1 So these three men gave no more answers to Job, because he seemed to himself to be right.
Truly, there is no deceit in my lips, and my tongue does not say what is false. Let it be far from me! I will certainly not say that you are right! I will come to death before I give up my righteousness. I will keep it safe, and will not let it go: my heart has nothing to say against any part of my life.
For when it came to their ears, men said that I was truly happy; and when their eyes saw, they gave witness to me; For I was a saviour to the poor when he was crying for help, to the child with no father, and to him who had no supporter. The blessing of him who was near to destruction came on me, and I put a song of joy into the widow's heart. I put on righteousness as my clothing, and was full of it; right decisions were to me a robe and a head-dress. I was eyes to the blind, and feet to him who had no power of walking. I was a father to the poor, searching out the cause of him who was strange to me. By me the great teeth of the evil-doer were broken, and I made him give up what he had violently taken away.
I made an agreement with my eyes; how then might my eyes be looking on a virgin? For what is God's reward from on high, or the heritage given by the Ruler of all from heaven? Is it not trouble for the sinner, and destruction for the evil-doers? Does he not see my ways, and are not my steps all numbered? If I have gone in false ways, or my foot has been quick in working deceit; (Let me be measured in upright scales, and let God see my righteousness:) If my steps have been turned out of the way, or if my heart went after my eyes, or if the property of another is in my hands; Let me put seed in the earth for another to have the fruit of it, and let my produce be uprooted. If my heart went after another man's wife, or if I was waiting secretly at my neighbour's door; Then let my wife give pleasure to another man and let others make use of her body. For that would be a crime; it would be an act for which punishment would be measured out by the judges: It would be a fire burning even to destruction, and taking away all my produce. If I did wrong in the cause of my man-servant, or my woman-servant, when they went to law with me; What then will I do when God comes as my judge? and what answer may I give to his questions? Did not God make him as well as me? did he not give us life in our mothers' bodies? If I kept back the desire of the poor; if the widow's eye was looking for help to no purpose; If I kept my food for myself, and did not give some of it to the child with no father; (For I was cared for by God as by a father from my earliest days; he was my guide from the body of my mother;) If I saw one near to death for need of clothing, and that the poor had nothing covering him; If his back did not give me a blessing, and the wool of my sheep did not make him warm; If my hand had been lifted up against him who had done no wrong, when I saw that I was supported by the judges; May my arm be pulled from my body, and be broken from its base. For the fear of God kept me back, and because of his power I might not do such things. If I made gold my hope, or if I ever said to the best gold, I have put my faith in you; If I was glad because my wealth was great, and because my hand had got together a great store; If, when I saw the sun shining, and the moon moving on its bright way, A secret feeling of worship came into my heart, and my hand gave kisses from my mouth; That would have been another sin to be rewarded with punishment by the judges; for I would have been false to God on high. If I was glad at the trouble of my hater, and gave cries of joy when evil overtook him; (For I did not let my mouth give way to sin, in putting a curse on his life;) If the men of my tent did not say, Who has not had full measure of his meat? The traveller did not take his night's rest in the street, and my doors were open to anyone on a journey; If I kept my evil doings covered, and my sin in the secret of my breast, For fear of the great body of people, or for fear that families might make sport of me, so that I kept quiet, and did not go out of my door; If only God would give ear to me, and the Ruler of all would give me an answer! or if what he has against me had been put in writing! Truly I would take up the book in my hands; it would be to me as a crown; I would make clear the number of my steps, I would put it before him like a prince! The words of Job are ended. If my land has made an outcry against me, or the ploughed earth has been in sorrow; If I have taken its produce without payment, causing the death of its owners; Then in place of grain let thorns come up, and in place of barley evil-smelling plants.
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Commentary on Job 32 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 32
The stage is clear, for Job and his three friends have sat down, and neither he nor they have any thing more to say; it is therefore very seasonable for a moderator to interpose, and Elihu is the man. In this chapter we have,
And he did speak so well to this matter that Job made no reply to him, and God gave him no rebuke when he checked both Job himself and his other three friends.
Job 32:1-5
Usually young men are the disputants and old men the moderators; but here, when old men were the disputants, as a rebuke to them for their unbecoming heat, a young man is raised up to be the moderator. Divers of Job's friends were present, that came to visit him and to receive instruction. Now here we have,
Job 32:6-14
Elihu here appears to have been,
Job 32:15-22
Three things here apologize for Elihu's interposing as he does in this controversy which had already been canvassed by such acute and learned disputants:-