Глава 23

Job's response to Eliphaz's speech in the third conversation. 1–2. General characteristics of speech. 3–7. The desirability of drawing closer to God in view of the inevitability of justification. 8–14. The impossibility of such a desire. 15–17. New torments of Job. Job 23:1. And Job answered and said: Job 23:2. even now my speech is bitter: my sufferings are heavier than my groans. Of the entire speech of Eliphaz, the only comforting thing for Job is the advice to get closer to God (Job 22.21): it coincides with his own desire (Job 16.21). But the rapprochement with God that is desirable for the sufferer is not allowed by Him Himself (vv. 6 and 9), and therefore Job’s new speech is full of bitterness and complaints. However, they are nothing compared to suffering; these latter cannot be expressed in words: “my sufferings are heavier than my groans.” This is the meaning of the synodal reading, in which the expression “suffering” represents the translation of the Hebrew word “yadi” - “my hand.” The possibility of such a transfer is explained by the fact that “yad” means both “hand” and “disaster, suffering” (Job 1.11, 2.5; Ps 31.4, 37.3, etc.). The literal translation of the Hebrew reading of this passage is: “my hand is heavy over my groaning,” - I am forced to continue to cry, complain. LXX and Peshito instead of “yadi” - “my hand” they read: “yado” - “His hand”, i.e. God. Job 23:3. Oh that I knew where to find Him, and could approach His throne! Drawing closer to God is possible only under the condition that Job’s case is clarified. And he, wanting rapprochement, strives for judgment (“he could approach His throne”) with someone who has not yet been found by him, hiding from him (Job 13.24). Job 23:4. I would lay my case before Him and fill my mouth with excuses; Job 23:5. I would know the words with which He would answer me, and I would understand what He would say to me. For his part, Job would have done everything at the trial to help end the hostility. Recognized by God as a sinner and therefore as an enemy (Job 7:20, 13:23–24), he would try to dispel such a view by bringing evidence in favor of his innocence: “his mouth... would be filled with excuses” (“tokahot”) - evidence of the truth of one and the untruth of another (Ps 37.15). He would present them in opposition to those objections from God, which still remain unknown to him (v. 5; cf. Job 10.2). Job 23:6. Would He really compete with me in full power? Oh no! Let Him just pay attention to me. Job 23:7. Then the righteous could compete with Him, and I would forever receive freedom from my Judge. Doubts about the possibility of reconciliation with God. Of course, those justifications that Job intends to make at his trial with God will lose their force and significance if He acts as an angry, threatening judge (Job 9.20, 30–31, 13.18–21; cf. Job 9.33–35). But such an assumption is eliminated by the confidence that the Lord will listen favorably to the sufferer. And if God, the wrathful, arbitrary Judge, also accuses the righteous (Job 9.20, 30–31), then under the assumed condition the innocence of the righteous will be taken into account, and he, the righteous (Job 9.35, 12.4) will no longer be considered an enemy by God, “would receive freedom” (cf. Job 7.12, 19, 13.27). Job 23:8. But behold, I go forward - and He is not there, back - and I do not find Him; Job 23:9. whether He does what on the left side, I do not see; I don’t see if it’s hidden on the right. God himself is against Job’s rapprochement with God. He does not allow him to attend that judgment with Himself, which would provide the basis for reconciliation. The sufferer who seeks the Lord (v. 3) does not find Him anywhere. Job 23:10. But He knows my way; let him test me, I will come out like gold. Job 23:11. My foot holds fast to His path; I kept His path and did not turn aside. Job 23:12. He did not depart from the commandment of His lips; I kept the verbs of His mouth more than my rules. God is hiding from Job for the purpose of not giving him the opportunity to justify himself (a manifestation of enmity), since he knows that he will come out of the court as pure as gold from a furnace (v. 10; cf. Proverbs 17.3; Zech 13.9). The inevitability of the latter is explained by the fact that Job was firm in piety throughout his entire life. He did not deviate from the path indicated by God (v. 11; cf. Ps 16.5; Ps 124.5; Is 30.11), preferred the divine will to his personal desires (“rules”, Hebrew “hukki” - laws of the sinful nature opposite to the divine laws cf. Rom 7.23). Job 23:13. But He is steadfast; and who will reject Him? He does what His soul wants. Job 23:14. Thus, He will fulfill what is due to me, and He has many similar things to this. Despite Job’s innocence, the Lord’s decision not to allow him to be acquitted is unchanged (“He is steadfast”), and no one is able to force Him to do otherwise (cf. Job 9.12, 11.10). Because of this, He will fully fulfill His determination about Job to subject him to suffering and humiliation (“what is due to me”; cf. Job 10.13–14). And there is nothing to be surprised at; the Lord acts in a similar way with many others (“He has many like this”; cf. Job 9.23). Job 23:15. Therefore I tremble before His face; I think and I fear Him. Job 23:16. God relaxed my heart, and the Almighty made me afraid. Thinking about such relationships of God, inexplicable to man, excites and frightens Job, and is accompanied by a complete decline in mental activity: “relax the heart.” Job 23:17. Why was I not destroyed before this darkness, and He did not hide the darkness from my face! The literal translation of this verse from the Hebrew is, “for I perish not by the presence of darkness, nor by the darkness that covers my face.” Job dies not from suffering, which does not promise him anything pleasant in the future, but from the strange behavior of the Lord. You might be interested in: