Глава 33

End of introduction and first speech of Elihu. 1–7. An exhortation addressed to Job to pay close attention to his speeches. 8–33. Analysis of one of Job's wrong views. Job 33:1. So listen, Job, to my speeches and listen to all my words. Job 33:2. Behold, I open my mouth, my tongue speaks in my throat. Job 33:3. My words are from the sincerity of my heart, and my lips will utter pure knowledge. Impartial in content (Job 32.21), containing only the truth (3), Elihu’s speeches must be listened to by Job from beginning to end (“listen to all the words”). He must approach it without the prejudice with which he greeted the reasoning of his friends (Job 13.4). Job 33:4. The Spirit of God created me, and the breath of the Almighty gave me life. Job 33:5. If you can, answer me and stand in front of me. Job 33:6. Here I am, at your request, instead of God. I am also formed from clay; Job 33:7. Therefore, the fear of me cannot confuse you, and my hand will not be heavy for you. And on the other hand, Job can speak to Elihu quite calmly. Both in spiritual (v. 4) and in physical nature, Elihu is completely similar to Job: “behold, with God, before God (Heb. “la-el”, cf. Job 12.16) I am just like you” (v. 6). Elihu does not present himself as an insurmountable opponent; an argument with him is quite equal, within Job’s strength. The latter can defend his cause without any embarrassment or fear (v. 7; cf. Job 9.34, 13.21, 16.22). Synodal reading of Art. 6: “Here I am, according to your desire, instead of God,” finds no justification either in the original text or in the speeches of Job. He, on the contrary, resolutely refuses to reason with people and is eager to transfer his case to the judgment of God (Job 13.3–5); Moreover, he does not even have a trace of desire to see God’s deputy in the person of Elihu. Job 33:8. You spoke into my ears, and I heard the sound of words: Job 33:9. I am pure, without blemish, I am innocent, and there is no unrighteousness in me; Job 33:10. and He has found an accusation against me and considers me His opponent; Job 33:11. He placed my feet in a block, he watches over all my ways. Job 33:12. This is where you are wrong, I answer you, because God is higher than man. One of the erroneous opinions made by Job in a conversation with friends and now refuted by Elihu. He considered himself pure, blameless (Job 10.7, 12.4, 13.23, 16.17, 23.10, 27.5, etc.); as a limitation of such a view, see Job 8.20–21, 13.23, 26, 14.4, 16–17, and God – “seeking out the reasons for hostility” (Heb. “tenuot”; cf. Num. 14:34; Job 32.7), a being hostile to himself, shackling him like a prisoner (Job 10.13–14, 13.24, 27, 19.11, 30.21 ). Job is wrong in this case because God is “higher than man” (v. 12). To the latter, God's attitude towards Job may indeed seem to be a manifestation of hostility and anger. But this is explained by the fact that a person limited in intelligence is not able to understand the meaning of the actions of God, who surpasses him in wisdom (“superior to man”). They seem hostile to him, but in reality they are not. Job 33:13. Why should you compete with Him? He does not give an account of any of His deeds. Job derives the idea that God is hostile to himself, among other things, from the fact that God does not answer him and hides from him (Job 13.24). But in this case he is also wrong. God does not give an account of his affairs at all (cf. Job 9.12) and does not explain the motives for his relationships with people. To conclude on the basis of this that in His actions He is necessarily guided by a feeling of enmity is more than strange. Job 33:14. God says once and, if no one notices, another time: What are the reasons for God’s relationship with Job, this can be judged by the similar ways in which God influences man. Job 33:15. in a dream, in night vision, when sleep falls on people, while dozing on a bed. Job 33:16. Then He opens man's ear and impresses His instruction, Job 33:17. to divert a person from any enterprise and remove pride from him, Job 33:18. to take his soul away from the abyss and his life from defeat by the sword. One of them is dreams. God uses them as a means of communicating revelation to man (“opens the ear”: cf. 2 Kings 7.27; Ps 39.7) and protecting his instructions from oblivion (“seals”, literally “puts a seal”: sealing in the sense of protecting Songs 4.12; Dan 6.17; Mt 27.66). The purpose of these revelations is to turn a person away from lawless deeds (Russian “enterprise”, Hebrew “maase” - 1 Samuel 20.19; Gen. 20.3, 6), remove him from pride (Dan 3) and thereby save him from death (“from the abyss”; cf. Ps 15.10, 30.4). – natural punishment for sin (Gen. 3.3). Job 33:19. Or he is admonished by sickness on his bed and severe pain in all his bones, - In addition to dreams, the Lord uses illness to enlighten a person, during which “a constant struggle agitates his bones” (cf. Ps 37.4) - the balance, the harmony of forces are disturbed, and the members of the body seem to be at war with each other, defending their existence to the detriment of others. Job 33:20. and his life turns away from bread and his soul from his favorite food. Job 33:21. The flesh on him disappears, so that it is not visible, and his bones are revealed, which were not visible. Job 33:22. And his soul approaches the grave and his life approaches death. Natural consequences of the disease: loss of appetite, thinness, destruction of the soul (the bearer of bodily life) and giving up life to “lammitim” - angels who received from God the right to kill a person if he does not repent (2 Sam. 24.16; Ps. 77.49). Job 33:23. If he has a mentor angel, one of a thousand, to show a person his straight path, - As a corrective remedy, the illness that befalls a person becomes clear to him with the help of an intermediary angel (Hebrew “melitz”, cf. Gen. 42.33; 2 Chron. 32.31; Isaiah 43.27), who shows the sick person the true path (“yashero”, cf. Proverbs 14.2), i.e., the path of faith and repentance of sins, as a means of getting rid of death (cf. Gen. 48.15; Ps 33.8). Job 33:24. God will have mercy on him and say: free him from the grave; I have found propitiation. The mediation of an angel, restoring the consciousness of sin to the sick, inclines God to the mercy: He sees a ransom in repentance and suffering and commands the angel to free the repentant from death (Isaiah 63.9). Job 33:25. Then his body will become fresher than in his youth; he will return to the days of his youth. Job 33:26. He will pray to God, and He will be merciful to him; He looks with joy on his face and restores his righteousness to man. Returning health to the sick and giving him righteousness by God is a thought peculiar only to Elihu, unlike his friends (cf. Job 5.19, etc.; Job 8.21, 11.15, etc.). Job 33:29. Now, God does all this two or three times with a person, Job 33:30. to take his soul away from the grave and enlighten him with the light of the living. The disasters that befall a person are aimed at his correction and admonition, but do not serve as an expression of divine wrath and enmity, as Job claimed Job 33:32. If you have something to say, answer; speak, because I would like your justification; Job 33:33. if not, then listen to me: be silent, and I will teach you wisdom. Since Elihu’s view of the educational, corrective meaning of suffering is new to Job, it is advisable to listen to his review of it. You might be interested in: