Job 35 commentary

JOB 35 COMME TARY
EDITED BY GLE PEASE
1 THE ELIHU SAID,
BAR ES, "Elihu spake - Hebrew, ‫ויען‬ vaya‛an “And he answered”; the word
“answer” being used, as it is often in the Scriptures, to denote the commencement of a
discourse. We may suppose that Elihu had paused at the close of his second discourse,
possibly with a view to see whether there was any disposition to reply.
GILL, "Elihu spake moreover, and said. Elihu very probably paused awhile, and
waited to observe whether any of the company would rise up, and either contradict and
refute what he had said, or declare their assent unto it and approbation of it; or rather to
see whether Job would make any reply or not; but perceiving no inclination in him to it,
he proceeded to take notice of some other undue expressions of Job, and refute them;
one of which is observed in Job_35:2, and the proof of it given in Job_35:3.
HE RY 1-3, "I. The bad words which Elihu charges upon Job, Job_35:2, Job_35:3.
To evince the badness of them he appeals to Job himself, and his own sober thoughts, in
the reflection: Thinkest thou this to be right? This intimates Elihu's confidence that the
reproof he now gave was just, for he could refer the judgment of it even to Job himself.
Those that have truth and equity on their side sooner or later will have every man's
conscience on their side. It also intimates his good opinion of Job, that he thought better
than he spoke, and that, though he had spoken amiss, yet, when he perceived his
mistake, he would not stand to it. When we have said, in our haste, that which was not
right, it becomes us to own that our second thoughts convince us that it was wrong. Two
things Elihu here reproves Job for: - 1. For justifying himself more than God, which was
the thing that first provoked him, Job_32:2. “Thou hast, in effect, said, My
righteousness is more than God's,” that is, “I have done more for God than ever he did
for me; so that, when the accounts are balanced, he will be brought in debtor to me.” As
if Job thought his services had been paid less than they deserved and his sins punished
more than they deserved, which is a most unjust and wicked thought for any man to
harbour and especially to utter. When Job insisted so much upon his own integrity, and
the severity of God's dealings with him, he did in effect say, My righteousness is more
than God's; whereas, though we be ever so good and our afflictions ever so great, we are
chargeable with unrighteousness and God is not. 2. For disowning the benefits and
advantages of religion because he suffered these things: What profit shall I have if I be
cleansed from my sin? Job_35:3. This is gathered from Job_9:30, Job_9:31. Though I
make my hands ever so clean, what the nearer am I? Thou shalt plunge me in the ditch.
And Job_10:15, If I be wicked, woe to me; but, if I be righteous, it is all the same. The
psalmist, when he compared his own afflictions with the prosperity of the wicked, was

tempted to say, Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, Psa_73:13. And, if Job said so,
he did in effect say, My righteousness is more than God's (Job_35:9); for, if he got
nothing by his religion, God was more beholden to him than he was to God. But, though
there might be some colour for it, yet it was not fair to charge these words upon Job,
when he himself had made them the wicked words of prospering sinners (Job_21:15,
What profit shall we have if we pray to him?) and had immediately disclaimed them.
The counsel of the wicked is far from me, Job_21:16. It is not a fair way of disputing to
charge men with those consequences of their opinions which they expressly renounce.
K&D 1-4, "The neutral ‫ּאת‬‫ז‬, Job_35:2, refers prospectively to ‫ר‬ ַ‫ּאמ‬‫ת‬‫י־‬ ִⅴ, Job_35:3: this
that thou sayest. ‫ב‬ ַ‫שׁ‬ ָ‫ח‬ with acc. of the obj. and ְ‫ל‬ of the predicate, as Job_33:10, comp.
Job_13:24, and freq. The second interrogative clause, Job_35:2, is co-ordinate with the
first, and the collective thought of this ponderous construction, Job_35:2, Job_35:3, is
this: Considerest thou this to be right, and thinkest thou on this account to be able to put
thy righteousness above the divine, that, as thou maintainest, no righteousness on the
side of God corresponds to this thy righteousness, because God makes no distinction
between righteousness and the sin of man, and allows the former to go unrewarded? ‫י‬ ִ‫ק‬ ְ‫ד‬ ִ‫צ‬
(for which Olsh. wishes to read ‫י‬ ִ ְ‫ק‬ ַ‫ד‬ ַ‫,צ‬ as Job_9:27 ‫אמרתי‬ for ‫י‬ ִ‫ר‬ ְ‫מ‬ፎ) forms with ‫ל‬ ֵ‫א‬ ֵ‫מ‬ a
substantival clause: justitia mea est prae Deo (prae divina); ‫ן‬ ִ‫מ‬ comparative as Job_
32:2, comp. on the matter Job_34:5, not equivalent to ᅊπό as Job_4:17. ‫כי־תאמר‬ is first
followed by the oratio obliqua: what it (viz., ‫)צדקך‬ advantageth thee, then by the or.
directa (on this change vid., Ew. §338, a): what profit have I (viz., ‫,)בצדקי‬ prae peccato
meo; this ‫ן‬ ִ‫מ‬ is also comparative; the constantly ambiguous combination would be
allowable from the fact that, according to the usage of the language, “to obtain profit
from anything” is expressed by ְ ‫יל‬ ִ‫ּוע‬‫ה‬, not by ‫ן‬ ִ‫מ‬ ‫.הועיל‬ Moreover, prae peccato meo is
equivalent to plus quam inde quod pecco, comp. Psa_18:24, ‫י‬ִ‫וֹנ‬ ֲ‫ע‬ ֵ‫,מ‬ Hos_4:8 ‫ם‬ָ‫וֹנ‬ ֲ‫ל־ע‬ ֶ‫.א‬ We
have already on Job_34:9 observed that Job has not directly said (he cites it, Job_21:15,
as the saying of the ungodly) what Elihu in Job_35:3 puts into his mouth, but as an
inference it certainly is implied in such utterances as Job_9:22. Elihu's polemic against
Job and his companions ( ָ‫יך‬ ֶ‫ע‬ ֵ‫ר‬ are not the three, as lxx and Jer. translate, but the ‫ן‬ֶ‫ו‬ፎ ‫י‬ ֵ‫שׁ‬ְ‫נ‬ፍ,
to whom Job is likened by such words as Job_34:8, Job_34:36) is therefore not
unauthorized; especially since he assails the conclusion together with its premises. In
the second strophe the vindication of the conclusion is now refuted.
BE SO , "Job 35:1. Elihu spake moreover — Job still keeping silence, perhaps
because he was convinced that although Elihu had made a very harsh construction
of his words, he was influenced by a good motive in what he had advanced, and had
now, in the conclusion, given him very wholesome counsel, and, allowing his
integrity, had only charged him with some violent expressions, which had fallen
from him when he was in great anguish of spirit; Elihu goes on in this chapter to fix
the very same harsh sense upon Job’s words. He first puts it to his conscience
whether he thought it could be right to gain his acquittal by an impeachment of

God’s justice; yet, he tells him he must have thought after this manner, otherwise he
would never have made use of such an atheistical expression as, “that he had no
profit by doing his duty, more than if he had sinned;” referring, probably, to Job
23:11; Job 23:15. That he ought to consider that God was so far above the influence
of all human actions, that neither could their good deeds be of any advantage to
him, nor could their evil deeds affect him, Job 35:2-7. They might, indeed, affect
themselves or their neighbours: they might suffer from the oppressions of men, and
cry aloud to God to relieve them; but if this cry was not made with an entire
dependance on, and a perfect resignation to, the will of God, it would be quite
fruitless: God would not give the least ear to it, Job 35:8-14. Much less ought they,
in every affliction, to be flying in the face of the Almighty and shaking off his
sovereignty; that they ought rather to wait his leisure with patience; and that Job
himself would not have acted in this manner, had he not been hurried away by too
great a self-confidence, Job 35:15-16. — Heath.
COFFMA , "Back in Job 34:9, Elihu had mentioned a third accusation against
Job, namely, that he had declared faithfulness to God as affording no profit; and
here Elihu proposes to answer that alleged claim of Job. Elihu here ignored
altogether the real point of whether or not there is profit in serving God in this life,
focusing his attack against Job on whether or not Job had any right to complain.
This whole paragraph affirms the proposition that neither man's righteousness nor
his wickedness affects God. "Transgressions do not diminish God, nor do pious acts
give him anything."[1] We are stunned and amazed at this ridiculous position of
Elihu. "He comes very close here to viewing God as so far removed from human life,
that he cannot be known or loved at all."[2] Against this colossal error, there stand
the glorious facts: the Cross of Jesus Christ, God's love of the whole world, and the
willingness of the Son of God to die for human redemption. Elihu's position here, as
more fully expressed in the following paragraph, is that God is no more concerned
with human prayer than he might be with the cry of a screaming rabbit in the
clutches of a hawk.
COKE, "Comparison is not to be made with God, because our good or evil cannot
extend unto him. Many cry in their afflictions; but are not heard, for want of faith.
Before Christ 1645.
Job 35:1. Elihu spake moreover— Elihu puts it to Job's conscience, whether he
thought it could be right to gain his acquittal by an impeachment of God's justice;
yet, he tells him, he must have thought after this manner, otherwise he would never
have made use of such an atheistical expression, as, "that he had no profit by doing
his duty, more than if he had sinned;" referring, probably, to chap. Job 23:11; Job
23:15. That he ought to consider that God was so far above the influence of all
human actions, that neither could their good deeds be of any advantage to him, nor
could their evil deeds affect him; Job 35:2-7. They might, indeed, affect themselves

or their neighbours: they might suffer from the oppressions of men, and cry aloud
to God to relieve them; but if this cry was not made with an entire dependance on,
and a perfect resignation to the will of God, it would be quite fruitless: God would
not give the least ear to it; Job 35:8-14. Much less ought they in every affliction to be
flying in the face of the Almighty, and shaking off his sovereignty; that they ought
rather to wait his leisure with patience; and that Job himself would not have acted
in this manner had he not been hurried away by too great a self-confidence; Job
35:15-16. Heath.
EBC, "THE DIVI E PREROGATIVE
Job 35:1-16; Job 36:1-33; Job 37:1-24
AFTER a long digression Elihu returns to consider the statement ascribed to Job,
"It profiteth a man nothing that he should delight himself with God." [Job 34:9]
This he laid hold of as meaning that the Almighty is unjust, and the accusation has
been dealt with. ow he resumes the question of the profitableness of religion.
"Thinkest thou this to be in thy right, And callest thou it ‘My just cause before
God,’ That thou dost ask what advantage it is to thee, And ‘What profit have I more
than if I had sinned’?"
In one of his replies Job, speaking of the wicked, represented them as saying, "What
is the Almighty that we should serve Him? and what profit should we have if we
pray unto him?". [Job 21:15] He added then, "The counsel of the wicked be far
from me." Job is now declared to be of the same opinion as the wicked whom he
condemned. The man who again and again appealed to God from the judgment of
his friends, who found consolation in the thought that his witness was in heaven,
who, when be was scorned, sought God in tears and hoped against hope for His
redemption, is charged with holding, faith and religion of no advantage. Is it in
misapprehension or with design the charge is made? Job did indeed occasionally
seem to deny the profit of religion, but only when the false theology of his friends
drove him to false judgment. His real conviction was right. Once Eliphaz pressed
the same accusation and lost his way in trying to prove it. Elihu has no fresh
evidence, and he too falls into error. He confounds the original charge against Job
with another, and makes an offence of that which the whole scope of the poem and
our sense of right completely justify.
"Look unto the heavens and see,
And regard the clouds which are higher than thou.
If thou sinnest, what doest thou against Him?
Or if thy transgressions be multiplied, what doest thou unto Him?

If thou be righteous, what givest thou Him?
Or what receiveth He at thy hands?"
Elihu is actually proving, not that Job expects too little from religion and finds no
profit in it, but that he expects too much. Anxious to convict, he will show that man
has no right to make his faith depend on God’s care for his integrity. The prologue
showed the Almighty pleased with His servant’s faithfulness. That, says Elihu, is a
mistake.
Consider the clouds and the heavens which are far above the world. Thou canst not
touch them, affect them. The sun and moon and stars shine with undiminished
brightness, however vile men may be. The clouds come and go quite independently
of the crimes of men. God is above those clouds, above that firmament. either can
the evil hands of men reach His throne, nor the righteousness of men enhance His
glory. It is precisely what we heard from the lips of Eliphaz, [Job 22:2-4] an
argument which abuses man for the sake of exalting God. Elihu has no thought of
the spiritual relationship between man and his Creator. He advances with perfect
composure as a hard dogma what Job said in the bitterness of his soul.
If, however, the question must still be answered, What good end is served by human
virtue? the reply is, -
"Thy wickedness may hurt a man as thou art;
And thy righteousness may profit a son of man."
God sustains the righteous and punishes the wicked, not for the sake of
righteousness itself but purely for the sake of men. The law is that of expediency.
Let not man dream of witnessing for God, or upholding any eternal principle dear
to God. Let him confine religious fidelity and aspiration to their true sphere, the
service of mankind. Regarding which doctrine we may simply say that, if religion is
profitable in this way only, it may as well be frankly given up and the cult of
happiness adopted for it everywhere. But Elihu is not true to his own dogma.
The next passage, beginning with Job 35:9, seems to be an indictment of those who
in grievous trouble do not see and acknowledge the Divine blessings which are the
compensations of their lot. Many in the world are sorely oppressed. Elihu has heard
their piteous cries. But he has this charge against them, that they do not realise what
it is to be subjects of the heavenly King.
By reason of the multitude of oppressions men cry out,
They cry for help by reason of the arm of the mighty;
But none saith, Where is God my Maker,

Who giveth songs in the night,
Who teacheth us more than the beasts of the earth,
And maketh us wiser than the fowls of heaven?
There they cry because of the pride of evil men;
But none giveth answer.
These cries of the oppressed are complaints against pain, natural outbursts of
feeling, like the moans of wounded animals. But those who are cruelly wronged may
turn to God and endeavour to realise their position as intelligent creatures of His
who should feel after Him and find Him. If they do so, then hope will mingle with
their sorrow and light arise on their darkness. For in the deepest midnight God’s
presence cheers the soul and tunes the voice to songs of praise. The intention is to
show that when prayer seems of no avail and religion does not help, it is because
there is no real faith, no right apprehension by men of their relation to God. Elihu,
however, fails to see that if the righteousness of men is not important to God as
righteousness, much less will He be interested in their grievances. The bond of union
between the heavenly and the earthly is broken; and it cannot be restored by
showing that the grief of men touches God more than their sin. Job’s distinction is
that he clings to the ethical fellowship between a sincere man and his Maker and to
the claim and the hope involved in that relationship. There we have the jewel in the
lotus flower of this book, as in all true and noble literature. Elihu, like the rest, is far
beneath Job. If he can be said to have a glimmering of the idea it is only that he may
oppose it. This moral affinity with God as the principle of human life remains the
secret of the inspired author; it lifts him above the finest minds of the Gentile world.
The compiler of the Elihu portion, although he has the admirable sentiment that
God giveth songs in the night, has missed the great and elevating truth which fills
with prophetic force the original poem.
From Job 35:14 onward to the close of the chapter the argument is turned directly
against Job, but is so obscure that the meaning can only be conjectured.
"Surely God will not hear vanity,
either will the Almighty regard it."
If any one cries out against suffering as an animal in pain might cry, that is vanity,
not merely emptiness but impiety, and God will not hear nor regard such a cry.
Elihu means that Job’s complaints were essentially of this nature. True, he had
called on God; that cannot be denied. He had laid his case before the Judge and
professed to expect vindication. But he was at fault in that very appeal, for it was
still of suffering he complained, and he was still impious.
"Even when thou sayest that thou seest Him not,

That thy cause is before Him and thou waitest for Him;
Even then because His anger visiteth not,
And He doth not strictly regard transgression,
Therefore doth Job open his mouth in vanity,
He muitiplieth words without knowledge."
The argument seems to be: God rules in absolute supremacy, and His will is not to
be questioned; it may not be demanded of Him that He do this or that. What is a
man that he, should dare to state any "righteous cause" of his before God and claim
justification? Let Job understand that the Almighty has been showing leniency,
holding back His hand. He might kill any man outright and there would be no
appeal nor ground of complaint. It is because He does not strictly regard iniquity
that Job is still alive. Therefore appeals and hopes are offensive to God.
The insistence of this part of the book reaches a climax here and becomes repulsive.
Elihu’s opinions oscillate we may say between Deism and Positivism, and on either
side he is a special pleader. It is by the mercy of the Almighty all men live; yet the
reasoning of Elihu makes mercy so remote and arbitrary that prayer becomes an
impertinence. o doubt there are some cries out of trouble which cannot find
response. But he ought to maintain, on the other hand, that if sincere prayer is
addressed to God by one in sore affliction desiring to know wherein he has sinned
and imploring deliverance, that appeal shall be heard. This, however, is denied. For
the purpose of convicting Job Elihu takes the singular position that though there is
mercy with God man is neither to expect nor ask it, that to make any claim upon
Divine grace is impious. And there is no promise that suffering will bring spiritual
gain. God has a right to afflict His creatures, and what He does is to be endured
without a murmur because it is less than He has the right to appoint. The doctrine is
adamantine and at the same time rent asunder by the error which is common to all
Job’s opponents. The soul of a man resolutely faithful like Job would turn away
from it with righteous contempt and indignation. The light which Elihu professes to
enjoy is a midnight of dogmatic darkness.
PARKER, "The Speech of Elihu.
IV.
Job 35-37
Elihu says many beautiful things. There is some difficulty in tracing the uniting line
of his numerous remarks, but the remarks themselves often glitter with a really
beautiful light. Many of the independent sayings are like single jewels. We need not
always look for the thread upon which the pearls are strung: sometimes it is enough

to see the separate pearls themselves, to admire, to value, and spiritually to
appropriate all their helpful suggestion. Elihu"s speech is like many a sermon: we
may not be able to follow it in its continuity, and indeed in some instances,
continuity may not be a feature of the discourse; yet what riches are found in
separate sentences, in asides, in allusions whose meaning is not at first patent, but
which grows as we peruse the words and consider the argument. We may know
nothing of the discourse as a whole, and yet we may remember short sentences, brief
references, and take them away as lights that will bless us in many a dark hour, or
as birds that may sing to us when all human voices are silent.
Elihu says beautiful things about God, as we have already seen. He loved God. Was
he sometimes too eager to defend God? Is it not possible for us to excite ourselves
much too hotly in defending the eternal ame and in protecting the everlasting
sanctuary? Who has called us to all this controversy, to all this angry hostility even
against the foe? What if it had been more profitable to all if we had prayed with him
instead of arguing; yea, even prayed for him in his absence; yea, higher miracle
still—prayed for him despite his sneering and bis mocking. Elihu may have been too
vehement, too anxious to defend God, as if God needed him. And yet that can hardly
have been his spirit, for one of the very first things to which we shall now call
attention shows Elihu"s conception of God to be one of absolute independence of his
creature"s. Let us see whether Elihu was right or wrong in this conception.
"If thou sinnest, what doest thou against him? or if thy transgressions be multiplied,
what doest thou unto him? If thou be righteous, what givest thou him? or what
receiveth he of thine hand?" ( Job 35:6-7).
This is true of God"s majesty, but it is not true of God"s fatherhood. God can do
without any one of us, and yet his heart yearns if the very youngest of us be not at
home, sitting at the table, and living on the bounty of his love. It is perfectly right to
say what Elihu said: "If thou sinnest, what doest thou against him?" O thou puny
transgressor, thou dost but bruise thine own hand when thou smitest against the
rocks of eternity! "Or if thy transgressions be multiplied, what doest thou unto
him?" Can thy sin tarnish his crown, or take away one jewel from his diadem, or
abate the storm of heaven"s music that hails him eternal King? Consider, poor
suffering patriarch: if thou be righteous even, on the other hand, what givest thou
him? or what receiveth he of thine hand? And yet that statement is imperfect: it
creates a chasm between the Creator and the creature; it sets God away at a great
distance upon an inaccessible mountain, and clothes him with glories which dazzle
the vision that would look upon them. From one side of the thought, it is good, it is
glorious, but from the other side of the thought it is incomplete. Elihu speaks of the
dazzling sun, but does he not forget to speak of the tender light that kisses every
pane even in a poor man"s window, and comes with God"s benediction upon every
flower planted by a child"s hand, and watched by a child"s love? We must not
make God too imperious. There is a conception of God which represents him as
keeping men at the staff-end, allowing them to approach so far but not one step
beyond. That conception could be vindicated up to a given point, but there is the
larger conception which says: We have boldness of access now; we have not come

unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire; we have come
unto mount Sion, where with reverent familiarity we may look face to face upon
God, and speak to him, as a man speaketh with his friend, mouth to mouth, and
return to our daily employment with the fragrance of heaven in our very breath,
and with the almightiness of God as the fountain of our strength. This is the larger
view. In all cases the larger view is the right view. He who has but a geographical
view of the earth knows but little concerning it; as we have often had occasion to
point out, the astronomical view involves the whole, and rules by infinite energy all
that is apparently unequal and discrepant into serenest peace, into completest order.
It is possible for us to be afraid of God: hence many minds would banish the
thought of the divine love, saying, It is too high for us: no man may think of that and
live: enough for us to deal with minor things: inferior concerns may well task our
finite powers: we dare not lift up our eyes unto heaven: God is great, and may not
be looked for. There was a time when that view might be historically correct, but
Jesus Christ has come to present another aspect of God, to reveal him as Father, to
declare his nearness, to preach his solicitude for the children of men, to describe him
as so loving the world as to die for it. Let us repeat: that is the larger view, and until
we have received it, we know nothing of what riches may be gathered in the
sanctuary, and what triumphs may be won by the spirit of the Cross.
Elihu presents the same thought in another aspect; he says that man may do many
things against God, and yet not injure him. That is not true. Here is opened to us a
wild field of practical reflection. We cannot injure God without injuring ourselves.
If we transgress against him, what does it amount to? Some may say, Who can
blacken God"s whole universe by any sin he may commit? What can Iscariot
himself do when he attempts to stain the infinite snow of the divine purity? There is
also a sense in which that is true. God is not dependent upon us: our prayers do not
make him what he is; our sacrifices do not constitute his heaven: he could do
without every one of us; he could pay no heed to any action committed by any hand.
But this is not the God of the Bible. Such a God is possible to the licentious
imagination, but not possible to any one who has been trained in the Christian
school, or who accepts Christian standards for the regulation of his thought, for the
determination of his theology. We cannot omit a duty without grieving God; we
cannot think an evil thought without troubling his heavens. He is concerned for us.
Whilst we say we live, and move, and have our being in God, there is an obvious
sense in which he may reply—I live, and move, and have my being in man. He
watches for us, longs for us, sends messages to us, seems to spend his eternity in
thinking about us, and planning our whole life, and enriching us in all the regions
and departments of our existence and nature. That is the Christian view. ever let
the idea get into your mind that God cannot be interested in the individual man.
Once let that conviction seize the mind, and despair quickly follows: you have not
adopted a sentiment; you have given it the key of your heart; the enemy has seized
it, and he says, Let that thought work a long while—namely, that God does not care
for the individual, that his universe is too large for him to pay any attention to
details,—and when that thought has well saturated the mind, I will go in and work
all the mystery of damnation. We shall keep the enemy at bay, we shall affright him,
in proportion as we are found standing hand in hand with God, saying loudly and

sweetly, He is my God, and will not forsake me: he loves me as if I were an only
child; he has been pleased to make me essential to the completeness of his joy.
Words must fail when attempting to depict such a thought, but they help us, as a
hint may help a man who is in difficulty. Beyond this we must not force words. If
they bring us to feel that God numbers the hairs of our head, watches the falling
sparrow, takes note of everything, is interested in our pulse that throbs within us, it
is helpful, restful; meanwhile it is sufficient: preparation has been made for larger
gifts, for fuller disclosures of divine decree and purpose.
GUZIK 1-3, "A. Elihu confronts what he believes to be Job’s self-righteousness.
1. (Job 35:1-3) Elihu to Job: “Are you more righteous than God?”
Moreover Elihu answered and said:
“Do you think this is right?
Do you say,
‘My righteousness is more than God’s’?
For you say,
‘What advantage will it be to You?
What profit shall I have, more than if I had sinned?’”
a. Do you think this is right? Elihu had just badgered Job severely at the end of his
previous discourse. He accused him of adding rebellion to his sin, of ignoring the
wise counsel of his friends (he claps his hands among us), and of speaking wrongly
against God (multiplies his words against God). So to emphasize the point, he
jabbed a finger at Job and said, “Do you think this is right?”
b. For you say . . . What profit shall I have, more than if I had sinned? Elihu
accused Job of a cold calculation; of saying that he denied God’s moral order and
said that there was no point to sinning or not sinning.
i. “Once again Elihu puts words into Job’s mouth, and in the process not only
misquotes him but grossly misrepresents his position.” (Mason)
ii. “Elihu had missed Job’s point, that he wanted to be vindicated because he did
believe God was just. Of course Job, in his struggle to understand what God was
doing, had sent out two signals, one of which Elihu, like the others, had not been
able to hear.” (Smick)

PULPIT, "In this short chapter, once more Elihu addresses himself to Job, first
(verses 1-8) answering his complaint that a life of righteousness has brought him no
correspondent blessings; and then (verses 9-14) explaining to him that his prayers
and appeals to God have probably not been answered because they were not
preferred in a right spirit, i.e. with faith and humility. Finally (verse 15, 16), he
condemns Job for haughtiness and arrogance, and reiterates the charge that he
"multiplies words without knowledge" (comp. Job 34:35-37).
Job 35:1, Job 35:2
Elihu spake moreover, and said, Thinkest thou this to be right, that thou saidst, My
righteousness is more than God's? Once more it is to be observed that Job had said
no such thing. At the worst, he had made statements from which it might be argued
that he regarded himself as having a more delicate sense of justice than God (e.g.
Job 9:22-24; Job 10:3; Job 12:6, etc.). But Elihu insists on pushing Job's
intemperate phrases to their extremest logical issues, and taxing Job with having
said all that his words might seem to a strict logician to involve (compare the
comment on Job 34:5, Job 34:9).
2 “Do you think this is just?
You say, ‘I am in the right, not God.’
BAR ES, "Thinkest thou this to be right? - This is the point which Elihu now
proposes to examine. He, therefore, solemnly appeals to Job himself to determine
whether he could himself say that he thought such a sentiment correct.
That thou saidst, My righteousness is more than God’s - Job had nowhere
said this in so many words, but Elihu regarded it as the substance of what he had said, or
thought that what he had said amounted to the same thing. He had dwelt much on his
own sincerity and uprightness of life; he had maintained that he had not been guilty of
such crimes as to make these calamities deserved, and he had indulged in severe
reflections on the dealings of God with him; compare Job_9:30-35; Job_10:13-15. All
this Elihu interprets as equivalent to saying, that he was more righteous than his Maker.
It cannot be denied that Job had given occasion for this interpretation to be put on his
sentiments, though it cannot be supposed that he would have affirmed this in so many
words.
CLARKE, "My righteousness is more than God’s? - This would indeed be a

blasphemous saying; but Job never said so, neither directly nor constructively: it would
be much better to translate the words ‫מאל‬ ‫צדקי‬ tsidki meel, I am righteous Before God.
And Job’s meaning most certainly was, “Whatever I am in your sight, I know that in the
sight of God I am a righteous man;” and he had a right to assume this character, because
God himself had given it to him.
GILL, "Thinkest thou this to be right,.... Elihu appeals to Job himself, to his
conscience and reason; who as a natural man, guided by the light of nature and reason
only, and judging according to the dictates of a natural conscience, and especially as a
good man, one that feared God, and had so much knowledge of him and his perfections,
as his speeches showed, could never upon reflection think it right what he had said
concerning God and his justice, as follows:
that thou saidst, my righteousness is more than God's? A strange expression
this indeed! but what is to be understood not of his personal righteousness; Job in his
senses could never say that this was more or greater than God's, or to be above it and
preferred to it in any sense; nor even of righteousness imputed. Old Testament saints
had the righteousness of Christ imputed to them, and were justified by it; and so Job,
who had knowledge of and faith in Christ as his living Redeemer, and the Lord his
righteousness: but then though this is the righteousness of God, wrought out by one that
is God as well as man, and approved and accepted of by God, and imputed by him to his
people, which is revealed in the Gospel, and is unto all, and upon all them that believe,
and they are made the righteousness of God in Christ; yet this cannot be more than the
righteousness of God: besides it is not the essential righteousness of Christ as God, as
Osiander dreamed, by which men are justified, but his obedience, active and passive, as
Mediator, otherwise they would be deified who are justified by it; and if even so absurd a
notion as this could obtain, it would not be more of man than the righteousness of God:
much less can this be interpreted of Job's inherent righteousness, or the new man which
is created in righteousness and true holiness; since all the holiness and righteousness
that is in man is from God, and at present imperfect, and therefore cannot be more or
greater than his; and still less can this be meant of Job's external righteousness, which,
how great soever, was not perfect and without sin; whereas God is just and without
iniquity. But there is not a just man that does good and sins not. This therefore must be
understood of the righteousness of his cause; and to say that this was more than God's
was what he ought not to have said, and more than became him to say: for though a
good man may defend himself against the calumnies of his enemies, by asserting his own
righteousness, innocence, and integrity, and may desire the Lord to plead his cause
against them, and judge him according to his righteousness and the integrity of his
heart; but to attempt to make it out, that his cause is more righteous than the Lord's, is
doing an ill thing. Now though Job had not expressed this in so many words, yet he had
said that from whence this might by consequence be deduced; he had given great
occasion for such an inference to be drawn from his speeches; for since he had spoken so
largely of his innocence and integrity, and holy life, and of the hard usage nevertheless
he had met with from God; and had represented his own case, as if he had behaved so
well as to deserve better treatment at the hand of God than to be afflicted in the manner
he was; that he had wrong done him, and complained of it, and could not be heard; his
judgment was taken from him by the Lord; which was in effect to say, that his cause was
better than the Lord's, and would bear a stricter examination than his; which to say was,
exceeding bad and unbecoming; see Job_16:17.

JAMISO , "more than — rather as in Job_9:2; Job_25:4 : “I am righteous
(literally, my righteousness is) before God.” The English Version, however, agrees with
Job_9:17; Job_16:12-17; Job_27:2-6. Job_4:17 is susceptible of either rendering. Elihu
means Job said so, not in so many words, but virtually.
BE SO , "Job 35:2-3. Thinkest thou this to be right? — Canst thou in thy
conscience, upon second thoughts, approve of what thou hast said? My
righteousness is more than God’s — ot that Job said this in express terms, but he
said those things from which this might seem to follow, as that God had punished
him more than he deserved. For thou saidst, &c. — This is produced in proof of the
foregoing charge. Job had often affirmed that he was, and still continued to be,
righteous, though he had no present benefit by his righteousness, but much
bitterness with it; and that God did not act kindly toward him, notwithstanding his
former and present piety, but dealt with him as if he had been a most wicked man.
ow, Elihu interprets this as implying that he thought himself more righteous than
God. Thou saidst, What advantage will it be unto thee — Unto me; such changes of
persons being frequent in the Hebrew language. And what profit shall I have, &c.
— I have no more present advantage by all my care to please and serve God than
wicked men have by their sins against him. God regards my cries no more than
theirs, and shows no more kindness or pity to me than he doth to the most profligate
wretches. But, it must be remembered, if Job’s words implied any thing of this kind,
it was only with reference to his state in the present life. He well knew that he should
have much, yea, everlasting advantage from his piety in the life to come.
ELLICOTT, "2) My righteousness is more than God’s.—See Job 19:6, &c. Job had
not in so many words said this, but what he had said was capable of being so
represented, and perhaps seemed to involve it. (Comp. Job 9:22; Job 10:15.) Here,
again, there was a misrepresentation of what Job had said. He certainly did not
mean that he was none the better for being righteous; on the contrary, he had
distinctly said, “Let mine enemy be as the wicked,” &c. (Job 27:7, &c.), because he
could not delight himself in God; but it was perfectly true that he had said that his
righteousness had not delivered him from suffering.
3 Yet you ask him, ‘What profit is it to me,[a]
and what do I gain by not sinning?’

BAR ES, "For thou saidst - Another sentiment of a similar kind which Elihu
proposes to examine. He had already adverted to this sentiment of Job in Job_34:9, and
examined it at some length, and had shown in reply to it that God could not be unjust,
and that there was great impropriety when man presumed to arraign the justice of the
Most High. He now adverts to it again in order to show that God could not be benefited
or injured by the conduct of man, and that he was, therefore, under no inducement to
treat him otherwise than impartially.
What advantage will it be unto thee? - see the notes at Job_34:9. The phrase
“unto thee,” refers to Job himself. He had said this to himself; or to his own soul. Such a
mode of expression is not uncommon in the Scriptures.
And, What profit shall I have if I be cleansed from my sin - Margin, “or, by it”
more than by my sin.”” The Hebrew will admit of either of these interpretations, and the
sense is not materially varied. The idea is, that as to good treatment or securing the favor
of God under the arrangements of his government, a man might just as well be wicked as
righteous. He would be as likely to be prosperous in the world, and to experience the
tokens of the divine favor. Job had by no means advanced such a sentiment; but he had
maintained that he was treated “as if” he were a sinner; that the dealings of Providence
were “not” in this world in accordance with the character of people; and this was
interpreted by Elihu as maintaining that there was no advantage in being righteous, or
that a man might as well be a sinner. It was for such supposed sentiments as these, that
Elihu and the three friends of Job charged him with giving “answers” for wicked people,
or maintaining opinions which went to sustain and encourage the wicked; see Job_
34:36.
CLARKE, "What advantage will it be unto thee? - As if he had said to God, “My
righteousness cannot profit thee, nor do I find that it is of any benefit to myself.” Or
perhaps Elihu makes here a general assertion, which he afterwards endeavors to
exemplify: Thou hast been reasoning how it may profit thee, and thou hast said, “What
profit shall I have in righteousness more than in sin?”
GILL, "For thou saidst, what advantage will it be unto thee?.... Meaning that
his righteousness, his holy life and conversation, were of no avail to him: he received no
more benefit by being righteous than if he was wicked, since God destroyed one as well
as another; and since his righteousness did not secure him from afflictions and
calamities, it was of no advantage to him; he had not said so in so many words, but it is
inferred from what he had said, Job_9:22. Man's own righteousness is of no advantage
to him as to justification before God, and acceptance with him, nor in the business of
salvation, or with respect to heaven and happiness, so as to give a right and title to it; bat
is of great advantage in other respects; is for self-defence against the imputations and
calumnies of wicked men; it makes a man honourable and respectable among men, when
to live a vicious course of life is scandalous and reproachful; it gives pleasure and
satisfaction to the mind, the testimony of a good conscience is matter of rejoicing; and
such a man is free from the racks and tortures of an evil conscience others are distressed
with; besides, good works are an evidence of the truth and genuineness of faith to others,
and ornament the doctrines of the Gospel and a profession of them: and though a

righteous man may be afflicted as others, yet in a different manner, in love and not in
wrath, and always for his good;
and, what profit shall one have, if I be cleansed from my sin? The words, "if I
be cleansed", are a supplement, and seem necessary; so Mr. Broughton supplies. Sin is of
a defiling nature, yet man may be cleansed from it, not by anything he can do, but only
by the grace of. God and blood of Christ; and from such a cleansing profit arises. This fits
a man for the service and worship of God, and for communion with him; gives him peace
of mind, and makes him meet for heaven. This Job had not expressly said, and not at all
in this sense, but it seems to be inferred from Job_9:29; where he is speaking of outward
purity of life, and yet was plunged into the ditch of afflictions. Some render the words to
this sense, as if there was no profit "by expiation of atonement for sin" (u); the same
word signifying both sin and atonement for it: there is none but by the blood and
sacrifice of Christ, and much profit arises from that; pardon of sin proceeds upon it, and
this furnishes out much solid peace, joy, and comfort, Rom_5:10. Others, what profit by
punishment for sin (w), unless to God? so sin is sometimes put for punishment; or
through leaving sin and repenting of it (x). Now though these are not the causes of the
pardon of sin, yet it is given and applied to such who do repent of it, confess and forsake
it, Pro_28:13. Or by being "without sin" (y): no man is without sin; but a man may be
without any gross and enormous crime he is chargeable with, or without living a vicious
course of life; and this is profitable, as has been before observed. Jarchi's paraphrase is,
"what shall I profit more by my righteousness than by my sin?''
which sense is followed by others: I may as well be wicked as righteous; I am not the
better for it, since I am afflicted in the manner I am: my righteousness is of no profit to
me; if to any, it is to God. To this Elihu returns an answer in the following verses.
(u) ‫מחטאתי‬ "de expiatione mea", Mercerus, &c. "in expiando peccatum", Grotius; ‫חטאה‬
"pro piaculo venit", Cocceius; so Simeon Bar Tzemach in loc. (w) "Supplicio meo",
Junius & Tremellius; "mucta pro illo aut poena", Cocceius; "ex poena peccati mei",
Drusius; so Ben Gersom. (x) "Subaudi relicto", so Mercerus, Drusius; "remisso et per
poenitentiam diluto", Munster. (y) "Absque peccato", i.e. "ita vivendo ut non perccom";
so some in Michaelis.
JAMISO , "Rather, explanatory of “this” in Job_35:2, “That thou sayest (to thyself,
as if a distinct person) What advantage is it (thy integrity) to thee? What profit have I
(by integrity) more than (I should have) by my sin?” that is, more than if I had sinned
(Job_34:9). Job had said that the wicked, who use these very words, do not suffer for it
(Job_21:13-15); whereby he virtually sanctioned their sentiments. The same change of
persons from oblique to direct address occurs (Job_19:28; Job_22:17).
PULPIT, "For thou saidst What advantage will it be unto thee? i.e. What advantage
will thy righteousness be unto thee? Job had certainly argued that his righteousness
brought him no temporal advantage; but he had always a conviction that he would
ultimately be the better for it. Elihu, however, does not acknowledge this; and,
assuming that Job expects to receive no advantage at all from his integrity, argues
that God is not bound to afford him any. And, What profit shall I have, if I be

cleansed from my sin? rather, And what profit shall f have, more than if I had
sinned? (see the Revised Version, and compare the comments of Rosenmuller and
Canon Cook).
BI 3-8, "For thou saidst, What advantage will it be unto thee?
Man’s character
Nothing is so important to man as his character.
I. That selfishness is an evil in man’s character.” For thou saidst, What advantage will it
be unto thee? and, What profit shall I have, if I be cleansed from my sin?” Whether Job
expressed this selfish idea or not, Elihu’s language implies that such an idea is a great
evil. It is by no means an uncommon thing for men to take up religion on purely selfish
motives.
1. There are some who take it up for mere worldly gain.
2. There are some who take it up for eternal gain. Their object is to escape hell and
get to heaven. Religion to them is not the summum bonum, is but a means to a
selfish end.
II. That God is independent of man’s character “Look unto the heavens, and see; and
behold the clouds which are higher than thou. If thou sinnest, what doest thou against
Him? or if thy transgressions be multiplied, what doest thou unto Him?” This being the
case, it follows that sovereignty must be the principle of all His conduct with men.
1. It is the reason of all law. Why does He require us to love and serve Him? Not for
His own sake, but for ours. Thus only I can become happy.
2. It is the source of redemption. Why did He send His Son into the world? He
cannot be advantaged by it. “God so loved the world,” etc.
3. It is the ground of rewards. The blessedness He communicates to the good, is
given not on the ground of merit, but of grace.
III. That society is influenced by man’s character. One man’s character is reproduced in
another. The righteousness of one must profit society. Three things give every man some
influence upon his race.
1. Relationship.
2. Dependence.
3. Affection.
If righteous we are fountains of life, whence rivers to irrigate, purify, and beautify the
world will flow down the ages. (Homilist.)
4 “I would like to reply to you
and to your friends with you.

BAR ES, "I will answer thee - Margin, “return to thee words.” Elihu meant to
explain this more fully than it had been done by the friends of Job, and to show where
Job was in error.
And thy companions with thee - Eliphaz, in Job_22:2, had taken up the same
inquiry, and proposed to discuss the subject, but he had gone at once into severe charges
against Job, and been drawn into language of harsh crimination, instead of making the
matter clear, and Elihu now proposes to state just how it is, and to remove the objections
of Job. It may be doubted, however, whether he was much more successful than Eliphaz
had been. The doctrine of the future state, as it is revealed by Christianity, was needful to
enable these speakers to comprehend and explain this subject.
CLARKE, "I will answer thee - I will show thee the evil of a sinful way, and the
benefit of righteousness; and supply what thy friends have omitted in their discourses
with thee.
GILL, "I will answer thee, and thy companions with thee. Meaning not his
three friends, as the Septuagint version expresses it; for they were not on the side of Job,
and of the same sentiment with him, but rather on the side of Elihu; especially Eliphaz,
who expresses much the same sentiment he does, Job_22:2; but all that were of the
same mind with Job, whether present or absent, or in whatsoever part of the world; the
answer he should return to him would serve for them all, and sufficiently confute such a
bad notion of God, let it be embraced by whomsoever.
HE RY 4-8, "II. The good answer which Elihu gives to this (Job_35:4): “I will
undertake to answer thee, and thy companions with thee,” that is, “all those that
approve thy sayings and are ready to justify thee in them, and all others that say as thou
sayest: “I have that to offer which will silence them all.” To do this he has recourse to his
old maxim (Job_33:12), that God is greater than man. This is a truth which, if duly
improved, will serve many good purposes, and particularly this to prove that God is
debtor to no man. The greatest of men may be a debtor to the meanest; but such is the
infinite disproportion between God and man that the great God cannot possibly receive
any benefit by man, and therefore cannot be supposed to lie under any obligation to
man; for, if he be obliged by his purpose and promise, it is only to himself. That is a
challenge which no man can take up (Rom_11:35), Who hath first given to God, let him
prove it, and it shall be recompensed to him again. Why should we demand it, as a just
debt, to gain by our religion (as Job seemed to do), when the God we serve does not gain
by it? 1. Elihu needs not prove that God is above man; it is agreed by all; but he
endeavours to affect Job and us with it, by an ocular demonstration of the height of the
heavens and the clouds, Job_35:5. They are far above us, and God is far above them;
how much then is he set out of the reach either of our sins or of our services! Look unto
the heavens, and behold the clouds. God made man erect, coelumque tueri jussit - and
bade him look up to heaven. Idolaters looked up, and worshipped the hosts of heaven,

the sun, moon, and stars; but we must look up to heaven, and worship the Lord of those
hosts. They are higher than we, but God is infinitely above them. His glory is above the
heavens (Psa_8:1) and the knowledge of him higher than heaven, Job_11:8. 2. But hence
he infers that God is not affected, either one way or other, by any thing that we do. (1.)
He owns that men may be either bettered or damaged by what we do (Job_35:8): Thy
wickedness, perhaps, may hurt a man as thou art, may occasion him trouble in his
outward concerns. A wicked man may wound, or rob, or slander his neighbour, or may
draw him into sin and so prejudice his soul. Thy righteousness, thy justice, thy charity,
thy wisdom, thy piety, may perhaps profit the son of man. Our goodness extends to the
saints that are in the earth, Psa_16:3. To men like ourselves we are in a capacity either
of doing injury or of showing kindness; and in both these the sovereign Lord and Judge
of all will interest himself, will reward those that do good and punish those that do hurt
to their fellow-creatures and fellow-subjects. But, (2.) He utterly denies that God can
really be either prejudiced or advantaged by what any, even the greatest men of the
earth, do, or can do. [1.] The sins of the worst sinners are no damage to him (Job_35:6):
“If thou sinnest wilfully, and of malice prepense, against him, with a high hand, nay, if
thy transgressions be multiplied, and the acts of sin be ever so often repeated, yet what
doest thou against him?” This is a challenge to the carnal mind, and defies the most
daring sinner to do his worst. It speaks much for the greatness and glory of God that it is
not in the power of his worst enemies to do him any real prejudice. Sin is said to be
against God because so the sinner intends it and so God takes it, and it is an injury to his
honour; yet it cannot do any thing against him. The malice of sinners is impotent
malice: it cannot destroy his being or perfections, cannot dethrone him from his power
and dominion, cannot disturb his peace and repose, cannot defeat his counsels and
designs, nor can it derogate from his essential glory. Job therefore spoke amiss in saying
What profit is it that I am cleansed from my sin? God was no gainer by his reformation;
and who then would gain if he himself did not? [2.] The services of the best saints are no
profit to him (Job_35:7): If thou be righteous, what givest thou to him? He needs not
our service; or, if he did want to have the work done, he has better hands than ours at
command. Our religion brings no accession at all to his felicity. He is so far from being
beholden to us that we are beholden to him for making us righteous and accepting our
righteousness; and therefore we can demand nothing from him, nor have any reason to
complain if we have not what we expect, but to be thankful that we have better than we
deserve.
JAMISO , "companions — those entertaining like sentiments with thee (Job_
34:8, Job_34:36).
BE SO , "Job 35:4-8. I will answer thee, and thy companions — That is, those
who are of thy opinion. Look unto the heavens, &c. — Cast up thine eyes to the
heavens; look upon the clouds and the sky; and consider that, high as they are, they
are not so much above thee, as God is above them. If thou sinnest, what doest thou
against him? — Thy sins do him no hurt, and therefore thy righteousness brings
him no benefit, as it follows. What receiveth he of thy hand? — He gaineth nothing
by it, nor can indeed receive any good from thee, but all thy good comes from him:
and therefore thou hast no reason to boast of, nor to upbraid God with, thy piety,
which is much to thy advantage, but nothing to his. Thy wickedness may hurt a man
as thou art — Thy wickedness will prove hurtful to thyself and others of mankind,
and thy righteousness will do thee and them great service; but God, being an

infinite, independent, and self-sufficient being, is far exalted above all thy good or
evil.
ELLICOTT, "(4) And thy companions.—Elihu professes to answer Job’s friends as
well as himself, but what he says (Job 35:5, &c.) is very much what Eliphaz had said
before (Job 15:14, &c., Job 22:3, &c., and Bildad in Job 25). It is indeed true that
God is too high to be affected by man’s righteousness or unrighteousness, but it does
not follow therefore that He is indifferent, for then He would not be a righteous
judge. (See ote on Job 34:9.)
GUZIK 4-8, "a. I will answer you, and your companions with you: Elihu’s
arguments and ideas were substantially the same as those of Job’s friends. Yet he
thought of himself as different, and though that he could correct both Job and
Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar.
b. Look to the heavens and see; and behold the clouds, they are higher than you:
Elihu wanted Job (and his friends) to understand an idea that they had already
discussed and agreed upon, the idea that God is greater than man and beyond man.
i. “The Lord showed Abraham the stars, but Elihu shows Job the clouds. . . . Elihu
sees the clouds as a wall between Heaven and earth; to him they are a picture of
God’s distance from man, of His unreachability and His impassiveness.” (Mason)
ii. “The further we can look unto heaven (or into it) the better shall we conceive of
that infinite distance that is betwixt God in heaven and men on earth.” (Trapp)
c. If you are righteous, what do you give Him? The idea was that God was so far
beyond man that there was nothing man could do to God’s benefit. Elihu felt that
Job had lost his fear and godly appreciation of God.
i. Elihu had, in one sense, trapped himself in his own argument. If God is so beyond
man, then what use is it for Job to repent at all? “According to the terms and
requirements of Infinite Righteousness God is independent of man, according to the
nature of His heart of love, which these men did not perfectly understand, He
cannot be independent.” (Morgan)
ii. God is indeed God; but Elihu missed how close God comes to man. “The whole of
Biblical revelation, centred and consummated in Christ, shows that human sin
inflicts wounds upon God, and causes sorrow to the Holy One: and that man, living
in righteousness, does give glory to God, and causes joy to His heart.” (Morgan)
iii. “If it is true that because God is so great and so high, the innocence or guilt of a
petty human being is a matter of profound indifference to his Maker, on the ground
that it can bring Him neither gain nor loss, we are landed, we see at once, on a very
gloomy shore. We reach a conclusion fatal to all religion.” (Bradley)

PULPIT, "I will answer thee, and thy companions with thee; i.e. "thy comforters,
Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar." Elihu has pledged himself to confute their
reasonings, no less than those of Job (Job 32:5-20), and now proposes to carry out
this intention. But it is not very clear that he accomplish, s his purpose. In point of
fact, he does little more than repeat and expand the argument of Eliphaz (Job 22:2,
Job 22:3).
5 Look up at the heavens and see;
gaze at the clouds so high above you.
BAR ES, "Look unto the heavens, and see - This is the commencement of the
reply which Elihu makes to the sentiment which he had understood Job to advance, and
which Eliphaz had proposed formerly to examine. The general object of the reply is, to
show that God is so great that he cannot be affected with human conduct, and that he
has no interest in treating people otherwise than according to character. He is so exalted
that their conduct cannot reach and affect his happiness. It ought to be “presumed,”
therefore, since there is no motive to the contrary, that the dealings of God with people
would be impartial, and that there “would” be an advantage in serving him - not because
people could lay him under “obligation,” but because it was right and proper that such
advantage should accrue to them. To impress this view on the mind, Elihu directs Job
and his friends to look to the heavens - so lofty, grand, and sublime; to reflect how much
higher they are than man; and to remember that the great Creator is “above” all those
heavens, and “thus” to see that he is so far cxalted that he is not dependent on man; that
he cannot be affected by the righteousness or wickedness of his creatures; that his
happiness is not dependent on them, and consequently that it is to bc presumed that he
would act impartially, and treat all people as they deserved. There “would” be, therefore,
an advantage in serving God.
And behold the clouds - Also far above us, and seeming to float in the heavens. The
sentiment here is, that one view of the astonishing display of wisdom and power above
us must extinguish every feeling that he will be influenced in his dealings as people are in
theirs, or that he can gain or suffer anything by the good or bad behavior of his
creatures.
CLARKE, "Look unto the heavens - These heavens, and their host, God has
created: the bare sight of them is sufficient to show thee that God is infinitely beyond
thee in wisdom and excellence.

Behold the clouds - ‫שחקים‬ shechakim, the ethers, (Vulgate, aethera), from ‫שחק‬
shachak, to contend, fight together: the agitated or conflicting air and light; the strong
agitation of these producing both light and heat. Look upon these, consider them deeply,
and see and acknowledge the perfections of the Maker.
GILL, "Look unto the heavens, and see,.... The firmament of heaven, in which are
the sun and moon and stars:
and behold the clouds which are higher than thou; the clouds of the air or sky,
which are lower than the starry heavens, yet these were higher than Job, and much more
the starry heavens: but because the word has the signification of "thinness", which does
not so well agree with the clouds, which are thick substances, condensed air; some take
it to be meant of the supreme region of the heavens, which is pure and thin; so
Sephorno: and Job is directed to look to these, not as stargazers do, such as are given to
judicial astrology, to judge of the fates of men and kingdoms; but rather thereby to be
led to the contemplation of God the author of them, and the glorious perfections of his
being they display; and chiefly to observe the height of them, that they were out of his
reach, and he could neither help them nor hurt them; that he could neither increase nor
diminish the light of the celestial bodies, which he could only behold; nor either advance
or hinder their course, nor in the least add to or abate their influence and efficacy; and if
he could neither be beneficial nor harmful to them, how was it possible that he could be
of any advantage or detriment to God, by any actions of his, good or bad, who is higher
and out of sight? This is the answer Elihu in general returned, he more particularly
replies as follows.
JAMISO 5-8, "Elihu like Eliphaz (Job_22:2, Job_22:3, Job_22:12) shows that God
is too exalted in nature to be susceptible of benefit or hurt from the righteousness or sin
of men respectively; it is themselves that they benefit by righteousness, or hurt by sin.
behold the clouds, which are higher than thou — spoken with irony. Not only
are they higher than thou, but thou canst not even reach them clearly with the eye. Yet
these are not as high as God’s seat. God is therefore too exalted to be dependent on man.
Therefore He has no inducement to injustice in His dealings with man. When He afflicts,
it must be from a different motive; namely, the good of the sufferer.
K&D 5-8, "Towards heaven he is to direct his gaze, to obtain from the height of
heaven a notion of the exaltation of God who dwells above the heavens. The combination
‫ה‬ፎ ָ‫ר‬ְ‫ו‬ ‫יט‬ ִ ִ‫ה‬ is like Psa_80:15 and freq. ‫ים‬ ִ‫ק‬ ָ‫ח‬ ְ‫שׁ‬ (‫ק‬ ַ‫ח‬ ָ‫,שׁ‬ Arab. sᐓq, to rub in pieces, make thin,
therefore the opposite of ‫ים‬ ִ‫ב‬ ָ‫)ע‬ are the thin transparent strata of the atmosphere above
the hanging clouds. ‫ן‬ ִ‫מ‬ after ַ‫ב‬ָ denotes the height that is on the opposite side to the
beholder. From the exaltation of God it is then further inferred that it is impossible to
exercise any human influence upon Him, by which He might suffer. The pointing wavers
here between ‫ל‬ ַ‫ע‬ ְ‫פ‬ ִ (the common fut. form) and ‫ל‬ ָ‫ע‬ ְ‫פ‬ ִ (as a contraction of ‫ּל‬‫ע‬ ְ‫פ‬ ִ after the
form ‫ּם‬‫ע‬ְ‫ז‬ ֶ‫,א‬ Num_23:8). Human wrong or right doing neither diminishes nor increases
His blessedness; injury or advantage is only on the side of man, from whom it proceeds.

Others, whom his conduct affect, are not included in Job_35:8 : righteous or ungodly
doing, Elihu means to say, as such and with its consequences, belongs solely to the doer
himself, the man “like thee” (‫ישׁ‬ ִ‫א‬ ְ‫ל‬ with Munach, ָ‫ּוך‬‫מ‬ ָⅴ with Munach), the son of man, i.e.,
man, capable of evil as of good, and who always, after deciding in favour of the latter or
the former, determines his fortune or misfortune, in distinction from God, who ever
remains unchangeably the same in His perfect righteousness. What Elihu here says we
have already heard from Eliphaz, Job_22:2., and Job even expresses himself similarly in
Job_7:20; but to Elihu's mind it all becomes for Job new and powerful motives to quiet
submission, for what objection should Job raise in justification of his complaints
concerning his affliction against such sentiments as these, that goodness bears its
reward and evil its punishment in itself, and that God's reward of goodness is not a work
of indebtedness, nor His punishment of evil a work of necessity? Before such truth he
must really hold his peace.
PULPIT, "Look unto the heavens, and see; and behold the clouds which are higher
than thou; i.e. "look to the material sky and heavens, so far above thee and so
unapproachable, and judge from them how far the God who made them is above
thy puny, feeble self—how incapable he is of being touched by any of thy doings."
6 If you sin, how does that affect him?
If your sins are many, what does that do to
him?
BAR ES, "If thou sinnest, what doest thou against him? - This should not be
interpreted as designed to justify sin, or as saying that there is no evil in it, or that God
does not regard it. That is not the point or scope of the remark of Elihu. His object is to
show that God is not influenced in his treatment of his creatures as people are in their
treatment of each other. He has no “interest” in being partial, or in treating them
otherwise than they deserve. If they sin against him his happiness is not so marred that
he is under any inducement to interpose “by passion,” or in any other way than that
which is “right.”
CLARKE, "If thou sinnest - God is not benefited by thy righteousness, nor injured
by thy iniquity, howsoever multiplied it may be.

GILL, "If thou sinnest, what dost thou against him?.... Sin is expressly said to be
against God, Psa_51:4; it is contrary to his nature, as any opposites can be to each other:
it is against his law, a breach and violation of it; and so against his supreme legislative
power and authority, and a contempt of it; it is what he is angry with and is provoked by,
being what he hates and abhors, and is abominable in his sight. But then he cannot be
supposed to be so affected with it to be ruffled and discomposed, or his peace be
disturbed, and his happiness in the least broke in upon; for affections are only attributed
to him after the manner of men; much less is he so affected hereby as to be hurt or in
danger of being destroyed, nor even of being dethroned: men can no more reach him by
any hostile action of theirs, such as sin is, than they can reach the sun and stop its
course, lessen its light or pluck it from its orbit. Or, "what canst thou work for him?" as
Mr. Broughton; by way of atonement or satisfaction for sin? Nothing at all; see Job_
7:20; but the other sense is best;
or if thy transgressions be multiplied, what dost thou unto him? As he is not
hurt by a slight single sin, a failing or infirmity, an error or mistake, common to men, as
the preceding word may signify; so not by greater sins, presumptuous ones, gross
enormities, rebellions against God, overt acts of treason against the Almighty, and these
multiplied and heaped up even unto heaven; for though by these the name of God is
profaned and blasphemed, and he is dishonoured and despised, and his manifestative
glory is eclipsed, or he has not the honour given him that is due unto him; yet his
essential glory is untarnished, unsullied, and unhurt, no more than the sun by an eclipse;
he is the same without any variableness or shadow of turning, as well as is over all
blessed for ever. And, indeed, his manifestative glory in many instances receives a lustre,
through his power, wisdom, and goodness, overruling the sins of men for the display of
it; as the fall of the first Adam made way for the sending of Christ the Saviour, in which
God has shown forth the exceeding riches of his grace; and as his mercy and grace are
displayed in the pardon of sin, and his power and justice in the punishment of sin and
sinners; and his patience and longsuffering in bearing with them.
JAMISO , "what doest — how canst thou affect Him?
unto him — that can hurt Him? (Jer_7:19; Pro_8:36).
PULPIT, "If thou sinnest, what doest thou against him? Man's sins against God
cannot injure him, diminish from his power, or lower his dignity. They can only
injure the sinner himself. God does not punish them because they harm him, but
because they are discords in the harmony of his moral universe. Or even if thy
transgressions be multiplied; i.e. if thou persistest in a long course of sin, and addest
"rebellion" to transgression, and self-complacency to rebellion, and "multipliest thy
words against God" (Job 34:37)—even then, what doest thou unto him? i.e; what
hurt dost thou inflict upon him? one.
BI 6-8, "If thou sinnest, what doest thou against Him?
Does man influence, God

Elihu, in these words, brings out his views of God in the form of questions, which views
are of an Epicurean character. He looks upon God as a being so far above human
concerns and conduct as not to be influenced by them. There are those now who have
sympathy with these sentiments. They say God is too high and too great to be affected by
the sin or righteousness of man. The doctrine of the Bible is, that man’s conduct does
influence God as well as man.
I. Answer the two questions that Elihu, in his scepticism, propounds.
1. “If thou sinnest, what doest thou against Him? or if thy transgressions be
multiplied, what doest thou unto Him?” A man that lives in sin, and multiplies his
transgressions—
(1) Sets God at defiance as his Sovereign Ruler.
(2) Violates His laws.
(3) Rivals God.
(4) Opposes God’s nature.
(5) Casts off His fear and restrains prayer.
(6) Rejects His mercy, grace, truth, and love.
If God was an Epicurean God, man’s sins may not affect Him; but all His revelations of
Himself to us go to show that He is our Father, Sovereign, Saviour; that He hates sin;
that He loves the sinner. Hence our sins do influence Him. The Bible abounds with
illustrations of these particulars.
2. If thou be righteous, what givest thou Him? or what receiveth He of thine hand? A
righteous man (truly such in the scriptural sense) gives to the Almighty—
(1) Praise for what He is.
(2) Thanks for what He does.
(3) Obedience to His laws.
(4) Submission to His will.
(5) Himself a living sacrifice (Rom_12:1).
(6) Love for love. “We love Him because He first loved us.”
(7) His testimony. He is His witness.
Numerous illustrations of these particulars also may easily be collected from the Old and
New Testament. The second part of this text, Elihu has no doubt about. Neither have
those sceptics in our day, who sympathise with him in his former sentiments.
1. “Thy wickedness may hurt, or injure a man as thou art.” As to the hurt your
wickedness may do your fellow, it may depend much upon the nature of the
wickedness and the character, relations, and circumstances of your fellow man. One
form of wickedness affects one man in one way, and another a different way. For
instance, lying will hurt where swearing may not; and drunkenness where dishonesty
may not. This thought more particularly applies to example. But look at the
particular in its general application. Thy slander may hurt another man’s character.
Thy false accusation may hurt his feelings and reputation. Thy theft or dishonesty
may hurt his property or circumstances. Thy calumny or detraction may injure his
influence for good upon others. Humanity is one body—one family—one society; and

it is impossible for one member to do wickedly without affecting in some way or
other, to some degree or other, the rest.
2. “Thy righteousness may profit the son of man.” On the same principle that
wickedness hurts our fellow men, righteousness is a benefit to them. If the term
righteousness here be understood in a broad sense, as right-doing according to the
moral instinct, it is profitable to man in a world like this, where human nature is so
prone to wrong-doing. If the term be understood as the righteousness which is by
faith in Jesus Christ—as received from Him in justification, and as wrought in Him
in good works, according to His Spirit—it is still more profitable to man. This may be
shown in the terms used to designate such:—the “light of the world.” Light is good
and useful in darkness;—the “salt of the earth.” Salt is good and profitable in many
ways. Righteousness implies truthfulness, honesty, goodness, purity, humility,
benevolence, temperance, brotherly kindness, charity; and each of these is profitable
in its influence on our fellow men. As wheat, fruit, flowers, vegetables, etc., in the
natural world are profitable to man; so are the fruits and flowers of righteousness in
the moral world. Learn—
1. Your responsibility to individuals and society in respect to your conduct towards
them.
2. Your responsibility to God in respect to wicked or righteous conduct before Him.
3. The necessity of having a new nature within in order to live righteously before God
and man. (J. Bate.)
7 If you are righteous, what do you give to him,
or what does he receive from your hand?
BAR ES, "If thou be righteous, what givest thou him? - The same sentiment
substantially as in the previous verses. It is, that God is supreme and independent. He
does not desire such benefits from the services of his friends and is not so dependent on
them; as to be induced to interpose in their favor, in any way beyond what is strictly
proper. It is to be presumed, therefore, that he will deal with them according to what is
right, and as it is right that they should experience proofs of his favor, it followed that
there “would be” advantage in serving him, and in being delivered from sin; that it
“would be” better to be holy than to lead a life of transgression. This reasoning seems to
be somewhat abstract, but it is correct, and is as sound now as it was in the time of
Elihu. There is no reason why God should not treat people according to their character.
He is not so under obligations to his friends, and has not such cause to dread his foes; he
does not derive so much benefit from the one, or receive such injury from the other, that
he is under any inducement to swerve from strict justice; and it follows, therefore, that

where there ought to be reward there will be, where there ought to be punishment there
will be, and consequently that there is an advantage in being righteous.
GILL, "If thou be righteous, what givest thou him?.... All righteousness is of God
that any creatures have. What the angels in heaven have, or Adam had in a state of
innocence; or what believers in Christ have in and from him; his righteousness imputed
to them is of God; the grace of righteousness, or holiness, imparted to them and
implanted in them, is from him; and it is under the influence of his Spirit, and by his
grace and strength, they do works of righteousness externally; and therefore can give
nothing to him of their own, nor does he need any, being God all sufficient; even the
goodness of his Son does not extend to him, but to the saints, Psa_16:2; much less any
goodness of theirs: their best works of righteousness are due to him, and not gifts; and
though they may contribute to his manifestative glory, both in them that do them and in
others that see them, they can add nothing to the essential glory of God;
or what receiveth he of thine hand? He can receive nothing but what he has given,
or what he has a prior right to and is his due, and so cannot be laid under any obligation
to man by what he does; nor can man merit anything at his hand, not even the least
temporal mercy, and much less spiritual ones and everlasting life: and what notice God
is pleased to take of the good works of men, in away of reward, is not of debt, but of
grace, and entirely owing to his goodness; and does not arise from any intrinsic worth in
them, or from any advantage to him by them.
JAMISO , "(Psa_16:2; Pro_9:12; Luk_17:10).
PULPIT, "If thou be righteous, what givest thou him? By parity of reasoning, as our
sins do not injure God, so our righteousness cannot benefit him. As David says, "My
goodness extendeth not to thee" (Psalms 16:2). Or what receiveth he of thine hand?
All things being already God's, we can but give him of his own. We cannot really
add to his possessions, or to his glory, or to his felicity. We cannot, as some have
supposed they could, lay him under an obligation.
8 Your wickedness only affects humans like
yourself,
and your righteousness only other people.

BAR ES, "Thy wickedness may hurt a Man as thou art - That is, it may injure
him, but not God. He is too far exalted above man, and too independent of man in his
sources of happiness, to be affected by what he can do. The object of the whole passage
Job_35:6-8 is, to show that God is independent of people, and is not governed in his
dealings with them on the principles which regulate their conduct with each other. One
man may be greatly benefited by the conduct of another, and may feel under obligation
to reward him for it; or he maybe greatly injured in his person, property, or reputation,
by another, and will endeavor to avenge himself. But nothing of this kind can happen to
God. If he rewards, therefore, it must be of his grace and mercy, not because he is laid
under obligation; if he inflicts chastisement, it must be because people deserve it, and
not because God has been injured. In this reasoning Elihu undoubtedly refers to Job,
whom he regards as having urged a “claim” to a different kind of treatment, because he
supposed that he “deserved” it. The general principle of Elihu is clearly correct, that God
is entirely independent of human beings; that neither our good nor evil conduct can
effect his happiness, and that consequently his dealings with us are those of impartial
justice.
CLARKE, "Thy wickedness may hurt - It is better to translate this literally:
To a man like thyself is thy wickedness:
And to the son of man, thy righteousness:
That is: -
Thou mayest injure thyself and others by thy wickedness,
And thou mayest benefit both by thy righteousness;
But God thou canst neither hurt nor profit.
GILL, "Thy wickedness may hurt a man as thou art,.... But not God: a man may
hurt himself by his wickedness; his body, by bringing various diseases upon it, through
debauchery and intemperance; his family and estate, by wasting it; his soul, for every sin
is a wrong and injury to a man's soul, and exposes it to ruin and destruction: and sin
does even a good man harm, since it breaks in upon his peace, and hinders his
communion with God; and the wickedness of men may harm others like themselves,
frail, mortal, sinful creatures, and easily led aside by ill examples; as well as there are
many sins which do injury to the persons, families, and estates of others, as murder,
adultery, theft, &c. and since sin is harmful to others, God resents it, and punishes for it,
though, strictly speaking, it cannot harm him in the sense before given;
and thy righteousness may profit the son of man; may profit a man himself (,
Job_35:3), and others, but neither for justification before God; but godliness is
profitable to a man's self, both for this life and that to come, and good works are
profitable to other men; for what reasons they are to be performed and maintained, see
1Ti_4:8. Some are of real and direct profit to men, as acts of beneficence to them, and all
as being examples to them; but then no works of righteousness can be profitable to God,
they adding nothing to him; which is what Elihu undertook to answer to.

PULPIT, "Thy wickedness may hurt a man as thou art; and thy righteousness may
profit the son (rather, a son) of man. Job must not think, Elihu means, that, because
his good actions benefit and his bad actions injure his fellow men, therefore they
must also in the one case injure and in the other benefit God. The cases are not
parallel. God is too remote, too powerful, too great, to be touched by his actions. Job
has done wrong, therefore, to expect that God would necessarily reward his
righteousness by prosper us, happy life, and worse to complain because his
expectations have been disappointed. It is of his mere spontaneous goodness and
bounty that God rewards the godly.
9 “People cry out under a load of oppression;
they plead for relief from the arm of the
powerful.
BAR ES, "By reason of the multitude of oppressions they make the
oppressed to cry - It is not quite easy to see the connection which this verse has with
what goes before, or its bearing on the argument of Elihu. It seems however, to refer to
the “oppressed in general,” and to the fact, to which Job had himself adverted Job_
24:12, that people are borne down by oppression and that God does not interpose to save
them. They are suffered to remain in that state of oppression - trodden down by people,
crushed by the armor of a despot, and overwhelmed with poverty, sorrow, and want, and
God does not interpose to rescue them. He looks on and sees all this evil, and does not
come forth to deliver those who thus suffer. This is a common case, according to the
view of Job; this was his own case, and he could not explain it, and in view of it he had
indulged in language which Elihu regarded as a severe reflection on the government of
the Almighty. He undertakes, therefore, to “explain the reason” why people are
permitted thus to suffer, and why they are not relieved.
In the verse before us, he states “the fact,” that multitudes “do” thus suffer under the
arm of oppression - for that fact could not be denied; in the following verses, he states
“the reason” why it is so, and that reason is, that they do not apply in any proper manner
to God, who could “give songs in the night,” or joy in the midst of calamities, and who
could make them acquainted with the nature of his government as intelligent beings, so
that they would be able to understand it and acquiesce in it. The phrase “the multitude of
oppressions” refers to the numerous and repeated calamities which tyrants bring upon
the poor, the down-trodden, and the slave. The phrases “to cry” and “they cry out,” refer
to the lamentations and sighs of those under the arm of the oppressor. Elihu did not
dispute the truth of “the fact” as it was alleged by Job. That fact could not then be
doubted any more than it can now, that there were many who were bowed down under
burdens imposed by hard-hearted masters, and groaning under the government of

tyrants, and that all this was seen and permitted by a holy God. This fact troubled Job -
for he was one of this general class of sufferers; and this fact Elihu proposes to account
for. Whether his solution is satisfactory, however, may still admit of a doubt.
CLARKE, "By reason of the multitude - Or rather, “From among the multitude”
the oppressed clamor, ‫יזעיקו‬ yaziku: they shout, ‫ישועו‬ yeshavveu, because of the mighty.
The wicked rich oppress the wicked poor; these cry aloud because of their oppressors;
but they have no relief, because they call not upon God.
GILL, "By reason of the multitude of oppressions, they make the oppressed
to cry,.... Which is either an illustration by an instance of what is before said, that
wickedness hurts men, as particularly oppression does, which makes then cry; or this
refers to something new, to another complaint of Job, or an undue expression of his.
Elihu undertakes to answer; that men cry unto God, as he himself had, but are not heard
and answered; the place or places referred to may be Job_24:12. To which Elihu replies,
by granting that men oppressed cry because of their oppression, and are not heard; for
which reasons may be given, as in the following verses. The poor are often oppressed by
the rich, whose wealth gives them power, and that they abuse; and the weak and feeble
by the mighty; and their oppressions are many, there is a multitude of them: men in
power and authority have various ways of oppressing others, who like the Israelites cry
by reason of them, and are made to cry by their oppressors;
they cry out by reason of the arm of the mighty; which falls with weight, and lies
heavy upon them, and crushes them; meaning the power they have, and which they
abuse to the injury of them; nor are they able to help themselves or deliver themselves
out of their hands, they being mighty, if not in body, yet through wealth; and by means
of that authority over them which gives it them: now on account of the pressure upon
them, they cry, not to God, but to men: and if they cry to God, it is in a murmuring and
complaining way, through impatience under their burden, through envy at the riches
and power of others, in a passionate manner, in a revengeful spirit, calling and seeking
for vengeance on their oppressors; not in an humble penitent manner, acknowledging
their sins, and owning their unworthiness to be heard and regarded, and submitting all
to the will of God: for which reasons they are not heard, their cries and, prayers being
reckoned no other than howlings, Hos_7:14.
HE RY, "Elihu here returns an answer to another word that Job had said, which, he
thought, reflected much upon the justice and goodness of God, and therefore ought not
to pass without a remark. Observe,
I. What it was that Job complained of; it was this, That God did not regard the cries of
the oppressed against their oppressors (Job_35:9): “By reason of the multitude of
oppressions, the many hardships which proud tyrants put upon poor people and the
barbarous usage they give them, they make the oppressed to cry; but it is to no purpose:
God does not appear to right them. They cry out, they cry on still, by reason of the arm
of the mighty, which lies heavily upon them.” This seems to refer to those words of Job
(Job_24:12), Men groan from out of the city, and the soul of the wounded cries out
against the oppressors, yet God lays not folly to them, does not reckon with them for it.
This is a thing that Job knows not what to make of, nor how to reconcile to the justice of

