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Job 36:3 King James Version with Strong's Concordance (STRONG)

3 I will fetch H5375 my knowledge H1843 from afar, H7350 and will ascribe H5414 righteousness H6664 to my Maker. H6466

Cross Reference

Revelation 15:3 STRONG

And G2532 they sing G103 the song G5603 of Moses G3475 the servant G1401 of God, G2316 and G2532 the song G5603 of the Lamb, G721 saying, G3004 Great G3173 and G2532 marvellous G2298 are thy G4675 works, G2041 Lord G2962 God G2316 Almighty; G3841 just G1342 and G2532 true G228 are thy G4675 ways, G3598 thou King G935 of saints. G40

James 3:17 STRONG

But G1161 the wisdom G4678 that is from above G509 is G2076 first G4412 pure, G3303 G53 then G1899 peaceable, G1516 gentle, G1933 and easy to be intreated, G2138 full G3324 of mercy G1656 and G2532 good G18 fruits, G2590 without partiality, G87 and G2532 without hypocrisy. G505

James 1:17 STRONG

Every G3956 good G18 gift G1394 and G2532 every G3956 perfect G5046 gift G1434 is G2076 from above, G509 and cometh down G2597 from G575 the Father G3962 of lights, G5457 with G3844 whom G3739 is G1762 no G3756 variableness, G3883 neither G2228 shadow G644 of turning. G5157

James 1:5 STRONG

G1161 If any G1536 of you G5216 lack G3007 wisdom, G4678 let him ask G154 of G3844 God, G2316 that giveth G1325 to all G3956 men liberally, G574 and G2532 upbraideth G3679 not; G3361 and G2532 it shall be given G1325 him. G846

Psalms 145:17 STRONG

The LORD H3068 is righteous H6662 in all his ways, H1870 and holy H2623 in all his works. H4639

Psalms 11:7 STRONG

For the righteous H6662 LORD H3068 loveth H157 righteousness; H6666 his countenance H6440 doth behold H2372 the upright. H3477

Deuteronomy 32:4 STRONG

He is the Rock, H6697 his work H6467 is perfect: H8549 for all his ways H1870 are judgment: H4941 a God H410 of truth H530 and without iniquity, H5766 just H6662 and right H3477 is he.

Matthew 2:1-2 STRONG

Now G1161 when Jesus G2424 was born G1080 in G1722 Bethlehem G965 of Judaea G2449 in G1722 the days G2250 of Herod G2264 the king, G935 behold, G2400 there came G3854 wise men G3097 from G575 the east G395 to G1519 Jerusalem, G2414 Saying, G3004 Where G4226 is G2076 he that is born G5088 King G935 of the Jews? G2453 for G1063 we have seen G1492 his G846 star G792 in G1722 the east, G395 and G2532 are come G2064 to worship G4352 him. G846

Romans 10:6-8 STRONG

But G1161 the righteousness G1343 which is of G1537 faith G4102 speaketh G3004 on this wise, G3779 Say G2036 not G3361 in G1722 thine G4675 heart, G2588 Who G5101 shall ascend G305 into G1519 heaven? G3772 (that is, G5123 to bring G2609 Christ G5547 down G2609 from above:) Or, G2228 Who G5101 shall descend G2597 into G1519 the deep? G12 (that is, G5123 to bring up G321 Christ G5547 again G321 from G1537 the dead.) G3498 But G235 what G5101 saith it? G3004 The word G4487 is G2076 nigh G1451 thee, G4675 even in G1722 thy G4675 mouth, G4750 and G2532 in G1722 thy G4675 heart: G2588 that is, G5123 the word G4487 of faith, G4102 which G3739 we preach; G2784

Romans 9:14 STRONG

What G5101 shall we say G2046 then? G3767 G3361 Is there unrighteousness G93 with G3844 God? G2316 God forbid. G3361 G1096

Romans 3:25-26 STRONG

Whom G3739 God G2316 hath set forth G4388 to be a propitiation G2435 through G1223 faith G4102 in G1722 his G846 blood, G129 to G1519 declare G1732 his G846 righteousness G1343 for G1223 the remission G3929 of sins G265 that are past, G4266 through G1722 the forbearance G463 of God; G2316 To G4314 declare, G1732 I say, at G1722 this G3568 time G2540 his G846 righteousness: G1343 that G1519 he might be G1511 just, G1342 and G2532 the justifier G1344 of him G846 which believeth G4102 in G1537 Jesus. G2424

Acts 8:27-40 STRONG

And G2532 he arose G450 and went: G4198 and, G2532 behold, G2400 a man G435 of Ethiopia, G128 an eunuch G2135 of great authority G1413 under Candace G2582 queen G938 of the Ethiopians, G128 who G3739 had G2258 the charge of G1909 all G3956 her G846 treasure, G1047 and G3739 had come G2064 to G1519 Jerusalem G2419 for to worship, G4352 G5037 Was G2258 returning, G5290 and G2532 sitting G2521 in G1909 his G846 chariot G716 G2532 read G314 Esaias G2268 the prophet. G4396 Then G1161 the Spirit G4151 said G2036 unto Philip, G5376 Go near, G4334 and G2532 join thyself to G2853 this G5129 chariot. G716 And G1161 Philip G5376 ran G4370 thither to him, and heard G191 him G846 read G314 the prophet G4396 Esaias, G2268 and G2532 said, G2036 Understandest thou G687 G1065 G1097 what G3739 thou readest? G314 And G1161 he said, G2036 How G1063 G4459 can I, G302 G1410 except G3362 some man G5100 should guide G3594 me? G3165 And G5037 he desired G3870 Philip G5376 that he would come up G305 and sit G2523 with G4862 him. G846 G1161 The place G4042 of the scripture G1124 which G3739 he read G314 was G2258 this, G3778 He was led G71 as G5613 a sheep G4263 to G1909 the slaughter; G4967 and G2532 like G5613 a lamb G286 dumb G880 before G1726 his G846 shearer, G2751 so G3779 opened he G455 not G3756 his G846 mouth: G4750 In G1722 his G846 humiliation G5014 his G846 judgment G2920 was taken away: G142 and G1161 who G5101 shall declare G1334 his G846 generation? G1074 for G3754 his G846 life G2222 is taken G142 from G575 the earth. G1093 And G1161 the eunuch G2135 answered G611 Philip, G5376 and said, G2036 I pray G1189 thee, G4675 of G4012 whom G5101 speaketh G3004 the prophet G4396 this? G5124 of G4012 himself, G1438 or G2228 of G4012 some G5100 other man? G2087 Then G1161 Philip G5376 opened G455 his G846 mouth, G4750 and G2532 began G756 at G575 the same G5026 scripture, G1124 and preached G2097 unto him G846 Jesus. G2424 And G1161 as G5613 they went G4198 on G2596 their way, G3598 they came G2064 unto G1909 a certain G5100 water: G5204 and G2532 the eunuch G2135 said, G5346 See, G2400 here is water; G5204 what G5101 doth hinder G2967 me G3165 to be baptized? G907 And G1161 Philip G5376 said, G2036 If G1487 thou believest G4100 with G1537 all thine G3650 heart, G2588 thou mayest. G1832 And G1161 he answered G611 and said, G2036 I believe G4100 that Jesus G2424 Christ G5547 is G1511 the Son G5207 of God. G2316 And G2532 he commanded G2753 the chariot G716 to stand still: G2476 and G2532 they went down G2597 both G297 into G1519 the water, G5204 both G5037 Philip G5376 and G2532 the eunuch; G2135 and G2532 he baptized G907 him. G846 And G1161 when G3753 they were come up G305 out of G1537 the water, G5204 the Spirit G4151 of the Lord G2962 caught away G726 Philip, G5376 G2532 that the eunuch G2135 saw G1492 G3756 him G846 no more: G3765 and G1063 he went G4198 on his G846 way G3598 rejoicing. G5463 But G1161 Philip G5376 was found G2147 at G1519 Azotus: G108 and G2532 passing G1330 through he preached G2097 in all G3956 the cities, G4172 till G2193 he G846 came G2064 to G1519 Caesarea. G2542

Matthew 12:42 STRONG

The queen G938 of the south G3558 shall rise up G1453 in G1722 the judgment G2920 with G3326 this G5026 generation, G1074 and G2532 shall condemn G2632 it: G846 for G3754 she came G2064 from G1537 the uttermost parts G4009 of the earth G1093 to hear G191 the wisdom G4678 of Solomon; G4672 and, G2532 behold, G2400 a greater than G4119 Solomon G4672 is here. G5602

Job 8:3 STRONG

Doth God H410 pervert H5791 judgment? H4941 or doth the Almighty H7706 pervert H5791 justice? H6664

Daniel 9:14 STRONG

Therefore hath the LORD H3068 watched H8245 upon the evil, H7451 and brought H935 it upon us: for the LORD H3068 our God H430 is righteous H6662 in all his works H4639 which he doeth: H6213 for we obeyed H8085 not his voice. H6963

Daniel 9:7 STRONG

O Lord, H136 righteousness H6666 belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion H1322 of faces, H6440 as at this day; H3117 to the men H376 of Judah, H3063 and to the inhabitants H3427 of Jerusalem, H3389 and unto all Israel, H3478 that are near, H7138 and that are far off, H7350 through all the countries H776 whither thou hast driven H5080 them, because of their trespass H4604 that they have trespassed H4603 against thee.

Jeremiah 12:1 STRONG

Righteous H6662 art thou, O LORD, H3068 when I plead H7378 with thee: yet let me talk H1696 with thee of thy judgments: H4941 Wherefore doth the way H1870 of the wicked H7563 prosper? H6743 wherefore are all they happy H7951 that deal very H899 treacherously? H898

Proverbs 2:4-5 STRONG

If thou seekest H1245 her as silver, H3701 and searchest H2664 for her as for hid treasures; H4301 Then shalt thou understand H995 the fear H3374 of the LORD, H3068 and find H4672 the knowledge H1847 of God. H430

Job 37:23 STRONG

Touching the Almighty, H7706 we cannot find him out: H4672 he is excellent H7689 in power, H3581 and in judgment, H4941 and in plenty H7230 of justice: H6666 he will not afflict. H6031

Job 34:10-12 STRONG

Therefore hearken H8085 unto me, ye men H582 of understanding: H3824 far be it H2486 from God, H410 that he should do wickedness; H7562 and from the Almighty, H7706 that he should commit iniquity. H5766 For the work H6467 of a man H120 shall he render H7999 unto him, and cause every man H376 to find H4672 according to his ways. H734 Yea, surely H551 God H410 will not do wickedly, H7561 neither will the Almighty H7706 pervert H5791 judgment. H4941

Job 34:5 STRONG

For Job H347 hath said, H559 I am righteous: H6663 and God H410 hath taken away H5493 my judgment. H4941

Job 32:8 STRONG

But H403 there is a spirit H7307 in man: H582 and the inspiration H5397 of the Almighty H7706 giveth them understanding. H995

Job 32:2 STRONG

Then was kindled H2734 the wrath H639 of Elihu H453 the son H1121 of Barachel H1292 the Buzite, H940 of the kindred H4940 of Ram: H7410 against Job H347 was his wrath H639 kindled, H2734 because he justified H6663 himself H5315 rather than God. H430

Job 28:20-24 STRONG

Whence H370 then cometh H935 wisdom? H2451 and where is the place H4725 of understanding? H998 Seeing it is hid H5956 from the eyes H5869 of all living, H2416 and kept close H5641 from the fowls H5775 of the air. H8064 Destruction H11 and death H4194 say, H559 We have heard H8085 the fame H8088 thereof with our ears. H241 God H430 understandeth H995 the way H1870 thereof, and he knoweth H3045 the place H4725 thereof. For he looketh H5027 to the ends H7098 of the earth, H776 and seeth H7200 under the whole heaven; H8064

Job 28:12-13 STRONG

But where H370 shall wisdom H2451 be found? H4672 and where is the place H4725 of understanding? H998 Man H582 knoweth H3045 not the price H6187 thereof; neither is it found H4672 in the land H776 of the living. H2416

Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Job 36

Commentary on Job 36 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary


Verses 1-4

1 Then Elihu continued and said:

2 Suffer me a little, and I will inform thee,

For there is something still to be said for Eloah.

3 I will fetch my knowledge from afar,

And to my Creator will I ascribe right.

4 For truly my words are not lies,

One perfect in knowledge stands before thee.

Elihu's preceding three speeches were introduced by ויּען ; this fourth, in honour of the number three, is introduced only as a continuation of the others. Job is to wait yet a little while, for he still has (= עוד לּי ), or: there still are, words in favour of Eloah; i.e., what may be said in vindication of God against Job's complaints and accusations is not yet exhausted. This appears to be the only instance of the Aramaic כּתּר being taken up as Hebr.; whereas הוּה , nunciare (Arab. wḥâ , I, IV), is a poetic Aramaism occurring even in Psalms 19:3 (comp. on the construction Job 32:6); and זעיר (a diminutive form, after the manner of the Arab. zu‛air ) belongs in Isaiah 28:10, Isaiah 28:13 to the popular language (of Jerusalem), but is here used poetically. The verb נשׂא , Job 36:3 , is not to be understood according to נשׂא משׁל , but according to 1 Kings 10:11; and למרחוק signifies, as also Job 39:29; Isaiah 37:26, e longinquo , viz., out of the wide realm of history and nature. The expression נתן צדק follows the analogy of ( עז ) נתן כבוד . דּעה , Job 36:4 , interchanges with the דּע which belongs exclusively to Elihu, since Elihu styles himself תּמים דּעות , as Job 37:16 God תּמים דּעים (comp. 1 Samuel 2:3, אל דּעות ). תמים in this combination with דעות cannot be intended of purity of character; but as Elihu there attributes absolute perfection of knowledge in every direction to God, so here, in reference to the theodicy which he opposes to Job, he claims faultlessness and clearness of perception.


Verses 5-7

5 Behold, God is mighty, and yet doth not act scornfully,

Mighty in power of understanding.

6 He preserveth not the life of the ungodly,

And to the afflicted He giveth right.

7 He withdraweth not His eyes from the righteous,

But with kings on the throne

He establisheth them for ever, and they are exalted.

The obj. that must be mentally supplied to ימאס ולא is, as in Job 42:6, to be derived from the connection. The idea of the verb is, as in Job 8:20 : He is exalted, without however looking down disdainfully ( non despicit ) from His height, or more definitely: without setting Himself above the justice due to even the meanest of His creatures - great in power of heart (comp. Job 34:33 אנשׁי לבב , Arab. ûlû - l - elbâb ), i.e., understanding ( νοῦς πνεῦμα ), to see through right and wrong everywhere and altogether. Job 36:6, Job 36:7 describe how His rule among men evinces this not merely outward but spiritual superiority coupled with condescension to the lowly. The notion of the object, ואת־מלכים לכּסּא (as Isaiah 9:11 the subject), becomes the more distinctly prominent by virtue of the fut. consec. which follows like a conclusion, and takes it up again. Ewald thinks this explanation contrary to the accents and the structure of the sentence itself; but it is perfectly consistent with the former, and indisputably syntactic (Ges. §129, 2, b , and Ew. himself, §344, b ). Psalms 9:5, comp. Psalms 132:12, Isaiah 47:1, shows how לכסא is intended (He causes them to sit upon the throne). Job 5:11; 1 Samuel 2:8; Psalms 113:7. are parallel passages.


Verses 8-10

8 And if they are bound with chains,

Holden in cords of affliction:

9 Then He declareth to them their doing

And their transgressions, that they have been vainglorious;

10 Then He openeth their ear to warning,

And commandeth them to turn from iniquity.

The subj. is in no case the רשׁעים (Hahn), but the צדיקים , or those who are as susceptible to discipline as it is needful to them, just as in Ps 107, which in general presents many instances for an extensive comparison with the speeches of Elihu. The chains, Job 36:8 , are meant literally, and the bands, Job 36:8 , figuratively; the Psalmist couples both in אסירי עני וברזל , Psalms 107:10. The conclusion begins with Job 36:9, and is repeated in another application, Job 36:10. פּעל in the sense of maleficium , as Arab. fa‛alat , recalls מעשׂה , facinus , Job 33:17. כּי , Job 36:9 , as in Job 36:10 , an objective quod . It is not translated, however, quod invaluerint (Rosenm.), which is opposed to the most natural sense of the Hithpa., but according to Job 15:25 : quod sese extulerint . מוּסר , παιδεία , disciplina , interchanges here with the more rare מסר used in Job 33:16; there we have already also met with the phrase גּלה אזן , to uncover the ear, i.e., to open. אמר כּי corresponds to the Arab. amara an ( bi - an ), to command that. The fundamental thought of Elihu here once again comes unmistakeably to view: the sufferings of the righteous are well-meant chastisements, which are to wean them from the sins into which through carnal security they have fallen - a warning from God to penitence, designed to work their good.


Verse 11-12

11 If they hear and yield,

They pass their days in prosperity

And their years in pleasure.

12 And if they hear not,

They pass away by the bow

And expire in lack of knowledge.

Since a declaration of the divine will has preceded in Job 36:10 , it is more natural to take ויעבדוּ in the sense of obsequi , to do the will of another (as 1 Kings 12:7, comp. מעבּד from עבד in the generalized sense of facere ), than, with Umbr., in the sense of colere scil. Deum (as Isaiah 19:23, Arab. ‛âbid , one who reveres God, a godly person). Instead of יבלּוּ , Isaiah 65:22 (on which the Masora observes לית , i.e., “nowhere else”) and Job 21:13 Chethîb , 'it is here without dispute יכלּוּ (Targ. ישׁלּמוּן , peragent , as Ezekiel 43:27). נעימים is, as Psalms 16:6, a neutral masc.: amoena . On עבר בשׁלח , to precipitate one's self into the weapon, i.e., to incur peremptory punishment, comp. Job 33:18. On בבלי דעת comp. Job 35:16; Job 4:21. Impenitence changes affliction, which is intended to be a means of rescue, into total destruction; yet there are some who will not be warned and affrighted by it.


Verses 13-15

13 Yet the hypocrites in heart cherish wrath,

They cry not when He hath chained them.

14 Thus their soul dieth in the vigour of youth,

And their life is like that of the unclean.

15 Yet He delivereth the sufferer by his affliction,

And openeth their ear by oppression.

He who is angry with God in his affliction, and does not humbly pray to Him, shows thereby that he is a חנף , one estranged from God (on the idea of the root, vid., i. 216), and not a צדיק . This connection renders it natural to understand not the divine wrath by אף : θησαυρίζουσιν ὀργήν (Rosenm. after Romans 2:5), or: they heap up wrath upon themselves (Wolfson, who supplies עליהם ), but the impatience, discontent, and murmuring of man himself: they cherish or harbour wrath, viz., בּלבּם (comp. Job 22:22, where שׁים בלב signifies to take to heart, but at the same time to preserve in the heart). Used thus absolutely, שׂים signifies elsewhere in the book, to give attention to, Job 4:20; Job 24:12; Job 34:23, or (as Arab. wḍ‛ ) to lay down a pledge; here it signifies reponunt s. recondunt (with an implied in ipsis ), as also Arab. šâm , fut. i, to conceal with the idea of sinking into ( immittentem ), e.g., the sword in the sheath. With תּמת , for ותּמת (Isaiah 50:2) or ותמת , the punishment which issues forth undistinguished from this frustration of the divine purpose of grace follows ἀσυνδέτως , as e.g., Hosea 7:16. חיּה interchanges with נפשׁ , as Job 33:22, Job 33:28; נער (likewise a favourite word with Elihu) is intended just as Job 33:25, and in the Psalms 88:16, which resembles both the Elihu section and the rest of the book. The Beth of בּקּדשׁים has the sense of aeque ac (Targ. היך ), as Job 34:36, comp. תּחת , Job 34:26. Jer. translates inter effeminatos ; for קדשׁים (heathenish, equivalent to קדושׁים , as כּמרים , heathenish, equivalent to כּהנים ) are the consecrated men, who yielded themselves up, like the women in honour of the deity, to passive, prematurely-enervating incontinence (vid., Keil on Deuteronomy 23:18), a heathenish abomination prevailing now and again even in Israel (1 Kings 14:24; 1 Kings 15:12; 1 Kings 22:47), which was connected with the worship of Astarte and Baal that was transferred from Syria, and to which allusion is here made, in accordance with the scene of the book. For the sufferer, on the other hand, who suffers not merely of necessity, but willingly, this his suffering is a means of rescue and moral purification. Observe the play upon the words יחלּץ and בּלחץ . The Beth in both instances is, in accordance with Elihu's fundamental thought, the Beth instrum .


Verses 16-18

16 And He even bringeth thee out of the jaws of distress

To a broad place, whose ground hath no straitness,

And the adorning of thy table shall be full of fatness.

17 Yet thou art become full of the judging of the evil-doer:

Judging and judgment lay hold on one another!

18 For let not anger indeed entice thee to scorning,

And let not the greatness of the ransom mislead thee.

With Job 36:16 Elihu passes over to the application to Job of what he said in the preceding strophe. Since it is usual to place אף (like גּם and אך ) at the beginning of the sentence, although not belonging to the member of the sentence which immediately follows, ואף הסיתך for והסית אף אתך cannot be remarkable. The praet . הסיתך is not promissory, but Elihu says with what design God has decreed the present suffering for Job. הסית מן is like 2 Chronicles 18:31 : out of distress ( צר for צר by Rebia magnum ), which has him in its jaws, and threatens to swallow him, God brings him away to great prosperity; a thought which Elihu expresses in the imagery of the Psalms of a broad place and a bountiful table (comp. e.g., Psalms 4:2; Psalms 23:5). רחב is locative, and לא־מוּצק תּחתּיה is either a relative clause: whose beneath (ground) is not straitened, no-straitness (in which case מוּצק would not be constr . from the n. hophal. מוּצק , Isa.Isaiah 9:1, but absol . after the form מחנק , Job 7:15, Ew. §160, c , Anm. 4), Saad. Arab. lâ ḍı̂q fı̂ mûḍ‛hâ ( cujus in loco non angustiae ); or it is virtually an adj.: without ( לא = בּלא , as Job 34:24), comp. on Job 12:24) straitness of what is beneath them, eorum quae sub se habet (comp. on Job 28:5). רחב is fem., like רחוב , Daniel 9:25. A special clause takes the place of the locative, Job 36:16 : and the settling or spreading, i.e., the provision (from נוּח , to come down gradually, to seat one's self) of thy table shall be full of fatness. מלא (whether it be adj. or verb) is treated by attraction, according to the gender of the governed noun; and it is unnecessary, with Rosenm. and others, to derive נחת from נחת (Aram. for ירד ).

In Job 36:17, דּין is intended of Job's negative judgment concerning God and His dealings (comp. Psalms 76:9, where it signifies a judicial decision, and Proverbs 22:10, where it signifies a wrangling refusal of a fair decision). Job 36:17 is not a conditional clause (Hahn), in which case the praet. hypothet . would have a prominent position, but an adversative predicative clause: but (nevertheless) thou art full of the judging of the evil-doer (evil judging); after which, just as ἀσυνδέτως as Job 36:14 , the sad issue in which this judging after the manner of evil-doers results is expressed: such judging and judgment border closely upon one another. Röd., Dietr., and Schlottm. have wrongly reproduced this idea, discerned by Ges., when they translate: judgment and sentence (guilt and punishment) shall seize thee. יתמכוּ , prehendunt scil. se (Ebr.: put forth the hand), is used like the Aram. סמך , to draw nearer, fasten together (Rabb. סמוּך , near at hand), Arab. tamâsaka (from Arab. msk = סמך , as e.g., hanash = נחשׁ ). In Job 36:18 we leave the signification thick milk or cream ( חמה = חמאה , as Job 29:6) to those who persuade themselves that cream can be metaphorically equivalent to superfluity (Ew., Hirz., Vaih., Hlgst.). Renan's translation: N'espère pas détourner la colère de Dieu par une amende , we also leave as a simple puzzle to its discoverer, who, with this one exception, is destitute of thoughts proper to the book of Job. In general, the thought, “do not imagine by riches, by a great ransom, to be able to satisfy the claims of God,” is altogether out of place here. Moreover, חמה , which, as e.g., דּאגה , Proverbs 12:25 (Ew. §174, g ), is construed as masc., cannot be understood of God's wrath, since the poet by הסית will not at one time have ascribed to God a well-meant incitation, at another an enticement in malam partem . That which allures is Job's own חמה , and that not the excitement of his affliction (Hahn), but of his passion; comp. אף , Job 36:13. שׂפק is, however, to be explained according to Job 34:37, comp. Job 27:23 (clapping of hands = derision); and כּפר signifies reconciliation or expiation, as Job 33:24. Elihu admonishes Job not to allow himself to be drawn by the heat of passion into derision, or to deride; nor to be allured from the right way by the ransom which is required of him as the price of restoration to happiness, viz., humble submission to the divine chastisement, as though this ransom were exceeding great. The connection is clear: an adverse verdict ( דּין ) and condemnation ( משׁפּט ) are closely connected; for ( כּי ) hastiness of temper, let it not ( פּן( ton ti ) lead thee astray ... thou wouldst not escape the judgment of God!


Verses 19-21

19 Shall thy crying place thee beyond distress,

And all the efforts of strength?

20 Long not for the night to come,

Which shall remove people from their place!

21 Take heed, incline not to evil;

For this thou hast desired more than affliction.

