Job 35:1-3

Elihu’s Third Speech ¹ 

35:1 Then Elihu answered:

35:2 “Do you think this to be ²  just:

when ³  you say, ‘My right before God.’ ⁴ 

35:3 But you say, ‘What will it profit you,’ ⁵ 

and, ‘What do I gain by not sinning?’ ⁶ 

[35:1]  ¹ sn This short speech falls into two sections: Elihu refutes Job’s claim that goodness avails nothing (35:2-8), asserting that when the cry of the afflicted goes unanswered they have not learned their lesson (35:9-16).

[35:2]  ² tn The line could be read as “do you reckon this for justice? Here “to be” is understood.

[35:2]  ³ tn The word “when” is not in the Hebrew text, but is implied.

[35:2]  ⁴ tn The brief line could be interpreted in a number of ways. The MT simply has “my right from God.” It could be “I am right before God,” “I am more just/right than God” (identifying the preposition as a comparative min (מִן); cf. J. E. Hartley, Job [NICOT], 463), “I will be right before God,” or “My just cause against God.”

[35:3]  ⁵ tn The referent of “you” is usually understood to be God.

[35:3]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew text merely says, “What do I gain from my sin?” But Job has claimed that he has not sinned, and so this has to be elliptical: “more than if I had sinned” (H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 224). It could also be, “What do I gain without sin?”