God and his government. Is there a righteous God, and can it be that he should so
slowly hear, so slowly see?
II. How Elihu solves the difficulty. If the cries of the oppressed be not heard, the fault
is not in God; he is ready to hear and help them. But the fault is in themselves; they ask
and have not, but it is because they ask amiss, Jam_4:3. They cry out by reason of the
arm of the mighty, but it is a complaining cry, a wailing cry, not a penitent praying cry,
the cry of nature and passion, not of grace. See Hos_7:14, They have not cried unto me
with their heart when they howled upon their beds. How then can we expect that they
should be answered and relieved?
JAMISO , "(Ecc_4:1.) Elihu states in Job’s words (Job_24:12; Job_30:20) the
difficulty; the “cries” of “the oppressed” not being heard might lead man to think that
wrongs are not punished by Him.
K&D 9-13, "In Job_35:9 the accentuation of ‫ּוב‬‫ר‬ ֵ‫מ‬ with Dechî, according to which
Dachselt interprets: prae multitudine (oppressionum) oppressi clamabunt, is
erroneous; it is to be written ‫ּב‬‫ר‬ ֵ‫,מ‬ as everywhere else, and this (according to Codd. and
the editions of Jablonski, Majus, Michaelis, and others) is to be accented with Munach,
which is followed by ‫ים‬ ִ‫שׁוּק‬ ֲ‫ע‬ with a vicarious Munach: prae multitudine oppressionum
(‫עשׁוקים‬ like Ecc_4:1, and probably also Amo_3:9) edunt clamorem (Hiph. in the
intensive Kal signification, as e.g., ‫ה‬ָ‫נ‬ְ‫ז‬ ִ‫,ה‬ to commit fornication, Hos_4:10). On ַ‫ּוע‬‫ר‬ְ‫,ז‬ Job_
35:9; ‫ים‬ ִ ַ‫ר‬ are the great or lords (Arab. arbâb). The plur. with a general subj. is followed
by the sing. in Job_35:10: and no one says (exactly as in ‫ר‬ ַ‫מ‬ፎ ֶ‫,ה‬ Job_34:31). Elihu
weakens the doubt expressed by Job in Job_24:12, that God allows injustice to prevail,
and oppressed innocence remains without vindication. The failure of the latter arises
from the fact of the sufferers complaining, but not seeking earnestly the only true helper,
God their maker (‫ים‬ ִ‫ּשׂ‬‫ע‬, intensive plur., as Isa_22:11; Isa_54:5; Psa_149:2), who gives (to
which may be compared a passage of the Edda: “Wuodan gives songs to the Scalds”)
songs (‫ּות‬‫ר‬ ִ‫מ‬ְ‫,ז‬ from the onomatopoetic ‫)זמר‬ in the night, i.e., who in the night of sorrow
puts songs of praise concerning the dawning light of help into the mouth of the sufferers.
The singing of the glory of the nightly heavens (Stick., Hahn) is to be as little thought of
as the music of the spheres; the night is, as Job_34:20, Job_34:25, the time of
unexpectedly sudden change.
In Job_35:11 most expositors (last of all Schlottm.) take the two ‫ן‬ ִ‫מ‬ as comparative.
Elihu would then, since he feels the absence of the asking after this God on the part of
the sufferers, mean the conscious relation in which He has placed us to Himself, and in
accordance with which the sufferer should not merely instinctively complain, but
humbly bow himself and earnestly offer up prayer. But according to Job_12:7 (comp.
Pro_6:6, ‫,)וחכם‬ it is to be translated: who teaches (‫נוּ‬ ֵ‫פ‬ ְ ַ‫מ‬ = ‫נוּ‬ ֵ‫פ‬ ְ ፍ ְ‫,מ‬ comp. 2Sa_22:40,
Psalter i. 160) us from the beasts of the earth (so that from them as a means of
instruction teaching comes to us), and makes us wise from the birds of heaven. The fut.
interchanging with the part. better accords with this translation, according to which
Job_35:11 is a continuation of the assertion of a divine instruction, by means of the

animal creation; the thought also suits the connection better, for of the many things that
may be learned from the animal creation, prayer here comes under consideration, - the
lions roar, Psa_104:21; the thirsty cattle cry to God, Joe_1:20; the ravens call upon God,
Psa_147:9. It we now determine the collective thought of Job_35:10, that affliction does
not drive most men to God the almighty Helper, who will be humbly entreated for help:
it is more natural to take ‫ם‬ ָ‫שׁ‬ (vid., on Job_23:7) in the sense of then (τότε), than, with
reference to the scene of oppression, in the sense of there (lxx, Jer.: ibi). The division of
the verse is correct, and H. B. Starcke has correctly interpreted: Tunc clamabunt (sed
non respondebit) propter superbiam (insolentiam) malorum. ‫י‬ֵ‫נ‬ ְ ִ‫מ‬ is not to be connected
with ‫ה‬ֶ‫נ‬ ֲ‫ע‬ַ‫י‬ in the sense of non exaudiet et servabit, by which constr. praegnans one would
expect ‫ן‬ ִ‫,מ‬ Psa_22:22, instead of ‫,מפני‬ nor in the sense of non exaudiet propter (Hirz.,
Schlottm.), for the arrogant ‫ים‬ ִ‫ע‬ ָ‫ר‬ are not those who complain unheard: but, as the
connection shows, those from whom the occasion of complaint proceeds. Therefore: not
allowing themselves to be driven to God by oppression, they cry then, without, however,
being heard of God, by reason of the arrogance of evil men which they have to endure.
Job_35:13 gives the reason of their obtaining no answer: Only emptiness (i.e., mere
motion of the lips without the true spirit of prayer) God heareth not, and the Almighty
observeth it not. Hahn wrongly denies ְ‫ך‬ፍ the significations certo and verumtamen; but
we prefer the restrictive signification (sheer emptiness or hollowness) which proceeds
from the affirmative primary signification
(Note: Vid., Hupfeld in the Zeitschr. für Kunde des Morgenl. ii. 441f.)
here, to the adversative (nevertheless emptiness), since the adversative thought,
verumtamen non exaudit, has found its expression already in ‫ה‬ֶ‫נ‬ ֲ‫ע‬ַ‫י‬ ‫ּא‬‫ל‬ְ‫.ו‬
BE SO , "Job 35:9-10. By reason of the multitude of oppressions — This verse has
been supposed by many to contain an argument to prove what he had said Job 35:8,
that the wickedness of one man may hurt another: but Elihu rather seems to be here
beginning a new subject, and, having answered one of Job’s objections, to proceed
to another. Job had often complained that he cried to God, and God did not hear his
cry. This Elihu may here be considered as answering by a parallel case of men
crying out for oppression; whom yet God did not immediately relieve, for just
reasons, which he leaves Job to apply to himself. Or he refers to what Job had
alleged, (Job 24:12,) respecting men’s groaning out of the city, &c., which might
seem to reflect on God’s providence. This Elihu repeats in this verse, and answers in
those following. But none saith — Few or none of the great numbers of oppressed
persons, seriously or sincerely inquire, Where is God? — They cry out of men, and
to men, but they seek not after God, and therefore if God do not hear their cries, he
is neither unjust nor unkind; my Maker — Who alone made me, and who only can
deliver me. Who, when our condition is ever so dark and sad, can turn our darkness
into light, can quickly put a new song into our mouth, a thanksgiving unto our God.
COFFMA , ""They cry for help by reason of the arm of the Almighty" (Job 35:9).
"What Elihu is saying here is that when men do pray (as Job has been doing) it is
merely because of their suffering, and not because of any true desire for God."[3]

" one saith, Where is God my Maker" (Job 35:10)? "This means that they do not
pray with that trust in their prayers which is pleasing to God."[4] The plurals here
should not mislead us. Elihu is accusing Job.
"Who teacheth us more than the beasts of the earth. and maketh us wiser than the
birds of the heavens?" (Job 35:11). We appreciate Pope's rendition of this:
"Teaches us BY the beasts of the field ... BY the birds of the heavens."[5] The
allegation here is that the type of prayer Job has been praying, due to pain only,
"Does not raise man any higher than the animal creation."[6]
"There they cry, but none giveth answer" (Job 35:12). Here is the problem of
unanswered prayer; and Elihu has the glib answer ready, the wrong one, of course.
"It is because of the pride of men" (Job 35:13). The plurals here are misleading;
Elihu is accusing Job. When God finally interrupted this devil-originated speech of
Elihu. he did not accuse Job of pride, thus revealing Elihu's cocksure answer here as
the wild guess of an ignorant man. But Elihu even had another answer.
"Surely God will not hear an empty cry" (Job 35:13). "Elihu thought that when
prayer was not answered, it was because the prayer was empty";[7] but he did not
explain what he meant by that. The ew Testament reveals two great reasons why
prayers are not answered. (1) "Ye have not, because ye ask not" (James 4:2). A far
greater tragedy than unanswered prayer is the tragedy of unoffered prayer. (2) "Ye
ask, and receive not; because ye ask amiss, that ye may spend it in your pleasures"
(James 4:3).
"Thou sayest thou beholdest him not" (Job 35:14). Job indeed had complained of
his inability to find God; and Barnes believed that here, "Elihu says that, although
God is invisible, yet this should not be regarded as a reason why Job should not
confide in him."[8]
" Job 35:15 conveys no intelligible idea."[9]
"Job opens his mouth in vanity ... multiplies words without knowledge" (Job 35:16).
As our version has it, Elihu here is charging Job with all of his irresponsible talk as
being able so to speak because God has overlooked his arrogance (Job 35:15).
However, it was not Job, but Elihu who was, "Darkening counsel by words without
knowledge," (Job 38:2), according to the verdict of Almighty God Himself.
ELLICOTT, "(9) By reason of the multitude of oppressions.—The argument seems
to be that among men there may be oppression, but not with an almighty and just
Judge. The right course, therefore, is to wait. “Men may, indeed, complain because
of the oppression of an earthly tyrant; but how canst thou say thou beholdest Him
not?” (See Job 9:9.)

GUZIK 9-12, "a. Because of the multitude of oppressions they cry out: Elihu
understood that men cried out to God when they were oppressed or felt afflicted by
the arm of the mighty.
i. Elihu wanted to explain why God did not answer the afflicted. Job initially raised
the issue. “Job had devoted an entire speech to the subject of God’s apparent
indifference to his plight (Job 23:1-17) and the plight of all who suffer and are
oppressed (Job 24:1-25).” (Smick)
b. But no one says, “Where is God my Maker”: Elihu noted that men seek God in
their time of need, but their seeking often isn’t sincere. They don’t recognize God as
their Maker, they don’t recognize His comforts (who gives songs in the night), and
the wisdom He gave (makes us wiser than the birds of heaven).
i. Who gives us songs in the night: “A holy soul has continual communion with God:
night and day its happiness is great; and God, from whom it comes, is the continual
subject of its songs of praise.” (Clarke)
ii. “Elihu’s reason is right in the majority of cases. The great cause of a Christian’s
distress, the reason of the depths of sorrow into which many believers are plunged,
is simply this — that while they are looking about, on the right hand and on the left,
to see how they may escape their troubles, they forget to look to the hills whence all
real help cometh; they do not say, ‘Where is God my Maker, who giveth songs in the
night?’” (Spurgeon)
iii. Who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth: “God hath given to men those
gifts which he hath denied to beasts, reason and religion, wisdom to know God and
themselves, and their obligations to God, and their dependence upon him. And
therefore it ill becometh them to lie like brute creatures, roaring and crying out in
their miseries, without taking any notice of God in way of prayer or praise; and if
they do so, it is no wonder if God takes no notice of them.” (Poole)
iv. “Beasts, birds, fowls, and in many cases pond-fishes, know and seem thankful to
the hand that feeds them; while man, made much more noble than they, gifted with
the greatest powers, privileged with the most important benefits, considers not the
Lord, nor discerns the operation of his hand. Quadrupeds, reptiles, and fowls, have
more gratitude to their masters than man has to his God.” (Clarke)
c. They cry out, but He does not answer, because of the pride of evil men: When
men cry out to God in such insincerity, Elihu said that God does not answer them,
and He does not answer because of the pride of evil men.
i. Elihu said this with full knowledge that Job had complained that God would not
answer him. Therefore, Elihu freely associated Job with the insincere, proud, and
evil men.

Job 35 commentary

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Job 35 commentary