Those expositors who found in Job 36:18 the warning, that Job should not imagine that he would be able to redeem himself from judgment by a large ransom, go on to explain: will He esteem thy riches? (Farisol, Rosenm., Umbr., Carey, Ebr., and others); or: will thy riches suffice? (Hirz., Schlottm.); or some other way (Ew.). But apart from the want of connection of this insinuation, which is otherwise not mentioned in the book, and apart from the violence which must be done to היערך to accommodate it to it, שׁוּע , although it might, as the abstract of שׁוע , Job 34:19, signify wealth (comp. Arab. sa‛at , amplitudo ), is, however, according to the usage of the language (vid., Job 30:24), so far as we can trace it, a secondary form of שׁוע ( שׁועה ), a cry for help; and Job 35:9., Job 36:13, and other passages, also point to this signification. What follows is still less appropriate to this thought of ransom; Hirz. translates: Oh, not God and all the treasures of wealth! But בּצר is nowhere equivalent to בּצר , Job 22:24; but צר , Job 36:16, signifies distress; and the expression לא בצר , in a condition devoid of distress, is like לא בחכמה , Job 4:21, and לא ביד , Job 34:20. Finally, אמּיץ כּח signifies mighty in physical strength, Job 9:4, Job 9:19, and מאמצּי־כח strong proofs of strength, not “treasures of wealth.” Stick. correctly interprets: “Will thy wild raging cry, then, and all thine exertions, as a warrior puts them forth in the tumult of battle to work his way out, put thee where there is an open space?” but the figure of a warrior is, with Hahn, to be rejected; ערך is only a nice word for שׁית שׂים , to place, set up, Job 37:19.

Job 36:20

Elihu calls upon Job to consider the uselessness of his vehement contending with God, and then warns him against his dreadful provocation of divine judgment: ne anheles (Job 7:2) noctem illam (with the emphatic art .) sublaturam populos loco suo . לעלות is equivalent to futuram ( ההוה or העתידה ) ut tollat = sublaturam (vid., on Job 5:11, לשׂוּם , collocaturus ; Job 30:6, לשׁכּן , habitandum est ), syncopated from להעלות , in the sense of Psalms 102:25; and תּחתּם signifies, as Job 40:12 (comp. on Habakkuk 3:16), nothing but that just where they are, firmly fixed without the possibility of escape, they are deprived of being. If whole peoples are overtaken by such a fate, how much less shall the individual be able to escape it! And yet Job presses forward on to the tribunal of the terrible Judge, instead of humbling himself under His mighty hand. Oh that in time he would shrink back from this absolute wickedness ( און ), for he has given it the preference before עני , quiet, resigned endurance. בּחר על signifies, 2 Samuel 19:39, to choose to lay anything on any one; here as בחר בּ , elsewhere to extend one's choice to something, to make something an object of choice; perhaps also under the influence of the phrase התענּג על , and similar phrases. The construction is remarkable, since one would sooner have expected על־עני זה בחרת , hanc elegisti prae toleratione .


Verses 22-25

22 Behold, God acteth loftily in His strength;

Who is a teacher like unto Him?

23 Who hath appointed Him His way,

And who dare say: Thou doest iniquity!?

24 Remember that thou magnify His doing,

Which men have sung.

25 All men delight in it,

Mortal man looketh upon it from afar.

Most modern expositors, after the lxx δυνάστης , give אמת the signification lord, by comparing the Arab. mar - un ( imru - un ), Syr. mor (with the art. moro ) or more (with the art. morjo ), Chald. מרא , Talmud. מר (comp. Philo, ii. 522, ed. Mangey: οὃτως , viz., μάριν φασὶ τὸν κύριον ὀνομάζεστηαι παρὰ Σύροις ), with it; but Rosenm., Arnh., Löwenthal, Wolfson, and Schlottm., after the Targ., Syr., and Jer., rightly abide by the signification: teacher. For (1) אמת (from הורה , Psalms 25:8, Psalms 25:12; Psalms 32:8) has no etymological connection with mr (of מרא , Arab. maru'a , opimum , robustum esse ); (2) it is, moreover, peculiar to Elihu to represent God as a teacher both by dreams and dispensations of affliction, Job 33:14, Job 34:32, and by His creatures, Job 35:11; and (3) the designation of God as an incomparable teacher is also not inappropriate here, after His rule is described in Job 36:22 as transcendently exalted, which on that very account commands to human research a reverence which esteems itself lightly. Job 36:23 is not to be translated: who overlooketh Him in His way? ( פּקד with על of the personal and acc . of the neutral obj.), which is without support in the language; but: who has prescribed to Him ( פקד על as Job 34:13) His way? i.e., as Rosenm. correctly interprets: quis ei praescripsit quae agere deberet , He is no mandatory, is responsible to no one, and under obligation to no one, and who should dare to say ( quis dixerit ; on the perf. comp. on Job 35:15): Thou doest evil? - man shall be a docile learner, not a self-satisfied, conceited censurer of the absolute One, whose rule is not to be judged according to the laws of another, but according to His own laws. Thus, then, shall Job remember ( memento = cura ut ) to extol ( תשׂגּיא , Job 12:23) God's doings, which have been sung (comp. e.g., Psalms 104:22) by אנשׁים , men of the right order (Job 37:24); Jer. de quo cecinerunt viri . שׁרר nowhere has the signification intueri (Rosenm., Umbr.); on the other hand, Elihu is fond of direct (Job 33:27; Job 35:10) and indirect allusions to the Psalms. All men - he continues, with reference to God's פּעל , working - behold it, viz., as בו implies, with pleasure and astonishment; mortals gaze upon it (reverentially) from afar, - the same thought as that which has already (Job 26:14) found the grandest expression in Job's mouth.


Verses 26-29

26 Behold, God is exalted-we know Him not entirely;

The number of His years, it is unsearchable.

27 For He draweth down the drops of water,

They distil as rain in connection with its mist,

28 Which the clouds do drop,

Distil upon the multitude of men.

29 Who can altogether understand the spreadings of the clouds,

The crash of His tabernacle?

