Глава 34

Elihu's second speech. 1–4. Introduction. 5–9. Elihu examines the position of Job. 10–30. Divine Justice. 31–32. The need for humility before God. 33–37. Job deserves punishment. Job 34:1. And Elihu continued and said: Job's silence at Elihu's proposal (Job 33.32) gives him the right to continue speaking. Already the first speech of Elihu, revealing the idea of ​​the educational, corrective nature of suffering, excludes the possibility of the assumption of Divine injustice; Accordingly, the second is devoted to substantiating the position that the divine government of the world follows the principles of the strictest truth. Job 34:2. Listen, you wise ones, to my speech, and incline your ears to me, you prudent ones! Job 34:3. For the ear discerns words as the larynx discerns taste in food. Job 34:4. Let us reason among ourselves and discern what is good. If the mind has the ability to judge, just as the larynx has the ability to recognize the taste in food (Job 12.11, 20.12–13), then the “wise”, not Job and friends who lack wisdom (Job 32.8–12, 15–18, 33.33), but the listeners standing around can discuss how fair Job’s words are. Job 34:5. Behold, Job said: I am right, but God has deprived me of judgment. Job 34:6. Should I lie to my truth? My wound is incurable without guilt. According to his statement, he is right (Job 9.15, 13.18, 23.10–11, 27.6, etc.), and God deprived him of the trial (Hebrew “gezir” - rights) - the opportunity to prove his innocence (cf. Job 27.2). In view of this, although the truth is on his side, he acts as a liar, since the testimony of innocence itself loses its force - it is a lie due to the fact of suffering. They are convincing proof of his sinfulness (Job 9.20, 10.15). Job will find himself in the same position of a liar if, despite his consciousness of being right (Job 27.3–6), he pleads guilty. Due to the impossibility of judgment, its justification, innocent wounds inflicted by divine wrath - suffering (cf. Job 6.4, 16.13) cannot be healed (cf. Job 23.13–14). Job 34:7. Is there such a man as Job, who drinks mockery like water, Job 34:8. makes fellowship with the workers of iniquity and walks with wicked people? Job 34:9. Because he said: there is no benefit for a person in pleasing God. Job’s denial of Divine Justice (vv. 5–6) gives Elihu the right to attribute to him the idea of ​​the uselessness of pleasing God (v. 9; cf. Job 22.2). Although Job did not directly express such a view, except for Job 21.15, his complaints that the Lord equally destroys the just and the guilty (Job 9.22; Job 21.7, etc.), rewards sinners (Job 21.7, 9, 24.1, etc.), provide sufficient grounds for such a conclusion. Denying Divine Justice and the benefits of pleasing God, Job has no equal in wickedness; he finds complete satisfaction in it (“drinks mockery like water,” cf. Job 15.16). According to his views, Job is an accomplice of the wicked (v. 8; cf. Job 21.14–15). Job 34:10. So listen to me, you wise men! There cannot be unrighteousness with God or unjustice with the Almighty, Job 34:11. For He deals with him according to the works of a man, and rewards him according to the ways of a man. Job 34:12. Verily, God does not commit unrighteousness, and the Almighty does not pervert judgment. General position on Divine Justice (v. 12; cf. Job 8.3). Job 34:13. Who besides Him provides for the earth? And who rules the whole universe? Job 34:14. If He had turned His heart to Himself and taken to Himself her spirit and her breath, - Job 34:15. suddenly all flesh would perish, and man would return to dust. Synodal reading of Art. 13 is not an entirely accurate representation of the original. Literally it should be translated as follows: “Who entrusted the earth to Him and who established the world on its foundation?” God cannot act unjustly, since governing the world is not an obligation imposed on Him from the outside, but a matter of His free will. Likewise, the world is not the property of someone else, but His own creation (Job 32.8, 33.4). And how selflessly He controls it is evident from the fact that His quickening spirit supports everything that exists and does not allow it to be destroyed (vv. 14-15; cf. Ps 103.29). Divine love, which brought the world into being and ensures its continuation, excludes the possibility of arbitrariness and guarantees justice. Job 34:16. So, if you have understanding, then listen to this and listen to my words. Moving on to further thoughts; its form is intended to arouse Job's attention. Job 34:17. Can he who hates the truth rule? And can you blame the All-Righteous? Governance and truth are inextricably linked; without the latter, anarchy begins. If so, then can one be accused of injustice who is the highest truth? Job 34:18. Is it possible to say to the king: you are a wicked person, and to the princes: you are lawless? Job 34:19. But He does not look at the faces of princes and does not prefer the rich to the poor, because they are all the work of His hands. If even from earthly kings one cannot take away the essential attribute of their title - justice, then even more so from God. He, the creator of everything, does not make any distinction between persons: both the king and the poor are identical creations of His hands, equal for Him (Wis. 6.7; Rom. 2.11). Strict impartiality (cf. Deut. 10.17; 2 Chron. 19.7) excludes the possibility of injustice. Job 34:20. Suddenly they die; in the middle of the night the people become indignant, and they disappear; and the strong are not driven out by force. Actual proof that God has no partiality for people. He does not support, when he should not, their existence: they die suddenly and unexpectedly, they perish not by the will of man, but of God (“the strong are not driven out by force”), by His hand (cf. Job 20.26; Dan 8.25; Zech 4.6). Job 34:21. For His eyes are above the ways of man, and He sees all his steps. Job 34:22. There is no darkness, nor shadow of death, where the workers of iniquity can hide. Divine Justice is presupposed by the selfless love and impartial attitude of God towards people (13–19), and it is carried out by virtue of divine omniscience. The all-seeing, all-knowing Lord, for whom there are no barriers in this regard (v. 22; cf. Ps 139.11 and Sir 23.28), cannot make a mistake in judging a person (cf. Job 10.4, 31.4). Job 34:23. Therefore, He no longer requires a person to go to judgment with God. The literal translation of this verse from the Hebrew is: “He (God) does not need to look twice at a person to bring him before His judgment seat.” Given the omniscience of God, there is no need for a long examination (“twice”; Hebrew “od” “long” - Gen. 46.29; “yet” - Isa. 5.4) of a person (cf. Proverbs 5.21) in order to bring him to justice. God knows everything before investigation, and His judgment is pronounced immediately. A hint of Job's desire to appear before God's judgment (Job 23). Job 34:24. He crushes the strong without examination and puts others in their place; Without such a long study, God overthrows the strong (isn’t it the same with Job) and puts in their place other better rulers (cf. Job 8.19; Isa. 65.15). Job 34:25. because He makes their deeds known and overthrows them by night, and they are destroyed. Depending on this, the overthrow itself occurs with the speed of night. Job 34:26. He strikes them down as lawless people in the sight of others, Job 34:27. because they turned away from Him and did not understand all His ways, Job 34:28. so that the cry of the poor came to Him, and He heard the groaning of the oppressed. And with all this, it is quite fair: the strong are punished for deviating from the path indicated by God, for oppressing the weak (v. 28; cf. Ps 9.13). Job 34:29. Does He grant silence, who can disturb? does He hide His face, who can see Him? Will it be for the people, or for one person, Job 34:30. so that the hypocrite does not reign to tempt the people. Neither the peace that God gives to the poor (v. 28), nor His wrath that strikes the oppressors (“to hide His face”, cf. Job 13.24, Ps 103.29; Hos 13.11), are subject to justice because of their justice. And indeed, how legal the latter is can be judged by the fact that the overthrow of bad rulers is done with the goal that by their example and rule they would not lead the people to destruction (“so that he would not be a snare for the people,” - literal translation of the second half of the 29th article; cf. Hos 5.1; Ex 10.7; Jer 23.1; Eze 34.1-6; Job 9.24; Job 12.6 ). Job 34:31. One must say to God: I have suffered, I will sin no more. Job 34:32. And what I do not know, teach me; and if I have committed iniquity, I will do no more. Under Divine Justice there is and cannot be any room for grumbling on the part of man. Punishment should put an end to sin, arouse the desire and desire to leave it behind (Job 33.30, 36.9–10). Job 34:33. Is it according to your reasoning that He should repay? And as you reject, you should choose, not me; say what you know. If grumbling is inappropriate on the part of man, then it is all the more strange to think that it affects God. Really, for the sake of Job, should the Lord abandon the laws of the just governance of the world, abolish them, since they are rejected by Job, and establish new ones, according to his instructions? But what are these new ways of governing the world, new principles of justice, let him say for himself. Job 34:34. Wise men will say to me, and a wise man who listens to me: Job 34:35. Job does not speak intelligently, and his words do not make sense. The foolishness of Job’s answer is assumed by itself—such is the verdict of Elihu’s listeners. Job 34:36. I would like Job to be fully tested, according to his answers, characteristic of wicked people. Job 34:37. Otherwise, he will add apostasy to his sin, will applaud among us, and will speak even more against God. Since the ultimate goal of punishment is to admonish the sinner (Job 33.30, 36.9–10), Elihu, at the conclusion of his speech, wants it to be realized in relation to Job. Lawless in his answers, he must be tested (cf. Ps 139.23), subjected to divine influence on the conscience until he recognizes his guilt and humbles himself before God. The basis for such a desire is the consideration that otherwise he will add to his previous sins the sin of renouncing God - he will “applaud” as a sign of contempt and indignation. You might be interested in: