By James M. Rochford

Authorship

Both the OT (Ezek. 14:14; 20) and NT (Jas. 5:11) affirm that Job was a historical person. Jewish tradition claims that Moses wrote this book (Sota, 5.8; Baba Bathra, 14b), but “most scholars do not find this compelling.”^[1] Archer writes, “The text of this book does not indicate its author, and there is no consistent tradition even in rabbinic circles as to who the composer of this work might have been… The Talmud ventures only to suggest that the writer must have been someone who lived prior to the time of Moses.”^[2] Regarding the author’s extensive knowledge and literary skills, Hartley writes, “The author was a highly educated person and a devout servant of Yahweh; he may be numbered among the great wise men of ancient Israel.”^[3]

Date

The book of Job is very difficult to date. However, there is evidence that the events of the book date incredibly early—even before the time of Moses and Abraham. We can see this for a number of reasons:

First, it contains no datable historical events or knowledge of Hebraic culture or religion. Of course, the book takes place in the land of Uz, which most scholars^[4] believe to be in Edom (Gen. 10:23; Lam. 4:21). So, this could explain the book’s silence with regard to Abrahamic and Jewish references.

Second, Job is the patriarch of his family-clan, which fits with the time of Abraham—not Moses.

Third, Job’s wealth is measured in the amount of animals he owned, which fits with the patriarchal period (Gen. 12:16).

Fourth, Job offers a sacrifice for his family, rather than taking it to the priest. This is pre-Mosaic, where one would normally bring the sacrifice to a priest.

Fifth, Job’s long lifespan (140 years) seems to fit better with an early date (Job 42:16).

Sixth, Job mentions qesita (Job 42:11), which places the book at least as early as Joshua (Josh. 24:32) or perhaps earlier (Gen. 33:19).

Evidence against an early date

Job refers to “iron” (Job 19:24), which was not created until the 12^th century BC. However, this could be a case of a later redactor updating the text to fit with the contemporaneous culture (cf. Objection #3 under “Authorship of the Pentateuch”).

Conclusion

The historical setting for the events in the book of Job is considerably early. However, the writing and composition of the book is unclear. Was it written during the time of the events in question? Or was it written far later? We simply are not sure.

Canonicity of Job

Despite the theological and linguistic difficulties in Job, Smick notes that “its place in the canon was never seriously challenged.”^[5] Likewise, Hartley concurs that “the canonicity of Job has never been seriously questioned.”^[6]

Historical setting for Job

The setting for the book is a cosmic debate. Satan—frustrated in his attempts to attack God—has moved to Earth to attack those whom God loves: humanity. Like a mafia crime boss, he knows that if he can’t get to God, then he should try to get to his family, his children. Satan accuses humans of being righteous for self-service. “Take away the blessings,” says Satan, “and these humans will hate you.” If loving God for his blessings is wrong, then even the godliest of men will be shown to be sinful! Once this accusation is raised, it needs to be defeated, not destroyed.

His friends (Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar) are “orthodox” theologians, who end up arguing with Job about the nature of his suffering, rather than comforting him. They argue so vehemently, because they want to press a confession out of him: If a righteous man like Job is suffering, what will happen to them? If they can get him to confess some secret sin, then they will be able to go home knowing that suffering won’t afflict them. They won’t quit until they get a confession.

This books dialogues through the most important question of why bad things happen to good people. The dialogue goes on forever. Everyone has an opinion. But in the end, God gets the last word. In chapter 38, God speaks to Job, silencing Satan, his friends, and Job himself. He concludes the book by saying that we are too limited to know what we’re talking about. God sharply rebukes the three friends (42:7-9), saying that they misrepresented him in their speculations. And, he gently (but sarcastically?) brings Job through a series of questions to demonstrate that he is too limited to know what he’s talking about, too. God also doesn’t mention what he’s going to do to Satan, which is strange; it sparks the imagination.

Major lessons and themes of Job

First, we are too limited to understand God’s purpose for us, while we suffer. Instead, we need to trust that he is in the privileged position of being all-knowing, and he will work all things for the good for those who love him (Rom. 8:28). We know that God will get the last word, and he will take care of us in the end. As Chuck Smith would say in counseling sessions with the grieving, “Don’t forfeit what you don’t know for what you do know. You don’t know why God allowed your suffering… But you do know that God is good, he loves us, he is giving us eternal life, and he will eventually get the last word.” If Job could learn to trust God in his suffering before the Cross, how much more should we learn to trust him after the Cross?

Second, God is worthy of love even apart from his blessings. At the end of the book, Job gets double the blessings than he had at the beginning. God doesn’t give him the blessings up front, because he wants Job to know him better than he knows his blessings. God was fully justified in letting Job suffer in his squalor, and he lets him suffer in order to teach Job that he should enjoy the presence of God more than the presents of God. After he learns this, God lavishes him with blessing. He wasn’t required to do this, but he does it because he is a Giver; this is in his nature. God holds out on blessing Job, so that Job can get the supreme blessing—knowing God (42:5).

Third, Job is never told why he was suffering. This is odd, isn’t it? His life was the battleground for a cosmic battle between God and Satan, but he is never told this. And yet, he still trusts God after seeing him. God is most likely telling us that there is much more going on surrounding our suffering than we can possibly fathom. Instead of giving us intellectual answers to acute suffering, he gives us himself.

Fourth, friends can be intentionally or unintentionally cruel when we go through grief. Very often, friends will want to give theological and philosophical answers to the problem of pain. But this is sort of like explaining the science of cancer to a man dying of lymphoma: the explanation isn’t as important as the comfort that is needed. While Job’s friends were sometimes right in their theological statements (compare Job 5:13; 1 Cor. 3:19-20), they were wrong in their application of their theology.

Fifth, suffering isn’t always due to sin. Many religions teach that people suffer because this is some form of divine retribution. However, the book of Job blows this thinking out of the water. Job didn’t suffer because he was unrighteous, but precisely because of the fact that he was righteous (Job 1:1).

Sixth, we cannot give absolute answers for why individuals are suffering. Here we want to be very clear: Christian philosophers have given good answers for the problem of evil in general (i.e. “How could a good God allow evil?”), but we do not have clear answers for the problem of evil for specific persons and for specific incidences (i.e. “Why did God allow this to happen to me?”). When a friend asks about the intellectual problem of evil in the world, we can give good answers. But if a friend asks about the emotional problem of evil in their own lives, we shouldn’t philosophize and theologize about this. Instead, we should listen, comfort, and support them. This was the sin of Job’s counselors. Chapters 3 through 37 bear witness to this theme. Readers often find themselves frustrated reading through 35 chapters of speculation on Job’s suffering… and this is exactly the point! We can speculate all day long about why God allowed a specific instance of suffering, but we simply do not have access to this information. Instead, we can only cling to the promises that God will bring good out of evil when we trust him (Rom. 8:28).

Job 1 (Job’s Test)

Job: an upright man

(1:1) “There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job; and that man was blameless, upright, fearing God and turning away from evil.”

As we argued above, the “land of Uz” was in the region of Edom (Gen. 10:23; Lam. 4:21).

“Blameless, upright” do not refer to sinless perfection. The book itself states that Job was sinful (Job 13:26; 14:16-17). “Blameless” (tām) usually “refers to a person’s spiritual maturity and the integrity (purity) of his inner being.”^[7] It can be translated as “complete.”^[8]

“Upright” (yāšār) is “used in many contexts dealing with human behavior that is in line with God’s ways.”^[9] It can be literally translated “straight.”^[10]

Later we learn that “fearing God and turning away from evil” are the keys to wisdom (Job 28:28).

(1:2) Seven sons and three daughters were born to him.

Andersen sees these numbers as symbol for the “ideal family,”^[11] because the numbers seven, three, and their combined ten are numbers of completion and perfection. We suggest caution in reading too much into this.

(1:3) His possessions also were 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and very many servants; and that man was the greatest of all the men of the east.

In addition to livestock, Job was an agriculturalist with fields and farmlands (Job 1:14).

(1:4) His sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one on his day, and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them.

(1:5) When the days of feasting had completed their cycle, Job would send and consecrate them, rising up early in the morning and offering burnt offerings according to the number of them all; for Job said, “Perhaps my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” Thus Job did continually.

Job was afraid that his kids would sin by “cursing” God in their hearts, which was the very sin that Satan mentioned to God (Job 1:11; 2:5) and which his wife would urge Job to enter into (Job 2:9). This must have been a very real temptation.

Job was the mediator for his family. Later, he desires a mediator between him and God.

Enter Satan!

This divine council is similar to the one in Job 2:1-6.

(1:6) Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them.

The “sons of God” are angels (Job 38:7). The scene of a royal council of angels is seen elsewhere in Scripture (1 Kin. 22:19-22; Dan. 7:9-14; Ps. 7:8; 29:9-10; 82:1; 89:7-8; 103:19; Isa. 6:1-8; 40:13-14; Job 15:8).

(Job 1:6) Who are the sons of God?

(Job 1:6) Is Satan the evil spirit known as the Devil? Or is he merely God’s prosecuting attorney?

(1:7) The LORD said to Satan, “From where do you come?” Then Satan answered the LORD and said, “From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it.”

Peter writes that Satan “prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Pet. 5:8).

(1:8) The LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil.”

God is the one who initiates this discussion about Job—not Satan. God repeats his claim about Job’s uniqueness in Job 2:3. Again, the concept of “fearing God and turning away from evil” is integral for wisdom (Job 28:28).

(1:9-11) Then Satan answered the LORD, “Does Job fear God for nothing? ¹⁰ Have You not made a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. ¹¹ But put forth Your hand now and touch all that he has; he will surely curse You to Your face.”

Satan’s argument is crafty: Job’s character has never been tested, and God has made it easy on Job. Andersen writes, “Cynicism is the essence of the satanic. The Satan believes nothing to be genuinely good—neither Job in his disinterested piety nor God in his disinterested generosity. Faith in God’s goodness is the heart of love and hope and joy and all other radiant things: cynicism is studied disbelief; and a mind turned in upon its own malice is the final horror of the diabolical. The Satan asks his sneering question: Does Job fear God for nought? He knows enough about religious people to be persuaded that they are in it for what they can get out of it.”^[12]

Notice how many times Satan attacks God (“You… You… You…”). Instead of using “court courtesy” in referring to “the Lord,” Satan attacks God with personal pronouns.^[13]

Andersen raises the central attack of Satan: “Is God so good that he can be loved for himself, not just for his gifts? Can a man hold on to God when there are no benefits attached?”^[14]

(1:12) Then the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power, only do not put forth your hand on him.” So Satan departed from the presence of the LORD.

Satan commanded God to hurt Job, but God refuses. However, he permits Satan to have power over Job—so long as he doesn’t touch his body.

God permits Satan to attack Job

(1:13) Now on the day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house…

The time of feasting was usually the time that Job would make a sacrifice for his children (v.5). It is at this exact time that the unthinkable happens. Andersen writes, “Nothing could have stunned him more than the arrival of such news just as he had made fresh peace with his Lord.”^[15]

(1:14-15) A messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them, ¹⁵ and the Sabeans attacked and took them. They also slew the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”

The Sabeans might refer to the people of Sheba.^[16]

(1:16-17) While he was still speaking, another also came and said, “The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” ¹⁷ While he was still speaking, another also came and said, “The Chaldeans formed three bands and made a raid on the camels and took them and slew the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”

The “Chaldeans” were “roving marauders before they settled down in the south, west of the Tigris, in the ninth century BC.”^[17] They were Arameans.^[18]

“The fire of God” may refer to lightning (1 Kin. 18:38; 2 Kin. 1:10–14; Job 20:26). It must have been a massive fire to annihilate 7,000 sheep.

(1:18-19) While he was still speaking, another also came and said, “Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, ¹⁹ and behold, a great wind came from across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people and they died, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”

The news went from bad to worse: the destruction of the animals, the flocks, the camels, and finally his own children!

How horrible to have your one house destroyed. This would stand out as an odd and horrific circumstance.

Job’s response

(1:20) Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head, and he fell to the ground and worshiped.

These were common acts of mourning (Gen 37:34; Josh 7:6; Ezra 9:3, 5). Job had two simultaneous instincts: mourning and worship. This grief didn’t draw him away from God, but drew him closer to God.

(1:21) He said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I shall return there. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD.”

Andersen writes, “A man may stand before God stripped of everything that life has given him, and still lack nothing.”^[19] As Jesus said, “Not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions” (Lk. 12:15).

The root word for “blessed” (brḵ) was used by Satan in verse 11 (“He will surely curse You to Your face”). Instead of cursing God (as Satan predicted), Job blessed God. Smick writes, “The play on the root brḵ (‘bless’) is forceful. It stresses how the Accuser is foiled at this point. Instead of cursing God to his face, Job praised him.”^[20]

(1:22) Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God.

Job lived in Uz (v.1) with his large family, servants, and estate (vv.2-3). He had it all. He was also a God-fearer (v.5), making sacrifices just in case his children sinned.

We flash from this earthly story to a heavenly one. Satan is in charge of the Earth (1 Jn. 5:19), but he comes into God’s throne room. In verses 8-11, we need to see the subtext of Satan’s accusation against God.

Job 2 (Job’s Second Test)

(2:1-3) There was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the LORD. ² The LORD said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Then Satan answered the LORD and said, “From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it.” ³ The LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man fearing God and turning away from evil.”

These verses are similar (if not identical) to Job 1:6-9.

(2:3b) “And he still holds fast his integrity, although you incited Me against him to ruin him without cause.”

This doesn’t mean that Satan has control over God. The word “incited” can be translated as “attempting to persuade.”^[21]

Satan wanted to ruin Job “without cause” (ḥinnām), but God has a higher cosmic purpose. Satan used this term in Job 1:9 (“Does Job fear God for nothing?”). Smick writes, “Now God taunts the Accuser with the counteraccusation that Satan himself is the one who wants to see injustice done… This would suggest that Satan has wasted his energy on Job.”^[22]

Satan ups the ante

(2:4) Satan answered the LORD and said, “Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life.”

What is Satan’s argument? He is saying that Job has upheld his trust in God (Job 1:21), but this is only because Satan wasn’t allowed to affect Job’s own life. Remember, this was the one restriction that God put on Satan: “Do not put forth your hand on him” (Job 1:12).

What does ‘skin for skin’ mean? In context, it could mean that Job “was even willing to sacrifice the skin of his loved ones to save his own.”^[23] Hartley writes, “It seems to mean that anyone will exchange anything he has for something else of similar or better value.”^[24]

(2:5) “However, put forth Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh; he will curse You to Your face.”

Satan continues his argument: God allowed Job to be tested, but he didn’t let the test go far enough.

(2:6) So the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your power, only spare his life.”

God doesn’t cause the suffering, but he permits Satan to harm Job. God gives the rule that Satan cannot kill Job. There must be some divine rules of engagement (cf. Lk. 22:31-32).

(2:7-8) Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. ⁸ And he took a potsherd to scrape himself while he was sitting among the ashes.

It’s amazing that readers of Job often ask, “Why would God cause Job to go through so much suffering?” After all, the text both implicitly and explicitly states that Satan was responsible for actively torturing Job—not God (“[Satan] smote Job”). If we walk away from the book of Job asking this question, then we have missed the main theme of Job—namely, God is not responsible for evil, and humans are too limited to finite to understand God’s good plan, which is “good and acceptable and perfect” (Rom. 12:2; cf. Rom. 8:28). We can even make an a fortiori argument: If Job trusted God without knowing about Satan and this cosmic battle of ideas, then how much more should the reader trust God?

Later, Job states that this skin disease kept him up all night in pain (Job 30:17, 27). He also states that it turned his skin black (Job 30:30). The use of “scraping himself” with a “potsherd” implies that these sores were itchy or maybe he wanted to open the infection of the sores. Job’s disease was so horrible that he was unrecognizable (v.12).

Job’s wife

(2:9) Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die!”

Why didn’t Satan also kill Job’s wife? It’s possible Satan kept her alive so she could “become his tool.”^[25] Note that Job’s wife tells Job to “curse God,” which is Satan’s objective (Job 2:5).

(2:10) But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

Job is very kind in his reply to his wife’s statement. He doesn’t call her a fool, but states that she speaks “as one of the foolish women.” The charge of being a “fool” was a strong one (Ps. 14:1; 53:1).

Job’s friends

(2:11) Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this adversity that had come upon him, they came each one from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite; and they made an appointment together to come to sympathize with him and comfort him.

Teman was an Edomite city. It is “the only place of the three that can be definitely located.”^[26] Teman was a city known for its wisdom (Jer. 49:7). Perhaps these men thought that they could give Job some wisdom concerning his suffering.

In the beginning, they start off well, sympathizing and comforting him.

(2:12) When they lifted up their eyes at a distance and did not recognize him, they raised their voices and wept. And each of them tore his robe and they threw dust over their heads toward the sky.

The friends continue to do well. They weep with Job and mourn with him (Rom. 12:15).

(2:13) Then they sat down on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights with no one speaking a word to him, for they saw that his pain was very great.

They don’t speak with him at first. When people are mourning, this is often the best medicine. Just spending time with them in silence can help them to mourn. Unfortunately, the friends feel the need to start theologizing about Job’s suffering throughout the rest of the book, but they start off well.

Summary: The cosmic battle for truth

What is Satan saying? He is saying that Job is like a prostitute. Job doesn’t really love God; he just loves God’s stuff. Satan is saying, “Would a prostitute spend the night with someone, if the man wasn’t paying? Take that money away from Job, and we’ll see what he does then!”

Why would Satan feel this way? Satan is in it for himself, and so he thinks everyone else is this way too—even God himself. He is cynical of altruism and sacrificial love.

Why doesn’t God just blow Satan away?! This occurs in the presence of the angels (“myriads and myriads” according to Rev. 5:11). A myriad is 10,000. Thus this is hundreds of millions of angels. God could destroy Satan, but he chose to defeat him instead. At the Cross, Jesus “disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him” (Col. 2:15). Forster and Marston,

We may indeed accept that he had the sheer power to stop or even destroy Satan. The problem is that in this case, even as Satan sank under God’s wrath and destruction, he would have gone with a sneer on his lips as though to say, ‘I told you so.’ Such a ‘solution’ would have left forever unanswered Satan’s accusation that God’s kingdom was based (like his own) on force and expediency. It was not lack of power that prevented God from crushing Satan—it was a matter of principle. It is, perhaps, comparable to the moral restraint that makes it impossible for God to lie. Satan’s accusations must be answered, and they cannot be truly answered by a force that simply crushes the accuser.^[27]

God allows Satan to make his charge, and he moves history into motion to allow it (v.12). Of course, God put limitations on what Satan could and couldn’t do. Here, we see the permissive will of God. These opening chapters give a robust perspective on the problem of evil. Behind our view, there is a battle for truth going on in the heavenly realm, which we can’t see (see “Why Did Satan Crucify Jesus?”).

Satan can influence moral evil. That is, he can use people to execute his will (vv.13-15). He used the Sabeans (who were Arabs) to kill Job’s family, and he also used the Chaldean raiders (v.17).

Satan can influence natural evil. Even though the fire (Job 1:16), wind (Job. 1:19), and the boils (Job 2:7) looked like purely natural events (what philosophers call natural evil), the text states that Satan was behind these events (Job 2:7).

Qualification. This does not mean that all moral or natural evil is the result of demonic influence. It merely states that, at minimum, Satan has the power to cause evil at times.

Application

Do you relate more with Job or with his wife?

Are you willing to accept the suffering that God has for you, as well as the blessings?

Job’s three friends just sit with him for a week without theologizing. If only they had not said anything at all! The rest of the book explains how they try to find out Job’s sin.

Job’s counselors give speeches (Job 3-25)

Job’s three friends give speeches for the next several chapters (chs. 3-27). The friends talk about God, but they never talk to God. The purpose of these chapters seems to show that the theologizing and speculating of the friends is meaningless, insensitive, and sometimes cruel.

By contrast, Job speaks with honesty to God. He doesn’t ask for restoration from his suffering. Instead, he shares his feelings about the suffering with honesty.

Major characters

Here is a summary of Job’s three friends. Each gets worse in descending order:

Eliphaz (“Job was a righteous man, but he fell morally”). He was an Edomite (Gen. 36:4, 11). Teman is an Edomite territory (Jer. 49:7, 20; Ezek. 25:13; Amos 1:12; Obad. 8-9), and it was known for its wisdom (Jer. 49:7). Perhaps, Eliphaz believed that he was a good and wise theologian or philosopher, who could figure out the tragedy that had befallen Job. He considers Job to be a righteous man who has fallen morally, and he seems to be the ring leader of the friends because he speaks first.

Bildad (“Job’s family got what they deserved! And Job better be careful that he doesn’t face the same judgment!”). This is a non-Hebrew name, which doesn’t anywhere else in the OT. He is a Shuite, which occupied a land to the east (Gen. 25:2, 6), possibly from Dedan (Gen. 25:3) which is near Tema and Buz (Jer. 25:23).^[28]

Zophar (“Job is sinful! He needs to repent or he’ll die!”). He is from Naamah, but not the Israelite town (Josh. 15:41). Scholars can’t agree “on either the derivation of Zophar’s name nor the location of the place. But it must have been somewhere in north Arabia or Edom.”^[29]

Elihu (“Job is self-righteous, and only God is righteous!”). He is a young man (Job 32:4), so he listens to the entire debate for dozens of chapters before he gives the final speech to Job (Job 32-37). Elihu is angry at Job for wanting to justify himself before God (Job 32:2), and he argues that God is superior to Job’s finite understanding. Elihu is also angry at the three counselors, because they could not answer Job’s arguments (Job 32:3). Elihu is the only counselor to mention God’s grace and ransom for sin (Job 33:24). Interestingly, God judges the three counselors, but he doesn’t judge Elihu.

Job 3 (Job curses his birth)

(3:1-3) Job left off on a good note, refusing to curse God. Here, however, he doesn’t curse God, but his own life. He wished that he was never born (cf. Jer. 20:14).

(3:4) The expression “may the day be darkness” is in direct contrast to Genesis 1:3 (“Let there be light”).

(3:5-6) He wanted the day of his birth to be removed from the calendar.

(3:7) Job uses personification (a poetic, literary device) to refer to the night that he was born.

(3:8) Job doesn’t affirm the existence of “Leviathan” here. He refers to those who “curse” things (Occult practitioners? Polytheists? Professional cursing prophets like Balaam, Numbers 22-24?^[30]). Job wants these type of people, who believe in Leviathan, to curse the day of his birth. Typically, people in the ancient Near East would call on these type of people for aid from the spirit-realm. Instead of asking for help, Job wants them to curse the day of his birth!

(Job 3:8) Does the Bible support the belief in the Leviathan? (cf. 42:1)

(3:9-10) Job continues to lament the specific day that he was born.

If his birth day can’t be cursed, then how about a stillbirth instead?

(3:11-12) Job wishes that he had died as a baby (cf. v.16).

(3:13-17) It’s clear that Job doesn’t think of death as spiritual extinction. Smick writes, “It is clear that he did not consider it annihilation. The dead are in a place where there is no activity, where everyone finds rest; even the wicked stop making trouble there (v.17).”^[31]

(3:18-19) At least in death, the slave and the slave master are equals.

(3:20-22) Rhetorically, Job asks why life should be given to those who are in despair and suffering.

(3:23) God had originally protected Job with a “hedge” of protection (Job 1:10). Here, he asks why God would give him “light” and a “hedge” if it just resulted in suffering.

(3:24-26) Job’s worst fears were realized. He couldn’t even eat without weeping profusely.

Job didn’t attack God’s character here. Instead, he moped in his current duress. Smick writes, “That one as great as Job should have such a struggle of faith is a source of support to those similarly afflicted, especially when viewed in the light of the rest of the Book of Job.”^[32]

Job 4 (Eliphaz)

(4:1) Remember, Eliphaz comes from “Teman” which is a center for wisdom (Jer. 49:7). Eliphaz might have thought that he had good wisdom to share with Job.

(4:2) When grieving people are speaking like Job was (see chapter 3), it is hard to remain silent and not correct them. This, however, is exactly what Eliphaz did.

(4:3-5) Eliphaz begins by complimenting Job, calling him a wisdom teacher (like himself?). But he follows this with a rebuke: “But now it has come to you, and you are impatient.” In other words, he is saying, “You are good at giving out wisdom to others, but you can’t take it yourself.”

(4:6-7) Eliphaz acknowledges Job’s righteousness. However, this could be tongue-in-cheek because of his thoughts later in the book (Job 22:4).^[33] Also, he is implicitly saying that Job deserves some punishment for sin (Job 4:17). He states, “Who ever perished being innocent?” (v.7) This implies that Job really isn’t innocent after all. Eliphaz seems to be speaking out of both sides of his mouth.

(4:8-11) This refers to the fate of people in Eliphaz’s experience—namely, the unrighteous face judgment.

(4:12-17) Eliphaz gives a chilling account of being visited by a spirit. It happened right when he was about to sleep, and it terrified him. Even though the spirit wasn’t moving, Eliphaz couldn’t see the spirit’s form. Was this a good or evil spirit? Was this a dream or real? Was Eliphaz making up this entire story? We are not sure.

(4:17) The spirit speaks a theologically accurate statement here. All people are sinful (Rom. 3:23).

(4:18) This is also theologically accurate. Angels who rebel are called demons.

(4:19-21) This section is theologically suspect. The spirit claims that humans are so small compared to the transcendent God that they are insignificant when they die. This does not fit with a biblical view of humans made in the image of God, or with God who cares about the death of humans.

Job 5 (Eliphaz)

(5:1-2) Job didn’t have an angelic mediator to call upon (v.1), because he was a fool (v.2; Ps. 14:1).

(5:3-5) Eliphaz claims that fools face judgment—even their kids will die as a consequence. This is a direct assault against Job, who lost his children in his tragedy.

(5:6-7) Suffering has to have a cause or reason behind it. Eliphaz is asking, “How could a truly righteous man like Job suffer, if all suffering is the result of sin?” The Hebrew for verse 7 can read, “Man engenders [causes] trouble.”^[34]

God’s judgment

(5:8-16) Eliphaz claims that he is seeking God, which implies that he is a righteous man (v.8). Eliphaz continues to share about the greatness of God, including his power (v.9), his provision (v.10), his comfort (v.11), his judgment (vv.12-13), and his protection (vv.14-16). The purpose of this speech (written in the form of poetry) was to show that God will deal justly with fools and judge them.

(Job 5:13) Why does Paul quote this, when God rebukes Eliphaz’s words (Job 42:7)

God’s discipline

(5:17) This is similar to Proverbs 3:11.

All of Eliphaz’s theologizing, philosophizing, and speculating were wrong because he was ignorant of God’s purposes in Job 1-2. Smick writes, “It is not what Eliphaz knew that is wrong; it is what he was ignorant of—God’s hidden purpose—that made all his beautiful poetry and grand truth only a snare to Job.”^[35]

(5:18-24) Eliphaz seems to be saying that God will bring suffering for the purpose of discipline, but he will bring good things out of it in the end.

(5:25) This is a cruel statement to make to a man who just lost all of his kids to death. People can say the most insensitive things to those who are grieving, and not even realize it.

(5:26) To paraphrase, Eliphaz is saying, “It’s all going to work out in the end.”

(5:27) Eliphaz is making a gigantic claim here: “I’ve figured it all out and investigated everything.” In reality, the reader knows that Eliphaz was hopelessly ignorant of God’s purpose behind the suffering.

Job 6 (Job)

(6:1-4) This first section seems to be aimed at God himself. While Job admits that his words were “rash” (v.3), he justifies them in view of the God’s judgment toward him (v.4). Job further justifies his right to complain: after all, donkeys will “bray” (i.e. cry out) when they are hungry.

(6:5-7) This section seems to be aimed at the advice of his counselors. Job completely rejects Eliphaz’s words. Smick writes, “Despite his bodily misery Job’s major concern was for the needs of his spirit. If only he could hear words that would nourish his soul rather than sicken him more!”^[36]

(6:8-9) Even in his misery, Job didn’t think that it was right to take his own life in suicide. He does, however, want God to take his life.

(6:10) Job rejected Eliphaz’s words, but he was still trying to cling to God’s words.

(6:11) Job doesn’t want to wait for the future. He doesn’t see the purpose for his suffering.

(6:12-13) Job doesn’t have the physical strength to continue.

(6:14) Job’s friends thought that he had abandoned his faith in God. They couldn’t show him the “kindness” (ḥeseḏ) to help him through this time.

(6:15-20) The words of Job’s friends were like mirages of water in the desert. They looked like water from afar, but they were dried up sand when inspected up close.

(6:21) Why were Job’s friends afraid? Could it be that they were afraid that God would punish them too? After all, if Job was righteous and was enduring suffering, what would that mean for Job’s (unrighteous) friends?

(6:22-23) Job wasn’t asking for their money or material resources. He just wanted their comfort and love (ḥeseḏ, v.14).

(6:24-25) Job was angry principally because his friends were wrong in their arguments.

(6:26-27) Job’s words felt like they “belonged to the wind,” which means that they were ignored (v.26). Worse than this, Job’s “friends” were so cruel that they would treat orphans and his friendship like a gambling or bartering table.

(6:28-30) Job pled with them to trust in the fact that he was telling the truth about his suffering and situation. He insists that he can still discern truth (v.30).

Job 7 (Job)

(7:1-2) Job compares his situation to being a slave.

(7:3-4) Job’s pain seems to go on endlessly. He can’t even escape it during times of sleep.

(7:5) Job’s skin disease would break open the skin and become infected. Smick speculates that it could have been “elephantiasis.”^[37]

(7:6) While the pain seemed to go slowly, his life seemed to be going by quickly. We might compare this to the modern saying, “The days are long, but the years are short.”

(7:7-10) Job describes the finality of death: He will be taken away soon, and his friends won’t be with him any longer. Even his memory will be forgotten.

(Job 7:9) Does this passage deny the resurrection?

Job complains directly to God

(7:11) Job was speaking honestly about his pain.

(7:12) Job asks God if he is like a twisted and evil “sea monster.” To the Jewish people, the sea was a tumultuous place, and God would guard the sea. Job felt like God was treating him like this tumultuous place.

(Job 7:12) Sea monsters?

(7:13-14) Job felt that God was tormenting him even in his dreams. It would’ve been hard to fall asleep with a skin disease like this, but even sleep did not bring comfort.

(7:15-16) Job doesn’t find meaning in his life (v.16). He wonders why God spends so much time thinking about humans. What does it all matter? What’s the point? Why not just let him die?

(7:17) This seems to be a “parody”^[38] of Psalm 8.

(7:18-20) Instead of seeing himself as a glorious creature made in God’s image, Job sees himself as God’s object of judgment and his board for target practice (v.20).

(7:21) Job doubts his own righteousness. He goes from blaming God to blaming himself.

Concluding insights

Job gives a clear insight into the human condition. He is not a saint to be venerated, but simply an honest sinner. He speaks to God honestly about what he is thinking and feeling.

If it seems like Job is contradicting himself in these two chapters, this is correct! This is the flailing of a man who is in the middle of suffering and trying to make sense of it.

Job 8 (Bildad)

Remember, Job asked for compassion in chapter 6. Here. Bildad only adds to the cruel theologizing, blaming Job for his suffering. Smick writes, “[Bildad] heard Job’s words with his ears, but his heart heard nothing… The lesson we must learn is that there are such people in the world and that they do their heartless disservice to mankind under the guise of being the special friend of God.”^[39]

(8:1-2) What does it mean that Job’s words a “mighty wind”? This might refer to them being erratic or unpredictable.

(8:3-4) Bildad’s argument is this: (1) God is just in punishing sinners; (2) Job’s children were sinners; therefore, (3) God justly punished Job’s sinful children! Not only is this argument cruel, but it is based on a faulty premise (premise 2) that Job’s children were sinful.

(8:5-7) Bildad tells Job to repent of his sinfulness, and God would bless him again. In the previous verses, the problem was with Job’s children. Here, the problem is with Job himself.

(8:8-10) Bildad is appealing to tradition—not revelation—to make his argument.

(8:11-13) Papyrus cannot grow without water. Similarly, the “godless” man has no source of life. The word “godless” (ḥānēp) can also be translated “hypocrite.”^[40]

(8:14-15) He must be comparing the trust of the self-reliant man with the fragility of a spider’s web, which can easily be torn down.

(8:16-19) Bildad compares the godless, self-reliant man to a vine that clings to rocks, rather than to the foundation of good soil. Such a plant will wither and die. In effect, Bildad is saying that Job has lost his foundation in God, and this is why he is suffering so acutely.

(8:20-22) God’s view of Job was that he was blameless (Job 1:8; 2:3). But Bildad is questioning this view, saying that Job must be an “evildoer.”

Job 9 (Job)

(9:1-2) Job agrees with Bildad’s view of God’s justice. However, how can this be so in Job’s situation? After all, Job was blameless (Job 1:8; 2:3). If he wasn’t righteous before God, then who could be?

(9:3-4) Since God is the Ultimate Judge, Job reasons that no one can have an audience to justify themselves before him.

(9:5-10) God is responsible for cosmic creation and shaking the very mountains. How could Job stand up against him in debate?

Critical scholars believe that the “pillars” refer to physical structures under the Earth that hold it up. Smick argues that these pillars clearly refer to mountains.^[41] Later, Job affirms that God “hangs the earth on nothing” (Job 26:7).

(9:11-12) God is incorporeal and could remain hidden (v.11). Job wouldn’t be able to stop a being like this from bringing judgment (v.12).

(9:13) Who are the “helpers of Rahab”?

(9:14-15) Even if Job could make a strong case, he would still ultimately be at the mercy of God as his Judge.

(9:16-18) Even if God answered with words, Job would be under God’s judging actions.

(9:19-20) Job realizes that he is not nearly as powerful as God, nor is he more just than God. The decision to judge is ultimately in God’s hands (v.20).

(9:21-24) Job states that God punishes the righteous and wicked alike. If God is not responsible for this suffering, then who is? Smick writes, “Not all Job’s words are wrong, but it is a mistake to try to make them all represent valid theology rather than the half-truths of a man struggling to understand.”^[42]

(9:25-26) Job’s days are flying by quickly. This doesn’t seem to be a comfort to Job. Instead, he is looking at his life and realizing that he will die in a state of suffering, and there is little time for good days to return.

(9:27-29) Even if Job drops his “legal case” with God, it would make no difference.

(9:30-31) No matter what Job does, he will still be found guilty.

(9:32-35) Job wants an “umpire” to intercede between him and God. This word (môḵîah) means “someone to arbitrate… a mediator.”^[43] This could prefigure the work of Jesus on our behalf (1 Tim. 2:5).

Job 10 (Job)

(10:1-2) Job doesn’t address this to his “friends.” Instead, he addresses this directly to God. Specifically, he shares openly about his suffering, and he demands that God would tell him the charges that He has against him (v.2).

(10:3-7) Job begins to “put God on the witness stand.”^[44] He asks why God would oppress his own creation (v.3), and why God could not see his righteousness (vv.4-7). He even charges God with being so short-sighted that he couldn’t see Job’s suffering.

(10:8-12) Why would God spend so much time creating Job so meticulously and carefully, only to judge him so severely?

(10:13-17) On the other hand, perhaps God knows sin in Job’s life that he doesn’t see (v.13). God wouldn’t pardon Job of this sin, and hence, Job would be getting his just desserts (vv.14-15). Job wouldn’t even be able to lift his head in the presence of God (vv.16-17).

(10:18-19) Under this view of God, Job wishes for death. Smick writes, “Poor Job, the God he imagined was so angry with him was not angry with him at all; but in his current state of mind, he reverted back to his original wish to have died at birth, to have been carried straight from the womb to the tomb.”^[45]

(10:20-22) Job wishes for a few days of respite before death.

Job 11 (Zophar)

Remember, the friends get worse in descending order. Zophar is even worse that Eliphaz or Bildad. He claims that Job was suffering for his own sin.

(11:1-3) Instead of comforting Job in his time of suffering, Zophar rebukes Job’s temper tantrum.

(11:4) Job had claimed innocence (Job 10:7), but he didn’t claim sinless perfection (Job 7:21). On this point, Job had a lower estimation of his righteousness than God did (Job 1:8).

(11:5-6) If God spoke to Job, he would share all of the wisdom that Job lacked. Zophar uses this as a means of showing that Job’s arrogance was a sign that God was forgiving.

(11:7-11) Zophar argues that God is infinite and vastly superior to Job (vv.7-8). How could Job understand or criticize a being like this? God shouldn’t be on trial; rather, Job should know that God sees everything—even Job’s hidden sin.

(11:12) Zophar calls Job an “idiot” or a “hallow man” (see NASB footnote). In comparison to God, Job’s claims to righteousness were fallacious.

(11:13-16) If Job would repent of his “hidden sin,” then God would remove the judgment. However, Job had no hidden sin.

(11:17-20) Zophar was arrogantly claiming that God would make Job happy, healthy, and wealthy if he did (hypothetically) repent of his sin.

Job 12 (Job)

(12:1-2) Job sarcastically claims that his counselors are such wise men that, when they die, wisdom will die with them! Sarcastically, he says that they must be God’s gift to the Earth.

(12:3) Job claims that he has just as much wisdom or “intelligence” as them.

Why me, God?

(12:4-6) Job recognizes that he is relatively more righteous than those who “provoke God.” And yet, he is suffering, while they are “secure.”

Why is there suffering in the world?

(12:7-9) Job appeals to creation itself to show the problem of suffering in the world. Even the animals can see that God is behind this (unjust) judgment.

(12:10) God sustains the lives of every living thing. Therefore, if Job is suffering, this must be because God has caused it.

(12:11-12) Job’s counselors were serving him tasteless food (Job 6:6-7). They were not as wise as they claimed. Smick writes, “Job considered their words bland and superficial, certainly not a worthy part of the wisdom of elders.”^[46]

God’s sovereign decisions

Smick holds that Job is not attacking God’s wisdom (v.13), but rather, he is specifically attacking the wisdom set forth by his friends.^[47]

(12:13-14) God is powerful and mighty (v.13), but he uses this power to “destroy” and “imprison.” Job is angry with God’s use of his power.

(12:15) God uses his power to cause droughts or to cause floods—either of which are calamities. Smick writes, “Job was charging God with mismanaging the universe.”^[48]

(12:16) Even though all wisdom belongs to God, God is still in control of those who are misled or those who mislead others.

(12:17-19) God makes judges into fools, and he has kings imprisoned (vv.18-19), losing their “intelligence” (v.24). Even holy men like “priests” are judged.

(12:20-21) God gives good gifts to the wise and noble, but then he takes these away (Job 1:21).

(12:22-25) God gives power, wisdom, and authority to kings and nations, but then he takes all of this away (as he did with Job?).

Job 13 (Job)

(13:1-2) Job angrily claims that he has just as much wisdom as his counselors, countering Zophar’s claim that Job was an “idiot” (Job 11:12).

(13:3) Job is confident that his arguments would hold up in God’s court, but theirs would not.

(13:4-5) Job indicts his friends with being liars. The only wise thing for them to do would be to stay silent! (cf. Prov. 17:28)

(13:6-7) Job wanted his friends to stop and hear his case (v.6), rather than speaking deceitful lies about God.

(13:8-9) Job is convinced that these friends of his are phonies. If they had the gall to argue their case before God, their case would be seen through.

(13:10-11) If Job’s counselors argued their case in front of God, God would reprove them severely for their dishonesty.

(13:12) The “wisdom” of the counselors were mere maxims—not heartfelt truths.

Job wanted a hearing in God’s court to argue his case

(13:13-16) To paraphrase, Job is saying, “Why would I risk my life talking like this? If I am unrighteous, God would “slay” me! I’m willing to argue my case before God, but are you?”

(13:17-19) Job is confident that his case would be “vindicated,” if only God would give him an audience.

(13:20-22) Job only asks God that He would remove his judgment, so that Job could make his case.

(13:23-24) Job knows that he is sinful, but he wants God to reveal this clearly to him—presumably so he can repent of his sin.

(13:25-28) Job asks God why he would treat such an insignificant person like him so poorly.

Job 14 (Job)

(14:1-6) Job reflects on the transitory and suffering of the human condition. Their lives are short and full of suffering (v.1). In reality, the life of a human is just as temporal as the life of a flower (v.2). God brings judgment on humans directly (v.3). God is holding humans to a standard that is too high (v.4), and God controls the very length of the human life (v.5). Job only asks that God would take his hands off of the human race, so that they can live their lives peacefully.

(14:7-9) Trees can come back to life after death.

(14:10-14) By contrast, humans die and will become extinct. However, Job holds out for the resurrection of the dead (Job 19:25-26). After all, he only states that humans will be physically annihilated “until the heavens are no longer.” This could imply that humans will be resurrected after the heavens and earth disappear, and a new heavens and earth appear. Smick writes, “Job was not giving a general polemic against resurrection. On the contrary, he was saying that if God wanted to, he could hide Job in Sheol till his anger passed and then raise him (v.13). Job’s pessimism arose, not from a skepticism about resurrection, but from God’s apparent unwillingness to do anything immediately for him.”^[49]

(14:15-17) Job held out hope that God would forgive his sins—even if he himself wasn’t entirely conscious of them.

(14:18-22) At the same time, in the present moment, Job’s hopes are completely crushed—just as the mountains crumble and rocks are worn down.

Job 15 (Eliphaz)

This is Round Two for Eliphaz (Job 4-5).

Eliphaz interrogates Job with questions

(15:1-3) Eliphaz originally started his case with Job politely (Job 4:2). Here, however, he loses his patience and his temper with Job. He accuses Job of being filled “hot air,” so to speak (vv.2-3).

(15:4-6) Eliphaz argues that Job’s irreverence for God is what clearly condemns him. Job’s own words are what condemn him.

(15:7-9) Eliphaz’s interrogating questions are very similar to God’s approach in chapters 38-41. He asks Job rhetorical questions that aim to show Job’s ineptitude in knowing God’s purposes or his own moral righteousness and wisdom. Eliphaz argues that Job was not older than the other friends—neither the first man nor even an old and wise man. In this culture, age was esteemed as a virtue for wisdom.

(15:10) Some of the friends must have been older than Job. Eliphaz is effectively saying, “Are you wiser than men who are old enough to be your father?”

(15:11-13) Eliphaz argues that Job is being dismissive of God’s “consolations,” presumably through the three friends. Instead, Job is in an infantile rage.

The center of Eliphaz’s argument

(15:14-16) This relates to Eliphaz’s vision accounted for earlier (Job 4:17-19). His argument is essentially that all people are sinful, and therefore, Job is getting his judgment for something that he must have done.

The fate of the wicked

(15:17-20) Unlike Job, Eliphaz appeals to the wise men who are older than him. This is an argument from tradition that states that “wicked” people are the ones who suffer—not the righteous.

(15:21-25) Remember, Job had argued the injustice of the world: the righteous suffer and the wicked prosper. Here, Eliphaz completely dismisses that thought. The wicked know that they will face judgment, and they do not suffer like the righteous. The depiction of the wicked raging against God is similar to Job’s rage expressed earlier.

(15:26-35) One of the major problems with Eliphaz’ argument is that he is too binary in his thinking. Smick writes, “Eliphaz viewed man as either all good or all bad. He allowed no room for a good man to have doubts and struggles, and those who are bad Eliphaz wanted to reduce to zero… the deity Eliphaz worshiped was mechanical; he behaved like the laws of nature; so sinners could expect no mercy. The sinner always gets paid in full—trouble and darkness, terror and distress, the flame and the sword. God will see to it.”^[50]

Eliphaz lists all of the things that God will do to the wicked, and his list includes all of the bad events that happened in Job’s life: fire (v.30, 34), attacking enemies (v.21), loss of possessions (v.29), and the crumbling of the house (v.29). This is an indirect indictment of Job, because all of these acts of suffering happened to him.

Job 16 (Job)

(16:1-2) Job uses the words “sorry comforters” (ʿāmāl) to refute Eliphaz, because this is the same term that Eliphaz used against Job in Job 15:35 (“They conceive mischief [ʿāmāl]”).

(16:3) Eliphaz had accused Job of blowing “hot air” (15:1-3), and Job throws this accusation back at Eliphaz (“Is there no limit to windy words?”).

(16:4-5) Job states that he could use these same derisive arguments against his friends if they were in the same situation (v.4), but he would rather build them up with words that would “strengthen” them and bring “solace.”

(16:6) Job is in a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” situation. If he speaks, he is condemned and criticized. However, if he remains quiet, the suffering is too much to handle.

(16:7-14) Job understands God as the ultimate cause behind the suffering he is enduring. He pictures God as a warrior, who has him in his sights.

(16:15-17) Job openly expresses his pain and suffering. There is not “stiff upper lip” in his mourning. He claims that this expression of pain in prayer is “pure.”

(16:18-19) Job’s faith remains incredibly confident. Even though he is in profound pain, he still cries out to God and wants to meet with him. This “advocate… on high” seems to refer to God himself. Although, Smick thinks that this could refer to some sort of heavenly intercessor—perhaps a foreshadowing of Jesus.^[51]

Job 17 (Job)

(17:1) Job is in a hopeless state, expecting death.

(17:2) Why does he say that his “eye gazes” on their provocation? Typically, we would listen to “mockers” with our ears—not watch them with our eyes. It could be that he is not listening to the content of what his friends are saying.

(17:3) Job wants God to come to his aid. He wants God to “cosign” on his words.

(17:4) Did God really keep the friends from understanding? Or is this merely Job’s perspective? This would fit with Job’s views that God acts to judge people, but remember, this section is filled with many statements that are not theologically accurate. For instance, in verse 6, God did not cause this evil; Satan did. But Job was unaware of God’s perspective on the matter.

(17:5) Job is warning his friends of the “dire consequences of slander.”^[52]

(17:6-9) Truly upright and righteous people would be appalled at seeing Job tormented like this. Consequently, Job is saying that his friends are neither upright nor righteous.

(17:10) Based on verses 8-9, this demonstrates that Job was indicting his friends for being unrighteous fools.

(17:11-16) Remember, Job’s counselors had said that his “life would be brighter than noonday” if he would repent (Job 11:17). Job makes a satire or “parody”^[53] out of this wisdom: If only Job would treat the graves of his loved ones like his home, then they would magically reappear!^[54] Job refuses this idea, and he hopes only in death (Job 17:1).

Job 18 (Bildad)

(18:1-2) Bildad considers Job to be acting irrationally. He can’t even talk to a man who is so irrational.

(18:3) Bildad considered Job to be without understanding (v.2). If Job lacks understanding, then Job’s accusation against the counselors (that they are “stupid”) lacks any truth.

(18:4) Bildad asks if Job thinks that the natural course of the world is going to change just for him.

(18:5-12) Job wrestled with why the righteous suffer and the wicked prosper (cf. Ps. 73). Bildad holds a view of total legalism: If a person does right, then they will be rewarded. By contrast, the wicked will be punished in this life. Bildad gives a number of assertions to support this view.

(18:13-14) Bildad applies this to Job: boils covered Job’s skin. By implication, Job was getting what he deserved for his unrighteousness. Bildad personifies death itself as a punishment for the wicked.

(18:15-21) One of the worst judgments that the wicked face is that no one will carrying on their name (v.19). Since Job was now childless, this is a direct accusation against Job that he “does not know God” (v.21).

Job 19 (Job)

(19:1-3) Job lashes out against the repeatedly insults of his counselors. This brought “torment” and they were not even “ashamed” of what they said to him.

(19:4-6) Smick states that Job is literally saying, “My error lives (remains) with me.”^[55] Job is willing to accept his judgment for his error, but he is not willing to accept the faulty judgment of his counselors.

(19:7-12) In light of verse 6 (“God has wronged me and has closed His net around me”), Job understands this suffering as coming directly from God himself. He states that there is “no justice” in God’s attack (v.7). He uses military imagery to describe how God is out to get him. The imagery is that of siege warfare.^[56]

(19:13-19) Job describes the social rejection that he experienced: his brothers (v.13, 17), his acquaintances (v.13), his friends (v.14), his family (v.14), his servants (vv.15-16), his wife (v.17), and even little children (v.18). The rejection by children would be particularly offensive in a patriarchal culture. Smick writes, “In any society nothing hurts more than rejection by one’s family and friends, but what could be worse in a patriarchal society than to have children ridicule the patriarch (v.18)?”^[57]

(19:20) The KJV translation has turned into the modern idiom: “escaping by the skin of your teeth.” However, commentators aren’t certain how to interpret this expression. It could mean that he “gnaws himself on the skin with his teeth.”^[58]

(19:21) All Job wanted from his counselors was “pity,” not theologizing (cf. Job 6:14).

(19:22) Job’s understanding of God is surely wrong, but his evaluation of his “friends” is correct. The language of “being satisfied with my flesh” is a Semitic idiom for slander.^[59]

(19:23-24) Job wanted his life to be recorded (which it was!), because he wanted his memory to live on. Remember, Bildad had told Job that he would be completely forgotten (Job 18:17). It is in this context of Job looking forward to the future that he speaks about his resurrection from the dead in verses 25-26.

(Job 19:25-26) Does this passage refer to the concept of resurrection?

(19:28-29) Job argues that their unrighteous persecution will ultimately bring judgment on them—not him.

Job 20 (Zophar)

(20:1-3) Zophar rebukes Job for his closing words of judgment (Job 19:28-29). Smick states that “Zophar was the most emotional of the three.”^[60]

(20:4-11) Zophar uses a lot of imagery to show Job that the life of the wicked is transitory. The life of the godless is “short” and “momentary” (v.5). He passes away like his “refuse” (v.7)! He is like a fleeting “dream” or “vision” (v.8).

(20:12-19) Zophar compares the acts of the wicked to a man swallowing the venom of a snake: It tastes good going down, but they will vomit all of it back up again. Likewise, the wicked will be judged by God for their treatment of the poor. Sadly, Zophar couldn’t see that he was treating Job—a poor man—exactly this way.

(20:20-29) After the wicked man “fills his belly” with evil, God will judge him (v.23). The vivid imagery of judgment was common to ancient people: “The more eloquently it could be said, the more the ancient speaker was able to convey how deeply he felt and how sincerely he was trying to make his point.”^[61]

Job 21 (Job)

(21:1-3) Job just wanted to be heard. His friends were building arguments against him without even listening to the cry of his heart.

(21:4-6) Job understood that his ultimate problem was with God—not men (v.4). He wanted his friends to look at his distorted body—at the boils covering his skin (v.5). He wanted them to grieve with him and sympathize with him. How could his friends look at his suffering with no feelings of compassion? Only a cold religious heart could use this as an opportunity to rebuke him even further.

Was Job sinful in having a controversy with God? Yes and no. He was attributing his suffering to God, and he was challenging God’s character. However, Smick writes, “God would rather have us complain than be indifferent toward him or to handle his truths arrogantly and so reduce them to dead maxims. Job’s anguish over not understanding what God was doing is proof that he was not indifferent or arrogant. It was the counselors who assumed they knew what was going on.”^[62]

(21:7-8) Bildad had claimed that the wicked lose their legacy in their offspring (Job 18:19-21). Job explicitly denies this.

(21:9-13) Job explains how the wicked do prosper in this life, using many images to describe this.

(21:14-15) Job explains how the wicked openly defy God, and yet, they are untouched by God’s judgment.

(21:16) Eliphaz’s use of Job’s words helps us to interpret this verse. Job seems to be saying that “prosperity” comes from God; therefore, why do the wicked have such “good” lives if God is the one who gives them material blessings?

(21:17-21) Job is focused on the judgment of the wicked in this life—not the next. From this vantage point, God was not just in dealing with the righteous and the wicked. Smick comments, “Failure to understand fully God’s ways had led both Job and the counselors astray; but Job did not pretend to understand, and they did. Moreover Job was suffering physically and emotionally, and they were not.”^[63]

(21:22) Job admits that he doesn’t have a full and complete knowledge of God’s plan or ways.

(21:23-26) In this culture, being “fat” was a sign of prosperity (v.24). Job knows that he cannot know everything about God’s ways (v.22), but he still struggles with what he can see in the world.

(21:27-33) Job’s counselors had repeatedly claimed that Job’s suffering was result of Job’s sin (Job 8:15; 15:34; 18:15, 21). He calls this clichés ways for them to “wrong” him (v.27). Job targets their lack of knowledge regarding the uniform experience of all people (v.29). Job’s counselors were coming to conclusions based on their limited knowledge as well.

(21:34) Job opened with a plea for compassion and consolation. He ends by rebuking their vain and false attempts at comfort.

Job 22 (Eliphaz)

Eliphaz is the “nicest” of the counselors. But notice, he completely ignores Job’s words and Job’s plea for compassion and comfort. He only continues to rebuke him.

(22:1-2) Eliphaz’s argument focuses on the transcendence of God. God doesn’t need even wise and righteous men, so Job’s arguments are worthless.^[64]

(22:3) Eliphaz treats Job’s statements of being hypothetically righteous as nonsense. Smick writes, “For Job to be vindicated would be a lie; so how could God take pleasure in that?”^[65]

(22:4) Eliphaz’s statement is “pure irony.”^[66] In reality, Job wasn’t suffering because he was wicked, but because he was righteous.

(22:5-11) While Job was outwardly religious and pious, Eliphaz argues that Job had treated people poorly, and this is why he was suffering. Obviously, Eliphaz has no evidence for this, but he accuses him nonetheless.

(22:12-20) Eliphaz uses Job’s words against him (Job 21:13-16). If God really is transcendent, then Job should realize that his limited view must be wrong.

(22:21-30) Eliphaz speaks about true repentance with erudition. However, this wasn’t Job’s problem! Eliphaz thought that he was doing Job a favor by urging him to “get right with God,” but Job was the one in the right, as we will see later (Job 42:8).

Job 23 (Job)

(23:1-2) Job calls his complaining words “rebellion.” He seems to be realizing that he is unrighteously charging God with injustice.

(23:3-4) Job still wants to have an audience with God to plead his case. When he finally does get this opportunity (Job 38-42), he can only sit in silence.

(23:5) When Job does encounter God at the end of the book, this does come true. Job listens intently to God in stunned silence, and he repents of his complaining and grumbling attitude.

(23:6-7) Even though God is all-powerful, Job is sure that God would listen to his case.

(23:8-10) Job can’t see God, but God can see him (Job 42:5). Job was sure that this testing would result in him being acquitted (“I shall come forth as gold”).

(23:11-12) Even though he couldn’t see God, he treasured the words of God.

(23:13-15) Job affirms God’s unique monotheism (v.13).^[67] However, while reflecting on the sovereignty of God, Job feels fearful (v.15). After all, if God is truly sovereign over his life, then he has the authority to do or allow anything to happen to Job.

(23:16-17) Even though Job considers that God has made him “faint” and “dismayed,” (v.16), Job still won’t remain silent (v.17); he wants to talk this out with God.

Job 24 (Job)

(24:1) Job wrestles (again!) with why the wicked are allowed to reign free, while the righteous suffer.

(24:2-4) Job describes the plight of the widow and the orphan at the hands of evil men. God had special laws in place to protect these people, who were almost always destitute (Ex. 22:22; cf. Ps. 68:5; Jas. 1:27).

(24:5-9) These are all vivid descriptions of the suffering of the poor, while the wicked get richer.

(24:10-11) The poor prepare food and wine, but they go hungry and thirsty. This would be psychological torture.

(24:12) Why does God look at all of this and “not pay attention” to this suffering?

(24:13-17) The previous section described the suffering of the poor. This section describes the attitude of the wicked: The murderer (v.14), the adulterer (v.15), and the thief (v.16) all “share a characteristic that is self-condemning: they all love darkness rather than the light (cf. 38:12–15; Ps. 82:5; Jn. 3:20; Eph. 5:8; 1 Thess. 5:5).”^[68]

(24:18-24) There is serious disagreement as to who is speaking in this section of chapter 24.^[69] Some hold that these are Bildad’s words because he didn’t have a third speech. Others think it is Zophar. However, the context begins with Job (Job 23:1), and we see no reason to think that this entire section is not Job speaking. Smick argues that Job could be using the words of the counselors against them in verses 18-24 (cf. Job 21:18-19).^[70]

Job is arguing that the righteous and wicked seem to have the same luck—as if all of life’s suffering is simply up to time and chance—cause and effect. He is arguing that it looks as if God is not sovereign over any of it.

(24:25) Job concludes by saying that his observations of the righteous and the wicked are irrefutable. Common experience shows that both receive suffering. Meanwhile, his counselors have been arguing for a mechanistic view of God’s blessings and cursings for people, but this doesn’t fit with the world as we see it.

Job 25 (Bildad)

After this chapter, we do not hear anything else from Job’s three counselors (though a fourth counselor will appear later on).

(25:1-3) Bildad doesn’t even respond to Job. He just repeats Eliphaz’s arguments from earlier (Job 4:17-21; 15:14-16). Smick comments, “Bildad wanted to show how God’s power established order in the heavenly realm and that his dominion extends to all created beings.”^[71]

(25:4-6) Bildad is a strict legalist. His doctrine of God is very orthodox, claiming that God is transcendent and powerful over creation. The problem is with his conclusion: humans are “maggots” and “worms” in God’s sight! Bildad emphasizes the power of God over his love for humanity. God in his great love on the Cross died for these “maggots” and “worms”!

Job’s concluding speech (Job 26-31)

Job 26 (Job)

(26:1-4) Job gives a string of sarcastic comments to Bildad. He’s obviously appalled and suffering from Bildad’s accusations and his theology. The final verse of this section is tongue-in-cheek, because he asks Bildad about the source of Bildad’s wisdom.^[72] In light of Job 1-2, Bildad was getting his theology from Satan—the Accuser!

(26:5-6) The language of the dead being “under the waters” is metaphorical (Job 27:20). This doesn’t communicate anything about the state of the netherworld of Sheol. Earlier, Job referred to Sheol as “the land of darkness and deep shadow” (Job 10:21). Bildad had asked if God did not cast light on everyone (Job 25:3). Here, Job answers him by stating that God’s omniscience even stretches into the afterlife.

(26:7-8) It’s interesting that Job could know that the Earth hung in a vacuum (i.e. “on nothing”). The purpose of this section is to show that God is so powerful that he could hold the Earth on nothing and hold water in the clouds without letting it burst. In other words, the purpose is to show the grandeur of the God who can do such incredible things.

(26:9) This could also be understood as God obscuring “the face of his throne.”^[73] This would fit nicely with other passages (Job 38:1; Ps. 104:3ff; Amos 9:6). However, the context refers to celestial bodies like the moon, which seems more likely here.

(26:10) God is sovereign over light and darkness. Smick writes, “Job was ascribing to God, and not to the incantations and rituals of the nature cults, the authority and dominion over night and day.”^[74]

(26:11) Even the heavens (i.e. the celestial bodies or the sky) trembles at God’s power. We understand “heavens” in this way because of the context, which describes the celestial bodies—not the spiritual realm.

(26:12-13) Ancient Near Eastern creation myths held that the Marduk defeated the goddess Tiamat. Likewise, Tiamat’s counterpart Yam (the Sea) fought Marduk’s counterpart Baal. Job was “demythologiz[ing] the language of the popular myths that described creation as the overcoming of chaos.”^[75] He referred to “the sea” as an impersonal force—not a god. Therefore, we shouldn’t understand Job’s language of “Rahab” and “the fleeing serpent” to be descriptive of actual gods, but as God’s power over false gods (cf. Ps. 89:9-10; 74:13-14; Isa. 27:1; 51:9-10).

Similarly, Jesus stilled the sea with a simple word (Mt. 8:23-27).

(26:14) We might think that God’s power over these false gods was superb. But Job considered this to be the “fringes” and “faint” by comparison to his full omnipotence.

Job 27 (Job)

(27:1-6) Job swears by God’s name regarding two subjects: (1) God had embittered him and (2) Job would not concede to his counselors’ arguments. He refused to admit that they were in the right. Instead, he held onto his righteousness.

(27:7-10) This is referred to as an imprecatory statement, whereby the person calls down a divine curse on another person (see What about the “Cursings” in the Psalms?). Job had pled for mercy (Job 19:21), but the counselors had only doubled down on accusing him. Later, God tells Job to pray for these counselors, rather than curse them (Job 42:7-9).

(27:11-12) Smick translates (or paraphrases) these verses in this way: “Must I teach you about God’s power to punish? Indeed, I could never conceal from you a subject on which you have expounded at length.”^[76] Job’s counselors had accused him for so much unrighteousness. Here, Job tells his counselors that they were the unrighteous ones.

(27:13-23) Job describes the “portion” or place of the unrighteous. Verses 13 and 23 form an inclusio for this section. At the end of the chapter, Smick translates, “He claps his hands against them and hisses at them from his dwelling (heaven).”^[77] That is, Job’s counselors will be “hissed” at from heaven!

Job 28 (Job)

Job spends the first half of this chapter describing the ingenuity of humans looking for precious metals in the depths of the Earth. The reader may be confused why this is the case. Later, he compares this search to the search for wisdom. That is, humans can find precious metals, but they cannot find wisdom. In order to find wisdom, they need to find God (v.28).

(28:1-2) Job opens by stating an obvious claim—namely, that riches have a source.

(28:3) This refers to men seeking treasure in the darkness of caves.^[78]

(28:4) This refers to miners being lowered into the ground to harvest precious metals.^[79]

(28:5) This could either refer to (1) volcanic activity under the Earth’s crust or to (2) the use of fire “used to split rocks and to reach ore.”^[80]

(28:6-7) Humans have the ingenuity to “see” these metals, even though the “falcon” (one of the sharpest eyes in nature) cannot see.

(28:8-11) Humans—not even the most powerful animals—can harvest these precious metals.

(28:12-14) Verse 13 states that man “does not know its value,” but it can also be rendered “know its abode.”^[81] The point seems to be that humans can carve their way into the Earth (an incredible feat!), but they cannot find wisdom there. Compare these verses with verses 20-22. Smick comments, “The thrust is that even if one were able to probe these inaccessible places, wisdom could not be found.”^[82]

(28:15-19) Why has Job been focusing on the scouring of precious metals? Job is making the point that humans can use their ingenuity to find precious metals, but they cannot find precious wisdom. Smick comments, “The point is that man’s intelligence and determination enable him to accomplish amazing feats of technical ingenuity, but left to himself he cannot find wisdom. Wisdom as a treasure is rarer than any other. Even with a wealth of technical knowledge, man cannot purchase wisdom… Human beings may be clever, even ingenious and wealthy, but they are rarely wise.”^[83]

Solomon took gold from “Ophir” (1 Kings 10:11).

(28:20-22) See comments above on verse 12-14.

(28:23-27) Humans have to search for treasure, but their treasure doesn’t result in wisdom. By contrast, God can see wisdom easily (v.24).

(28:28) We shouldn’t search for wisdom through self-discovery or rationalism. Instead, we should turn to God for wisdom. This is similar to numerous OT passages (Ps. 111:10; Prov. 1:7; 9:10; Eccl. 12:13).

Job 29 (Job)

Job sums up his case in chapters 29-31. By the end of chapter 31, he “rests his case.” He leaves the question of his righteousness and suffering in God’s hands.

(29:1-6) Job desperately misses the time—only months before—when he enjoyed God’s favor. Job starts by remembering when he had a close relationship and friendship with God, when God seemed so near to him (vv.2-5). He remembers being in the prime of his life, regarding his health (v.4). He remembers his deceased kids (v.5). He remembers the material blessings that he had received from God (v.6).

(29:7-11) We don’t know what city this was, but “any city that had a gate and public square was a major urban center.”^[84] Job was the father of the city. Remember, the beginning of Job stated that he was “the greatest of all the men of the east” (Job 1:3). Job had such wisdom and authority that even “princes” and “nobles” would be quiet in his presence (vv. 9-10).

(29:12-17) Job describes how he took care of the poor (v.12), the dying (v.13), and the orphans and widows (vv.12-13), who were extremely poor. This is a case of Hebrew parallelism to describe the poor. Job was righteous and stood up for justice (Job 1:1, 8; 2:3).

(29:18-20) Job had all sorts of plans for how his life would turn out. He thought he would die as an old man in his house (his “nest”). He thought he would be strong and healthy until his death (vv.19-20).

(29:21-25) This section parallels verse 7-11. Job’s wisdom, righteousness, kindness, and comfort made him a good chief or king of the city. Sadly, the one who comforted other mourners was not comforted himself (v.25).

Job 30 (Job)

(30:1-10) Earlier, both the young and the old (Job 29:8) and the princes and nobles (Job 29:9-10) had respected Job. Here, even the lowest in society ridiculed him (v.9). Job used to be respected (Job 29:11), but now, he was hated (v.10). They used to cover their mouths in his presence (Job 29:9), but now, they spit in his face (v.10).

(30:11-15) Job used to hold his bow in his hand (Job 29:20). But now, God has unstrung and “loosed” his bow (v.11). Job had earlier used the language of siege warfare to describe his condition (Job 19:10-12). Now, he makes this even more clear (vv.12-14). Whether or not this is metaphorical, Job’s own people had turned on him.

(30:16-18) Job used to experience God’s “light” (Job 29:3). But now, he experiences total darkness. He describes his clothing as choking him at night (v.18). Perhaps this refers to his neck swelling from the boils (??). We are not sure.

(30:19-23) Job was angry with God because (1) God was silent and (2) God was directly afflicting him.

(30:24-28) Job had lived to help the suffering and the mourning. Now, he was been totally rejected.

(30:29) Job’s only companions are the jackals and the ostriches (v.29). His skin was covered with boils, and perhaps it is now going through necrosis, turning black (v.30).

(30:31) We usually think of a flute as a beautiful music instrument. Here, Job compares his flute to the wailing of suffering people—a high pitched caterwaul that pierces the air!

Job 31 (Job)

This is the crescendo of Job’s defense. Remember, Job had said, “Far be it from me that I should declare you right; till I die I will not put away my integrity from me” (Job 27:5). Here, he makes his final defense to his counselors (or accusers?).

(31:1-4) Smick understands the “virgin” (b^eṯûlāh) to refer to idolatry—namely, a sex goddess of fertility (e.g. Venus of the Semites? Anat in Ugaritic? Isthar of the Babylonians? Ashtoreth of pre-exilic Israel?).^[85] He bases this on the fact that the definite article is used (“the maiden”), and this is a Ugaritic word. Moreover, idolatry is mentioned later (vv.24-34).

This seems like a stretch in our estimation. Job simply seems to be referring to sexual lust (v.9; cf. Prov. 6:25). He won’t look at young women lustfully, because God “sees” everything that Job is doing (v.4).

(31:5-8) Job claims that he had integrity from materialism, greed, and stealing others’ goods.

(31:9-12) Verse 10 was understood by the Jewish Targum to have sexual connotations (“grind for another”).^[86] It’s also possible to understand this to mean that Job’s wife would become the slave of another man, grinding his millstone laboriously. Under this latter view, the marriage would be null and void, and Job’s wife would be at the mercy of another man. The sin of adultery was seen as both legally (v.11) and spiritually (v.12) wrong.

(31:13-15) Job affirmed the rights of all humans—even slaves. This is remarkable given the historical context. Smick writes, “We may truly stand amazed at Job’s egalitarian spirit, for he took seriously the rights of his servants (slaves?). He did not just admit their right to have grievances but to openly express them and expect justice (v.13). Even more amazing in terms of what we know about slavery in the OT world, Job based this right on the principle that all human beings are equal in God’s sight, because he who created them all is both their (his servants’) Master and his, and that Master shows no favoritism (vv.14–15; cf. Eph 6:9).”^[87]

(31:16-23) Job expresses his care for the poor and the destitute: the widow (v.16), the orphan (v.17, 21), the needy (v.19). He claims that God should judge him if he hadn’t taken care of the poor (vv.22-23).

(31:24-28) Smick understands the references to the “sun” and the “moon” as referring to idol worship.^[88] Idols were often created with “gold” and precious stones. This is likely correct; otherwise, why would God be angry with Job looking at the sun and moon? (v.26)

(31:29-30) Job never delighted in the judgment of his enemies.

(31:31-32) Job took care of travelers who were in need.

(31:33-34) Smick believes that this refers to “man” in general, because the Hebrew word “Adam” can be translated as “man.”^[89] However, the use of the word fits with the Fall of Genesis 3: Adam covered his transgressions, and the ground was cursed as a result (see v.40).

(31:35-37) Job writes his “signature” on these words. This is the end of three chapters of self-defense, and Job makes this his legal defense by “signing” it. However, Job takes the wrong position in calling out God like this. He stands on his own self-righteousness, and he commands God what to do. Later, God calls out Job for this attitude (Job 38:2-3).

(31:38-40) Job personifies the land to stand with him as witnesses of his righteousness. The cursing of the ground fits with the curse of Genesis 3, and the ground “crying out” fits with Cain’s murder of Abel in Genesis 4. Later, Job makes comments of contrition after God speaks (Job 40:4-5; 42:2-6).

Elihu’s speech (Job 32-37)

Critics contend that Elihu’s speech was a later addition to Job, because it comes out of the blue, and God never refers to Elihu at the end of the book. However, there is no textual evidence for this conclusion, God could have good reasons to not mention Elihu, and finally, there may be some literary evidence to support Elihu’s speech. Elihu states that God is in the storm (Job 37:1-9), and later, God appears to Job “out of the storm” (Job 40:6). This would serve as a literary connection that presupposes Elihu’s speech.

Job 32 (Elihu)

A fourth counselor appears. These six chapters (Job 32-37) lead up to God’s appearance in chapters 38-42. Here, we have a more balanced theology of suffering, and it is distinct from Job’s earlier counselors because it is much more accurate. Later, God judges the three counselors, but he never judges Elihu.

It’s possible that Job and his three counselors were arguing in the public square, out in the open where everyone could hear (Job 2:12). If this is the case, then Elihu would have been listening to this entire discourse, biding his time to make his case.

(32:1-5) Job had finished his defense, and he had nothing else to say. Job’s counselors had heard enough from this “self-righteous” man, and they had nothing else to say. Finally, Elihu seizes his chance to speak.

Elihu had been waiting for a chance to speak (v.4). He was angry at Job for his self-righteous attitude (v.2), and he was angry at the three counselors because they couldn’t answer Job’s claims—yet they still condemned him (v.3, 5). Elihu was a young man (v.4), but he was clearly full of wisdom.

(32:6-9) In this culture, old men were viewed as wiser than the young. This is why Elihu remained quiet. However, at this point, he speaks up because he has God’s “spirit” that gives him wisdom.

(32:10-14) Elihu was angry at the counselors because they hadn’t refuted Job’s arguments. Elihu listened very carefully and patiently to the counselors, but he hadn’t heard a refutation. Now, he asks for them to give him the floor.

(32:15-22) Elihu states that the counselors have nothing left to say (v.15), but Elihu is bursting at the seams to speak (v.19). He promises that he will be impartial in his monologue.

Job 33 (Elihu)

(33:1-3) Job had lost respect for his three counselors actually caring for him (Job 12:2; 13:4-5; 16:2-5; 19:2-6, 28-29; 21:3, 34; 26:1-4). This must be why Elihu speaks about his personal “uprightness” and “sincerity” (v.3).

(33:4-7) Elihu might be saying that he was just another human like Job(vv.4, 5-7). So, Job shouldn’t worry about answering to Elihu.^[90] On the other hand, Elihu is obviously challenging Job to “refute” him (v.5). Perhaps Elihu is claiming to have the “Spirit of God” and wisdom from God that Job cannot refute.

Elihu (finally) starts his argument

(33:8-11) Elihu quotes Job in a loose way, capturing Job’s defense (see Job 9:21; 10:6-7; 13:19, 23). Elihu accurately quoted Job, but he didn’t quote him verbatim.

(33:12-13) Elihu appeals to God’s transcendence to show that Job isn’t right in challenging God (v.12). Elihu asks Job why he would expect God to give him insight into his purposes.

(33:14) In Elihu’s mind, God had spoken to Job through dreams (vv.15-18) and suffering (vv.19-22). Job had been terrified by the dreams God had given him (Job 7:14).

God speaks through DREAMS

(33:15-18) God spoke to people in dreams through the Bible. The purpose of this revelation was redemptive in nature—namely, to spare Job from judgment (v.18).

God speaks through SUFFERING

(33:19-22) Likewise, God “speaks” through suffering for redemptive purposes—to prevent Job from judgment (v.22).

(33:23) Earlier, Job had asked for an intercessor from heaven (Job 16:18-21). Here, Elihu states that such an intercessor or “mediator” or “interpreter”^[91] would be rare (“one out of a thousand”). This angel could be a third way that God could speak to Job.

(33:24) This mediator would bring grace and ransom on behalf of Job. This is a new theme of the book. Job’s counselors had no room in their theology for grace.

(33:25-28) Such a redeemed person would be able to talk about his sin openly because of God’s grace.

(33:29-30) God wants to communicate with humans (and with Job) in order to rescue them from judgment and give them grace.

(33:31-33) Elihu was speaking good truths to Job, but he comes across overbearing.

Job 34 (Elihu)

(34:1-4) Earlier, Job complained about the “food” that his counselors were giving him in the form of false wisdom (Job 12:11-12). Here, Elihu picks up on these words and offers true wisdom.

(34:5-6) Job made these claims earlier (Job 12:4; 13:18; 16:3; 27:2, 6).

(34:7-9) These thoughts come from earlier (Job 15:16, 25-26; 21:7). Elihu is pointing out that Job is being inconsistent: Why does Job want acquitted by a God who he doesn’t believe is just?

(34:10-15) Job had wrestled with the problem of evil: Why do the wicked prosper and the innocent suffer? Elihu flatly denies that God’s character or justice is perverted.

(34:16-20) No one can stand in judgment over God. Elihu compares this to a person thwarting the authority of a king: how much more with God?

(34:21-30) God’s omniscience allows him to be the perfect judge.

Elihu admonishes Job

(34:31-33) Elihu notes that people under divine discipline still continue to sin. Elihu brings this up in order to show Job that he needs to come to God on God’s terms—not his own (v.33).

(34:34-37) Elihu states that Job is not repentant as he should be (vv.31-33). Instead, Job only continues to rage against God, and this shows that Job deserves to continue to suffer.

Job 35 (Elihu)

(35:1-3) Job didn’t say these exact words, but Elihu is summarizing Job’s argument (Job 13:13-19).

(35:4-8) Elihu appeals to the transcendence of the clouds, and he compares this to God’s relationship with humans. God was so transcendent that he couldn’t be hurt by Job’s sin (v.6) or helped by Job’s righteousness (v.7).

(35:9-11) Some people cry out to God, but they are not truly repentant. Elihu’s argument seems to be that Job is in this category. For this type of person, “They cry only because of physical pain and not out of spiritual hunger.”^[92] The “songs in the night” are songs of praise to God for temporary deliverance.^[93]

(35:12-13) God will not reply to the cries of people who stand in “pride” or give an “empty cry.” These “evil men” will hear only silence from God.

(35:114-16) Elihu makes his argument personal for Job. Since Job was demanding for God to appear to him (Job 13:15; 31:35-37), God would remain hidden.

Job 36 (Elihu)

(36:1-4) Elihu is referring to God as the one who is “perfect in knowledge.”^[94] Later, Elihu uses this same language to describe God—not himself (Job 37:16). Elihu is saying, in effect, that God is with Job, speaking through Elihu.

(36:5-7) God’s omnipotence means that his purposes will stand, according to Elihu. God’s purposes are laid out in verses 6-7: God judges the wicked and keeps his eyes on the righteous.

(36:8-14) Since these verses are conditional (“If… then…”), this shows that humans have the ability to repent from evil. This implies that Job is guilty, and he is in need of repentance.

(36:15-16) Job could be rescued if he turned to God through this disciplinary suffering.

(36:17-21) These verses are incredibly difficult to translate.^[95] Most translators understand this to be an admonition to Job to repent of evil and turn to God.

(36:22-26) Elihu affirms God’s power and infinitude. Consequently, we cannot know his plans and purposes; we only see them “from afar.” In verse 26, Elihu is saying that we cannot know God exhaustively, even if we can know him truly.^[96]

(36:27-33) To ancient people, the rain cycle was not only phenomenal to observe, but it would be necessary for their sustenance and livelihood. Elihu appeals to this to show God’s intelligence behind creation. Even something as simple as the rain cycle was completely beyond Job’s knowledge. This only further concretized the fact that Job’s knowledge was limited.

Regarding the lightning in God’s “hands” (v.32), this may anthropomorphically describe God throwing lightning in judgment.^[97]

Job 37 (Elihu)

(37:1-13) Elihu appeals to God’s power in nature, and how he “trembles” at the lightning God has created (v.1). He does this in order to later demonstrate God’s power over human affairs—specifically, Job’s life.

(37:14-20) Elihu directs the powerful effects of nature (and God’s incredible mind and power behind them) in order to show Job how limited he is. That is, if Job cannot understand the events in nature, then how can he possibly know God’s purposes in the lives of people?

Regarding the sky being a “molten mirror” (v.18), we can note that this does not necessitate the belief that the sky was hardened. The Hebrew word (raqia) is also translated as “expanse” as in Genesis 1:20. In Genesis, this area is where the birds fly. It would make no sense to say that this expanse is a metal surface, because birds are flying through it. Also, this passage in Job is only saying that it is only “as” a molten mirror, using the language of simile. For more on this subject, see comments on Genesis 1:6.

(37:21-24) Elihu closes his speech by calling on Job to be humble before God.

God finally speaks! (Job 38-42)

If you have made it this far in the book of Job, then you are probably dying for some theological clarity. The debate between Job and his counselors often leaves the reader feeling wearisome. Finally, God appears to speak to Job. His approach to Job may surprise you…

Job 38 (God speaks)

The reader might expect God to explain to Job the reason for his suffering. Instead, God “answers” Job with a series of 64 rhetorical questions in this section. If God had told Job the cosmic battle behind the scenes, it would only reinforce the fact that humans need answers when we suffer. Instead, the main theme of the book is that we need to trust in God’s power, plan, and love.

(38:1) This is the first time since the prologue that God’s covenant name is used (Yahweh). In chapters 3-37, Job and his counselors do not refer to God as Yahweh (with a possible exception in Job 12:9—although this is disputed.).^[98] This literary evidence shows us that the men were talking about God in an abstract sense, but God meets with Job in a personal and relational way.

(38:2-3) This rebuke is not only for Job, but also for his counselors: “One of the purposes of the Lord’s speeches is to show that neither the counselors nor Job possessed such complete knowledge.”^[99]

It is interesting that God doesn’t give justification for Job’s suffering, but he also doesn’t list Job’s sins as the counselors would have expected. Instead, he humbles Job through a line of questioning, showing Job that he is far less knowledgeable and wise than he thinks he is.

The fact that God comes to speak with Job at all shows us that “God was not his enemy as he had imagined.”^[100]

(38:4-7) God refers to creation. Clearly, Job was not present at creation, so this line of questioning is divine “irony.”^[101] God is showing Job just how little he knows.

(38:8-11) God has ultimate power over the seas. Smick writes, “In the ancient Semitic world, control of the boisterous sea was a unique symbol of divine power and authority.”^[102] By claiming this authority, God was further humbling Job.

(38:12-15) God refers to his power over the sun and moon—something Job knows nothing about.

(38:16-18) God asks Job if he knows or understands the inner-workings of the deep darkness or the expanse of the Earth?

(38:19-21) God chides Job for being born at creation! Obviously, Job knew nothing about the fundamental nature of darkness and light. Even these “simple” aspects of reality were complete mysteries to Job.

(38:22-24) God pictures the snow and hail as his arsenal. Job could experience their reality, but he couldn’t see them stored up, as God states.

(38:25-27) God can bring water on a desert—even if no humans are there to see it. Smick notes that this shows that humans are not the center of the universe, and that “man is not the measure of all things.”^[103]

(38:28-29) Smick comments, “The standard myths viewed the rain as the semen of the storm god. But the rhetorical question is there to impress on Job that these apparent male and female aspects of inanimate nature are God’s doing and his alone.”^[104]

(38:30) Job couldn’t have known that water would freeze this deep—only God knew this.

(38:31-33) God moves from the waters to the stars. Obviously, Job couldn’t create or control the stars. This shows that God had authority and prerogatives that Job knew nothing about.

(38:34-38) Job has no authority over the clouds, the rain, and the lightning. God is showing Job that he is utterly small by comparison to God.

(38:39-41) God moves to simpler examples: animals and their food. These would seem to be in Job’s reach, but even the food chain is beyond Job’s power or understanding. Even the animals cry out to God for his provision, but Job is utterly unable to provide for them. The point seems to be that God can feed the animals, but Job cannot even fathom what this is like.

Job 39 (God speaks)

(39:1-4) God appeals to his creative activity in wildlife. He explains how he created animals to thrive—even from birth. Smick writes, “The offspring of an ibex doe, unlike human infants that need years of care, can stand within minutes of birth and soon gambol off to thrive in the wild.”^[105]

(39:5-8) God seems to be saying that he created the wild donkey to be “free” (v.5), and to enjoy itself in the wild. Humans were the ones who made the donkey a beast of burden.

(39:9-12) The animal is the aurochs (Bos primigenius), which is now extinct. In fact, it was near extinction by the time of Moses (~1,500 BC).^[106] God seems to be bringing this up to show that Job can’t even harness the power of this ox—let alone run the entire universe.

(39:13-18) God appeals to the ostrich to show that Job cannot discern why God would create such a bizarre bird. It leaves its eggs undefended, and it can’t even fly. This was an animal without “wisdom” (v.17). Smick writes, “Job could not understand what God was doing in his life, and God was telling him the created world is just as difficult to rationalize.”^[107]

(39:19-25) Job would’ve depended on war horses like this for protection. God asks if Job had created any of these majestic animals. The purpose seems to be that Job took for granted something that God had created.

(39:26-30) Next, God appeals to the incredible design of birds: clearly, Job couldn’t know how these birds could do what they do, and he took their creation for granted.

Job 40 (God speaks)

(40:1-2) Satan had originally accused Job. Now, God asks if Job would accuse God. After seeing the incredible detail and scope of God’s creation, it seems that Job has been humbled in his accusations of God.

