I will do so no more. With divine justice there is no place for complaint on the part of man. Punishment must put an end to sin, and must stir up the desire and determination to turn away from it (Job 33:30).

Job 34:33. According to your reasoning shall He repay? And as you reject it, you must choose, not I; speak what you know. If complaint is inappropriate on the part of man, then it is all the more strange to think that it affects God. Can the Lord, for Job’s sake, abandon the laws of just governance of the world, annul them because Job rejects them, and establish new ones according to his instruction? But what are these new methods of world governance, these new principles of justice – let him say it himself.

Job 34:34. Men of understanding will say to me, and a wise man listening to me: Job 34:35. Job does not speak wisely, and his words are without understanding. The foolishness of Job’s answer is presumed by itself – such is the verdict of Elihu’s listeners.

Job 34:36. I would like Job to be fully tested, according to his answers, which belong to wicked people. Job 34:37. Otherwise he will add rebellion to his sin, will clap his hands among us and multiply his words against God. Since the final purpose of punishments is to bring the sinner to understanding (Job 33:30), Elihu in conclusion of his speech desires that it come about with respect to Job. A lawbreaker by his answers, he should be tested (cf. Ps 138:23), subjected to divine influence on his conscience until he recognizes his guilt and humbles himself before God. The ground for such a wish is the consideration that otherwise, to his former sins will be added the sin of turning away from God – in a sign of contempt and revolt he will “clap his hands.”