The Waw of the quasi-conclusion in Job 36:26 corresponds to the Waw of the train of thought in Job 36:26 (Ges. §145, 2). מספּר שׁניו is, as the subject-notion, conceived as a nominative (vid., on Job 4:6), not as in similar quasi-antecedent clauses, e.g., Job 23:12, as an acc . of relation. שׂגּיא here and Job 37:23 occurs otherwise only in Old Testament Chaldee. In what follows Elihu describes the wondrous origin of rain. “If Job had only come,” says a Midrash ( Jalkut , §518), “to explain to us the matter of the race of the deluge (vid., especially Job 22:15-18), it had been sufficient; and if Elihu had only come to explain to us the matter of the origin of rain ( מעשׂה ירידת גשׁמים ), it had been enough.” In Gesenius' Handwörterbuch , Job 36:27 is translated: when He has drawn up the drops of water to Himself, then, etc. But it is יגרע , not גּרע ; and גּרע neither in Hebr. nor in Arab. signifies attrahere in sublime (Rosenm.), but only attrahere (root גר ) and detrahere; the latter signification is the prevailing one in Hebr. (Job 15:8; Job 36:7). With כּי the transcendent exaltation of the Being who survives all changes of creation is shown by an example: He draws away (draws off, as it were) the water-drops, viz., from the waters that are confined above on the circle of the sky, which pass over us as mist and cloud (vid., Genesis , S. 107); and these water-drops distil down ( זקק , to ooze, distil, here not in a transitive but an intransitive signification, since the water-drops are the rain itself) as rain, לאדו , with its mist, i.e., since a mist produced by it (Genesis 2:6) fills the expanse ( רקיע ), the downfall of which is just this rain, which, as Job 36:28 says, the clouds (called שׁחקים on account of its thin strata of air, in distinction from the next mist-circle) cause to flow gently down upon the multitude of men, i.e., far and wide over the mass of men who inhabit the district visited by the rain; both verbs are used transitively here, both נזל as Isaiah 45:8, and רעף , as evidently Proverbs 3:20. אף אם , Job 36:29 , commences an intensive question: moreover, could one understand = could one completely understand; which certainly, according to the sense, is equivalent to: how much less ( אף כּי ). אם is, however, the interrogative an , and אף אם corresponds to האף in the first member of the double question, Job 34:17; Job 40:8. מפרשׂי are not the burstings, from פּרשׂ = פּרס , frangere, findere , but spreadings, as Ezekiel 27:7 shows, from פּרשׂ , expandere , Psalms 105:39, comp. supra on Job 36:9. It is the growth of the storm-clouds, which collect often from a beginning ”small as a man's hand” (1 Kings 18:44), that is intended; majestic omnipotence conceals itself behind these as in a סכּה (Psalms 18:12) woven out of thick branches; and the rolling thunder is here called the crash ( תּשׁאות , as Job 39:7, is formed from שׁוא , to rumble, whence also שׁואה , if it is not after the form גּולה , migration, exile, from שׁאה morf , , vid., on Job 30:3) of this pavilion of clouds in which the Thunderer works.


Verses 30-33

30 Behold, He spreadeth His light over Himself,

And the roots of the sea He covereth.

31 For thereby He judgeth peoples,

He giveth food in abundance.

32 Both hands He covereth over with light,

And directeth it as one who hitteth the mark.

33 His noise announceth Him,

The cattle even that He is approaching.

A few expositors (Hirz., Hahn, Schlottm.) understand the celestial ocean, or the sea of the upper waters, by ים , Job 36:30 ; but it is more than questionable (vid., on Job 9:8) whether ים is used anywhere in this sense. Others as (Umbr., Ew.) the masses of water drawn up to the sky out of the depths of the sea, on which a Persian passage cited by Stick. (who, however, regards the Waw of ושׁרשׁי as Waw adaequationis ) from Schebisteri may be compared: “an exhalation rises up out of the sea, and comes down at God's command upon the deserts.” In both cases כּסּה would be equivalent to כסה עליו , obtegit se , which in and of itself is possible. But he who has once witnessed a storm in the neighbourhood of the sea, will decide in favour of one of the three following explanations: (1.) He covereth the uprooted ground of the sea (comp. Psalms 18:15.) with the subsiding waves (Blumenf.); but then Job 36:30 would require to be understood of the light of the brightening sky following the darkness of the storm, which is improbable in respect of Job 36:32 . (2.) While the sky is brilliantly lighted up by the lightning, the abysses of the ocean are veiled in a so much deeper darkness; the observation is correct, but not less so another, that the lightning by a thunder-storm, especially when occurring at night, descends into the depths of the sea like snares that are cast down ( פּחים , Psalms 11:6), and the water is momentarily changed as it were into a sea of flame; accordingly it may be explained, (3.) Behold, He spreadeth over Himself His light (viz., the light which incessantly illumines the world), and the roots of the sea, i.e., the sea down to its depths, He covers with it, since He makes it light through and through (Stuhlm. Wolfs.). Thus, as it appears, Jerome also interprets: Et (si voluerit) fulgurare lumine suo desuper, cardines quoque maris operiet .

(Note: The Targ. translates אור , Job 36:30, Job 36:32, by מטרא , pluvia , according to the erroneous opinion of R. Jochanan: כל אורה שׁנאמר באליהוא אינו אלא בירידת גשׁמים . Aben-Ezra and Kimchi explain even עלי־אור , Isaiah 18:4, according to this passage. The lxx translates Job 36:30 : ἰδοὺ ἐκτενεῖ ἐπ ̓ αὐτὸν ἠδώ ( Cod. Alex. επ αυτον το τοξον ; Cod. Sinait. επ αυτην ηωδη (with the corrections ηδω and τοξον ), probably according to the reading אידו for אורו . But what connection have ἠδώ and rainbow?)

This, that He makes the light of the lightning His manifestation ( פּרשׂ עליו ), and that He covers the earth down to the roots of the sea beneath with this light, is established in Job 36:31 from the design, partly judicial, partly beneficial, which exists in connection with it. בּם refers as neuter (like בּהם , Job 22:21) to the phenomena of the storm; מכבּיר (with the adverbial ל like לרב , Job 26:3), what makes great = a making great, abundance (only here), is n. hiphil. after the form משׁהית , perdens = perditio . In Job 36:32 God is represented under a military figure as a slinger of lightnings: He covers light over both hands, i.e., arms both completely with light (comp. סכסך and Arab. škk , totum se operire armis ), and directs it ( עליה referring to אור as fem . like Jeremiah 13:16, and sometimes in the Talmud). But what is the meaning of בּמפגּיע ? Hahn takes מפגיע as n. hiphil. like מכביר : an object of attack; but what then becomes of the original Hiphil signification? It ought to be בּמפגּע (Job 7:20), as Olsh. wishes to read it. Ew., Hirz., and others, after the example of Theod. (lxx), Syr., Jer., translate: against the adversary; מפגיע ;yrasre signifies indeed the opposite in Isaiah 49:16 : intercessor (properly, one who assails with prayers); however, it would be possible for this word, just as פגע c. acc. (which signifies usually a hostile meeting, Exodus 5:3 and freq., but sometimes also a friendly, Isaiah 47:3; Isaiah 64:4), to be an ἐναντιόσημον . We prefer to abide by the usage of the language as we have it, according to which הפגיע signifies facere ut quid incurset s. petat , Isaiah 53:6; מפגיע therefore is one who hits, in opposition to one who misses the mark. The Beth is the Beth essentiae (vid., on Job 23:13), used here like Exodus 6:3; Psalms 55:19; Isaiah 40:10. With both hands He seizes the substance of the lightning, fills them with it so that they are completely covered by it, and gives it the command (appoints it its goal), a sure aimer!

Job 36:33

Targ., Syr., Symm., Theod. (from which Job 36:32 is supplied in the lxx),

(Note: Vid., Bickel, De indole ac ratione versionis Alex. in interpretando l. Iobi, p. 50. Cod. Sinait. has, like Cod. Vat.: αναγγελει περι αυτου φιλον (corr. φιλος ) αυτου κς κτησις και περι αδικαις .)

Jer., Luther, and others destroy the idea, since they translate רעו = רעהוּ , “his friend (companion).” Among moderns, only Umbr. and Schlottm. adopt this signification; Böttch. and Welte, after the example of Cocceius, Tingstad, and others, attempt it with the signification “thought = determination;” but most expositors, from Ew. to Hahn, decide in favour of the rendering as simple as it is consistent with the usage of the language and the connection: His noise ( רעו as Exodus 32:17) gives tidings concerning Him (announces Him). In Job 36:33 Theod. (lxx), Syr., and Jer. point מקנה like our text, but translate possessio , with which we can do nothing. It seems that in the three attempts of the Targ. to translate Job 36:33, the translators had קנאה and קנּא before their mind, according to which Hahn translates: the arousing of anger (announces) the comer, which assumes מקנה instead of מקנה ; and Schlottm.: fierce wrath (goes forth) over evil (according to Symm. ζῆλον περὶ ἀδικίας ), which assumes the reading עולה ( עולה ), ἀδικία , adopted also by Syr., Theod. (lxx). Schultens even renders similarly: rubedinem flammantem nasi contra elatum , and Tingstad: zelum irae in iniquitatem . But it is not probable that the language was acquainted with a subst. מקנה , exciting, although in Ezekiel 8:3 המּקנה is equivalent to המּקניא , so that one might more readily be tempted (vid., Hitz. in loc. ) to read מקנה אף , ”one who excites anger against evil,” it one is not willing to decide with Berg, and recently Bleek, in favour of ( מקנּה ) מקנּא אף בּעולה , excandescens (zelans) ira = contra iniquitatem . But does the text as it stands really not give an appropriate idea? Aben-Ezra and Duran have understood it of the foreboding of an approaching thunder-storm which is manifested by cattle, מקנה . Accordingly Ew. translates: His thunder announces Him, the cattle even, that He is approaching; and peculiarly new (understanding יגיד not of a foreboding but of a thankful lowing) is Ebrard's rendering; also the cattle at fresh sprouting grass. But such a change of the position of אף is without precedent. Hirz. and Ges.: His rumble (rumble of thunder) announces Him to the herds, Him, and indeed as Him who rises up (approaches). But this new interpunction destroys the division of the verse and the syntax. Better Rosenm. like Duran: pecus non tantum pluviam proximam, sed et antequam nubes in sublime adscenderint adscensuras prae sagit, according to Virgil, Georg. i. 374f.:

illum (imbrem) surgentem vallibus imis

Aeriae fugere grues