(40:3-5) Earlier, Job had proudly stated, “I would declare to Him the number of my steps; like a prince I would approach Him” (Job 31:37). Here, we see him with his hand over his mouth. God had humbled Job.

Yet, Job was still suffering. Smick writes, “[Job] was still on the rack; suffering had not abated. Job had gone beyond it to see and trust God as his friend. As a friend God had brought Job out of his bitterness to a full realization that he must reckon with God as God. And yet Job still did not know how God had put himself on trial when he allowed Job to be afflicted under Satan’s instigation.”^[108]

(40:6) God speaks to Job “out of the storm.” This must have been humbling in and of itself to stand in front of a presumably massive storm.

(40:7-14) Job had claimed that he could answer God in a court of law (Job 31:35-37). Little did Job know, God “had no such indictment of Job in the first place; but Job’s attitude had to be corrected, for he wrongly assumed that he had to be vindicated by God.”^[109]

God taunts Job to “instruct” him (v.7). Just like God has omnipotent power over the natural order (Job 38-39), so too, God has absolute power over the moral order. God tells Job to end the evil in the world. To paraphrase, “Job, perhaps you can bring an end to evil and wickedness… If so, go ahead and do it!” By stating this, God was humbling Job, allowing him to see that he was not God. And, Job needed to learn the lesson of allowing God to be God—not himself.

(40:15-24) Regarding the existence of the Behemoth, see comments on Job 3:8.

Job 41 (God speaks)

(41:1-34) The purpose of referring to Leviathan is to show that there is no way for Job to have power over Leviathan (see Job 3:8). Is it possible that the Leviathan is actually a poetic description of Satan, who is called the “serpent” in Isaiah? Isaiah writes, “In that day the LORD will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, with His fierce and great and mighty sword, even Leviathan the twisted serpent; and He will kill the dragon who lives in the sea” (Isa. 27:1). Since the book opens with Satan, it would make sense that it would end as an inclusio with God’s power over Satan.

Why doesn’t God tell Job about the cosmic battle with Satan? In effect, this would ruin the purpose of the book, which is to encourage the reader to trust in God’s power, plan, and love to lead his universe. Smick writes, “Job learned through the theophany that God had not abandoned him. And it gradually dawned on Job that without knowing why he was suffering he could face it, so long as he was assured that God was his friend.”^[110] Job learned this lesson. But will the reader?

Job 42 (God speaks)

(42:1-2) Job gets the message that God is all-powerful, and Job is like an insect by comparison to him.

(42:3-4) Job repeats back to God the very questions that God had asked (Job 38:2-3; 40:7), admitting that he was ignorant and God had every right to instruct him.

(42:5-6) Job’s major problem was that he needed to repent of his self-righteousness and arrogance, though no sins are specified. He realizes that his attitude toward God was far off. Regarding Job’s repentance, Smick writes, “The word nāḥam (‘repent’) has a breadth of meaning that includes not only ‘to be sorry, repent;’ but also ‘to console oneself’ or ‘be comforted.’ So it may be that Job was saying that because he had had this encounter with God (v.5b)—since he has really ‘seen’ God—he has been delivered of his fantasy about God.”^[111]

(42:7) How did Job “speak what was right”? This must refer to Job’s repentance at the end. Job’s counselors were so filled with pride and certainty over their theologizing that they provoked God to wrath. This shows unequivocally that God sided with Job—not the counselors.

(42:8-9) The punishment of the counselors is mild: They need to bring sacrifices to Job and ask Job to pray for them (cf. Ps 35:12-14; 109:4-5). This “punishment” would have the effect of humbling the counselors. After all, they just spent two dozen chapters attacking Job for being a sinful heretic, and now, they need to come back to Job for spiritual counsel.

(42:10) God waited for Job to pray for his friends before he blessed him. This may have been a final test for Job. Otherwise, why would God wait until after Job had prayed for his enemies?

(42:11) Earlier, Job’s family had abandoned him (Job 19:13-15). Here, they return to have fellowship with Job.

Why does the text refer to “for all the adversities that the LORD had brought on him”? After all, Satan was the agent of Job’s suffering. This is a case of how Hebrew thinking did not distinguish between the proximate and the ultimate cause. While Satan was the one who brought suffering on Job (i.e. the proximate cause), God was the one who sovereignly allowed for this to have (i.e. the ultimate cause). Hebrew thinking blended these two thoughts. OT scholar Walter Kaiser writes, “Scriptural language frequently attributes directly to God what he merely permits.”[112]

(42:12-15) Notice that Job received double what he started with. Notice as well that Job’s daughters are named, while his sons are not.

(42:16-17) Job lived for 140 years, which was double the ideal lifespan in Jewish thinking (Ps. 90:10).

[1] See footnote 3. Merrill, Eugene H., Mark F. Rooker, and Michael A. Grisanti, The World and the Word: An Introduction to the Old Testament (Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2011), 500.

^[2] Archer, Gleason. A Survey of Old Testament Introduction (3rd. ed.). Chicago: Moody Press. 1994. 505.

^[3] Hartley, J. E. (1988). The Book of Job (p. 17). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

[4] Merrill, Eugene H., Mark F. Rooker, and Michael A. Grisanti, The World and the Word: An Introduction to the Old Testament (Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2011), 501.

^[5] Smick, E. B. (1988). Job. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job (Vol. 4, p. 855). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

^[6] Hartley, J. E. (1988). The Book of Job (p. 3). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

^[7] Smick, E. B. (1988). Job. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job (Vol. 4, p. 879). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

^[8] Andersen, F. I. (1976). Job: An Introduction and Commentary (Vol. 14, p. 83). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

^[9] Smick, E. B. (1988). Job. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job (Vol. 4, p. 879). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

^[10] Andersen, F. I. (1976). Job: An Introduction and Commentary (Vol. 14, p. 83). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

^[11] Andersen, F. I. (1976). Job: An Introduction and Commentary (Vol. 14, p. 84). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

^[12] Andersen, F. I. (1976). Job: An Introduction and Commentary (Vol. 14, p. 89). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

^[13] Andersen, F. I. (1976). Job: An Introduction and Commentary (Vol. 14, p. 90). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

^[14] Andersen, F. I. (1976). Job: An Introduction and Commentary (Vol. 14, p. 89). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

^[15] Andersen, F. I. (1976). Job: An Introduction and Commentary (Vol. 14, p. 90). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

^[16] Andersen, F. I. (1976). Job: An Introduction and Commentary (Vol. 14, p. 91). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

^[17] Smick, E. B. (1988). Job. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job (Vol. 4, p. 883). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

^[18] Andersen, F. I. (1976). Job: An Introduction and Commentary (Vol. 14, p. 91). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

^[19] Andersen, F. I. (1976). Job: An Introduction and Commentary (Vol. 14, p. 92). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

^[20] Smick, E. B. (1988). Job. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job (Vol. 4, p. 882). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

^[21] Clines, D. J. A. (1998). Job 1–20 (Vol. 17, p. 20). Dallas: Word, Incorporated.

^[22] Smick, E. B. (1988). Job. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job (Vol. 4, p. 884). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

^[23] Smick, E. B. (1988). Job. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job (Vol. 4, p. 885). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

^[24] Hartley, J. E. (1988). The Book of Job (p. 81). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

^[25] Smick, E. B. (1988). Job. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job (Vol. 4, p. 886). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

^[26] Smick, E. B. (1988). Job. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job (Vol. 4, p. 886). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

[27] Forster, Roger T., and V. Paul Marston. God’s Strategy in Human History. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Bethany House Publishers, 1974. 8.

^[28] Smick, E. B. (1988). Job. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job (Vol. 4, p. 862). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

^[29] Smick, E. B. (1988). Job. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job (Vol. 4, p. 862). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

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^[32] Smick, E. B. (1988). Job. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job (Vol. 4, p. 891). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

^[33] Smick, E. B. (1988). Job. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job (Vol. 4, p. 895). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

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^[69] Smick, E. B. (1988). Job. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job (Vol. 4, p. 958). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

^[70] Smick, E. B. (1988). Job. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job (Vol. 4, p. 960). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

^[71] Smick, E. B. (1988). Job. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job (Vol. 4, p. 963). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

^[72] New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). (Job 26:4). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

^[73] Smick, E. B. (1988). Job. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job (Vol. 4, p. 967). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

^[74] Smick, E. B. (1988). Job. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job (Vol. 4, p. 967). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

^[75] Smick, E. B. (1988). Job. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job (Vol. 4, p. 968). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

^[76] Smick, E. B. (1988). Job. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job (Vol. 4, p. 972). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

^[77] Smick, E. B. (1988). Job. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job (Vol. 4, p. 972). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

^[78] Smick, E. B. (1988). Job. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job (Vol. 4, p. 976). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

^[79] Smick, E. B. (1988). Job. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job (Vol. 4, p. 976). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

^[80] Smick, E. B. (1988). Job. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job (Vol. 4, p. 976). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

^[81] Smick, E. B. (1988). Job. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job (Vol. 4, p. 976). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

^[82] Smick, E. B. (1988). Job. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job (Vol. 4, p. 977). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

^[83] Smick, E. B. (1988). Job. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job (Vol. 4, p. 977). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

^[84] Smick, E. B. (1988). Job. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job (Vol. 4, p. 981). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

^[85] Smick, E. B. (1988). Job. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job (Vol. 4, p. 992). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

^[86] Smick, E. B. (1988). Job. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job (Vol. 4, p. 993). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

^[87] Smick, E. B. (1988). Job. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job (Vol. 4, p. 994). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

^[88] Smick, E. B. (1988). Job. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job (Vol. 4, p. 994). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

^[89] Smick, E. B. (1988). Job. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job (Vol. 4, p. 995). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

^[90] Smick, E. B. (1988). Job. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job (Vol. 4, p. 1005). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

^[91] Smick, E. B. (1988). Job. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job (Vol. 4, p. 1006). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

^[92] Smick, E. B. (1988). Job. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job (Vol. 4, p. 1016). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

^[93] Smick, E. B. (1988). Job. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job (Vol. 4, p. 1016). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

^[94] Smick, E. B. (1988). Job. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job (Vol. 4, p. 1021). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

^[95] Smick, E. B. (1988). Job. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job (Vol. 4, p. 1022). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

^[96] Smick, E. B. (1988). Job. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job (Vol. 4, p. 1023). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

^[97] Smick, E. B. (1988). Job. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job (Vol. 4, p. 1024). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

^[98] Smick writes, “[Manuscript] evidence may point to an original text with Elohim (God), not Yahweh (Lord).” Smick, E. B. (1988). Job. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job (Vol. 4, p. 1034). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

^[99] Smick, E. B. (1988). Job. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job (Vol. 4, p. 1030). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

^[100] Smick, E. B. (1988). Job. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job (Vol. 4, p. 1035). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

^[101] Smick, E. B. (1988). Job. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job (Vol. 4, p. 1035). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

^[102] Smick, E. B. (1988). Job. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job (Vol. 4, p. 1035). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

^[103] Smick, E. B. (1988). Job. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job (Vol. 4, p. 1036). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

^[104] Smick, E. B. (1988). Job. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job (Vol. 4, p. 1037). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

^[105] Smick, E. B. (1988). Job. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job (Vol. 4, p. 1038). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

^[106] Smick, E. B. (1988). Job. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job (Vol. 4, p. 1038). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

^[107] Smick, E. B. (1988). Job. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job (Vol. 4, p. 1039). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

^[108] Smick, E. B. (1988). Job. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job (Vol. 4, pp. 1044–1045). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

^[109] Smick, E. B. (1988). Job. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job (Vol. 4, p. 1050). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

^[110] Smick, E. B. (1988). Job. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job (Vol. 4, p. 1029). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

^[111] Smick, E. B. (1988). Job. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job (Vol. 4, p. 1056). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

[112] Walter C. Kaiser, More Hard Sayings of the Old Testament (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1992), 132.