1 And Job answered and said,
2 Even to-day is my complaint bitter: my stroke is heavier than my groaning.
3 Oh that I knew where I might find him, that I might come to his seat!
4 I would order the cause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments;
5 I would know the words he would answer me, and understand what he would say unto me.
6 Would he plead against me with [his] great power? Nay; but he would give heed unto me.
7 There would an upright man reason with him; and I should be delivered for ever from my judge.
8 Lo, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I do not perceive him;
9 On the left hand, where he doth work, but I behold [him] not; he hideth himself on the right hand, and I see [him] not.
10 But he knoweth the way that I take; he trieth me, I shall come forth as gold.
11 My foot hath held to his steps; his way have I kept, and not turned aside.
12 Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have laid up the words of his mouth more than the purpose of my own heart.
13 But he is in one [mind], and who can turn him? And what his soul desireth, that will he do.
14 For he will perform [what] is appointed for me; and many such things are with him.
15 Therefore am I troubled at his presence; I consider, and I am afraid of him.
16 For ùGod hath made my heart soft, and the Almighty troubleth me;
17 Because I was not cut off before the darkness, neither hath he hidden the gloom from me.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Job 23
Commentary on Job 23 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 23
This chapter begins Job's reply to Eliphaz. In this reply he takes no notice of his friends, either because he saw it was to no purpose or because he liked the good counsel Eliphaz gave him in the close of his discourse so well that he would make no answer to the peevish reflections he began with; but he appeals to God, begs to have his cause heard, and doubts not but to make it good, having the testimony of his own conscience concerning his integrity. Here seems to be a struggle between flesh and spirit, fear and faith, throughout this chapter.
Job 23:1-7
Job is confident that he has wrong done him by his friends, and therefore, ill as he is, he will not give up the cause, nor let them have the last word. Here,
Job 23:8-12
Here,
Job 23:13-17
Some make Job to complain here that God dealt unjustly and unfairly with him in proceeding to punish him without the least relenting or relaxation, though he had such incontestable evidences to produce of his innocency. I am loth to think holy Job would charge the holy God with iniquity; but his complaint is indeed bitter and peevish, and he reasons himself into a sort of patience per force, which he cannot do without reflecting upon God as dealing hardly with him, but he must bear it because he cannot help it; the worst he says is that God deals unaccountably with him.