Job 34:34 Commentary and Bible Study

‘Let men of understanding tell me [if what I have said is right], and let a wise man hearken unto me [and recognise the truth of what I have said].’ He appeals to those who have discernment to agree with him and to acknowledge that what he has said is true and let not Job continue to speak rebellion. The unwelcome fact is that Job speaks without knowledge ‘and his words [are] without wisdom.’ Even he must admit this and until he does his case will not be cured. He ought to be tried to the end, for his words are unworthy of a believer. Hartley accuses Elihu of being caught up in his own rhetoric when he calls for Job to be tried to the uttermost, but there is a zeal for the truth which ought to make every believer share this strong feeling. Elihu is indignant that any man should speak against God and criticise his justice and government, and he is especially dismayed that a man like Job who claimed to know and love the Lord should bring such dishonour on the faith as to speak in a way that is indistinguishable from the wicked. How did Job end up resembling them so closely? Why were their modes of speech not so objectionable to him that he would vigorously avoid being like them? He had drifted closer and closer to their position, though they had very different foundational beliefs. The wicked complain that God is unjust, and they use all manner of hasty expressions against him which come from their ignorance of his character and their unwillingness to exercise patience. They do it out of rebellion and desire to sin without any restraint. Job is committed to holiness, but the same accusations against God have found their way onto his lips, because, though he does not believe that God is unjust in general, yet in his own case he thinks the Lord has miscalculated. Job has gone further; he has done damage to the cause of truth by publicly trying to convince all who hear him that he is right in these conclusions and he has done so with a great deal of spirit and in a triumphalistic way as one who has all the best arguments on his side. He has grown confident that God cannot answer him, and, although he has little hope that he will get the audience with God that he requests, he is sure that his position is insurmountable. Therefore Job has gone on at considerable length and multiplied his words against the Lord. He has clapped hands – a very dogmatic gesture, which was done to assert himself.