Job 34:31 Commentary and Bible Study

Elihu now formulates a confession which he proposes Job should adopt and make his own. Verses 31-32 should then be taken as words which Elihu recommends Job to use and which are more honest and express a better attitude than the responses which he has given so far. Instead of complaining about God’s dealings with him, he is to assume that the fact that he has experienced chastisement is evidence that he has sinned in some way even though he is not immediately aware of the nature of that sin. He must examine his heart and be ready to learn how his conduct falls short of the mark, and to conform more precisely to the Lord’s will. He is not to kick against the Lord’s government but is to submit unconditionally to it. Elihu therefore recommends that Job says that he recognises that he has borne affliction and he does not resent this but accepts it as necessary – the word ‘affliction’ or some alternative word that might be supplied like ‘punishment ‘or better ‘chastisement ‘is not in the original but is needed to complete the sense in English. Job is to respond positively to this correction and to allow himself to be changed by it so that he will strive to avoid in future the sin that made it necessary. Above all he is to put on humility that starts with the foundational truth that God cannot be in error.He is also to confess his ignorance of the divine will and his readiness to be taught what he does not yet understand. The difficulty comes with verse 33. If understood as a comment on verses 31-32 it makes little sense, for it then finds fault with what has just been commended. It is hard to see what could be wrong with such a genuine spirit of repentance as Elihu has just proposed. But if on the other hand verse 33 refers to Job’s previous bad spirit and his complaint, then it makes good sense. ‘Should God requite you on your terms (or, from with you), when you refuse (his terms)?’ This in effect was what Job had done. He had wanted to dictate terms to God and to bring God to the bar of judgment instead of presenting himself for examination. He had insisted that God give account of himself, because Job found fault with the Lord’s conduct in treating his so roughly without good reason. But if we knew ourselves as we should, we would conclude that we do not have the wisdom to decide even simple things without turning to God for help. We are certainly not fit to decide our own chastisements when the very reason that they come to us is because we are in error in our thinking. Job must choose which of the two approaches he prefers, for he has got to come to his senses and start evaluating his situation with more realism. No one else can make these evaluations for him but he has got to see it for himself, otherwise nothing will have been gained. Let him then comment on what he has heard and say if he has not been rash with his mouth and spoken foolishly. As Matthew Henry says, ‘It is therefore thy wisdom to … make a virtue of necessity.’