Job gave a soliloquy before his dialogue with his three friends began (ch. 3). Now he concluded that dialogue with another soliloquy (chs. 29-31). In this one, Job longed for his past state of blessedness (ch. 29), lamented his present misery (ch. 30), and reaffirmed his innocence (ch. 31). His whole discourse is a kind of concluding summary of his case, and he delivered it as if he were in court. He made no reference to his three companions.
"Chapter 29 is another classic example of Semitic rhetoric with all the elements of good symmetrical style. . . . The pattern is as follows:
"Blessing, vv. 2-6
Honor, vv. 7-11
Job's benevolence, vv. 12-17
Blessing, vv. 18-20
Honor, vv. 21-25 . . .
"Job in asserting his benevolence places a description of it in the climatic position in this oration, with the key line (v. 14) in the exact middle of the poem."120
We can divide this chapter into two sections. In verses 1-11 Job longed for the former days, and in verses 12-25 he explained why he had enjoyed them. His fellowship with God evidently meant most to him since he mentioned this blessing first (vv. 2-5a). Butter and oil (v. 6) were symbols of prosperity. The rock (v. 6b) may refer to an olive press or perhaps to the rocky soil out of which olive trees grew. Unlike God's present treatment of him Job had assisted the injured and had punished oppressors (v. 17). Most translators have rendered the Hebrew word holat the end of verse 18 "sand,"but one writer argued that it refers to the mythical phoenix bird.121Job had also provided encouragement and comfort for the despondent (vv. 24-25) in contrast to his friends.
"Job's review of his life [in this chapter] is one of the most important documents in Scripture for the study of Israelite ethics."122
"Chapter 29 speaks of what the Lord gave to Job and chapter 30 speaks of what the Lord took away (cf. 1:21)."123
He was presently without respect (vv. 1-15), disregarded (vv. 16-23), and despondent (vv. 24-31). He had formerly enjoyed the respect of the most respectable, but now he experienced the contempt of the most contemptible (vv. 1-15; cf. 29:8, 21-25).124
"The lengthy description of these good-for-nothing fathers is a special brand of rhetoric. The modern Western mind prefers understatement, so when Semitic literature indulges in overstatement, such hyperbole becomes a mystery to the average Western reader. To define every facet of their debauchery, to state it in six different ways, is not meant to glory in it but to heighten the pathetic nature of his dishonor."125
God loosed His bowstring against Job (v. 11a) by shooting an arrow at him (i.e., by afflicting him). Job's enemies cast off the figurative bridle that had previously restrained them in their contacts with him (v. 11b). Job described his soul as poured out within him (v. 16) in the sense that he felt drained of all zest for life.126Verse 18 probably means he felt that God was grabbing him by the lapels, so to speak, or perhaps that his sickness had discolored, rather than disheveled, his clothing. Verse 28 evidently refers to Job's emotional state whereas verse 30 refers to his physical condition even though the Hebrew words translated "mourning"and "black"are similar in meaning. The Hebrew words translated "comfort"and "fever"are also very close together in meaning. Job's mental anguish exceeded his physical agony.
As was common in ancient Near Eastern judicial cases, Job concluded his summary defense with an oath of innocence. He did so in the form of a negative confession complete with self-imprecations.127He concluded with a challenge to God to present His charges in writing (vv. 35-37). Job's idea was that if God remained silent this would be a vindication of his innocence. However if he had been guilty, God would have to intervene and impose the punishment Job had designated.128
"Chapter 31 as to its literary format is a negative testament by which Job will close the matter of whether he is being punished for his sins. After such a statement, in the jurisprudence of the ancient Near East, the burden of proof fell on the court. That is why verse 40 says, The words of Job are ended.' Each disavowal had to be accompanied by an oath that called for the same punishment the offense deserved on the basis of the principle of lex talionis(vv. 5-10). Because the charges against Job were wide and varied, he must give a similarly wide disavowal. He had already done this in a general way (cf. 23:10-12), but now he specifies and calls for condemnation and punishment from both God and man (vv. 8, 11, 12, 14, 22, 23) if he is guilty of any of these sins."129
Job claimed purity from ethical defilement in two ways. He referred to the binding covenant he had made with his eyes (v. 1). Then he used the oath form "if"such and such be true "then"(sometimes not stated) let thus and so happen (vv. 5-6, 7-8, 9-10, 13, 16, 19, 20 [twice], 21-22, 24, 25, 26, 38, 39-40).
"The making of a covenant with his eyes is not merely a promise not to lust after a girl. The sin he has in mind is far more fundamental, or it would not have commanded this position in the poem. Job is emphatically denying an insidious and widespread form of idolatry: devotion to the betula, the maiden,' the goddess of fertility. This Venus of the Semitic world was variously known as the Maiden Anat in Ugaritic, Ashtoreth in preexilic Israel, and Ishtar in Babylonian sources, wherein she is described as laden with vitality, charm and voluptuousness.' She is probably the Queen of Heaven' mentioned in Jeremiah 7:18 and 44:16-19."130
Most of the sins mentioned in this chapter were not heinous crimes but relatively minor deviations from the ethical ideal. They were covert rather than overt iniquities. Thus Job claimed innocence on the highest level of morality (cf. Matt. 5:27-28). Note also that he continued to assume that God punishes the wicked (vv. 2-3).
"As a consequence of his suffering, Job viewed man's relationship to God as being based on God's sovereign caprice; therefore man could hope for happiness only by adhering to an ethical rightness superior to God's whereby he could demand vindication (Job 31; cf. 35:2b)."131
Verse 10 has in view Job's wife grinding corn with a hard millstone, the work of a slave, and being overpowered by men sexually.
"His hypothetical adultery would in Hebrew eyes be an offence [sic] against her husband, and so another's adultery with his wife would be a similar offence [sic] against him. In Hebrew law adultery always involved a married woman. The marital state of the man was immaterial."132
Job's words about adultery (vv. 9-12) are classic and reveal righteous abhorrence of that sin. Likewise his statements regarding the importance of treating slaves as human beings (vv. 13-15) reveal Job's fear of God and love for his fellow man. He respected human life highly (vv. 16-23). Job further claimed that he was not an idolater (vv. 24-28), selfish (vv. 29-32), or hypocritical (vv. 33-34).
"Here then is either a very clean conscience or a very calloused [sic] one."133
Job's cry for a hearer of his claims (v. 35) probably implied God rather than the mediator he had requested earlier (16:19; 19:25; cf. 30:20).
"An examination of biblical and extra-biblical legal documents establishes v. 35 as a dependent's official appeal before a third party for a civil hearing at which the judge would compel the plaintiff to formalize his accusations and to present any supporting evidence. As we shall see, this request was ordinarily made only after all attempts at informal arbitration had been exhausted and was often accompanied by a sworn statement of innocence. In Job 31 the oath of innocence has been expanded to embrace the entire chapter."134
His "adversary"in this verse was also God (cf. 13:24; 16:9; 19:11). We should probably understand "owners"(v. 39) as "workers."
Having ended his final summation in defense of his innocence Job rested his case and waited for God's verdict. This is another climax in the book. Job had claimed innocence in his personal life (vv. 1-12), toward his neighbor (vv. 13-20), and toward God (vv. 24-34; cf. 1:11). Job's friends believed that God always punishes sin, therefore Job was a sinner. Job believed that God was punishing him when he was innocent, therefore God was unfair.
