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Text -- Job 34:1-37 (NET)
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Strongs On/Off
Context
Elihu’s Second Speech
34:1 Elihu answered :
34:2 “Listen to my words , you wise men ; hear me, you learned men.
34:3 For the ear assesses words as the mouth tastes food .
34:4 Let us evaluate for ourselves what is right ; let us come to know among ourselves what is good .
34:5 For Job says , ‘I am innocent , but God turns away my right .
34:6 Concerning my right , should I lie ? My wound is incurable , although I am without transgression .’
34:7 What man is like Job , who drinks derision like water !
34:8 He goes about in company with evildoers , he goes along with wicked men .
34:9 For he says , ‘It does not profit a man when he makes his delight with God .’
God is Not Unjust
34:10 “Therefore , listen to me, you men of understanding . Far be it from God to do wickedness , from the Almighty to do evil .
34:11 For he repays a person for his work , and according to the conduct of a person , he causes the consequences to find him.
34:12 Indeed , in truth , God does not act wickedly , and the Almighty does not pervert justice .
34:13 Who entrusted to him the earth ? And who put him over the whole world ?
34:14 If God were to set his heart on it, and gather in his spirit and his breath ,
34:15 all flesh would perish together and human beings would return to dust .
God Is Impartial and Omniscient
34:16 “If you have understanding , listen to this , hear what I have to say .
34:17 Do you really think that one who hates justice can govern ? And will you declare guilty the supremely righteous One,
34:18 who says to a king , ‘Worthless man’ and to nobles , ‘Wicked men,’
34:19 who shows no partiality to princes , and does not take note of the rich more than the poor , because all of them are the work of his hands ?
34:20 In a moment they die , in the middle of the night , people are shaken and they pass away . The mighty are removed effortlessly .
34:21 For his eyes are on the ways of an individual , he observes all a person’s steps .
34:22 There is no darkness , and no deep darkness , where evildoers can hide themselves .
34:23 For he does not still consider a person , that he should come before God in judgment .
34:24 He shatters the great without inquiry , and sets up others in their place .
34:25 Therefore , he knows their deeds , he overthrows them in the night and they are crushed .
34:26 He strikes them for their wickedness , in a place where people can see ,
34:27 because they have turned away from following him, and have not understood any of his ways ,
34:28 so that they caused the cry of the poor to come before him, so that he hears the cry of the needy .
34:29 But if God is quiet , who can condemn him? If he hides his face , then who can see him? Yet he is over the individual and the nation alike ,
34:30 so that the godless man should not rule , and not lay snares for the people .
Job Is Foolish to Rebel
34:31 “Has anyone said to God , ‘I have endured chastisement , but I will not act wrongly any more.
34:32 Teach me what I cannot see . If I have done evil , I will do so no more .’
34:33 Is it your opinion that God should recompense it, because you reject this? But you must choose , and not I , so tell us what you know .
34:34 Men of understanding say to me– any wise man listening to me says–
34:35 that Job speaks without knowledge and his words are without understanding .
34:36 But Job will be tested to the end , because his answers are like those of wicked men .
34:37 For he adds transgression to his sin ; in our midst he claps his hands, and multiplies his words against God .”
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Names, People and Places, Dictionary Themes and Topics
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Names, People and Places:
Dictionary Themes and Topics:
Elihu |
Job |
God |
Blasphemy |
Infidelity |
Sin |
Death |
Afflictions and Adversities |
OMNISCIENCE |
Poor |
PROVIDENCE, 1 |
WORKER; WORKFELLOW; WORKMAN |
Life |
Escape |
RIGHT |
Backsliders |
WAY |
Repentance |
Evildoers |
Prudence |
more
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expand allCommentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes
NET Notes -> Job 34:1; Job 34:2; Job 34:2; Job 34:3; Job 34:3; Job 34:4; Job 34:4; Job 34:5; Job 34:6; Job 34:6; Job 34:6; Job 34:7; Job 34:7; Job 34:8; Job 34:8; Job 34:8; Job 34:8; Job 34:9; Job 34:10; Job 34:10; Job 34:11; Job 34:11; Job 34:13; Job 34:13; Job 34:14; Job 34:14; Job 34:16; Job 34:16; Job 34:17; Job 34:17; Job 34:17; Job 34:18; Job 34:18; Job 34:19; Job 34:20; Job 34:20; Job 34:20; Job 34:20; Job 34:21; Job 34:22; Job 34:23; Job 34:24; Job 34:25; Job 34:25; Job 34:26; Job 34:26; Job 34:27; Job 34:28; Job 34:28; Job 34:29; Job 34:29; Job 34:29; Job 34:29; Job 34:30; Job 34:31; Job 34:32; Job 34:33; Job 34:33; Job 34:33; Job 34:35; Job 34:35; Job 34:36; Job 34:37; Job 34:37
NET Notes: Job 34:1 This speech of Elihu focuses on defending God. It can be divided into these sections: Job is irreligious (2-9), God is just (10-15), God is impartial ...
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NET Notes: Job 34:2 The Hebrew word means “the men who know,” and without a complement it means “to possess knowledge.”
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NET Notes: Job 34:6 Heb “without transgression”; but this is parallel to the first part where the claim is innocence.
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NET Notes: Job 34:7 The scorn or derision mentioned here is not against Job, but against God. Job scorns God so much, he must love it. So to reflect this idea, Gordis has...
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NET Notes: Job 34:9 Gordis, however, takes this expression in the sense of “being in favor with God.”
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NET Notes: Job 34:11 Heb “he causes it to find him.” The text means that God will cause a man to find (or receive) the consequences of his actions.
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NET Notes: Job 34:14 This is the reading following the Qere. The Kethib and the Syriac and the LXX suggest a reading יָשִׂים (yas...
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NET Notes: Job 34:17 The two words could be taken separately, but they seem to form a fine nominal hendiadys, because the issue is God’s justice. So the word for pow...
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NET Notes: Job 34:19 The verb means “to give recognition; to take note of” and in this passage with לִפְנֵי (lifne, &...
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NET Notes: Job 34:21 Heb “his”; the referent (a person) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
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NET Notes: Job 34:22 The construction of this colon uses the Niphal infinitive construct from סָתַר (satar, “to be hidden; to hide̶...
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NET Notes: Job 34:23 Heb “for he does not put upon man yet.” This has been given a wide variety of interpretations, all of which involve a lot of additional th...
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NET Notes: Job 34:26 The text simply uses רֹאִים (ro’im): “[in the place where there are] seers,” i.e., spectators.
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NET Notes: Job 34:28 The verb here is an imperfect; the clause is circumstantial to the preceding clause, showing either the result, or the concomitant action.
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NET Notes: Job 34:29 The word translated “alike” (Heb “together”) has bothered some interpreters. In the reading taken here it is acceptable. But o...
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NET Notes: Job 34:30 This last verse is difficult because it is unbalanced and cryptic. Some have joined the third line of v. 29 with this entire verse to make a couplet. ...
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NET Notes: Job 34:31 The Hebrew text has only “I lift up” or “I bear” (= I endure). The reading “I have been led astray” is obtained by...
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NET Notes: Job 34:33 There is no object on the verb, and the meaning is perhaps lost. The best guess is that Elihu is saying Job has rejected his teaching.
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NET Notes: Job 34:35 The Hiphil infinitive construct is here functioning as a substantive. The word means “prudence; understanding.”
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NET Notes: Job 34:36 The MT reads אָבִי (’avi, “my father”), which makes no sense. Some follow the KJV and emend the word t...
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