Job 34

Elihu went on speaking. He said:

1Furthermore Elihu answered and said,

NoteElihu is the fourth and youngest speaker. He broke into the debate at chapter 32, after Job's three friends had run out of arguments, and he speaks four times in a row without anyone answering him. This is the third of those speeches.

2Listen to my words, you wise men. Pay attention to me, you who have learning.

2Hear my words, O ye wise men; and give ear unto me, ye that have knowledge.

3The ear tests words the way the mouth tastes food.

3For the ear trieth words, as the mouth tasteth meat.

NoteIn 1611 English "meat" meant food of any kind, not flesh in particular. The proverb is one Job himself used earlier (12:11); Elihu is quoting Job's own saying back at him.

4Let us choose for ourselves what is right. Let us decide together what is good.

4Let us choose to us judgment: let us know among ourselves what is good.

NoteKJV "judgment" in this chapter almost always means justice, or a court's verdict, not the act of forming an opinion. "Let us choose to us judgment" means: let us work out together what a just ruling would be.

5Job has said, 'I am in the right, and God has denied me justice.

5For Job hath said, I am righteous: and God hath taken away my judgment.

NoteElihu is summarizing Job rather than quoting him word for word; the closest thing Job actually said is at 27:2. The complaint is a legal one, Job says he has been denied a hearing, not merely that he feels hard done by.

6Would I lie about my own case? My wound will not heal, even though I have done nothing wrong.'

6Should I lie against my right? my wound is incurable without transgression.

NoteThe Hebrew word for the wound is the one used for an arrow wound (compare 6:4). The last phrase is compressed and translators attach it differently, but both readings come out the same: the wound will not heal, and nothing Job did earned it.

7Is there any man like Job, who drinks in mockery the way a person drinks water?

7What man is like Job, who drinketh up scorning like water?

NoteDrinking something "like water" is an idiom for taking it in freely and in large quantity. Eliphaz used it of wicked men drinking down evil (15:16). The Hebrew leaves open whether Job swallows the mockery aimed at him or pours it out on others.

8He keeps company with people who do evil, and he walks with wicked men.

8Which goeth in company with the workers of iniquity, and walketh with wicked men.

9For he has said, 'A man gains nothing at all by trying to please God.'

9For he hath said, It profiteth a man nothing that he should delight himself with God.

NoteJob never says this in these words anywhere in the book. The nearest thing is 21:15, where Job reports what wicked men say. Elihu is stating what he takes to be the logical end of Job's argument, and treating it as Job's own position.

10So listen to me, you men who understand. God would never do wrong. The Almighty would never act unjustly.

10Therefore hearken unto me ye men of understanding: far be it from God, that he should do wickedness; and from the Almighty, that he should commit iniquity.

Note"The Almighty" translates Shaddai, an ancient title for God used far more often in Job than in the rest of the Hebrew Bible; its original meaning is no longer certain. "Far be it from God" renders a fixed phrase of horrified rejection, close to "unthinkable."

11He pays a man back for what he does. He brings on each person what his own way of living deserves.

11For the work of a man shall he render unto him, and cause every man to find according to his ways.

12It is certainly true: God does not act wickedly, and the Almighty does not twist justice.

12Yea, surely God will not do wickedly, neither will the Almighty pervert judgment.

13Who put him in charge of the earth? Who handed the whole world over to him?

13Who hath given him a charge over the earth? or who hath disposed the whole world?

NoteA rhetorical question expecting the answer "no one." A human official holds his post from somebody above him, and can be leaned on by whoever appointed him; the question turns on the fact that no one appointed God.

14If God decided to think only of himself, and pulled back his spirit and his breath,

14If he set his heart upon man, if he gather unto himself his spirit and his breath;

Note"Spirit" and "breath" render two Hebrew words for the breath of life that animates a living body, the same idea as Genesis 2:7, where God breathes life into the first man. Drawing that breath back in is a picture of death.

15then every living thing would die at once, and human beings would return to the dust.

15All flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto dust.

Note"Return to the dust" echoes the wording of Genesis 3:19.

16If you have any understanding, listen to this. Pay attention to what I am saying.

16If now thou hast understanding, hear this: hearken to the voice of my words.

NoteElihu switches here from the plural "you" of verses 2–10, addressed to the wise men listening, to a singular "you" addressed to Job alone. Modern English "you" covers both, so the change is invisible.

17Could someone who hates justice be a ruler at all? Will you condemn the one who is just and mighty?

17Shall even he that hateth right govern? and wilt thou condemn him that is most just?

18Is it right to say to a king, 'You are worthless,' or to nobles, 'You are wicked'?

18Is it fit to say to a king, Thou art wicked? and to princes, Ye are ungodly?

NoteThe Hebrew has no verb in this line, and it can be read two ways. KJV reads it as a question about what is proper for a subject to say to his king, leading into verse 19: how much worse to say it to God. The other reading makes it a description of God himself, who does tell kings they are worthless. "Worthless" translates beliyya'al, a very strong word of contempt.

19How much less should anyone say it to God, who shows no favor to princes and does not treat the rich as better than the poor. All of them are the work of his hands.

19How much less to him that accepteth not the persons of princes, nor regardeth the rich more than the poor? for they all are the work of his hands.

NoteKJV "accepteth not the persons" renders a Hebrew courtroom idiom, literally "lifting the face", showing partiality to one side, the standard charge against a corrupt judge.

20They die in a moment. In the middle of the night people are shaken and pass away. The powerful are removed without any human hand.

20In a moment shall they die, and the people shall be troubled at midnight, and pass away: and the mighty shall be taken away without hand.

Note"Without hand" is an idiom meaning without human agency: no assassin, no army, no visible cause. The powerful simply drop.

21God's eyes are on the ways of a man. He sees every step that person takes.

21For his eyes are upon the ways of man, and he seeth all his goings.

22There is no darkness, no deep shadow, where people who do evil can hide from him.

22There is no darkness, nor shadow of death, where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.

NoteKJV "shadow of death" translates tsalmaweth, a Hebrew word for the thickest possible darkness. Whether "death" is really part of the word is disputed; the sense is pitch black.

23God does not put on anyone more than is right, so that a person would have to take God to court.

23For he will not lay upon man more than right; that he should enter into judgment with God.

NoteOne of the hardest verses in the book. KJV takes it as God not loading a man with more than is fair. Others take it as God not needing to set a man a date to appear in court, because he requires no further investigation before judging.

24He shatters powerful men without an investigation, and he sets up others in their place.

24He shall break in pieces mighty men without number, and set others in their stead.

NoteKJV "without number" and the rendering's "without an investigation" translate the same Hebrew phrase, which can mean either "beyond counting" or "without inquiry": that is, without the formal examination a human court would have to hold first.

25Because he knows what they have done, he overturns them in the night, and they are crushed.

25Therefore he knoweth their works, and he overturneth them in the night, so that they are destroyed.

26He strikes them down for their wickedness where everyone can see it.

26He striketh them as wicked men in the open sight of others;

NoteThe picture is a public execution. Criminals were struck down in an open place where a crowd could watch, the shame of the setting being part of the punishment.

27He does this because they turned away from following him and paid no attention to any of his ways.

27Because they turned back from him, and would not consider any of his ways:

28Their actions made the cry of the poor come up to him, and he heard the cry of those who were suffering.

28So that they cause the cry of the poor to come unto him, and he heareth the cry of the afflicted.

NoteIn the ancient Near East the outcry of someone wronged was close to a legal act: a victim's shout in a public place obliged those who heard it to take the case up. The claim here is that such a cry reaches God.

29When he keeps quiet, who can condemn him? When he hides his face, who can see him? This is true whether he is dealing with a whole nation or with just one person.

29When he giveth quietness, who then can make trouble? and when he hideth his face, who then can behold him? whether it be done against a nation, or against a man only:

Note"Hides his face" is an idiom for withdrawing attention or favor, like a king refusing to grant an audience. The first half of the verse is also read by some as "when he keeps quiet, who can condemn him?" and by others as "who can declare him guilty?", the Hebrew supports both.

30He acts so that a godless man will not rule and trap the people.

30That the hypocrite reign not, lest the people be ensnared.

NoteKJV "hypocrite" translates chanef, which in Hebrew means godless or morally polluted. It does not mean someone who fakes piety, which is what the English word suggests today.

31Suppose a man says to God, 'I have taken my punishment; I will not do wrong again.

31Surely it is meet to be said unto God, I have borne chastisement, I will not offend any more:

NoteKJV "meet" is the old word for fitting or proper. What follows is a specimen speech of submission that Elihu imagines a man making to God. The Hebrew of the opening is damaged or elliptical, which is why translations have to supply something like "suppose someone says."

32Teach me what I cannot see for myself. If I have done evil, I will not do it again.'

32That which I see not teach thou me: if I have done iniquity, I will do no more.

33Should God pay you back on your terms, when you have refused his? You are the one who must choose, not I. So say what you know.

33Should it be according to thy mind? he will recompense it, whether thou refuse, or whether thou choose; and not I: therefore speak what thou knowest.

NoteThe Hebrew of this verse is obscure and every translation reconstructs it differently. The general drift is: you cannot expect God to settle the account on terms you set yourself while refusing his; the decision is yours to make, not Elihu's.

34Men who understand will tell me, and any wise man who hears me will say:

34Let men of understanding tell me, and let a wise man hearken unto me.

35'Job speaks without knowledge. His words show no insight.'

35Job hath spoken without knowledge, and his words were without wisdom.

36I wish Job could be tested to the very limit, because he answers the way wicked men do.

36My desire is that Job may be tried unto the end because of his answers for wicked men.

Note"Tried" is a courtroom word here (examined, put through the full process), not "tempted." Elihu is asking that Job's case be pressed to its conclusion rather than dropped.

37He piles rebellion on top of his sin. He claps his hands among us, and he heaps up words against God.

37For he addeth rebellion unto his sin, he clappeth his hands among us, and multiplieth his words against God.

NoteClapping the hands here is a gesture of contempt, not applause. It goes with jeering at someone who has been brought down (compare Lamentations 2:15).