Глава 35

Elihu's third speech. 1–16. The benefits of pleasing God; refutation of possible objections to this provision. Job 35:1. And Elihu continued and said: Job 35:2. Do you think it was fair that you said: I am more right than God? Job 35:3. You said: what good is it to me? and what profit would I have before even if I sinned? Of the two incorrect thoughts of Job outlined in the previous speech (Job 34.5–6, 9), Elihu has so far refuted only one - the denial of Divine Justice. The speech of this chapter is devoted to the analysis of another, the position about the uselessness of piety. Job is “more right than God” in the sense that he recognizes the need for retribution, while the truth of God does not make any distinction between the virtuous and the sinners (Job 9.22–23, etc.), from which the uselessness of piety stems. Job 35:5. look up to the sky and see; look at the clouds, they are higher than you. Job 35:6. If you sin, what are you doing to Him? and if your crimes increase, what do you do to Him? Job 35:7. If you are righteous, what do you give Him? or what does He receive from your hand? Job 35:8. Your wickedness is toward a man like you, and your righteousness toward the son of man. A person is not able to change the clouds - to increase or decrease their shine. Moreover, the infinitely great and all-perfect God receives nothing from the good and evil deeds of man (cf. Job 7.20, 22.2, etc.; Ps 15.2). He would not be God if he changed according to his virtue and wickedness; their consequences—benefits and harms—affect only people (v. 8). Job 35:9. From the multitude of oppressors the oppressed groan, and from the hand of the mighty they cry out. The objection to the view expressed by Elihu is the reference to the fact that the Lord does not hear the plaintive cries of the oppressed (Job 24:12): piety is useless. Elihu now moves on to analyze this situation. Job 35:10. But no one says: where is God, my Creator, who gives songs in the night, One of the reasons that God does not help all the oppressed is their reluctance to turn to God; they do not seek Him (“where God is”, cf. Jer 2.6, 8), whose help in times of trouble (“at night”, cf. Job 34.20, 25) fills the lips of the sufferers with a song of praise (cf. Ps 39.2–4). Job 35:11. Who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth, and admonishes us more than the birds of the air? Job 35:12. There they cry out, and He does not answer them, because of the pride of evil people. Job 35:13. But it is not true that God does not hear and the Almighty does not look at this. Another reason why God leaves cries unanswered lies in their character. They are the same as the instinctive cries of animals, a manifestation of a hopeless situation created by the pride of the oppressors (v. 12), but not a humble prayer, combined with the consciousness of sinfulness. As such, they are not heard by God (cf. Proverbs 1.27–28): “God does not listen to iniquity, and the Almighty does not look at it” (literal reading of v. 13). Job 35:14. Although you said that you do not see Him, the judgment is before Him, and wait for it. Job 35:15. But now, because His anger did not visit him and he did not recognize it in all its severity, If God does not answer all prayers for completely legitimate reasons, then the reason that Job’s cries remain unheard (Job 19.7; Job 23.8–10) lies not in God, but in himself. And on the other hand, this does not give the right to assert that the matter will forever remain in the same position - there will never be a trial against Job. “Since His wrath is not suddenly revealed, does it follow that He pays no attention to the crime” (literal reading of v. 15). Job should not reassure himself that God seemed to have forgotten him: temporary oblivion will be replaced by strict judgment. Job 35:16. Job opened his mouth frivolously and wastes his words recklessly. Denying Divine Justice and its manifestation in human history (Job 24.1), Job argues unreasonably. You might be interested in: