Adult sibling rivalry, while often rooted in childhood dynamics, can significantly impact an individual’s well-being and relationships throughout their lives. It’s not uncommon for siblings to experience lingering resentment, competition, or distance, even into adulthood. Understanding the psychological roots of these conflicts and developing strategies for healthy communication and boundary setting can be crucial for improving these relationships. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
Underlying Causes of Adult Sibling Rivalry:
Childhood Experiences: Past experiences, such as parental favoritism, perceived injustices, or unresolved conflicts, can shape adult sibling relationships. [3, 3, 4, 4, 7, 7]
Personality Differences: Inherent personality differences and varying coping mechanisms can contribute to ongoing friction and misunderstandings. [3, 7, 7, 8, 8, 9]
Family Dynamics: Unhealthy family dynamics, including communication patterns and unresolved issues, can perpetuate rivalry. [2, 2, 3, 3]
Social Comparisons: Adults may continue to compare themselves to siblings in terms of career, relationships, or material possessions, fueling rivalry. [10, 10, 11, 11]
Unmet Needs: Individuals may harbor expectations for siblings to fulfill unmet needs from childhood, such as apologies or recognition, leading to disappointment and resentment, according to AARP. [6, 6, 12, 12]
Consequences of Adult Sibling Rivalry:
Mental Health Issues: Studies show that poor sibling relationships in childhood can be linked to depression, anxiety, and substance abuse in adulthood, according to the American Psychological Association (APA). [1, 1]
Relationship Strain: Rivalry can negatively impact relationships with spouses, children, and other family members, according to Verywell Mind. [3, 7, 7, 13]
Personal Distress: Individuals may experience chronic feelings of anger, resentment, and disappointment due to unresolved conflicts. [12, 12, 14, 14]
Missed Opportunities: Rivalry can prevent siblings from forming supportive and meaningful relationships. [1, 1, 3, 3, 4, 15, 16]
Strategies for Improvement:
Self-Reflection: Individuals can examine their own role in the conflict and identify triggers and patterns of behavior, says WebMD. [2, 5, 5, 6, 6, 17]
Open Communication: Having honest and respectful conversations with siblings, focusing on understanding each other’s perspectives, can be beneficial. [5, 5, 6, 6]
Setting Boundaries: Establishing healthy boundaries with siblings, including limiting contact or emotional involvement, can be a way to protect one’s well-being. [6, 6, 18, 18]
Forgiveness and Acceptance: Letting go of past hurts and accepting that siblings may not change can lead to personal growth and reduced distress. [11, 11, 12, 12]
Seeking Professional Help: Therapy can provide guidance and support in navigating complex sibling relationships and developing healthier coping mechanisms, according to Psychology Today. [5, 5, 19, 19, 20, 21]
By addressing the underlying causes and actively working on improving communication and boundaries, adults can strive to create more positive and fulfilling relationships with their siblings. [5, 6]
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 for harmonious versification as for pious and weighty sentiments. To connect sense with sound was an object of general pursuit among the Hebrew, Arabic, and Persian poets; and so fond are the latter of euphony, that they often sacrifice both sense and sentiment to it; and some of the Greek poets are not exempt from this fault.
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.
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 it up. He asserted that he was righteous quoad the charges his friends had brought against him. And he never intimated that he had at all times a pure heart, and had never transgressed the laws of his Maker. It is true also that he said, God hath taken away my judgment but he most obviously does not mean to charge God with injustice, but to show that he had dealt with him in a way wholly mysterious, and not according to the ordinary dispensations of his providence; and that he did not interpose in his behalf, while his friends were overwhelming him with obloquy and reproach.
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 evident. In the tribulation which I endure, I am treated as if I were the worst of culprits; and I labour under incurable maladies and privations, though without any cause on my part for such treatment. This was all most perfectly true; it is the testimony which God himself gives of Job, that “he was a perfect and upright man, fearing God and eschewing evil;” and that “Satan had moved the Lord against him, to destroy him, WITHOUT A CAUSE. See Job 1:1; Job 2:3.
The Chaldee translates thus: –
“On account of my judgment, I will make the son of man a liar, who sends forth arrows without sin.”
Mr. Good thus :-
“Concerning my cause I am slandered;
He hath reversed my lot without a trespass.”
The latter clause is the most deficient, אנוש חצי בלי פשע; Miss Smith’s translation of which is the best I have met with: “A man cut off, without transgression.” The word חצי chitstsi, which we translate my wound, signifies more literally, my arrow; and if we take it as a contracted noun, חצי chitstsey for חצים chitstsim, it means calamities. אנוש anush, which we translate incurable, may be the noun enosh, wicked, miserable man; and then the whole may be read thus: “A man of calamities without transgression.” I suffer the punishment of an enemy to God, while free from transgression of this kind.
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 setting out on a journey in a caravan, that it may serve it for a long time. Job deals largely in scorning; he fills his heart with it.
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 strictly true; and the words literally translated, will bear a less evil meaning: “Job makes a track ארח arach, to join fellowship, לחברה lechebrah, with the workers of iniquity;” i.e., Job’s present mode of reasoning, when he says, “I am righteous, yet God hath taken away my judgment,” is according to the assertion of sinners, who say, “There is no profit in serving God; for, if a man be righteous, he is not benefited by it, for God does not vindicate a just man’s cause against his oppressors.” By adopting so much of their creed, he intimates that Job is taking the steps that lead to fellowship with them. See Job 34:9.
Verse Job 34:10. Far be it from God — Rather, Wickedness, far be thatfrom God; and from iniquity, the Almighty. The sense is sufficiently evident without the paraphrase in our version.
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.
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.
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, that is, his love, though his body shall perish and turn to dust, like the rest of men, yet his soul will God gather to himself.
Verse Job 34:17. Shall – he that hateth right govern? — Or, Shall he whohateth 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; and wilt thou, therefore, pretend tocondemn him who is the sum of righteousness?
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: Quidicit regi, Apostata? Qui vocat duces impios? “Who says to a king, Apostate? Who calls leaders impious ?” Literally, Who calls a kingBelial? Who calls princes wicked? Civil governors should be treated with respect; no man should speak evil of the ruler of the people. This should never be permitted. Even where the man cannot be respected, because his moral conduct is improper, even there the office is sacred, and should be reverenced. He who permits himself to talk against the man, would destroy the office and authority, if he could.
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 equally dependent on his providence and mercy for their support and salvation.
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 unexpecteddeath; and even at midnight, when in security, and least capable of defence, they are cut off by the people whom they have oppressed, or by the invisible hand of the angel of death. This appears to be spoken in reference to Eastern tyrants, who seldom die a natural death.
Verse Job 34:22. There is no darkness — In this life; and no shadow ofdeath in the other world-no annihilation in which the workers ofiniquity may hide themselves, or take refuge.
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 coming into judgment with God.”
Man’s time is not in his own hand; nor is his lot cast or ruled by his own wisdom and power. When God thinks best, he will judge for him; and, if oppressed or calumniated, he will bring forth his righteousness as the light, and do him justice on his adversaries.
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.
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.
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.
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 of his ways.
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 power, as the prayers, tears, and groans of the poor.
In times of little liberality, when some men thought they did God service by persecuting those who did not exactly receive theircreed, nor worship God in their way, a certain great man in Scotland grievously persecuted his tenants, because they had religious meetings in private houses out of the order of the establishment; though he never molested them when they spent their time and their money in the alehouse. A holy, simple woman, one of those people, went one morning to the house of the great persecutor, and desired to speak with him. The servant desired to know her message, and he would deliver it; for she could not be admitted. She told him she could deliver her message to none but his master; said it was a matter of great importance, and concerned himself intimately, and alone. The servant having delivered this message, and stated that the woman appeared to have something particular on her mind, his worship condescended to see her. “What is your business with me?” said he, in a haughty, overbearing tone. To which she answered, “Sir, we are a hantle o’ puir folk at ___, who are strivin’ to sairve God accordin’ to our ain conscience, and to get our sauls sav’d: yee persecute us; and I am come to beg yee to let us alane, and in ye dinna, we’ll pray yee dead.” This rhetoric was irresistible. His lordship did not know what influence such people might have in heaven; he did not like to put such prayers to the proof; wisely took the old woman’s advice, and e’en let them alane. He was safe; they were satisfied; and God had the glory. When the poor refer their cause to God, he is a terrible avenger. Let the potsherds strive with the potsherds of the earth; but wo to the man that contendeth with his Maker.
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 givequietness, who dares to give trouble? And if he give to every human being the right to worship himself according to their conscience, for the director of which he gives both his word and his Spirit, who shall dare to say to another, “Thou shalt worship God in my way, or not at all;” or, through a pretended liberality, say, “Thou shalt be tolerated to worship him so and so;” and even that toleration be shackled and limited?
Reader, thou hast as much right to tolerate another’s mode of worship as he has to tolerate thine: or, in other words, neither of you have any such right at all; the pretension is as absurd as it is wicked.
If, however, there be any thing in the religious practice of any particular people that is inimical, by fair construction, to the peace of the country, then the civil power may interfere, as they ought to do in all cases of insurrection; but let no such inference be drawn when not most obviously flowing from the practice of the people, and the principles they profess; and when solemnly disclaimed by the persons in question. Whatever converts sinners from the error of their ways must be good to society and profitable to the state.
Whether it be done against a nation — He defends and supports nations or individuals howsoever weak, against their enemies, howsoever numerous and powerful. He destroys nations or individuals who have filled up the measure of their political or moral iniquity, though all other nations and individuals stand up in their support.
Verse Job 34:30. That the hypocrite reign not — The Vulgate translates, Who causes a wicked man to reign because of the sins of thepeople. 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 a state of insurrection. See at the end of the chapter. Job 34:37.
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 havesuffered – I will not offend.”
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 considered a paraphrase on the very obscure original. If thou wilt not thus come unto him, he will act according to justice, whether that be for or against thee. Choose what part thou wilt take, to humble thyself under the mighty hand of God, or still persist in thy supposed integrity. Speak, therefore; the matter concerns thee, not me; but let me know what thou art determined to do.
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.
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 pursued to conquest for replyinglike wicked men.
This is a very harsh wish: but the whole chapter is in the same spirit; nearly destitute of mildness and compassion. Who could suppose that such arguings could come out of the mouth of the loving Saviour of mankind? The reader will recollect that a very pious divine has supposed Elihu to be Jesus Christ!
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 more virulent and uncharitable, by translating thus: –
“For he would add to his transgressions apostasy;
He would clap his hands in the midst of us:
Yea, he would tempest his words up to God.”
There was no need of adding a caustic here; the words in the tamest translation are tart enough. Though Elihu began well and tolerantly, he soon got into the spirit, and under the mistake, of those who had preceded him in this “tempest of words.”
ON Job 34:30 I have referred to the case of Hegiage, governor of the Babylonian Irak, under the caliph Abdul Malec. When Hegiage was informed that the people were in a state of mutiny because of his oppressive government, before they broke out into open acts of hostility, he mounted on an eminence, and thus harangued them: –
“God has given me dominion over you; if I exercise it with severity, think not that by putting me to death your condition will be mended. From the manner in which you live you must be always ill-treated, for God has many executors of his justice; and when I am dead he will send you another, who will probably execute his orders against you with more rigour. Do you wish your prince to be moderate and merciful? Then exercise righteousness, and be obedient to the laws. Consider that your own conduct is the cause of the good or evil treatment which you receive from him. A prince may be compared to a mirror; all that you see in him is the reflection of the objects which you present before him.”
The people immediately dropped their weapons, and quietly returned to their respective avocations. This man was one of the most valiant, eloquent, and cruel rulers of his time; he lived towards the close of the 7th century of the Christian era. He is said to have put to death 120,000 people; and to have had 50,000 in his prisons at the time of his decease.
Yet this man was capable of generous actions. The following anecdote is given by the celebrated Persian poet Jami, in his Baharistan: –
Hegiage, having been separated from his attendants one day in the chase, came to a place where he found an Arab feeding his camels. The camels starting at his sudden approach, the Arab lifted up his head, and seeing a man splendidly arrayed, became incensed, and said, Who is this who with his fine clothes comesinto the desert to frighten my camels? The curse of Good lightupon him! The governor, approaching the Arab, saluted him very civilly, with the salaam, Peace be unto thee! The Arab, far from returning the salutation, said, I wish thee neither peace, nor anyother blessing of God. Hegiage, without seeming to heed what he had said, asked him very civilly “to give him a little water to drink.” The Arab in a surly tone, answered, If thou desirest todrink, take the pains to alight, and draw for thyself; for I amneither thy companion nor thy slave. The governor accordingly alighted, and having drank, asked the Arab, “Whom dost thou think the greatest and most excellent of men?” The prophet sent by God, said the Arab, and thou mayest burst with spleen. “And what thinkest thou of Aaly?” returned Hegiage. No tongue can declarehis excellence, said the Arab. “What,” asked Hegiage, “is thy opinion of the caliph Abdul Malec?” I believe him to be a very badprince, replied the Arab. “For what reason?” said Hegiage. Because, said the Arab, he hath sent us for governor the mostexecrable wretch under heaven. Hegiage, finding himself thus characterized, was silent; but his attendants coming up, he rejoined them, and ordered them to bring the Arab with them.
The next day Hegiage ordered him to be set at table with himself, and bade him “eat freely.” The Arab, ere he tasted, said his usual grace, “God grant that the end of this repast may be noworse than the beginning!” While at meat the governor asked him, “Dost thou recollect the discourse we had together yesterday?” The Arab replied, God prosper thee in all things! but as to the secretof yesterday, take heed that thou disclose it not to-day. “I will not,” said Hegiage; “but thou must choose one of these two things; either acknowledge me for thy master, and I will retain thee about my person; or else I will send thee to Abdul Malec, and tell him what thou hast said of him.” There is a third course, replied the Arab, preferable to those two. “Well, what is that?” said the governor. Why, send me back to the desert, and pray God that wemay never see each other’s face again. Cruel and vindictive as Hegiage was, he could not help being pleased with the frankness and courage of the man; and not only forgave him the preceding insults but ordered him 10,000 pieces of silver, and sent him back to the desert, according to his wish.
Elihu, it is likely, paused awhile, to see if Job had any thing to say against his discourse in the foregoing chapter; but he sitting silent, and it is likely intimating his desire that he would go on, he here proceeds. And, I. He bespeaks not only the audience, but the assistance of the company (v. 2-4). II. He charges Job with some more indecent expressions that had dropped from him (v. 5-9). III. He undertakes to convince him that he had spoken amiss, by showing very fully, 1. God’s incontestable justice (v. 10-12, 17, 19, 23). 2. His sovereign dominion (v. 13-15). 3. His almighty power (v. 20, 24). 4. His omniscience (v. 21, 22, 25). 5. His severity against sinners (v. 26-28). 6. His overruling providence (v. 29, 30). IV. He teaches him what he should say (v. 31, 32). And then, lastly, he leaves the matter to Job’s own conscience, and concludes with a sharp reproof of him for his peevishness and discontent (v. 33-37). All this Job not only bore patiently, but took kindly, because he saw that Elihu meant well; and, whereas his other friends had accused him of that from which his own conscience acquitted him, Elihu charged him with that only for which, it is probable, his own heart, now upon the reflection, began to smite him.
Here, I. Elihu humbly addresses himself to the auditors, and endeavours, like an orator, to gain their good-will and their favourable attention. 1. He calls them wise men, and men that had knowledge, v. 2. It is comfortable dealing with such as understand sense. I speak as to wise men, who can judge what I say, 1 Co. 10:15. Elihu differed in opinion from them, and yet he calls them wise and knowing men. Peevish disputants think all fools that are not of their mind; but it is a piece of justice which we owe to those who are wise to acknowledge it, though our sentiments do not agree with theirs. 2. He appeals to their judgment, and therefore submits to their trial, v. 3. The ear of the judicious tries words, whether what is said be true or false, right or wrong, and he that speaks must stand the test of the intelligent. As we must prove all things we hear, so we must be willing that what we speak should be proved. 3. He takes them into partnership with him in the examination and discussion of this matter, v. 4. He does not pretend to be sole dictator, nor undertake to say what is just and good and what is not, but he is willing to join with them in searching it out, and desires a consultation: “Let us agree to lay aside all animosities and feuds, all prejudices and affectation of contradiction, and all stiffness in adhering to the opinion we have once espoused, and let us choose to ourselves judgment; let us fix right principles on which to proceed, and then take right methods for finding out truth; and let us know among ourselves, by comparing notes and communicating our reasons, what is good and what is otherwise.” Note, We are then likely to discern what is right when we agree to assist one another in searching it out.
II. He warmly accuses Job for some passionate words which he had spoken, that reflected on the divine government, appealing to the house whether he ought not to be called to the bar and checked for them.
1. He recites the words which Job had spoken, as nearly as he can remember. (1.) He had insisted upon his own innocency. Job hath said, I am righteous (v. 5), and, when urged to confess his guilt, had stiffly maintained his plea of, Not guilty: Should I lie against my right? v. 6. Job had spoken to this purport, My righteousness I hold fast, ch. 27:6. (2.) He had charged God with injustice in his dealings with him, that he had wronged him in afflicting him and had not righted him: God has taken away my judgment; so Job had said, ch. 27:2. (3.) He had despaired of relief and concluded that God could not, or would not, help him: My wound is incurable, and likely to be mortal, and yet without transgression; not for any injustice in my hand, ch. 16:16, 17. (4.) He had, in effect, said that there is nothing to be got in the service of God and that no man will be the better at last for his (v. 9): He hath said that which gives occasion to suspect that he thinks it profiteth a man nothing that he should delight himself with God. It is granted that there is a present pleasure in religion; for what is it but to delight ourselves with God, in communion with him, in concurrence with him, in walking with him as Enoch did? this is a true notion of religion, and bespeaks its ways to be pleasantness. Yet the advantage of it is denied, as if it were vain to serve God, Mal. 3:14. This Elihu gathers as Job’s opinion, by an innuendo from what he said (ch. 9:22), He destroys the perfect and the wicked, which has a truth in it (for all things come alike to all), but it was ill expressed, and gave too much occasion for this imputation, and therefore Job sat down silently under it and attempted not his own vindication, whence Mr. Caryl well observes that good men sometimes speak worse than they mean, and that a good man will rather bear more blame than he deserves than to stand to excuse himself when he has deserved any blame.
2. He charges Job very high upon it. In general, What man is like Job? v. 7. “Did you ever know such a man as Job, or ever hear a man talk at such an extravagant rate?” He represents him, (1.) As sitting in the seat of the scornful: “He drinketh up scorning like water,” that is, “he takes a great deal of liberty to reproach both God and his friends, takes a pleasure in so doing, and is very liberal in his reflections.” Or, “He is very greedy in receiving and hearkening to the scorns and contempts which others cast upon their brethren, is well pleased with them and extols them.” Or, as some explain it, “By these foolish expressions of his he makes himself the object of scorn, lays himself very open to reproach, and gives occasion to others to laugh at him; while his religion suffers by them, and the reputation of that is wounded through his side.” We have need to pray that God will never leave us to ourselves to say or do any thing which may make us a reproach to the foolish, Ps. 39:8. (2.) As walking in the course of the ungodly, and standing in the way of sinners: He goes in company with the workers of iniquity (v. 8), not that in his conversation he did associate with them, but in his opinion he did favour and countenance them, and strengthen their hands. If (as it follows, v. 9, for the proof of this) it profits a man nothing to delight himself in God, why should he not lay the reins on the neck of his lusts and herd with the workers of iniquity? He that says, I have cleansed my hands in vain, does not only offend against the generation of God’s children (Ps. 72:13, 14), but gratifies his enemies, and says as they say.
The scope of Elihu’s discourse to reconcile Job to his afflictions and to pacify his spirit under them. In order to this he had shown, in the foregoing chapter, that God meant him no hurt in afflicting him, but intended it for his spiritual benefit. In this chapter he shows that he did him no wrong in afflicting him, nor punished him more than he deserved. If the former could not prevail to satisfy him, yet this ought to silence him. In these verses he directs his discourse to all the company: “Hearken to me, you men of understanding (v. 10), and show yourselves to be intelligent by assenting to this which I say.” And this is that which he says, That the righteous God never did, nor ever will do, any wrong to any of his creatures, but his ways are equal, ours are unequal. The truth here maintained respects the justice of equity of all God’s proceedings. Now observe in these verses,
I. How plainly this truth is laid down, both negatively and positively. 1. He does wrong to none: God cannot do wickedness, nor the Almighty commit iniquity, v. 10. It is inconsistent with the perfection of his nature, and so it is also with the purity of his will (v. 12): God will not do wickedly, neither will the Almighty pervert judgment. He neither can nor will do a wrong thing, nor deal hardly with any man. He will never inflict the evil of punishment but where he finds the evil of sin, nor in any undue proportion, for that would be to commit iniquity and do wickedly. If appeals be made to him, or he be to give a definitive sentence, he will have an eye to the merits of the cause and not respect the person, for that were to pervert judgment. He will never either do any man wrong or deny any man right, but the heavens will shortly declare his righteousness. Because he is God, and therefore is infinitely perfect and holy, he can neither do wrong himself nor countenance it in others, nay more than he can die, or lie, or deny himself. Though he be Almighty, yet he never uses his power, as mighty men often do, for the support of injustice. He is Shaddai—God all-sufficient, and therefore he cannot be tempted with evil (James 1:13), to do an unrighteous thing. 2. He ministers justice to all (v. 11): The work of a man shall he render unto him. Good works shall be rewarded and evil works either punished or satisfied for; so that sooner or later, in this world or in that to come, he will cause every man to find according to his ways. This is the standing rule of distributive justice, to give to every man according to his work. Say to the righteous, it shall be well with them; woe to the wicked, it shall be ill with them. If services persevered in now go unrewarded, and sins persisted in now go unpunished, yet there is a day coming when God will fully render to every man according to his works, with interest for the delay.
II. How warmly it is asserted, 1. With an assurance of the truth of it: Yea, surely, v. 12. It is a truth which none can deny or call in question; it is what we may take for granted and are all agreed in, That God will not do wickedly. 2. With an abhorrence of the very thought of the contrary (v. 10): Far be it from God that he should do wickedness, and from us that we should entertain the least suspicion of it or say any thing that looks like charging him with it.
III. How evidently it is proved by two arguments:
1. His independent absolute sovereignty and dominion (v. 13): Who has given him a charge over the earth and deputed him to manage the affairs of men upon the earth? Or, Who besides has disposed the whole world of mankind? He has the sole administration of the kingdoms of men, and has it of himself, nor is he entrusted with it by or for any other. (1.) It is certain that the government is his, and he does according to his will in all the hosts both of heaven and earth; and therefore he is not to be charged with injustice; for shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? Gen. 18:25. How shall God either rule or judge the world if there be, or could be, any unrighteousness with him? Rom. 3:5, 6. He that is entitled to such unlimited power most certainly have in himself unspotted purity. This is also a good reason why we should acquiesce in all God’s dealings with us. Shall not he that disposes of the whole world dispose of us and our concerns? (2.) It is as certain that he does not derive his power from any, nor is it a dispensation that is committed to him, but his power is original, and, like his being, of himself; and therefore, if he were not perfectly just, all the world and the affairs of it would soon be in the utmost confusion. The highest powers on earth have a God above them, to whom they are accountable, because it is not far from them to do iniquity. But therefore God has none above him, because it is not possible that he should do any thing (such is the perfection of his nature) that should need to be controlled. And, if he be an absolute sovereign, we are bound to submit to him, for there is no higher power to which we may appeal, so that the virtue is a necessity.
2. His irresistible power (v. 14): If he set his heart upon man, to contend with him, much more if (as some read it) he set his heart against man, to ruin him, if he should deal with man either by summa potestas—mere sovereignty, or by summum jus—strict justice, there were no standing before him; man’s spirit and breath would soon be gone and all flesh would perish together, v. 15. Many men’s honesty is owing purely to their impotency; they do not do wrong because they cannot support it when it is done, or it is not in their power to do it. But God is able to crush any man easily and suddenly, and yet does not by arbitrary power crush any man, which therefore must be attributed to the infinite perfection of his nature, and that is immutable. See here, (1.) What God can do with us. He can soon bring us to dust; there needs not any positive act of his omnipotence to do it; if he do but withdraw that concurrence of his providence by which we live, if he gather unto himself that spirit and breath which was from his hand at first and is still in his hand, we expire immediately, like an animal in an air-pump when the air is exhausted. (2.) What he may do with us without doing us wrong. He may recall the being he gave, of which we are but tenants at will, and which also we have forfeited; and therefore, as long as that is continued of his mere favour, we have no reason to cry out of wrong, whatever other comforts are removed.
Elihu here addresses himself more directly to Job. He had spoken to the rest (v. 10) as men of understanding; now, speaking to Job; he puts an if upon his understanding: If thou hast understanding, hear this and observe it, v. 16.
I. Hear this, That God is not to be quarrelled with for any thing that he does. It is daring presumption to arraign and condemn God’s proceedings, as Job had done by his discontents. It was, 1. As absurd as it would be to advance one to power that is a professed enemy to justice: Shall even he that hates right govern? v. 17. The righteous Lord so loves righteousness that, in comparison with him, even Job himself, though a perfect and upright man, might be said to hate right; and shall he govern? Shall he pretend to direct God or correct what he does? Shall such unrighteous creatures as we are give law to the righteous God? or must he take his measures from us? When we consider the corruption of our nature, and the contrariety there is in us to the eternal rule of equity, we cannot but see it to be an impudent impious thing for us to prescribe to God. 2. It was as absurd as it would be to call a most righteous innocent person to the bar, and to give judgment against him, though it appeared ever so plainly, upon the trial, that he was most just: Wilt thou condemn him that is righteous in all his ways, and cannot but be so? 3. It is more absurd and unbecoming than it would be to say to a sovereign prince, Thou art wicked, and to judges upon the bench, You are ungodly, v. 18. This would be looked upon as an insufferable affront to majesty and to magistracy; no king, no prince, would bear it. In favour of government, we presume it is a right sentence that is passed, unless the contrary be very evident; but, whatever we think, it is not fit to tell a king to his face that he is wicked. Nathan reproved David by a parable. But, whatever a high priest or a prophet might do, it is not for an ordinary subject to make so bold with the powers that are. How absurd is then to say so to God—to impute iniquity to him, who, having no respect of persons, is in no temptation to do an unjust thing! He regardeth not the rich more than the poor, and therefore it is fit he should rule, and it is not fit we should find fault with him, v. 19. Note, Rich and poor stand upon the same level before God. A great man shall fare never the better, nor find any favour, for his wealth and greatness; nor shall a poor man fare ever the worse for his poverty, nor an honest cause be starved. Job, now that he was poor, should have as much favour with God, and be as much regarded by him, as when he was rich; for they are all the work of his hands. Their persons are so: the poor are made by the same hand, and of the same mould, as the rich. Their conditions are so: the poor were made poor by the divine providence, as well as the rich made rich; and therefore the poor shall fare never the worse for that which is their lot, not their fault.
II. Hear this, That God is to be acknowledged and submitted to in all that he does. Divers considerations Elihu here suggests to Job, to beget in him great and high thoughts of God, and so to persuade him to submit and proceed no further in his quarrel with him.
1. God is almighty, and able to deal with the strongest of men when he enters into judgment with them (v. 20); even the people, the body of a nation, though ever so numerous, shall be troubled, unhinged, and put into disorder, when God pleases; even the mighty man, the prince, though ever so honourable, ever so formidable among men, shall, if God speak the word, be taken away out of his throne, nay, out of the land of the living; they shall die; they shall pass away. What cannot he do that has all the powers of death at his command? Observe the suddenness of this destruction: In a moment shall they die. It is not a work of time, with God, to bring down his proud enemies, but, when he pleases, it is soon done; nor is he bound to give them warning, no, not an hour’s warning. This night thy soul shall be required. Observe the season of it: They shall be troubled at midnight, when they are secure and careless, and unable to help themselves; as the Egyptians when their first-born were slain. This is the immediate work of God: they are taken away, without hand, insensibly, by secret judgments. God can himself humble the greatest tyrant, without the assistance or agency of any man. Whatever hand he sometimes uses in the accomplishing of his purposes, he needs none, but can do it without hand. Nor is it one single mighty man only that he can thus overpower, but even hosts of them (v. 24): He shall break in pieces mighty men without number; for no combined power can stand it out against Omnipotence. Yet, when God destroys tyranny, he does not design anarchy; if those are brought down that ruled ill, it does not therefore follow that people must have no rulers; for, when he breaks mighty men, he sets others in their stead, that will rule better, or, if they do not, he overturns them also in the night, or in a night, so that they are destroyed, v. 25. Witness Belshazzar. Or, if he designs them space to repent, he does not presently destroy them, but he strikes them as wicked men, v. 26. Some humbling mortifying judgments are brought upon them; these wicked rulers are stricken as other wicked men, as surely, as sorely, stricken in their bodies, estates, or families, and this for warning to their neighbours; the stroke is given in terrorem—as an alarm to others, and therefore is given in the open sight of others, that they also may see and fear, and tremble before the justice of God. If kings stand not before him, how shall we stand!
2. God is omniscient, and can discover that which is most secret. As the strongest cannot oppose his arm, so the most subtle cannot escape his eye; and therefore, if some are punished either more or less than we think they should be, instead of quarrelling with God, it becomes us to ascribe it to some secret cause known to God only. For, (1.) Every thing is open before him (v. 21): His eyes are upon the ways of man; not only they are within reach of his eye, so that he can see them, but his eye is upon them, so that he actually observes and inspects them. He sees us all, and sees all our goings; go where we will, we are under his eye; all our actions, good and evil, are regarded and recorded and reserved to be brought into judgment when the books shall be opened. (2.) Nothing is or can be concealed from him (v. 22): There is no darkness nor shadow of death so close, so thick, so solitary, so remote from light or sight as that in it the workers of iniquity may hide themselves from the discovering eye and avenging hand of the righteous God. Observe here, [1.] The workers of iniquity would hide themselves if they could from the eye of the world for shame (and that perhaps they may do), and from the eye of God for fear, as Adam among the trees of the garden. The day is coming when mighty men, and chief captains, will call to the rocks and mountains to hide them. [2.] They would gladly be hid even by the shadow of death, be hid in the grave, and lie for ever there, rather than appear before the judgment-seat of Christ. (3.) It is in vain to think of flying from God’s justice, or absconding when his wrath is in pursuit of us. The workers of iniquity may find ways and means to hide themselves from men, but not from God: He knows their works (v. 25), both what they do and what they design.
3. God is righteous, and, in all his proceedings, goes according to the rules of equity. Even when he is overturning mighty men, and breaking them in pieces, yet he will not lay upon man more than right, v. 23. As he will not punish the innocent, so he will not exact of those that are guilty more than their iniquities deserve; and of the proportion between the sin and the punishment Infinite Wisdom shall be the judge. He will not give any man cause to complain that he deals hardly with him, nor shall any man enter into judgment with God, or bring an action against him. If he do, God will be justified when he speaks and clear when he judges. Therefore Job was very much to be blamed for his complaints of God, and is here well-advised to let fall his action, for he would certainly be cast or non-suited. It is not for man ever to purpose to enter into judgment with the Omnipotent; so some read the whole verse. Job had often wished to plead his cause before God. Elihu asks, “To what purpose? The judgment already given concerning thee will certainly be affirmed; no errors can be found in it, nor any exceptions taken to it, but, after all, it must rest as it is.” All is well that God does, and will be found so. To prove that when God destroys the mighty men, and strikes them as wicked men, he does not lay upon them more than right, he shows what their wickedness was (v. 27, 28); and let any compare that with their punishment, and then judge whether they did not deserve it. In short, these unjust judges, whom God will justly judge, neither feared God nor regarded man, Lu. 18:2. (1.) They were rebels to God: They turned back from him, cast off the fear of him, and abandoned the very thoughts of him; for they would not consider any of his ways, took no heed either to his precepts or to his providences, but lived without God in the world. This is at the bottom of all the wickedness of the wicked, they turn back from God; and it is because they do not consider, not because they cannot, but because they will not. From inconsideration comes impiety, and thence all immorality. (2.) They were tyrants to all mankind, v. 28. They will not call upon God for themselves; but they cause the cry of the poor to come to him, and that cry is against them. They are injurious and oppressive to the poor, wrong them, crush them, impoverish them yet more, and add affliction to the afflicted, who cry unto God, make their complaint to him, and he hears them and pleads their cause. Their case is bad who have the prayers and tears of the poor against them; for the cry of the oppressed will, sooner or later, draw down vengeance on the heads of the oppressors, and no one can say that this is more than right, Ex. 22:23.
4. God has an uncontrollable dominion in all the affairs of the children of men, and so guides and governs whatever concerns both communities and particular persons, that, as what he designs cannot be defeated, so what he does cannot be changed, v. 29. Observe, (1.) The frowns of all the world cannot trouble those whom God quiets with his smiles. When he gives quietness who then can make trouble? v. 29. This is a challenge to all the powers of hell and earth to disquiet those to whom God speaks peace, and for whom he creates it. If God give outward peace to a nation, he can secure what he gives, and disable the enemies of it to give it any disturbance. If God give inward peace to a man only, the quietness and everlasting assurance which are the effect of righteousness, neither the accusations of Satan nor the afflictions of this present time, no, nor the arrests of death itself, can give trouble. What can make those uneasy whose souls dwell at ease in God? See Phil. 4:7. (2.) The smiles of all the world cannot quiet those whom God troubles with his frowns; for if he, in displeasure, hide his face, and withhold the comfort of his favour, who then can behold him? that is, Who can behold a displeased God, so as to bear up under his wrath or turn it away? Who can make him show his face when he resolves to hide it, or see through the clouds and darkness which are round about him? Or, Who can behold a disquieted sinner, so as to give him effectual relief? Who can stand a friend to him to whom God is an enemy? None can relieve the distresses of the outward condition without God. If the Lord do not help thee, whence shall I? 2 Ki. 6:27. Nor can any relieve the distresses of the mind against God and his terrors. If he impress the sense of his wrath upon a guilty conscience, all the comforts the creature can administer are ineffectual. As vinegar upon nitre, so are songs to a heavy heart. The irresistibleness of God’s operations must be acknowledged in his dealings both with communities and with particular persons: what he does cannot be controlled, whether it be done against a nation in its public capacity or against a man only in his private affairs. The same Providence that governs mighty kingdoms presides in the concerns of the meanest individual; and neither the strength of a whole nation can resist his power nor the smallness of a single person evade his cognizance; but what he does shall be done effectually and victoriously.
5. God is wise, and careful of the public welfare, and therefore provides that the hypocrite reign not, lest the people be ensnared, v. 30. See here, (1.) The pride of hypocrites. They aim to reign; the praise of men, and power in the world, are their reward, what they aim at. (2.) The policy of tyrants. When they aim to set up themselves they sometimes make use of religion as a cloak and cover for their ambition and by their hypocrisy come to the throne. (3.) The danger the people are in when hypocrites reign. They are likely to be ensnared in sin, or trouble, or both. Power, in the hands of dissemblers, is often destructive to the rights and liberties of a people, which they are more easily wheedled out of than forced out of. Much mischief has been done likewise to the power of godliness under the pretence of a form of godliness. (4.) The care which divine Providence takes of the people, to prevent this danger, that the hypocrite reign not, either that he do not reign at all or that he do not reign long. If God has mercy in store for a people, he will either prevent the rise or hasten the ruin of hypocritical rulers.
I. Elihu instructs Job what he should say under his affliction, v. 31. 32. Having reproved him for his peevish passionate words, he here puts better words into his mouth. When we reprove for what is amiss we must direct to what is good, that our reproofs may be the reproofs of instruction, Prov. 6:23. He does not impose it upon Job to use these words, but recommends it to him, as that which was meet to be said. In general, he would have him repent of his misconduct, and indecent expressions, under his affliction. Job’s other friends would have had him own himself a wicked man, and by overdoing they undid. Elihu will oblige him only to own that he had, in the management of this controversy, spoken unadvisedly with his lips. Let us remember this, in giving reproofs, and not make the matter worse than it is; for the stretching of the crime may defeat the prosecution. Elihu drives the right nail, and speeds accordingly. He directs Job, 1. To humble himself before God for his sins, and to accept the punishment of them: “I have borne chastisement. What I suffer comes justly upon me, and therefore I will bear it, and not only justify God in it, but acknowledge his goodness.” Many are chastised that do not bear chastisement, do not bear it well, and so, in effect, do not bear it at all. Penitents, if sincere, will take all well that God does, and will bear chastisement as a medicinal operation intended for good. 2. To pray to God to discover his sins to him (v. 32): “That which I see not teach thou me. Lord, upon the review, I find much amiss in me and much done amiss by me, but I have reason to fear there is much more that I am not aware of, greater abominations, which through ignorance, mistake, and partiality to myself, I do not yet see; Lord, give me to see it, awaken by conscience to do its office faithfully.” A good man is willing to know the worst of himself, and particularly, under affliction, desires to be told wherefore God contends with him and what God designs in correcting him. 3. To promise reformation (v. 31): I will not offend any more. “If I have done iniquity (or seeing that I have), I will do so no more; whatever thou shalt discover to me to have been amiss, by thy grace I will amend it for the future.” This implies a confession that we have offended, true remorse and godly sorrow for the offence, and a humble compliance with God’s design in afflicting us, which is to separate between us and our sins. The penitent here completes his repentance; for it is not enough to be sorry for our sins, but we must go and sin no more, and, as here, bind ourselves with the bond of a fixed resolution never more to return to folly. This is meet to be said in a stedfast purpose, and meet to be said to God in a solemn promise and vow.
II. He reasons with him concerning his discontent and uneasiness under his affliction, v. 23. We are ready to think every thing that concerns us should be just as we would have it; but Elihu here shows, 1. That it is absurd and unreasonable to expect this: “Should it be according to thy mind? No, what reason for that?” Elihu here speaks with a great deference to the divine will and wisdom, and a satisfaction therein: it is highly fit that every thing should be according to God’s mind. He speaks also with a just disdain of the pretensions of those that are proud, and would be their own carvers: Should it be according to thy mind? Should we always have the good we have a mind to enjoy? We should then wrongfully encroach upon others and foolishly ensnare ourselves. Must we never be afflicted, because we have no mind to it? Is it fit that sinners should feel no smart, that scholars should be under no discipline? Or, if we must be afflicted, is it fit that we should choose what rod we will be beaten with? No; it is fit that every thing should be according to God’s mind, and not ours; for he is the Creator, and we are creatures. He is infinitely wise and knowing; we are foolish and short-sighted. He is in one mind; we are in many. 2. That it is in vain, and to no purpose, to expect it: “He will recompense it whether thou refuse or whether thou choose. God will take his own way, fulfil his own counsel, and recompense according to the sentence of his own justice, whether thou art pleased or displeased; he will neither ask thy leave nor ask thy advice, but, what he pleases, that will he do. It is therefore thy wisdom to be easy, and make a virtue of necessity; make the best of that which is, because it is out of thy power to make it otherwise. If thou pretend to choose and refuse,” that is, “to prescribe to God and except against what he does, so will not I—I will acquiesce in all he does; and therefore speak what thou knowest; say what thou wilt do, whether thou wilt oppose or submit. The matter lies plainly before thee; be at a point; thou art in God’s hand, not in mine.”
III. He appeals to all intelligent indifferent persons whether there was not a great deal of sin and folly in that which Job said. 1. He would have the matter thoroughly examined, and brought to an issue (v. 36): “My desire is that Job may be tried unto the end. If any will undertake to justify what he has said, let them do it; if not, let us all agree to bear our testimony against it.” Many understand it of his trial by afflictions: “Let his troubles be continued till he be thoroughly humbled, and his proud spirit brought down, till he be made to see his error and to retract what he has so presumptuously said against God and his providence. Let the trial be continued till the end be obtained.” 2. He appeals both to God and man, and desires the judgment of both upon it. (1.) Some read v. 36 as an appeal to God: O, my Father! let Job be tried. So the margin of our Bibles, for the same word signifies my desire and my father; and some suppose that he lifted up his eyes when he said this, meaning, “O my Father who art in heaven! let Job be tried till he be subdued.” When we are praying for the benefit of afflictions either to ourselves or others we must eye God as a Father, because they are fatherly corrections and a part of our filial education, Heb. 12:7. (2.) He appeals to the by-standers (v. 34): “Let men of understanding tell me whether they can put any more favourable construction upon Job’s words than I have put, and whether he has not spoken very ill and ought not to cry, Peccavi—I have done wrong.” In what Job had said he thought it appeared, [1.] That he did not rightly understand himself, but had talked foolishly, v. 35. He cannot say that Job is without knowledge and wisdom; but, in this matter, he has spoken without knowledge, and, whatever his heart is, his words were without prudence. What he said to his wife may be retorted upon himself (He speaks as one of the foolish men speak) and for the same reason, Shall we not receive evil as well as good at God’s hand? ch. 2:10. Sometimes we need and deserve those reproofs ourselves which we have given to others. Those that reproach God’s wisdom really reproach their own. [2.] That he had not a due regard to God, but had talked wickedly. If what he had said be tried to the end, that is, if one put it to the utmost stretch and make the worst of it, it will be found, First, That he has taken part with God’s enemies: His answers have been for wicked men; that is, what he had said tended to strengthen the hands and harden the hearts of wicked people in their wickedness, he having carried the matter of their prosperity much further than he needed. Let wicked men, like Baal, plead for themselves if they will, but far be it from us that we should answer for them, or say any thing in favour of them. Secondly, That he has insulted God’s friends, and hectored over them: “He clappeth his hands among us; and, if he be not thoroughly tried and humbled, will grow yet more insolent and imperious, as if he had gotten the day and silenced us all.” To speak ill is bad enough, but to clap our hands and triumph in it when we have done, as if error and passion had won the victory, is much worse. Thirdly, That he has spoken against God himself, and, by standing to what he had said, added rebellion to his sin. To speak, though but one word, against God, by whom we speak and for whom we ought to speak, is a great sin; what is it then to multiply words against him, as if we would out-talk him? What is it to repeat them, instead of unsaying them? Those that have sinned, and, when they are called to repent, thus go on frowardly, add rebellion to their sin and make it exceedingly sinful. Errare possum, Haereticus esse nolo—I may fall into error, but I will not plunge into heresy.
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1. (1-5) Elihu and his dissatisfaction with the answers of Job’s friends.
So these three men ceased answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes. Then the wrath of Elihu, the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, was aroused against Job; his wrath was aroused because he justified himself rather than God. Also against his three friends his wrath was aroused, because they had found no answer, and yet had condemned Job. Now because they were years older than he, Elihu had waited to speak to Job. When Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of these three men, his wrath was aroused.
a. So these three men ceased answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes: At the end of Job’s persuasive arguments in Job 28-30, his friends had nothing more to say. They still thought that Job was completely wrong, but they felt he was so confirmed in his own opinions (he was righteous in his own eyes) that it was useless to keep the discussion going.
b. Elihu, the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram: This is the first mention of Elihu in the Book of Job. Because he appears, dominates all discussion and then abruptly leaves, some modern commentators think that he wasn’t really part of the story and was inserted into the account later by the author or another editor.
i. Of all the friends of Job, Elihu is the only one with a genealogy. “The Buzite he is called, either from his progenitor Buz, the son of Nahor, who was the brother of Abraham, and had by Milchah, Huz, his firstborn (of whom some think Job came), and Buz, his brother, Genesis 22:21; or else from his country, the city of Buz, a city of Idumea, Jeremiah 25:23.” (Trapp)
ii. The mention of his genealogy is important, because it reminds us that Elihu was not a fictional character. “His pedigree is this particularly described, partly for his honour… and principally to evidence the truth of this history, which otherwise might seem to be but a poetical fiction.” (Poole)
iii. “Elihu, he is called. The name is Hebrew, and its signification, My-God-is-He, is as clearly Hebrew as that of some names of analogous meaning in our own language.” (Bradley)
iv. Elihu appears and disappears suddenly; yet he does belong and his speech makes sense here. “It is true Elihu is not mentioned elsewhere in the book; so his speeches could be left out. But at the beginning (Job 32) and at the end (Job 37), they are skillfully woven into the fabric of the book and made to play a legitimate role.” (Smick)
v. “But still the question has been asked, Who was Elihu? I answer, He was ‘the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the kindred of Ram:’ this is all we know of him. But this Scriptural answer will not satisfy those who are determined to find out mysteries where there are none. Some make him a descendant of Judah; Jerome, Bede, Lyranus, and some of the rabbis, make him Balaam the son of Beor, the magician; Bishop Warburton makes him Ezra the scribe; and Dr. Hodges makes him the second person in the glorious Trinity, the Lord Jesus Christ, and supposes that the chief scope of this part of the book was to convict Job of self-righteousness, and to show the necessity of the doctrine of justification by faith! When these points are proved, they should be credited.” (Clarke)
c. Then the wrath of Elihu… was aroused against Job: Apparently, Elihu was a silent listener at the whole dialogue up to this point. He was angry against Job because he felt that Job justified himself rather than God. Elihu felt that Job was more concerned about being right himself than God being right.
i. We can easily understand how Elihu felt this. Yet what he did not understand was that both Job and God were right. The friends had forced themselves and Job into a false dilemma: either Job is right or God is right. They could not see or understand how both were right.
ii. “Four times in the Hebrew text we are told that he was angry. First at Job for justifying himself rather than God and then at the friends because of their inability to refute Job.” (Smick)
iii. Elihu will speak, but Job will not answer him. “Job never had opportunity to answer him. God took no notice of him except to interrupt him.” (Morgan)
d. Also against his three friends his wrath was aroused: Elihu was also angry at Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar because they had failed to solve the controversy (they had found no answer), while at the same time they were (in Elihu’s opinion) too harsh against Job (and yet had condemned Job).
i. “Elihu is angry with everybody. He is the classic angry young man, and from the outset what we need to notice about this kind of anger is that it puts him in a class by himself. The fact that he is angry at both sides of the debate separates him from Job, on the one hand, but also from the other three friends.” (Mason)
e. Because they were years older than he, Elihu had waited to speak to Job: Out of respect for those older than he, Elihu held back for as long as he felt he could. Now, he felt that he simply had to speak.
i. “How young he was, or how old they were, we cannot tell; but there was no doubt a great disparity in their ages.” (Clarke)
2. (6-9) Why Elihu overcame his hesitancy to speak.
So Elihu, the son of Barachel the Buzite, answered and said: “I am young in years, and you are very old; Therefore I was afraid, And dared not declare my opinion to you. I said, ‘Age should speak, And multitude of years should teach wisdom.’ But there is a spirit in man, And the breath of the Almighty gives him understanding. Great men are not always wise, Nor do the aged always understand justice.”
a. I am young in years, and you are very old: Elihu came as a young man among older men, and because of this was willing to hold his words for a long time.
b. But there is a spirit in man, and the breath of the Almighty gives him understanding: Elihu believed that just because Job and his three friends were older, it did not mean that they were the only ones with a spirit in a man, and the only one who had received understanding from the Almighty.
i. There is a spirit in a man: “So the sense of the place is, Every man, as a man, whether old or young, hath a reasonable soul, by which he is able in some measure to discern between good and evil, and to judge of men’s opinions and discourses; and therefore I also may venture to deliver my opinion.” (Poole)
ii. “We have been trying to know God by the intellect, by reading the Bible intellectually, by endeavouring to apprehend human systems. There is, however, a deeper and truer method. ‘There is a spirit in man!’ Open your spirit to the divine Spirit as you open a window to the sunny air.” (Meyer)
c. Great men are not always wise, nor do the aged always understand justice: We can only imagine the reaction from Job and his three friends at these words of Elihu. They were probably united together for the first time in a long time; they might not agree with each other, but they certainly all would disagree that this young upstart could be wiser or have more understanding than they did.
i. Elihu believed that the older men – for all of their supposed wisdom – didn’t understand the matter at all; he thought that the old men were wrong and that the young men (in particular, himself) were right. The thinker and writer G.K. Chesterton wrote this about men like Elihu: “I believe what really happens in history is this: the old man is always wrong; and the young people are always wrong about what is wrong with him. The practical form it takes is this: that, while the old man may stand by some stupid custom, the young man always attacks it with some theory that turns out to be equally stupid.”
ii. Nevertheless, we can say that in principle Elihu was correct. “Age is no just measure of wisdom. There are beardless sages and greyheaded children.” (Trapp)
iii. Elihu shows some of the strengths and weaknesses of his youth. “Despite his anger (Job 32:2-3) and wordy lecturing style, Elihu never got bitter as did Bildad and Zophar.” (Smick)
B. Elihu introduces his speech.
1. (10-14) Elihu criticizes Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar as ineffective.
“Therefore I say, ‘Listen to me, I also will declare my opinion.’ Indeed I waited for your words, I listened to your reasonings, while you searched out what to say. I paid close attention to you; And surely not one of you convinced Job, Or answered his words; Lest you say, ‘We have found wisdom’; God will vanquish him, not man. Now he has not directed his words against me; So I will not answer him with your words.”
a. Therefore I say, “Listen to me, I also will declare my opinion”: From this request for the attention and ear of Job, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, we can assume that there were sour and disdainful faces on the older men. Yet Elihu pressed forward, asking for this audience.
b. Surely not one of you convinced Job, or answered his words: Elihu was frustrated because Job’s friends didn’t put him in his place the way he thought they should. We can imagine Elihu following the debate, thinking of what he would say in response to Job, and being frustrated that the answers of Job’s friends were not as brilliant as the answers in Elihu’s mind.
2. (15-22) Elihu’s inner compulsion to speak.
“They are dismayed and answer no more; Words escape them. And I have waited, because they did not speak, Because they stood still and answered no more. I also will answer my part, I too will declare my opinion. For I am full of words; The spirit within me compels me. Indeed my belly is like wine that has no vent; It is ready to burst like new wineskins. I will speak, that I may find relief; I must open my lips and answer. Let me not, I pray, show partiality to anyone; Nor let me flatter any man. For I do not know how to flatter, Else my Maker would soon take me away.”
a. They are dismayed and answer no more; words escape them: Elihu noted that Job’s friends were exhausted by the debate. In the mind of Elihu, it was fortunate that he had so much energy and so many words, because now he could start where the three friends had left off.
b. For I am full of words; the spirit within me compels me: Elihu certainly was full of words; for this and the next five chapters he will drone on and on, unable to shut up and unable to let anyone else speak. It is by far the longest single speech in the Book of Job, longer than even God’s speech in later chapters.
i. We notice already that Elihu has spent a chapter simply introducing his speech. He hasn’t even gotten to the real points he wants to make. Such long introductions and wordy methods are characteristic of Elihu, and he was not the last man on this earth to use too many words.
ii. “Almost all modern interpreters have found Elihu to be insufferably wordy. MacKenzie says that it takes him twenty-four verses to say, ‘Look out! I’m going to speak!’” (Smick)
c. Let me not, I pray, show partiality to anyone; nor let me flatter any man. For I do not know how to flatter, else my Maker would soon take me away: Elihu was determined to flatter no man, except himself. In this obviously self-flattering introduction to the speech, Elihu has clearly presented himself as smarter, wiser, and having more understanding than any of the four other men with him. Elihu seemed painfully unaware of how he sounded and looked.
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A. Elihu denounces Job for losing faith and denying God’s justice.
1. (1-9) He again inaccurately summarizes Job’s argument.
Elihu further answered and said: “Hear my words, you wise men; Give ear to me, you who have knowledge. For the ear tests words As the palate tastes food. Let us choose justice for ourselves; Let us know among ourselves what is good.”
“For Job has said, ‘I am righteous, But God has taken away my justice; Should I lie concerning my right? My wound is incurable, though I am without transgression.’ What man is like Job, Who drinks scorn like water, Who goes in company with the workers of iniquity, And walks with wicked men? For he has said, ‘It profits a man nothing That he should delight in God.’”
a. Hear my words, you wise men: Here, Elihu again gave a wordy introduction to his point. In this speech he would quote the words of Job, the ones he felt accused God and justified himself.
i. “Of course, neither of these quotations was direct. They rather summarize the conclusions which Job’s arguments seemed to warrant.” (Morgan)
b. My wound is incurable, though I am without transgression: This was another slight mischaracterization of what Job said. Job certainly did claim to be wounded so severely by his trials that it might seem incurable; yet again he never claimed to be sinless. He only claimed that there was not some special sin that made him the target of this special catastrophe.
i. Elihu tried to quote specific statements of Job to rebuke, but he quoted selectively and unfairly. “Elihu picked out only those words of Job that he needed in order to prove his point.” (Smick)
ii. “True it is, that Job in his heat had let fall very many lavish and inconsiderate speeches, as is to be seen almost throughout the tenth chapter; but yet it was far from him ever to say either that himself was without sin or that God was unjust, as Elihu would bear him down.” (Trapp)
iii. Should I lie concerning my right: “Should I falsely accuse myself of such sins of which I am in no way conscious to myself? Should I betray mine own cause, and deny my integrity, and say that I deserved worse than I have done?” (Poole)
c. What man is like Job… who goes in company with the workers of iniquity: It seems unthinkable that Elihu believed that Job actually was a companion of wicked men. Perhaps he meant that what he considered to be Job’s confused moral thinking led him to associate with the morally corrupt.
i. “In language even stronger than that of his elders, the youthful speaker attacks Job, not for some concealed guilt in his past life – of this, unlike his three elders, the youthful speaker says nothing – but as uttering blasphemy with delight, as drinking up scorning, as one athirst beneath an Eastern sun drinks water, and by so doing throwing himself on the side of the wicked.” (Bradley)
d. For he has said, “It profits a man nothing that he should delight in God”: Job certainly said nothing like this. We can understand how Elihu thought this about Job, because Job claimed to delight in God and he now seemed to claim that it profited him nothing. But Elihu is taking general trains of thought of Job, and extending them further than Job did.
i. “Job had wailed ‘that those who provoke God are secure’ (Job 12:6) while one who is ‘righteous and blameless’ is made ‘a laughingstock’ (Job 12:4; cf. 10:3; 21:7-8; 24:1-12). To Elihu this could mean nothing else than an accusation that God does wrong and it is unthinkable that God would do wrong.” (Smick)
ii. “What most alarmed Elihu about Job was that somehow this man had the cheek to blame God for his problems, and yet still to consider himself righteous and faithful.” (Mason)
2. (10-15) The righteousness of God and His moral order.
“Therefore listen to me, you men of understanding: Far be it from God to do wickedness, And from the Almighty to commit iniquity. For He repays man according to his work, And makes man to find a reward according to his way. Surely God will never do wickedly, Nor will the Almighty pervert justice. Who gave Him charge over the earth? Or who appointed Him over the whole world? If He should set His heart on it, If He should gather to Himself His Spirit and His breath, All flesh would perish together, And man would return to dust.”
a. For he repays man according to his work: Elihu followed the simple “you always reap what you sow” equation earlier promoted by Eliphaz in the very first speech of Job’s friends (Job 4:7-11).
i. Many people today believe the idea of Elihu (and Eliphaz) and believe it as an absolute spiritual law instead of a general principle. Some take the passage from Galatians 6:7: Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. Yet it is important to understand the context of Paul’s statement, which was encouragement and exhortation for Christians to give materially for the support of their ministers. It is true that the principle of Galatians 6:7 has application beyond giving and supporting teachers and ministers. It has a general application in life; what we get out is often what we put in. Yet Paul did not promote some law of spiritual karma that ensures we will receive good when we do good things or always receive bad when we do bad things. If there were such an absolute spiritual law, it would surely damn us all. Instead, Paul simply related the principle of sowing and reaping to the way we manage our resources before the Lord. He used the same picture in 1 Corinthians 9:11 and 2 Corinthians 9:6-10.
b. Surely God will never do wickedly, nor will the Almighty pervert justice: Elihu was correct, and this was an idea agreed upon by Job and his three friends. Yet the problem was that Elihu and Job’s three friends also seemed to assume that God would never do anything mysteriously and were too confident in their ability to understand God and His ways.
i. “Elihu is now caught in the same logic as the friends. By affirming that God’s ways cannot be questioned, he is forced to denounce Job’s opinions as impious.” (Andersen)
c. If He should gather to Himself His Spirit and His breath, all flesh would perish together, and man would return to dust: Here, Elihu wanted to emphasize the idea of God’s independence and transcendence. He wanted Job to remember that God was so mighty that Job was entirely wrong to question Him at all.
3. (16-20) God preserves His moral order.
“If you have understanding, hear this; Listen to the sound of my words: Should one who hates justice govern? Will you condemn Him who is most just? Is it fitting to say to a king, ‘You are worthless,’ And to nobles, ‘You are wicked’? Yet He is not partial to princes, Nor does He regard the rich more than the poor; For they are all the work of His hands. In a moment they die, in the middle of the night; The people are shaken and pass away; The mighty are taken away without a hand.”
a. Will you condemn Him who is just: Elihu took Job’s agonized cries to God as Job condemning God. It was an unfair assumption; Job’s agony was deeply rooted in the sense that he did love God and respected His justice.
b. Yet He is not partial to princes, nor does He regard the rich more than the poor: Elihu, in his own wordy way, was again emphasizing the perfect justice of God.
4. (21-30) The perfection of God’s judgments.
“For His eyes are on the ways of man, And He sees all his steps. There is no darkness nor shadow of death Where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves. For He need not further consider a man, That he should go before God in judgment. He breaks in pieces mighty men without inquiry, And sets others in their place. Therefore he knows their works; He overthrows them in the night, And they are crushed. He strikes them as wicked men In the open sight of others, Because they turned back from Him, And would not consider any of His ways, So that they caused the cry of the poor to come to Him; For He hears the cry of the afflicted. When He gives quietness, who then can make trouble? And when He hides His face, who then can see Him, Whether it is against a nation or a man alone?; That the hypocrite should not reign, Lest the people be ensnared.”
a. His eyes are on the ways of man, and He sees all his steps: Elihu continued on the theme of God’s perfect justice. Here, he emphasized the idea that nothing man does is hidden from the eyes of God.
i. “How true it all is, and how important, that we should lay it all to heart! But how completely it failed to explain the problem of Job’s sufferings. Once more we have to say that it was all true, even about Job, but it was not all the truth.” (Morgan)
b. He strikes them as wicked men in the open sight of others, because they turned back from Him, and would not consider any of His ways: Elihu meant this as a warning for Job. God’s judgment was so perfect that He judged the kings and princes of this world without partiality. Therefore, if Job did not repent of the sin that prompted his crisis and his sinful response to it, he could be certain God would judge him as one who turned back from Him.
i. Adam Clarke had an interesting story to tell on the observation of Elihu that God would avenge the cry of the poor to come to Him when the rich and influential oppressed them: “In times of little liberality, when some men thought they did God service by persecuting those who did not exactly receive their creed, nor worship God in their way, a certain great man in Scotland grievously persecuted his tenants, because they had religious meetings in private houses out of the order of the establishment; though he never molested them when they spent their time and their money in the alehouse. A holy, simple woman, one of those people, went one morning to the house of the great persecutor, and desired to speak with him. The servant desired to know her message, and he would deliver it, for she could not be admitted. She told him she could deliver her message to none but his master; said it was a matter of great importance, and concerned himself intimately, and alone. The servant having delivered this message, and stated that the woman appeared to have something particular on her mind, his worship condescended to see her. ‘What is your business with me?’ said he, in a haughty, overbearing tone. To which she answered, ‘Sir, we are a hantle o’ puir folk at—, who are strivin’ to sairve God accordin’ to our ain conscience, and to get our sauls sav’d: yee persecute us; and I am come to beg yee to let us alane; and in ye dinna, we’ll pray yee dead.’ This rhetoric was irresistible, His lordship did not know what influence such people might have in heaven; he did not like to put such prayers to the proof; wisely took the old woman’s advice, and e’en let them alane. He was safe; they were satisfied; and God had the glory. When the poor refer their cause to God, he is a terrible avenger. Let the potsherds strive with the potsherds of the earth, but we to the man that contendeth with his Maker.”
c. That the hypocrite should not reign, lest the people be ensnared: Elihu thought it was important to emphasize these points, because without them, the moral order of society would be overturned. If these things were shaken, then the hypocrite would reign, and the common people would be ensnared.
i. The message of Elihu to Job was clear: God always does right. Yet the way he developed and applied that thought to Job’s situation was wrong and even dangerous. “If everything God does is right, by definition, and if, because He is Sovereign, God does everything that happens, it follows that everything that happens is right, and the category of evil disappears.” (Andersen)
B. Elihu’s strong advice for Job.
1. (31-33) Elihu: What Job should have said.
“For has anyone said to God, ‘I have borne chastening; I will offend no more; Teach me what I do not see; If I have done iniquity, I will do no more’? Should He repay it according to your terms, Just because you disavow it? You must choose, and not I; Therefore speak what you know.”
a. For has anyone said to God: Here, Elihu spoke the words of humble repentance that he thought Job should have said. Job was the anyone that Elihu had in mind.
· He should have taken the chastening like a man.
· He should have promised to offend no more, therefore admitting his previous guilt.
· He should have humbly submitted, asking God to teach him.
i. Elihu saw none of this in Job and it offended him and made him angry. He therefore pressed Job to do what he thought was right.
b. Should He repay it according to your terms: Elihu criticized what he thought was Job’s arrogance. “Should God be just what you think He should be, and do just what you think He should do?”
i. “The question in verse 33 could be meant to startle Job. Must God recompense him for unfair treatment? Obviously not.” (Smick)
ii. “Like the others, Elihu is locked in to the inevitable conclusion: Job is to blame. And his guilt is measured by the scale of his sufferings.” (Andersen)
c. You must choose and not I; therefore speak what you know: Young Elihu tried to persuade Job with ultimatums and pressure that Job’s three friends did not use. He pressed his points on Job with great vigor.
i. It is painful to see this young, brash Elihu speak to the godly Job in this manner. Yet we remember that there is little doubt that Elihu had the best of intentions. He really thought he was helping Job.
ii. “This he doth by a special instinct for Job’s good, and not out of any desire for revenge. So Farellus pronounced a curse upon young Calvin’s studies, in case he should refuse to join with him in the Lord’s work at Geneva, where a Church had been newly planted; this so thunderstruck him, that he durst not stir therehence to his dying day.” (Trapp)
2. (34-37) Job’s multiplied sins invite God’s judgment.
“Men of understanding say to me, Wise men who listen to me: ‘Job speaks without knowledge, His words are without wisdom.’ Oh, that Job were tried to the utmost, Because his answers are like those of wicked men! For he adds rebellion to his sin; He claps his hands among us, And multiplies his words against God.”
a. Job speaks without knowledge, his words are without wisdom: This, according to Elihu, was the common opinion of the men of understanding and the wise men who looked at Job’s situation. They all agreed that he had no real wisdom or knowledge in his situation.
b. Oh, that Job were tried to the utmost, because his answers are like those of wicked men: Young Elihu thought that Job had not suffered enough. He thought that a little more suffering (tried to the utmost) might bring Job to repentance.
i. “This is a very harsh wish: but the whole chapter is in the same spirit; nearly destitute of mildness and compassion. Who could suppose that such arguings could come out of the mouth of the loving Saviour of mankind?” (Clarke)
ii. Elihu said this because he genuinely believed that Job was getting himself deeper and deeper into sin. We know from Job 1-2 that Job was in fact a blameless and upright man who spoke from the fog and pain of his crisis and in the presence of his friends who misunderstood him. Elihu thought that Job’s problems began with his sin and got worse as he added rebellion to his sin, as he scorned the good advice of his friends (claps his hands among us) and as he multiplied his words against God.
iii. “Verse 37 is pretty blunt in its accusation. Earlier Job’s irreverence was attributed to stupidity rather than to wickedness. The former might be cured by instruction in wisdom. The cure of the latter is more difficult, especially when it is wilful and repeated.” (Andersen)
iv. “He ends the chapter by once more rebuking Job with a stern severity that exceeds even that of his friends.” (Bradley)
Today we see a new person, Elihu, come on the scene and it appears he has been there all along, remaining silent. The text tells us that he is much younger than all the others so perhaps that is why he was not mentioned among the respected men of advanced age. He has been remaining silent but he is about to make up for lost time!
We are given his lineage but not that of the other friends. Many believe that this is a tool to make sure we know this is not a fictitious character but an actual person. This is important because he just appears out of nowhere (no previous mention of him) and he will disappear just as quickly. As a result, over the years some have accused this person of being inserted into the story later. I’ve even heard one theory that Elihu was actually Messiah but when you read and see how much knowledge he is lacking in with regards to the true happenings, I find this to be highly unlikely – at best.
While we do not know his age we do know that he is apparently significantly younger than the others. Those of us who have raised teenage boys will likely shake our head and get a chuckle or two out of his boldness in addressing his elders and his confidence in his own judgement.
So know going into this that I can’t help but imagine Elihu as a teenage boy who thinks he knows everything. While he is clearly a well thought young man, I think his arrogance trips him up and he falls into a faulty thought pattern. So often in a situation we choose between two options given to us, our default believing that those are the only two options. When, in reality, there are often more options and therefore more opportunities beyond what is presented at surface level.
You see, in Job 32:1 we read that Job’s friends gave up on him essentially, they quit talking because they saw that Job was righteous in his own eyes. The Hebrew word for righteous in this case is tsaddiq and one of the ways it is used is to describe a person who is just and righteous in conduct and in character, according to Biblehub.com. Another descriptor is a lawful person.
Job knew he was a law abiding citizen in the kingdom of YHWH. However, his friends assumed he had done something wrong and that is the reason why all of this was happening to him, because YHWH is a just God.
Elihu fell into the same pattern of thinking of the rest of Job’s friends. We know that YHWH is right and just, and so they assumed that Job was neither right nor just due to all of the tragedies that had befallen him. However, we as the reader see that both Job AND YHWH were in the right. (YHWH always is, of course). Job’s friends just didn’t have the imagination to consider this possibility.
Remember: We do not see all that YHWH is doing in our lives. We must realize that we also do not see what YHWH is doing in the lives of others, either.
?Great men are not always wise: neither do the aged understand judgment. Job 32:9 (kjv)
This one always hits me in the gut. I remember the exact moment I realized one of my grandparents wasn’t perfect. I’ll never forget it. Not being perfect didn’t make them any less wonderful, but it was an awakening for someone who had put them up on a pedestal of being able to do no wrong in all things. I hope and pray we will always honor our seniors but this sentence is a stark reminder that just because someone is esteemed by the world or far older than us does not mean they are without fault or have perfect judgement.
Sidenote: I heard a statement this past week that really had an impact on me and I wanted to share it.
We don’t take our sin seriously enough.
In the era of prosperity gospel, cheap grace (grace that allows us to live however we want with only applause as response), and ear tickling, we’ve been taught to toss our sin aside when we walk in the door, like an old pair of shoes we don’t want to wear for the moment. Then, when it is time to leave our fellowships or churches we casually slip those old shoes on again as we walk out the door – as if YHWH doesn’t see us doing it.
We like ’em. They’re comfy. They fit our life. Our sins are much the same way.
We take our sins too lightly. When we are told that our sins are forgiven thanks to Messiah, we should say “My past sins are forgiven! I will now live as a changed man/woman!”. Instead, we use Messiah’s covering as a license to do whatever we want with no thought to the consequences. We offer up flimsy excuses such as “We can’t possibly NOT sin” as our reason to keep full boar ahead, willfully sinning in our comfy old shoes fashion. I’ve even heard, and this has been said with all seriousness by more than one person on more than one occasion “If we don’t sin then Jesus died for nothing.”
People actually say this. People actually mean this. This is how twisted things are.
We’ll do anything to keep us in those comfy shoes. Even if it means defaming our Messiah.
We don’t realize that sin is a direct offense against YHWH. Further, it separates us from Him because, when we choose to sin, we are choosing to walk away from the Father’s path.
It is a defiance, a disrespect, and a transgression against the Father who lovingly created our inmost being and knit us together in our mother’s womb. (Psalm 139:13) We don’t hold our Creator in reverence and we treat our sin flippantly.
We don’t take our sin seriously enough.
We don’t take our Father seriously enough.
Job took sin seriously, he revered YHWH as his God, and that is why he had the assurance that he did.
Elihu continues on in our reading today but we are in a unique position to grasp that he is lacking in understanding of the true situation just as the rest of Job’s friends and Job himself.
May we learn not to lean on our own understanding, may we take our sin more seriously, and may we praise His name for making His ways and His understanding so readily available to us through His word.
What a mighty God we serve!
Test everything, hold tight to what is good.~ 1 Thess 5:21
We are saved by Grace alone: Obedience is not the root of our salvation, it is the fruit!
Christy Jordan founded SeekingScripture for the purpose of helping as many people as possible develop a firsthand relationship with the whole word of God. You can find her writings on Seeking Scripture, all podcasting platforms, and in the Seeking Scripture Front Porch Fellowship group on Facebook.
34:31-37 When we reprove for what is amiss, we must direct to what is good. Job’s friends would have had him own himself a wicked man. Let will only oblige him to own that he spoke unadvisedly with his lips. Let us, in giving reproof, not make a matter worse than it is. Elihu directs Job to humble himself before God for his sins, and to accept the punishment. Also to pray to God to discover his sins to him. A good man is willing to know the worst of himself; particularly, under affliction, he desires to be told wherefore God contends with him. It is not enough to be sorry for our sins, but we must go and sin no more. And if we are affectionate children, we shall love to speak with our Father, and to tell him all our mind. Elihu reasons with Job concerning his discontent under affliction. We are ready to think every thing that concerns us should be just as we would have it; but it is not reasonable to expect this. Elihu asks whether there was not sin and folly in what Job said. God is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works, Ps 145:17. The believer saith, Let my Saviour, my wise and loving Lord, choose every thing for me. I am sure that will be wisest, and the best for his glory and my good.
That which I see not, teach thou me – That is, in regard to my errors and sins. No prayer could be more appropriate than this. It is language becoming every one who is afflicted, and who does not see clearly the reason why it is done. The sense is, that with a full belief that he is liable to error and sin, that he has a wicked and deceitful heart, and that God never afflicts without reason, he should go to him and ask him to show him “why” he has afflicted him. He should not complain or repine; he should not accuse God of injustice or partiality; he should not attempt to cloak his offences, but should go and entreat him to make him acquainted with the sins of heart and life which have led to these calamities. Then only will he be in a state of mind in which he will be likely to be profited by trials.
If I have done iniquity, I will do no more – Admitting the possibility that he had erred. Who is there that cannot appropriately use this language when he is afflicted?
I will no longer maintain mine innocency, but from thy judgments I will conclude and have reason to believe that there are some secret sins in me, for which thou dost chastise me, and which I through mine ignorance or partiality cannot yet discover, and therefore do beg that thou wouldst by thy Spirit manifest them to me. If I have done iniquity, I will amend my former errors.
That which I see not teach thou me,…. Which may be understood either of the chastisements of God, and his dealings with his people in a providential way, and of the design and use of them, which are sometimes unsearchable, and at most but a part of them only seen and known; it is meet to say to God, it is but a small part and portion of thy ways that is known by me; I can see but little into them: teach me more of thy mind and will in them, or else of sins and transgressions, the cause of chastisement; it is proper for an afflicted man to say unto God, I am conscious to myself of many sinful failings and infirmities, but there may be secret sins committed by me which have escaped my notice and observation; point them out to me, that I may be humbled for them, and make a free confession of them;
if I have done iniquity, I will do no more; that is, if I have committed any capital crime, any foul offence or gross enormity, for otherwise no man lives without sin, I sincerely repent of it, and will take care for the future, through divine grace, to do so no more.
Verse 32. – That which I see not, teach thou me; i.e. “If in anything I fail to see thy will, teach thou it me. Make thy way plain before my face.” If I have done iniquity, I will do no more. The hypothetical form seems to be preferred, as more acceptable to Job, who maintained his righteousness, than a positive confession of sin. Job 34:32
29 If He, however, maketh peace, who will then condemn?
And if He hideth His countenance – who then can behold Him? –
Both concerning numbers and individuals together:
30 That godless men reign not,
That they be not nets to the people.
31 For one, indeed, saith to God,
“I have been proud, I will not do evil;
32 “What I see not, show Thou me;
“If I have done wrong, I will do it no more”!? –
If God makes peace (ישׁקיט as Psalm 94:13, comp. Isaiah 14:7, הארץ שׁקטה כל־, viz., after the overthrow of the tyrant) in connection with such crying oppression of the poor, who will then condemn Him without the rather recognising therein His comprehensive justice? The conjecture ירעשׁ
(Note: Vid., Grtz in Frankel’s Monatsschrift, 1861, i.)
is not required either here or 1 Samuel 14:47 (where הרשׁיע signifies to punish the guilty); ירשׁע is also not to be translated turbabit (Rosenm.), since רשׁע (Arab. rs‛, rsg) according to its primitive notion does not signify “to be restless, to rage,” but “to be relaxed, hollow” (opposite of צדק, Arab. ṣdq, to be hard, firm, tight). Further: If God hides His countenance, i.e., is angry and punishes, who can then behold Him, i.e., make Him, the veiled One, visible and claim back the favour withdrawn? The Waw of וּמי, if one marks off the periods of the paratactic expression, is in both cases the Waw of conclusion after hypothetical antecedents, and. Job 34:29 refers to Job’s impetuous challenging of God. Thus exalted above human controversy and defiance, God rules both over the mass and over individuals alike. יחד gives intensity of the equality thus correlatively (et-et) expressed (Targ., Syr.); to refer it to אדם as generalizing (lxx, Jer. et super omnes homines), is forbidden by the antithesis of peoples and individuals. To the thought, that God giveth rest (from oppressors) and hides His countenance (from the oppressors and in general those who act wrongly), two co-ordinate negative final clauses are attached: in order that godless men may not rule (ממּלך, as e.g., 2 Kings 23:33, Keri), in order that they may no longer be (מ( e equals מהיות, under the influence of the notion of putting aside contained in the preceding final clause, therefore like Isaiah 7:8 מעם, Isaiah 24:2 מעיר, Jeremiah 48:2 מגוי, and the like) snares of the people, i.e., those whose evil example and bad government become the ruin of the community.
In Job 34:31 the view of those who by some jugglery concerning the laws of the vowel sounds explain האמר as imper. Niph. ( equals האמר), be it in the sense of להאמר, dicendum est (Rosenm., Schlottm., and others, after Raschi), or even in the unheard-of reflexive signification: express thyself (Stick., Hahn), is to be rejected. The syncopated form of the infin. בּהרג, Ezekiel 26:15, does not serve as a palliation of this adventurous imperative. It is, on the contrary, אמר with ה interrog., as Ezekiel 28:9 האמר, and probably also העמוּר Micah 2:7 (vid., Hitz.). A direct exhortation to Job to penitence would also not be in place here, although what Elihu says is levelled against Job. The כּי is confirmatory. Thus God acts with that class of unscrupulous men who abuse their power for the destruction of their subjects: for he (one of them) says (or: has said, from the standpoint of the execution of punishment) to God, etc. Ew. differently: “for one says thus to God even: I expiate what I do not commit,” by understanding the speech quoted of a defiance which reproachfully demands an explanation. It is, however, manifestly a compendious model confession. And since Elihu with כי establishes the execution of punishment from this, that it never entered the mind of the עדם חנף thus to humble himself before God, so נשׂאתי here cannot signify: I have repented (put up with and had to bear what I have deserved); on the contrary, the confession begins with the avowal: I have exalted myself (נשׂא, se efferre, in Hosea 13:1; Psalm 89:10), which is then followed by the vow: I will not (in the future) do evil (חבל synon. עוה, as Nehemiah 1:7, and probably also supra, Job 24:9), and the entreaty, Job 34:32 : beside that which I behold (elliptical object-clause, Ew. 333, b), i.e., what lies beyond my vision ( equals נסתּרות or עלמים, Psalm 19:13; Psalm 90:8, unacknowledged sins), teach me; and the present vow has reference to acknowledged sins and sins that have still to be acknowledged: if I have done wrong, I will do it no more. Thus speaking – Elihu means – those high ones might have anticipated the punishment of the All-just God, for favour instead of wrath cannot be extorted, it is only reached by the way of lowly penitence.
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“In your book were written all the days that were formed for me, when none of them as yet existed.”
Psalm 139 is a beautiful poetic expression of God’s personal moment-by-moment involvement in our lives. So intimate is his involvement that he knows our thoughts before we utter them (vs. 2–4). His loving presence surrounds us at every moment, wherever we go (vs. 5–12). And he was personally involved in the formation of our bodies while we were in the womb (vs. 13–16). God’s knowledge of us and care for us is simply unfathomable (vs. 17–18).
