10 And he openeth their ear to discipline, and commandeth that they return from iniquity.
Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse [your] hands, sinners, and purify [your] hearts, ye double-minded.
Seek ye Jehovah while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto Jehovah, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
The Lord Jehovah hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious; I turned not away back.
Thus saith Jehovah, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I [am] Jehovah thy God, who teacheth thee for [thy] profit, who leadeth thee in the way that thou shouldest go.
Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; -- cease to do evil, learn to do well: seek judgment, gladden the oppressed, do justice to the fatherless, plead for the widow. Come now, let us reason together, saith Jehovah: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If ye be willing and hearken, ye shall eat the good of the land; but if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken.
Unto you, men, I call, and my voice is to the sons of man: O ye simple, understand prudence; and ye foolish, understand sense.
But he delivereth the afflicted in his affliction, and openeth their ear in [their] oppression.
Then he openeth men's ears, and sealeth their instruction, That he may withdraw man [from his] work, and hide pride from man. He keepeth back his soul from the pit, and his life from passing away by the sword. He is chastened also with pain upon his bed, and with constant strife in his bones; And his life abhorreth bread, and his soul dainty food; His flesh is consumed away from view, and his bones that were not seen stick out; And his soul draweth near to the pit, and his life to the destroyers. If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to shew unto man his duty;
And a certain woman, by name Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, who worshipped God, heard; whose heart the Lord opened to attend to the things spoken by Paul.
God therefore, having overlooked the times of ignorance, now enjoins men that they shall all everywhere repent,
And Jehovah testified against Israel and against Judah, by all the prophets, all the seers, saying, Turn from your evil ways, and keep my commandments, my statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you through my servants the prophets.
Repent therefore and be converted, for the blotting out of your sins, so that times of refreshing may come from [the] presence of the Lord,
O Israel, return unto Jehovah thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity.
Therefore I will judge you, house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord Jehovah. Return ye, and turn from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your snare. Cast away from you all your transgressions wherewith ye have transgressed, and make you a new heart and a new spirit: why then will ye die, house of Israel?
Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place. Confide ye not in words of falsehood, saying, Jehovah's temple, Jehovah's temple, Jehovah's temple is this. But if ye thoroughly amend your ways and your doings, if ye really do justice between a man and his neighbour, [if] ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed no innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt; then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers from of old even for ever.
For thus saith Jehovah to the men of Judah and Jerusalem: Break up for you a fallow ground, and sow not among thorns. Circumcise yourselves for Jehovah, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem; lest my fury come forth like fire and burn, and there be none to quench it, because of the evil of your doings.
Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither. To him that is void of understanding, she saith, Come, eat ye of my bread, and drink of the wine that I have mingled. Forsake follies and live, and go in the way of intelligence.
How long, simple ones, will ye love simpleness, and scorners take pleasure in their scorning, and the foolish hate knowledge? Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour forth my spirit unto you, I will make known to you my words.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Job 36
Commentary on Job 36 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 36
Elihu, having largely reproved Job for some of his unadvised speeches, which Job had nothing to say in the vindication of, here comes more generally to set him to rights in his notions of God's dealings with him. His other friends had stood to it that, because he was a wicked man, therefore his afflictions were so great and so long. But Elihu only maintained that the affliction was sent for his trial, and that therefore it was lengthened out because Job was not, as yet, thoroughly humbled under it, nor had duly accommodated himself to it. He urges many reasons, taken from the wisdom and righteousness of God, his care of his people, and especially his greatness and almighty power, with which, in this and the following chapter, he persuades him to submit to the hand of God. Here we have,
This he prosecutes and enlarges upon in the following chapter.
Job 36:1-4
Once more Elihu begs the patience of the auditory, and Job's particularly, for he has not said all that he has to say, but he will not detain them long. Stand about me a little (so some read it), v. 2. "Let me have your attendance, your attention, awhile longer, and I will speak but this once, as plainly and as much to the purpose as I can.' To gain this he pleads,
Job 36:5-14
Elihu, being to speak on God's behalf, and particularly to ascribe righteousness to his Maker, here shows that the disposals of divine Providence are all, not only according to the eternal counsels of his will, but according to the eternal rules of equity. God acts as a righteous governor, for,
Job 36:15-23
Elihu here comes more closely to Job; and,
Job 36:24-33
Elihu is here endeavouring to possess Job with great and high thoughts of God, and so to persuade him into a cheerful submission to his providence.