Chapter Thirty-Six

Elihu’s fourth speech. 1–33. God strikes man with sufferings in order to guard him from sin and to lead him to repentance.

Job 36:2. Wait for me a little, and I will show you that I have yet more to say for God. Job’s silence gives Elihu occasion to turn to him with the request to prolong his speech, since he has yet something else to say in defense of God, something better than what he had said before.

Job 36:3. I will begin my arguments from afar and will render justice to my Creator, Job 36:4. for my words are not false: one perfect in knowledge stands before you. Elihu’s new arguments are drawn from the distant realm – from the deeds of the Creator in the history of mankind and nature (“from afar” Heb. “lemerhok,” cf. Job 39:29; Isa 37:26) and, being distinguished by absolute justice, wholly correspond to their purpose of vindicating God.

Job 36:5. Behold, God is mighty, and does not despise the mighty of heart; In the literal translation from the Hebrew this verse should read thus: “God is mighty and despises none. He is mighty in the strength of heart.” Taking into account Job’s assertion that divine omnipotence passes into arbitrariness, violating the requirements of justice (Job 9:4-12), Elihu asserts that despite all His omnipotence, God does not trample on anyone’s rights – “despises none.” The reason and explanation for this is that His power is purely spiritual: “He is mighty in the strength of heart,” that is, of reason. By virtue of this He possesses the ability to distinguish right from wrong and to establish wise order everywhere (cf. Job 12:13). Job 36:6-15. Examples of impartial justice from the history of mankind.

Job 36:6. He does not support the wicked and renders justice to the oppressed; Job 36:7. He does not turn away His eyes from the righteous, but with kings forever He sets them on the throne, and they are exalted. Possessing the fullness of spiritual powers, God also supports spiritual perfection among people: He does not permit the triumph of evil (v. 6; cf. Job 34:19) and guards good – “does not turn away His eyes” (“righteous on the throne” cf. 1 Sam 2:8; Ps 112:7-8).

Job 36:8. If they are bound in chains and held in the cords of affliction, Job 36:9. then He declares to them their deeds and their transgressions, because they have behaved proudly, Job 36:10. and He opens their ear to discipline and commands them to return from iniquity. Divine justice is not violated by the sufferings of the righteous, whether these be chains in the literal sense – the conversion of former kings into captives, or any kind of afflictions (“chains of affliction” – cf. Job 13:27; Isa 28:22, Ps 106:10 and so forth). They are caused by the righteous falling into sin despite divine warnings (“because they behaved proudly” literally: “because they acted proudly” cf. Ezek 33:13), and are directed toward correction – enlightenment of reason and conscience (“opens their ear,” cf. Job 33:16) and strengthening of will (“return from iniquity,” Heb. “aven” nothingness, weakness sin; cf. Job 13:10; 1 John 1:9).

Job 36:11. If they listen and serve Him, they will spend their days in prosperity and their years in joy; Job 36:12. but if they do not listen, they will perish by the sword and die in lack of understanding. A twofold result of suffering: repentance restores to one who has fallen into sin his former well-being (cf. Isa 1:19; Ezek 33:14-16), but in the case of impenitence, afflictions lead man to ruin (Ezek 33:13; Isa 1:20); he dies “without understanding” – in sinfulness (in the Book of Proverbs, folly is a synonym for wickedness, sinfulness).

Job 36:13. But the hypocrites in heart harbor anger and do not cry to Him when He binds them; Job 36:14. therefore their soul dies in youth and their life with the male cult prostitutes. While afflictions in a righteous man who has fallen into sin may stir up repentance, they lead the wicked (the Synodal “hypocrites”) into a state of hardening, irritation (cf. Job 5:2), in which there cannot be a prayerful turning to God. In punishment for this they die in youth (cf. Job 5:26) and lead such a shameful life as the “kedesim” (“effeminati” Vulg.) – official prostitutes who dedicated themselves to shameful service in honor of pagan gods (Deut 23:18; 1 Sam 14:24).

Job 36:15. He delivers the afflicted by their affliction and opens their ear through distress. Job 36:16. And He would have drawn you from the mouth of the narrow place into a broad place where there is no constraint, and what is set on your table would be full of fatness; Application of what has been said to Job. In saving the suffering righteous man, the Lord would similarly deal with Job after his repentance: would deliver him from afflictions (“draw from narrowness to a broad place,” cf. Ps 4:2) and would restore his former happiness, wealth: “what is set on your table would be full of fatness” (cf. Ps 21:27; Prov 9:2).

Job 36:17. but you are full of the judgment of the wicked: judgment and justice hold fast. Job 36:18. Let not anger entice you to scorn, and let the greatness of the ransom not turn you aside. A doubt regarding the fulfillment of what has just been said. In view of Job’s sinful attitude (“full of the judgment of the wicked,” cf. Job 34:7), manifesting itself in impious words which draw down divine anger (“judgment and justice hold fast”), Elihu doubts the possibility of fulfilling his promises and therefore warns Job against excessive irritability, which may lead to offending God. “Let anger not draw you into scorn” (the literal translation of the first half of v. 18; cf. v. 13; Job 34:37), and advises him to patiently bear sufferings, by which he may redeem himself (“let not the greatness of the ransom turn you from repentance” – the second half of v. 18).

Job 36:19. Will He regard your wealth? No, nor all the forces of your strength. The unsatisfactory nature of the Synodal reading is proven by the mention of riches which Job is ready to offer as ransom. All his possessions have perished, consequently there can be no question of them as existing. The correct reading of this verse is recognized as follows: “Will your cries bring you out of distress, along with all the efforts of your might?” The motivation for following Elihu’s advice (v. 18) is the uselessness in the matter of deliverance from affliction of Job’s cries (cf. Job 19:7), as well as turning to strength (cf. Job 9:19). Only the path of repentance and humility before God, which his friend indicates, can save Job.

Job 36:20. Do not long for the night, when people are taken away in their place. Among such cries belongs the repeated passionate (“do not long,” literally “do not sigh”; cf. Job 7:2) demand for “night,” that is, divine judgment (Job 34:20; cf. Job 13:18 and so forth; Job 16:21 and so forth). In the matter of Job’s vindication it is useless, since this “night” – judgment – ends in the destruction of whole nations (“taken away,” literally – “swept away like dust,” cf. Ps 1:4; Isa 5:26); will single individuals survive at this time?

Job 36:21. Beware, do not turn to iniquity, which you have preferred to affliction. By contrasting “iniquity” with “affliction,” Elihu evidently means by the former the complaint against God, the impatient bearing of afflictions. In view of the uselessness, even the obvious harm, of such an attitude, he once more advises Job to cease it, to humble himself before the just God. Job 36:22-33. The phenomena of visible nature – a revelation of divine omnipotence and wisdom – as proof of divine justice. The introduction to this new series of thoughts is served by vv. 22–25, of which the first begins as the beginning of a new section with the expression “behold” (cf. v. 5).

Job 36:22. God is great in His power, and who is a teacher like Him? God is all-mighty, the supreme ruler, and therefore He cannot be reproached for any of His actions (cf. Job 34:17-18). The Hebrew “more,” transmitted in the Synodal text, as well as in the Targum, Peshitta, and by modern Hebraists, Delitzsch and others, with the word “teacher,” should, it seems, by the meaning of the verse itself be translated with the word “ruler,” “δυνάοτης” – LXX.

Job 36:23. Who has prescribed His way for Him; or who can say: You have done wrong? As the supreme ruler, God has no need of external direction (“who prescribed His way for Him?” more precisely – “who has set His paths for Him?” cf. Job 34:13), and His actions, determined exclusively by His own all-perfect consciousness and will, are not subject to accusation of injustice.

Job 36:24. Remember to magnify His works, which men have seen. Job 36:25. All people can see them; man can look upon them from a distance. Being all-perfect in character, they should call forth from Job not censure, condemnation (cf. Job 12:15), but praise. He is obliged to join his hymn of praise to such songs (Ps 103:33) of other people (“deeds which are sung by other people,” instead of the incorrect Synodal: “deeds which men see”), seeing God’s deeds “from a distance,” looking at them with reverence.

Job 36:26. Behold, God is great, and we cannot comprehend Him; the number of His years is unsearchable. A feeling of this kind is aroused first of all by the inscrutableness of God’s being, and hence also of divine deeds, which is explained in turn by His eternity. Eternal, He cannot be grasped by the limited mind of man.

Job 36:27. He gathers the drops of water; they distill as rain from the mist: Indicators of God’s greatness – His wisdom and omnipotence – are the atmospheric phenomenon of rain. God “gathers,” literally “draws” (Heb. “yagara”; cf. Job 15:8) “drops of water.” By the power of His omnipotence and wisdom, the vapors carried over the earth’s surface rise upward, turn here into drops, and fall to the earth in the form of rain “through His mist” (Heb. “leedo,” cf. Gen 2:6; the Synodal “distill”), that is, when the air space is filled with vapor created by God. Not all vapors turn into rain, but only a part of them; it is given by clouds that pour out water for the benefit of people.

Job 36:29. Who can also understand the spreading of the clouds, the thunder of His tent? God’s greatness is further manifested in the manner by which the clouds spread out (cf. Ps 103:2; Ezek 27:7) in the atmospheric regions, and in the thunder occurring in those same clouds (“His tent,” cf. Ps 17:12).

Job 36:30. Behold, He spreads His light over it and covers the bottom of the sea. Making Himself known through the latter, God also governs lightning, which during a storm pierces through clouds and illuminates the ocean to its very “roots,” to its very depths.

Job 36:31. For by these He judges the peoples, and gives food in abundance. From His dwelling God appears both in the role of judge and in the position of benefactor, gives rain, sustains vegetation, and thereby provides food.

Job 36:32. He covers the lightning in His hands and commands it, striking whom He will. Job 36:33. The thunder of it declares Him; the cattle also perceive concerning it. By means of the lightning obedient to Him, He carries out His judgment, directing it against His enemies (cf. Ps 10:6 and so forth; Wis 19:12), and the fearful power of His judgment is felt even by unreasoning animals – an allusion to their anxiety before the onset of a storm.