Many have argued that verse 16 of this chapter implies that the future is exhaustively settled. If the exact number of days we shall live is settled in God’s mind, they argue, the whole of the future must be settled as well. Hence this verse has been frequently cited in support of the classical view of the future. I find this line of reasoning based on this verse to be unconvincing for five reasons.
First, even if this verse said that the exact length of our life is settled before we’re born, it wouldn’t follow that everything about the future is settled before we’re born. God can predetermine and/or foreknow a great many things about the future without predetermining and/or foreknowing everything about the future.
Second, the use of hyperbolic expressions, which was a common devise of Semitic poetry, should caution us against relying on it to settle any doctrinal disputes. The point of this passage is to poetically express God’s care for the psalmist from his conception, not resolve metaphysical disputes regarding the reality of the future.
Third, the Hebrew in this passage is quite ambiguous in that a) the word translated in the NRSV as “formed” (yotsar) can be interpreted in a strong sense of “determined” or in a weaker sense of “planned”; and b) the subject matter of what was “formed” and written in the “book” before they existed is not supplied in the original Hebrew. It is thus not clear whether what was planned was the days of the psalmist’s life or rather parts of the psalmist’s body. The NKJV is an example of a translation that decided on the latter meaning. It reads:
“Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unformed; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.”
This rendition of the verse, though admittedly awkward, has the advantage of consistency with the immediate context of the verse. As mentioned above, the theme of verses 13 through 15 is the formation of the psalmist’s body in the womb. Indeed, the first stanza of verse 16, “Your eyes beheld my unformed substance” also concerns the intimate awareness the Lord has of the psalmist even before he’s formed. An interpretation of this verse that continues the author’s poetic expression of the remarkable care that the Lord took in forming his body seems most appropriate.
If this interpretation is accepted, then we cannot conclude anything about the settledness of the future from it. Even if the poetic genre of the verse isn’t enough to discourage someone from trying to resolve a metaphysical issue on this basis, the ambiguity of the verse itself should certainly be enough.
Fourth, even if we choose to take the subject matter of what is “formed” and “written” in this verse to be the days of the psalmist’s life, this does not require that the length of his life is unalterable. Scripture elsewhere suggests that what is written in the Lord’s book of life can be changed (Exod. 32:33; Rev. 3:5). Hezekiah’s success in changing God’s mind regarding the length of his life supports this perspective (Isa. 38:1–5) as does the Lord’s self-professed willingness to alter decrees he’s made in the light of new circumstances (Jer. 18:6–10). The notion that what God ordains is necessarily unalterable is foreign to the Hebrew mind.
In the context of the whole council of Scripture, it therefore seems best to understand the term yotsar as well as the writing in God’s book as referring to God’s intentions at the time of the psalmist’s fetal development, not to an unalterable decree of God.
Finally, even if metaphysics continue to be read into this passage, and even if the subject matter of what was “formed” and written in the Lord’s book was the days of the psalmist’s life, and even if what was “formed” and written was unalterable, the verse still does not mean that all the days of the psalmist were ordained and written in God’s book. The verse only says (in the NRSV), “In your book were written all the days that were formed for me…” (emphasis added). What was written was not all the psalmist’s days, but only those days that were formed (or “ordained”) before they yet existed.
This interpretation can be understood to imply that certain events were predestined about this person’s life before he was born, though within the parameters of this predestined outline, his life is free. As with king Josiah which we examined above (1 Kings 13:2-3), it is possible that certain events are preordained for many of us prior to our birth. This assumption, in case it is true, does not conflict with the open view perspective which simply says that not everything about us is determined and/or foreknown.
I’ll never forget the night it first happened to me. I was thirteen, sharing a bedroom with my older brother. I woke up in the middle of the night and felt as if something was pinning me to the bed, choking me, and electrocuting me, all at the same time. The wind was blowing through…
Question: You may find this to be an odd question, but is it possible for two Christians of the same gender to remain a couple if they do not engage in sex? My partner and I love each other but our study of Scripture convinces us that having sex is wrong. Now, sex was never…
Here’s all of the videos of the speakers and their Q&A’s from Open2013. Unfortunately, there was a mix-up and we didn’t get Jessica Kelley’s presentation taped. We’re working to get her to speak again so we can get that to you. Thanks for posting this on youtube T. C.! And now, without further ado… Greg…
While many Christians have found the open view of the future to be the most helpful and accurate view of God’s foreknowledge of the future based on biblical, philosophical, and experiential evidence, others have criticized the view as unorthodox and even heretical. What follows is a brief description and defense of the open view prepared…
Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.
(16) This difficult verse, rendered word for word, gives—
“My fœtus (literally, rolled) saw thine eyes,
And on thy book all of them were written;
Days were formed, and not (or, as the Hebrew margin, to him) one in them.”
The reading “substance yet being imperfect” of the Authorised Version follows the LXX. and Vulg., and (Symmachus, “shapeless thing”) periphrastically denotes the embryo, which the Hebrew word—literally, rolled, or wrapped, used in 2Kings 2:8, “of a mantle,” in Ezekiel 27:24, “bales” (Authorised Version, “clothes;” margin, “foldings”)—almost scientifically describes. (Comp. Job 10:8-12; 2 Maccabees 7:22.)
Others take it of the ball of the threads of destiny; but this is not a Hebrew conception. By inserting the word members, the Authorised Version suggests a possible, but not a probable, interpretation. The Hebrew language likes to use a pronoun before the word to which it refers has occurred (see Note, Psalm 68:14); and, in spite of the accents, we must refer all of them to “days” (Authorised Version, “in continuance”).
“Thine eyes beheld my embryo,
And in thy book were written
All the days, the days
Which were being formed,
When as yet there were none of them.”
But a much more satisfactory sense is obtained by adopting one slight change and following Symmachus in the last line—
“The days which are all reckoned, and not one of them is wanting.”
All the ancient versions make that which is written in God’s book either the days of life, or men born in the course of these days, each coming into being according to the Divine will.
Psalm 139:16. Thine eyes did see my substance — Hebrews גלמי, my rude mass, as Dr. Waterland renders the word: massa rudis et intricata adhuc, says Buxtorf, neque in veram formam evoluta, a mass, yet rude and entangled, and not unfolded into proper form. When the matter, out of which I was made, was an unshapen embryo, without any form, it was visible to thee how every part, however minute, would be wrought; and in thy book all my members were written — Before any of them were in being they lay open before thy eyes, and were discerned by thee as clearly as if the plan of them had been drawn in a book. Thy eternal wisdom formed the plan, and according to that, thy almighty power raised the structure. The allusion to the needlework seems to be still carried on. “As the embroiderer hath his book or pattern before him, to which he always recurs; so by a method as exact were all my members in continuance fashioned; and as from the rude skeins of silk, under the artificer’s hands, there at length arises an unexpected beauty, and an accurate harmony of colours and proportions; so, by the skill of the divine workman, is a shapeless mass wrought into the most curious texture of parts, most skilfully interwoven and connected with each other, until it becomes a body harmoniously diversified with all the limbs and lineaments of a man, not one of which at first appeared, any more than the figures were to be seen in the ball of silk. But then, (which is the chief thing here insisted on by the psalmist,)
whereas the human artificer must have the clearest light, whereby to accomplish his task, the divine work-master seeth in secret, and effecteth all his wonders within the dark and narrow confines of the womb.” — Horne.
139:7-16 We cannot see God, but he can see us. The psalmist did not desire to go from the Lord. Whither can I go? In the most distant corners of the world, in heaven, or in hell, I cannot go out of thy reach. No veil can hide us from God; not the thickest darkness. No disguise can save any person or action from being seen in the true light by him. Secret haunts of sin are as open before God as the most open villanies. On the other hand, the believer cannot be removed from the supporting, comforting presence of his Almighty Friend. Should the persecutor take his life, his soul will the sooner ascend to heaven. The grave cannot separate his body from the love of his Saviour, who will raise it a glorious body. No outward circumstances can separate him from his Lord. While in the path of duty, he may be happy in any situation, by the exercise of faith, hope, and prayer.
Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect – This whole verse is very obscure, but the “idea” in this expression clearly is, “Before I had shape or form thou didst see what I was to be.” The single word in the original translated “my substance, yet being unperfect,” is גלם gôlem. It occurs only in this place, though the verb – גלם gâlam – is found in 2 Kings 2:8, where it is used in reference to the mantle of Elijah: And Elijah took his mantle, and “wrapped it together,” etc. That is, he rolled it up, or he folded it. The noun, then, means that which “is” rolled or wrapped together; that which is folded up, and hence, is applicable to anything folded up or undeveloped; and would thus most aptly denote the embryo, or the foetus, where all the members of the body are as yet folded up, or undeveloped; that is, before they have assumed their distinct form and proportions. This is undoubtedly the idea here. Before the embryo had any such form that its future size, shape, or proportions could be marked by the eye of man, it was clearly and distinctly known by God.
And in thy book – Where thou recordest all things. Perhaps the allusion here would be to the book of an architect or draftsman, who, before his work is begun, draws his plan, or sketches it for the direction of the workmen.
All my members were written – The words “my members” are not in the original. The Hebrew is, as in the margin, “all of them.” The reference may be, not to the members of his body, but to his “days” (see the margin on the succeeding phrase) – and then the sense would be, all my “days,” or all the periods of my life, were delineated in thy book. That is, When my substance – my form – was not yet developed, when yet an embryo, and when nothing could be determined from that by the eye of man as to what I was to be, all the future was known to God, and was written down – just what should be my form and vigor; how long I should live; what I should be; what would be the events of my life.
Which in continuance were fashioned – Margin, “What days they should be fashioned.” Literally, “Days should be formed.” DeWette renders this, “The days were determined before any one of them was.” There is nothing in the Hebrew to correspond with the phrase “in continuance.” The simple idea is, The days of my life were determined on, the whole matter was fixed and settled, not by anything seen in the embryo, but “before” there was any form – before there were any means of judging from what I then was to what I would be – all was seen and arranged in the divine mind.
When as yet there was none of them – literally, “And not one among them.” Before there was one of them in actual existence. Not one development had yet occurred from which it could be inferred what the rest would be. The entire knowledge on the subject must have been based on Omniscience.
Ps 139:1-24. After presenting the sublime doctrines of God’s omnipresence and omniscience, the Psalmist appeals to Him, avowing his innocence, his abhorrence of the wicked, and his ready submission to the closest scrutiny. Admonition to the wicked and comfort to the pious are alike implied inferences from these doctrines.
Yet being unperfect; when I was a mere embryo, a rude and shapeless lump, when I was first conceived.
In thy book; in thy counsel and providence, by which thou didst contrive and effect this great work, and all the parts of it, according to that model which thou hadst appointed. This is a metaphor taken from workmen, who when they are to make some curious structure, they first draw a rude draught or delineation of it, by which they govern themselves in the building of it.
All my members; all the several parts of my substance.
When in continuance were fashioned; which in due time and by degrees were formed into bones, fleshy sinews, &c. Or, as it is in the margin, what days (and the days in which) they were or should be fashioned; by what steps, in what order and time, each part of the body should receive its proper form. This also was written or appointed by God.
When as yet there was none of them, Heb. and not one of them; understand either yet was, as it is in our translation; or, was lacking, to wit, in thy book. All my parts without exception were written by thee. But then these words are not to bc joined with those immediately foregoing, but with the former, and the words are to be read thus, in thy book all my members were written, (which in continuance were fashioned,) when as yet, &c.
Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect,…. The word (q) for “substance” signifies a bottom of yarn wound up, or any rude or unformed lump; and designs that conglomerated mass of matter separated in the womb, containing all the essentials of the human frame, but not yet distinguished or reduced into any form or order; yet, even when in this state, the eyes of the Lord see it and all its parts distinctly;
and in thy book all my members were written: which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them; in the book of God’s eternal mind, and designs, the plan of the human body was drawn, all the parts of it described, and their form, places, and uses fixed, even when as yet not one of them was in actual being; but in due time they are all exactly formed and fashioned according to the model of them in the mind of God; who has as perfect knowledge of them beforehand as if they were written down in a book before him, Or “in thy book are written all of them, what days they should be fashioned”; not only each of the members of the body were put down in this book, but each of the days in which they should be formed and come into order: “when” as yet there was “none of them”; none of those days, before they took place, even before all time; the Targum is,
“in the book of thy memory all my days are written, in the day the world was created, from the beginning that all creatures were created.”
Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; {l} and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.
(l) Seeing that you knew me before I was composed of either flesh or bone, much more now must you know me when you have fashioned me.
16. my substance, yet being unperfect] R.V. mine unperfect substance. The word (gôlem) is a different one from that in Psalm 139:15, and denotes the undeveloped embryo. Cp. Aram, gôlmâ, an unfinished vessel.
all my members] Lit. all of them, which A.V. and R.V. interpret to mean all the members into which the embryo was to develop. But it is better (cp. R.V. marg.) to regard the pronoun as anticipatory, and to render,
And in thy book were all of them written,
Even days which were formed,
When as yet there was none of them.
Each day of his life with all its history was pre-determined by the Creator and recorded in His book, before one of them actually was in existence:—a clear expression of the truth that there is an ideal plan of life providentially marked out for every individual. (Ephesians 2:10.)
The Q’rç or traditional reading of the Hebrew text, reads lô, ‘for it’ instead of lô’ ‘not’ (see note on Psalm 100:3), giving the sense, and for it there was one among them: one of them was pre-ordained as ‘its day,’ the day of its birth. Cp. ‘his day,’ Job 3:1.
Verse 16. – Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; or, “my embryo.” The Hebrew text has but the single word גלמי, which probably means, “the still unformed embryonic mass” (Hengstenberg). And in thy book all my members were written; literally, all of them; but the pronoun has no antecedent. Professor Cheyne and others suspect the passage to have suffered corruption. But the general meaning can scarcely have been very different from that assigned to the passage in the Authorized Version. Which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. Modern critics mostly translate “the days,” or “my days,” “were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them;” i.e. “my life was planned out by God, and settled, before I began to be.” Psalm 139:16
The embryo folded up in the shape of an egg is here called גּלם, from גּלם, to roll or wrap together (cf. glomus, a ball), in the Talmud said of any kind of unshapen mass (lxx ἀκατέργαστον, Symmachus ἀμόρφωτον) and raw material, e.g., of the wood or metal that is to be formed into a vessel (Chullin 25a, to which Saadia has already referred).
(Note: Epiphanius, Haer, xxx. 31, says the Hebrew γολμη signifies the peeled grains of spelt or wheat before they are mixed up and backed, the still raw (only bruised) flour-grains – a signification that can now no longer be supported by examples.)
As to the rest, compare similar retrospective glances into the embryonic state in Job 10:8-12, 2 Macc. 7:22f. (Psychology, S. 209ff., tr. pp. 247f.). On the words in libro tuo Bellarmine makes the following correct observation: quia habes apud te exemplaria sive ideas omnium, quomodo pictor vel sculptor scit ex informi materia quid futurum sit, quia videt exemplar. The signification of the future יכּתבוּ is regulated by ראוּ, and becomes, as relating to the synchronous past, scribebantur. The days יצּרוּ, which were already formed, are the subject. It is usually rendered: “the days which had first to be formed.” If יצּרוּ could be equivalent to ייצּרוּ, it would be to be preferred; but this rejection of the praeform. fut. is only allowed in the fut. Piel of the verbs Pe Jod, and that after a Waw convertens, e.g., ויּבּשׁ equals וייבּשׁ, Nahum 1:4 (cf. Caspari on Obadiah 1:11).
(Note: But outside the Old Testament it also occurs in the Pual, though as a wrong use of the word; vide my Anekdota (1841), S. 372f.)
Accordingly, assuming the original character of the לא in a negative signification, it is to be rendered: The days which were (already) formed, and there was not one among them, i.e., when none among them had as yet become a reality. The suffix of כּלּם points to the succeeding ימים, to which יצּרוּ is appended as an attributive clause; ולא אחד בּהם is subordinated to this יצּרוּ: cum non or nondum (Job 22:16) unus inter eos equals unus eorum (Exodus 14:28) esset. But the expression (instead of ועוד לא היה or טרם יהיה) remains doubtful, and it becomes a question whether the Ker ולו (vid., on Psalm 100:3), which stands side by side with the Chethb ולא (which the lxx, Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotion, the Targum, Syriac, Jerome, and Saadia follow), is not to be preferred. This ולו, referred to גלמי, gives the acceptable meaning: and for it (viz., its birth) one among them (these days), without our needing to make any change in the proposed exposition down to יצרו. We decide in favour of this, because this ולו אחד בהם does not, as ולא אחד בהם, make one feel to miss any היה, and because the ולי which begins Psalm 139:17 connects itself to it by way of continuation. The accentuation has failed to discern the reference of כלם to the following ימים, inasmuch as it places Olewejored against יכתבו. Hupfeld follows this accentuation, referring כלם back to גלמי as a coil of days of one’s life; and Hitzig does the same, referring it to the embryos. But the precedence of the relative pronoun occurs in other instances also,
(Note: The Hebrew poet, says Gesenius (Lehrgebude, S. 739f.), sometimes uses the pronoun before the thing to which it referred has even been spoken of. This phenomenon belongs to the Hebrew style generally, vid., my Anekdota (1841), S. 382.)
and is devoid of all harshness, especially in connection with כּלּם, which directly signifies altogether (e.g., Isaiah 43:14).
It is the confession of the omniscience that is united with the omnipotence of God, which the poet here gives utterance to with reference to himself, just as Jahve says with reference to Jeremiah, Jeremiah 1:5. Among the days which were preformed in the idea of God (cf. on יצרו, Isaiah 22:11; Isaiah 37:26) there was also one, says the poet, for the embryonic beginning of my life. The divine knowledge embraces the beginning, development, and completion of all things (Psychology, S. 37ff., tr. pp. 46ff.). The knowledge of the thoughts of God which are written in the book of creation and revelation is the poet’s cherished possession, and to ponder over them is his favourite pursuit: they are precious to him, יקרוּ (after Psalm 36:8), not: difficult of comprehension (schwerbegreiflich, Maurer, Olshausen), after Daniel 2:11, which would surely have been expressed by עמקוּ (Psalm 92:6), more readily: very weighty (schwergewichtig, Hitzig), but better according to the prevailing Hebrew usage: highly valued (schwergewerthet), cara.
(Note: It should be noted that the radical idea of the verb, viz., being heavy (German schwer), is retained in all these renderings. – Tr.)
“Their sums” are powerful, prodigious (Psalm 40:6), and cannot be brought to a summa summarum. If he desires to count them (fut. hypothet. as in Psalm 91:7; Job 20:24), they prove themselves to be more than the sand with its grains, that is to say, innumerable. He falls asleep over the pondering upon them, wearied out; and when he wakes up, he is still with God, i.e., still ever absorbed in the contemplation of the Unsearchable One, which even the sleep of fatigue could not entirely interrupt. Ewald explains it somewhat differently: if I am lost in the stream of thoughts and images, and recover myself from this state of reverie, yet I am still ever with Thee, without coming to an end. But it could only perhaps be interpreted thus if it were העירותי or התעוררתּי. Hofmann’s interpretation is altogether different: I will count them, the more numerous than the sand, when I awake and am continually with Thee, viz., in the other world, after the awaking from the sleep of death. This is at once impossible, because הקיצתי cannot here, according to its position, be a perf. hypotheticum. Also in connection with this interpretation עוד would be an inappropriate expression for “continually,” since the word only has the sense of the continual duration of an action or a state already existing; here of one that has not even been closed and broken off by sleep. He has not done; waking and dreaming and waking up, he is carried away by that endless, and yet also endlessly attractive, pursuit, the most fitting occupation of one who is awake, and the sweetest (cf. Jeremiah 31:26) of one who is asleep and dreaming.
Words in boxes are from the Bible. Words in brackets, ( ), are not in the *Hebrew Bible.
The notes explain some of the words with a *star by them. A word list at the end explains the other words that have a *star by them.
The translated Bible text has yet to go through Advanced Checking.
Jesus said, “Your Father (God) knows how many hairs there are on your head!” (Matthew 10:30)
Psalm 139
(This is) for the music leader. (It is) a psalm of David.
v1 *LORD, when you look at me you know all about me.
v2 You know when I sit down. And you know when I get up. You understand what I am thinking about (even when you are) far away.
v3 You see when I go (somewhere). And you see when I stay (at home). You remember everything that I do!
v4 For example, before I say a word, *LORD, you know all about it.
v5 You are all round me, in front (of me) and behind (me). You have put your *hand upon me.
v6 What you know (about me) is *wonderful. I cannot understand it. It is so high that I cannot climb up to it.
v7 Where can I go from your *Spirit? How can I run away from you?
v8 If I went up to *heaven, you would be there. If I went down to *Sheol, you would be there also.
v9 If I went: · to where the sun rises (in the east) · to the other side of the sea (in the west)
v10 your hand would be there. It would be my guide. Your right hand would give me help.
v11 If I say: · I am sure that *darkness will hide me · or, the light round me will change into night,
v12 *darkness and light are the same to you! *Darkness is not dark to you. The night shines as bright as the day (to you).
v13 But you, you made every part of me. You made me grow in my mother’s *womb.
v14 I *praise you for the *mysterious and *wonderful way that you made me. I know very well that everything that you made is *wonderful.
v15 (Nothing) hid my body from you when I was growing in a secret place. This happened deep in the earth.
v16 Your eyes saw my body growing. Before I had lived one day, you wrote in your book how long I should live for!
v17 You have so many ideas, God. They are so difficult for me to understand.
v18 If I could count them all, there would be more than the *grains of sand (by the side of the sea). I would have to live (as long) as you to count them all!
v19 God, I hope that you will kill the *wicked (people)! And go away from me you *men of blood (murderers).
v20 They are your enemies. They say bad things about you that are not true.
v21 Do I *hate them that hate you, *LORD? Do I really hate them that attack you?
v22 (Yes) I do hate them, I really hate them. I think of them as my enemies.
v23 Look at me, God. And know (what is in) my *heart. Look into my mind and know my thoughts.
v24 See if I am doing anything bad that might hurt me. And lead me in the old ways.
The Story of Psalm 139
We do not know when David wrote this psalm. Some people think that the *prophet Zechariah wrote it; maybe he used David’s words and rewrote (wrote again) them. Zechariah wrote a Book of the Bible. He lived 450 years after David.
What Psalm 139 means
This psalm is in 4 parts:
· Verses 1-6. God knows all about us.
· Verses 7-12. We cannot hide from God.
· Verses 13-18. God created (made) us.
· Verses 19-24. David prays about his enemies and himself.
God knows all about us
“When you look at me” in verse 1 means “when you study me, or give me an exam”. *LORD is a special name for God. It is his *covenant name. A *covenant is when two people (or groups of people) agree. Here, God agrees to love and give help to his people. They agree to love and obey him. The *LORD sees every part of us. He even knows what we are going to say. He knows before we say it, (verse 4)! “Your hand” in verse 5 means “your power”. It means what God does in this world. To understand this is like climbing a very high mountain, (verse 6). It is too high to get to the top!
We cannot hide from God
The Holy Spirit, or Spirit, (verse 7), is another name for God. If you go to *heaven (or the sky) or *Sheol (below the earth) God will find you. If you go to the east or the west, you cannot hide from him, (verses 8-9). His hand (or power) will always be with you, to be a guide and a help, (verse 10). David saw it as a good thing that God was always with him. He had God as a guide and someone to give him help. We cannot see in the *darkness, when there is no light. We cannot see when it is dark … but God can, (verses 11-12)!
God made us
“The secret place” and “deep in the earth” mean his mother’s womb, (verse 15). The womb is where mothers keep babies before they are born. Some Bible students think “difficult” should be “valuable” in verse 17. Both ideas are true! “Grains of sand” in verse 18 are “little bits of sand”.
David prays about things
There is a quick change in the next 4 verses. The *psalmist (David) makes a *prayer of imprecation (asks for bad things to happen) for his enemies. They are God’s enemies too, (verse 20). In verse 19, David says that they are “*wicked people”. “*Wicked” means “very, very bad”. He also says that they are “men of blood”, (or people that murder other people). Verse 21 asks if the *psalmist hates God’s enemies. Verse 22 gives the answer: “Yes!” “Hate” means the opposite of “love”. The psalm finishes where it started. God is looking into the *psalmist’s mind. “The old ways”, (verse 24), are the right ways that God told people to walk in. They will never come to an end.
Something to do
1. Pray the words of verses 23-24 and wait for God’s answer.
2. Read about Psalms of Imprecation in Psalm 69 of this set.
Word List
covenant ~ two people have agreed what each should do (here, God and his people). Look in Psalm 120 about the covenant.
darkness ~ when there is no light.
grains of sand ~ little bits of sand.
hate ~ the opposite of love.
heart ~ part of the body. *Jews believed that you thought in your heart.
heaven ~ the home of God.
Jew ~ a person who is born from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children.
LORD ~ the *covenant name for God (in a *covenant you agree with someone).
men of blood ~ murderers.
mysterious ~ nobody understands it.
praise ~ to say how great someone is; or, words that say how great someone is.
prayer ~ you say a *prayer when you speak to God.
prophesy ~ tell people what God thinks and will do.
prophet ~ someone who *prophesies.
psalmist ~ the person that wrote a psalm (or psalms).
Sheol ~ *Jews believed that you went to Sheol when you died.
sin ~ not to obey God; or what you do when you do not obey God.
Spirit ~ the Holy Spirit.
wicked ~ very, very bad.
womb ~ where mothers keep babies before they are born.
