Job 35 meaning explained in AI Summary

Job 35 continues the dialogue between Job and his friend Elihu, who is significantly younger than the other men. In this chapter, Elihu responds to Job's previous complaints, specifically addressing Job's assertion that God doesn't care about his righteousness.

• Elihu criticizes Job's self-righteousness (verses 1-8): Elihu argues that Job is wrong to claim his righteousness is greater than God's. He emphasizes that God is infinitely higher than humans and doesn't benefit directly from our actions. Therefore, our righteousness or wickedness doesn't impact Him in the way Job seems to believe.
• Elihu explains God's justice (verses 9-16): He acknowledges that people suffer, often feeling unheard by God. However, Elihu argues that God does see and hear, but sometimes allows suffering for a greater purpose. He suggests that suffering can lead to growth, humility, and a deeper understanding of God.
• Elihu challenges Job's perspective (verses 17-18): He criticizes Job for clinging to his anger and bitterness towards God. Elihu suggests that Job's perspective is clouded by his pain and prevents him from seeing God's bigger picture.

Overall, Chapter 35 presents Elihu's theological argument against Job's complaints. He emphasizes God's transcendence, justice, and the limitations of human understanding. However, Elihu's arguments still fail to address the core of Job's suffering and the seeming injustice of his situation.

Job 35 bible study ai commentary

In his fourth speech, Elihu addresses Job's complaint that there is no profit in righteousness. He argues that God is transcendent and unaffected by human morality, but that the consequences of sin and righteousness are real and impactful on a human level. He further posits that God seems silent to the cries of the oppressed because their pleas often stem from pride and a desire for personal relief rather than a genuine, humble seeking of God the Creator. Elihu's argument is theologically sophisticated but pastorally severe, urging Job to cease his empty words and wait patiently for the justice that is already before God.

Job 35 context

This chapter is the fourth of six speeches from Elihu, a young man who waited to speak after Job and his three elder friends—Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar—had exhausted their arguments. The setting is one of intense suffering and theological debate, where traditional wisdom (suffering is punishment for sin) has failed to explain Job's situation. Elihu enters as a mediator of sorts, aiming to correct both Job's perceived self-righteousness and the friends' flawed counsel. This speech directly confronts Job's lament about the seeming futility of serving God, a core aspect of his existential crisis.

Job 35:1-3

Then Elihu answered and said: "Do you think this to be right? Do you say, 'My righteousness is more than God's'? For you say, 'What advantage will it be to You? What profit shall I have, more than if I had sinned?'"

In-depth-analysis

• Elihu opens with a sharp, rhetorical question, framing Job's complaints as a claim of being more righteous than God. This is an overstatement of Job's position (a "straw man" argument), but it captures the spirit of Job's challenge to divine justice (Job 9:22, 21:7).
• He directly quotes the implied heart of Job's struggle: "What's the point?" This question of profit (sāḵan - to be of use, benefit) is the central problem of theodicy. Elihu rightly identifies that Job feels his righteousness has brought him no advantage over a sinner.
• Elihu is shifting the focus from God's actions (which the three friends focused on) to Job's attitude and the very nature of God's relationship to human morality.

Bible references

• Psa 73:13: "Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure and have washed my hands in innocence." (Asaph's identical crisis of faith over the prosperity of the wicked).
• Mal 3:14: "You have said, ‘It is vain to serve God. What is the profit of our keeping his charge...?’" (A direct echo of the sentiment Elihu attributes to Job, condemned by God).
• Job 21:15: "What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? And what profit do we get if we pray to him?" (Job quoting the words of the wicked, whose mindset he is dangerously close to adopting).

Cross references

Job 9:21-22 (Job's claim of blamelessness); Job 34:9 (Elihu's previous accusation); Ecc 2:11 (the vanity of labor); Isa 45:19 (God does not say 'seek me in vain').

Job 35:4-8

"I will answer you, and your companions with you. Look at the heavens, and see; and behold the clouds, which are higher than you. If you have sinned, what do you accomplish against him? And if your transgressions are multiplied, what do you do to him? If you are righteous, what do you give to him? Or what does he receive from your hand? Your wickedness concerns a man like yourself, and your righteousness a son of man."

In-depth-analysis

• The Argument from Transcendence: Elihu's primary point. He directs Job's attention to the heavens (שָׁמַ֫יִם - shamayim) and clouds (שְׁחָקִים - shechaqim), using their immense height to illustrate God's sublime distance and otherness.
• God is Aseitic: God's existence and being are not contingent on creation. Our sin does not weaken or harm God; our righteousness does not enrich or benefit Him. He is self-sufficient. This corrects a primitive, pagan view that gods could be manipulated or strengthened by human sacrifices and deeds.
• Horizontal Consequences: Elihu clarifies that the impact of human action is horizontal, not vertical. Wickedness harms fellow human beings ("a man like yourself"), and righteousness benefits them. He confines the immediate effect of morality to the human sphere.
• While theologically sound, this argument sidesteps Job's personal pain. Job doesn't feel that his sin hurt God, but that God hurt him unjustly. Elihu's logic, while correct, does not address Job's core emotional and relational agony.

Bible references

• Acts 17:24-25: "The God who made the world... does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything..." (Paul's sermon in Athens makes the exact same point about God's self-sufficiency).
• Psa 8:3-4: "When I look at your heavens... what is man that you are mindful of him...?" (Recognizing human smallness in contrast to God's magnificent creation).
• Rom 11:35-36: "Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid? For from him and through him and to him are all things." (Reinforces that humanity cannot put God in its debt).

Cross references

Psa 113:5-6 (God is high, yet humbles himself); Isa 40:15-17 (nations are a drop in the bucket); Isa 55:9 (God's ways are higher); Jer 7:19 (declares God asking 'Is it I whom they provoke? Is it not themselves?'); Pro 9:12 (wisdom/mocking effects yourself).

Job 35:9-13

"Because of the multitude of oppressions people cry out; they call for help because of the arm of the mighty. But none says, 'Where is God my Maker, who gives songs in the night, who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth and makes us wiser than the birds of the heavens?' There they cry out, but he does not answer, because of the pride of evil men. Surely God will not hear an empty cry, nor will the Almighty regard it."

In-depth-analysis

• The Problem of Unanswered Cries: Elihu shifts to why God appears silent. He argues that people cry out because of oppression, focusing on their circumstance, not on God Himself. Their cries are for relief, not relationship.
• "Where is God my Maker?": This is the crucial question Elihu claims the oppressed fail to ask. They do not seek God as Creator and Sustainer. They see Him as a cosmic problem-solver, not as the source of life and hope.
• "Who gives songs in the night": A beautiful, poignant phrase. It contrasts sharply with Job's "terrors of the night" (Job 30:17). Elihu suggests a true relationship with God produces worship and joy even in the darkest moments of suffering.
• The Diagnosis: Pride. He attributes God's silence to the "pride (גָּאוֹן - ga'on) of evil men." Their cry is "empty" (שָׁוְא - shav), a vain, hollow plea because it is not coupled with humility or a genuine search for God. The focus is on self-pity and demanding rights.
• Superiority of Man: The reference to being taught "more than the beasts" highlights humanity's unique capacity for a spiritual relationship with God, a capacity that the oppressed (in Elihu's view) are failing to use.

Bible references

• Acts 16:25: "About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them." (The ultimate example of receiving "songs in the night" amidst suffering).
• Jam 4:3: "You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions." (The New Testament explanation for unanswered prayer based on wrong motives).
• Hos 7:14: "They do not cry to me from the heart, but they wail upon their beds..." (God diagnosing cries of distress that lack true repentance or seeking).

Cross references

Psa 42:8 (God's song is with the psalmist in the night); Isa 1:15 (God hiding His eyes from prayers offered with bloody hands); Pro 15:29 (The LORD is far from the wicked); Psa 66:18 (if I had cherished iniquity, the Lord would not have listened).

Job 35:14-16

"Although you say that you do not see him, yet judgment is before him; therefore trust in him. But now, because his anger has not punished, and he does not take much notice of transgression, Job opens his mouth in empty talk; he multiplies words without knowledge."

In-depth-analysis

• The Call to Wait: Elihu pivots back to Job. He acknowledges Job's feeling of God's absence ("you do not see him") but counters it with a statement of fact: Justice/Judgment (דִּין - din) is ready and waiting with God.
• "Trust in him": The verb here (חוּל - chul) has a range of meaning from "writhe/travail" to "wait expectantly." It implies an active, patient, and perhaps even painful waiting for God to act. It's not passive resignation.
• Final Rebuke: Elihu concludes that because God has been forbearing and has not struck Job down (as the three friends expected), Job has wrongly interpreted God's patience as indifference ("he does not take much notice").
• "Words without knowledge": Elihu ends with a devastating critique, accusing Job of speaking empty (הֶבֶל - hevel, same word as in Ecclesiastes for vanity) and ignorant (בְּלִי־דַעַת - beli-da'at) words. This is a direct condemnation of Job's entire discourse. Ironically, God will later use similar language to challenge Job (Job 38:2).

Bible references

• Psa 37:7: "Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way..." (The classic exhortation to wait for divine justice).
• Hab 2:3: "For still the vision awaits its appointed time... If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay." (Prophetic encouragement to trust in God's timing, even when it seems slow).
• Lam 3:25-26: "The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord." (Connects waiting with the goodness of God).

Cross references

Psa 27:14 (Wait for the Lord); Isa 30:18 (blessed are all who wait for him); Job 38:2 (The LORD's question: "Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?"); 1 Pe 5:6-7 (humble yourselves... casting all your anxieties on him).

Job chapter 35 analysis

• Elihu's Partial Truth: Elihu's theology is not wrong; it's just incomplete and misapplied. God is transcendent and sovereign, and prayer motives do matter. However, Elihu applies these truths with surgical precision but without compassion. He offers a theological lecture where pastoral care is needed. He presents a God who is logical and just but seemingly devoid of the mercy and empathy Job craves.
• The Unaccused Accuser: Notably, when God finally speaks, He rebukes Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar by name, but Elihu is never mentioned. Some scholars suggest this is because Elihu’s arguments, while harsh, were closer to the truth about God's majesty than the friends' rigid retribution theology. His words prepare the way for God's own speech from the whirlwind. Others argue God's silence is its own rebuke, dismissing Elihu as insignificant.
• A Deeper View of Prayer: The chapter provides a profound lens on prayer. It distinguishes between cries of entitled desperation and cries of humble faith. The call to look for "God my Maker" who gives "songs in the night" is a call to a doxological faith—one that praises God for His being, not just for His benefits. This prefigures the New Testament reality where believers find joy amidst tribulation (Rom 5:3-5, Jam 1:2-4).

Job 35 summary

Elihu confronts Job's claim that righteousness is unprofitable by arguing for God's complete transcendence; human actions affect humanity, not the self-sufficient God. He dismisses the cries of the oppressed as selfish and prideful pleas for relief, not humble searches for God, which is why they go unanswered. He concludes by labeling Job's complaints as "empty words" and commands him to patiently wait for the divine judgment that is already prepared.