Job 34:31-37

Job Is Foolish to Rebel

34:31 “Has anyone said to God,

‘I have endured chastisement, ¹ 

but I will not act wrongly any more.

34:32 Teach me what I cannot see. ² 

If I have done evil, I will do so no more.’

34:33 Is it your opinion ³  that God ⁴  should recompense it,

because you reject this? ⁵ 

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 ⁶  Job speaks without knowledge

and his words are without understanding. ⁷ 

34:36 But ⁸  Job will be tested to the end,

because his answers are like those of wicked men.

34:37 For he adds transgression ⁹  to his sin;

in our midst he claps his hands, ¹⁰ 

and multiplies his words against God.”

[34:31]  ¹ tn The Hebrew text has only “I lift up” or “I bear” (= I endure). The reading “I have been led astray” is obtained by changing the vowels to read a passive. If the MT is retained, an object has to be supplied, such as “chastisement” (so RSV, NASB) or “punishment” (NRSV). If not, then a different reading would be followed (e.g., “I was misguided” [NAB]; “I am guilty” [NIV]).

[34:32]  ² tn Heb “what I do not see,” more specifically, “apart from [that which] I see.”

[34:33]  ³ tn Heb “is it from with you,” an idiomatic expression meaning “to suit you” or “according to your judgment.”

[34:33]  ⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[34:33]  ⁵ tn 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.

[34:35]  ⁶ tn Adding “that” in the translation clarifies Elihu’s indirect citation of the wise individuals’ words.

[34:35]  ⁷ tn The Hiphil infinitive construct is here functioning as a substantive. The word means “prudence; understanding.”

[34:36]  ⁸ tc The MT reads אָבִי (’avi, “my father”), which makes no sense. Some follow the KJV and emend the word to make a verb “I desire” or use the noun “my desire of it.” Others follow an Arabic word meaning “entreat, I pray” (cf. ESV, “Would that Job were tried”). The LXX and the Syriac versions have “but” and “surely” respectively. Since this is the only ms support, albeit weak, it may be the best choice. In this sense Elihu would be saying that because of Job’s attitude God will continue to test him.

[34:37]  ⁹ tn Although frequently translated “rebellion,” the basic meaning of this Hebrew term is “transgression.”

[34:37]  ¹⁰ tc If this reading stands, it would mean that Job shows contempt, meaning that he mocks them and accuses God. It is a bold touch, but workable. Of the many suggested emendations, Dhorme alters some of the vowels and obtains a reading “and casts doubt among us,” and then takes “transgression” from the first colon for the complement. Some commentators simply delete the line.