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Job 35
New English Translation
Job 35
New English Translation
Elihu’s Third Speech[a]
35 Then Elihu answered:
2 “Do you think this to be[b] just
when[c] you say, ‘My right before God’?[d]
3 But you say, ‘What will it profit you,’[e]
and, ‘What do I gain by not sinning?’[f]
4 I[g] will reply to you,[h]
and to your friends with you.
5 Gaze at the heavens and see;
consider the clouds, which are higher than you.[i]
6 If you sin, how does it affect God?[j]
If your transgressions are many,
what does it do to him?[k]
7 If you are righteous, what do you give to God,
or what does he receive from your hand?
8 Your wickedness affects only[l] a person like yourself,
and your righteousness only other people.[m]
9 “People[n] cry out
because of the excess of oppression;[o]
they cry out for help
because of the power[p] of the mighty.[q]
10 But no one says, ‘Where is God, my Creator,
who gives songs in the night,[r]
11 who teaches us[s] more than[t] the wild animals of the earth,
and makes us wiser than the birds of the sky?’
12 Then[u] they cry out—but he does not answer—
because of the arrogance of the wicked.
13 Surely it is an empty cry[v]—God does not hear it;
the Almighty does not take notice of it.
14 How much less, then,
when you say that you do not perceive him,
that the case is before him
and you are waiting for him![w]
15 And further,[x] when you say
that his anger does not punish,[y]
and that he does not know transgression![z]
16 So Job opens his mouth to no purpose;[aa]
without knowledge he multiplies words.”
Footnotes
- Job 35:1 sn This short speech falls into two sections: Elihu refutes Job’s claim that goodness avails nothing (35:2-8), asserting that when the cry of the afflicted goes unanswered they have not learned their lesson (35:9-16).
- Job 35:2 tn The line could be read as “do you reckon this for justice? Here “to be” is understood.
- Job 35:2 tn The word “when” is not in the Hebrew text, but is implied.
- Job 35:2 tn The brief line could be interpreted in a number of ways. The MT simply has “my right from God.” It could be “I am right before God,” “I am more just/right than God” (identifying the preposition as a comparative min (מִן); cf. J. E. Hartley, Job [NICOT], 463), “I will be right before God,” or “My just cause against God.”
- Job 35:3 tn The referent of “you” is usually understood to be God.
- Job 35:3 tn The Hebrew text merely says, “What do I gain from my sin?” But Job has claimed that he has not sinned, and so this has to be elliptical: “more than if I had sinned” (H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 224). It could also be, “What do I gain without sin?”
- Job 35:4 tn The emphatic pronoun calls attention to Elihu who will answer these questions.
- Job 35:4 tn The Hebrew text adds, “with words,” but since this is obvious, for stylistic reasons it has not been included in the translation.
- Job 35:5 tn The preposition is taken here as a comparative min (מִן). The line could also read “that are high above you.” This idea has appeared in the speech of Eliphaz (22:12), Zophar (11:7-8), and even Job (9:8-11).
- Job 35:6 tn Heb “him” (also in v. 7); the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Job 35:6 tn See Job 7:20.
- Job 35:8 tn The phrase “affects only” is supplied in the translation of this nominal sentence.sn According to Strahan, “Elihu exalts God’s greatness at the cost of His grace, His transcendence at the expense of His immanence. He sets up a material instead of a spiritual stand of profit and loss. He does not realize that God does gain what He desires most by the goodness of men, and loses what He most loves by their evil.”
- Job 35:8 tn Heb “and to [or for] a son of man, your righteousness.”
- Job 35:9 tn The word “people” is supplied, because the sentence only has the masculine plural verb.
- Job 35:9 tn The final noun is an abstract plural, “oppression.” There is no reason to change it to “oppressors” to fit the early versions. The expression is literally “multitude of oppression.”
- Job 35:9 tn Heb “the arm,” a metaphor for strength or power.
- Job 35:9 tn Or “of the many” (see HALOT 1172 s.v. I רַב 6.a).
- Job 35:10 tn There have been several attempts to emend the line, none of which are particularly helpful or interesting. H. H. Rowley (Job [NCBC], 225) says, “It is a pity to rob Elihu of a poetic line when he creates one.”
- Job 35:11 tn The form in the text, the Piel participle from אָלַף (ʾalaf, “teach”) is written in a contracted form; the full form is מְאַלְּפֵנוּ (meʾallefenu).
- Job 35:11 tn Some would render this “teaches us by the beasts.” But Elihu is stressing the unique privilege humans have.
- Job 35:12 tn The adverb שָׁם (sham, “there”) connects this verse to v. 11. “There” can be locative or temporal—and here it is temporal (= “then”).
- Job 35:13 tn Heb “surely—vanity, he does not hear.” The cry is an empty cry, not a prayer to God. Dhorme translates it, “It is a pure waste of words.”
- Job 35:14 sn The point is that if God does not listen to those who do not turn to him, how much less likely is he to turn to one who complains against him.
- Job 35:15 tn The expression “and now” introduces a new complaint of Elihu—in addition to the preceding. Here the verb of v. 14, “you say,” is understood after the temporal ki (כִּי).
- Job 35:15 tn The verb פָּקַד (paqad) means “to visit” (also “to appoint; to muster; to number”). When God visits, it means that he intervenes in one’s life for blessing or cursing (punishing, destroying).
- Job 35:15 tn The word פַּשׁ (pash) is a hapax legomenon. K&D 12:275 derived it from an Arabic word meaning “belch,” leading to the idea of “overflow.” BDB 832 s.v. defines it as “folly.” Several define it as “transgression” on the basis of the versions (Theodotion, Symmachus, Vulgate). The RSV took it as “greatly heed,” but that is not exactly “greatly know,” when the text beyond that requires “not know at all.” The NIV has “he does not take the least notice of wickedness.”
- Job 35:16 tn The word הֶבֶל (hevel) means “vanity; futility; to no purpose.”
Job 35
New Catholic Bible
Job 35
New Catholic Bible
Elihu’s Third Speech[a]
Chapter 35
How Does Human Conduct Affect God? 1 Then Elihu continued his speech, saying:
2 “Do you think that you can defend your uprightness
by claiming that you are just before God?
3 For you said: ‘What does it mean to you?
Or what would you gain if I sinned?’
4 I will provide an answer for you
and your three friends as well.
5 “Look up to the skies and see;
observe the clouds towering above you.
6 If you sin, how can that affect God?
And if your offenses are multiplied, how do you hurt him?
7 If you are righteous, what do you give him?
What does he receive from your hand?
8 Your wickedness affects only someone like you,
and your righteousness affects only your fellow men.
No One Asks, “Where Is God?”
9 “People cry out under the weight of oppression;
they cry for help against the power of the mighty.
10 But not one of them asks, ‘Where is God, my Maker,
who protects me during the night,
11 who gave us greater intelligence than the animals of the earth
and made us wiser than the birds of the air?’
12 Although they cry out, God does not answer
because of the pride of the wicked.
13 “But it is foolish to say that God does not hear
or that the Almighty does not pay attention.
14 Even though you do not see him,
he is aware of your plight,
and you must wait for his decision.
15 But now, because God does not grow angry and punish
and because he allows transgressions to go unheeded,
16 Job gives vent to his anger with empty talk
and babbles a stream of utter nonsense.”
Footnotes
- Job 35:1 The silence of God is what upsets human beings. Is the Eternal One perhaps indifferent to human tragedies? Elihu looks for a different explanation: God is silent because unhappy human beings lack faith in their prayers, and they sin through pride. But the entire passage is obscure in its development.
Job 35
King James Version
Job 35
King James Version
35 Elihu spake moreover, and said,
2 Thinkest thou this to be right, that thou saidst, My righteousness is more than God's?
3 For thou saidst, What advantage will it be unto thee? and, What profit shall I have, if I be cleansed from my sin?
4 I will answer thee, and thy companions with thee.
5 Look unto the heavens, and see; and behold the clouds which are higher than thou.
6 If thou sinnest, what doest thou against him? or if thy transgressions be multiplied, what doest thou unto him?
7 If thou be righteous, what givest thou him? or what receiveth he of thine hand?
8 Thy wickedness may hurt a man as thou art; and thy righteousness may profit the son of man.
9 By reason of the multitude of oppressions they make the oppressed to cry: they cry out by reason of the arm of the mighty.
10 But none saith, Where is God my maker, who giveth songs in the night;
11 Who teacheth us more than the beasts of the earth, and maketh us wiser than the fowls of heaven?
12 There they cry, but none giveth answer, because of the pride of evil men.
13 Surely God will not hear vanity, neither will the Almighty regard it.
14 Although thou sayest thou shalt not see him, yet judgment is before him; therefore trust thou in him.
15 But now, because it is not so, he hath visited in his anger; yet he knoweth it not in great extremity:
16 Therefore doth Job open his mouth in vain; he multiplieth words without knowledge.
Job 35
New International Version
Job 35
New International Version
35 Then Elihu said:
2 “Do you think this is just?
You say, ‘I am in the right,(A) not God.’(B)
3 Yet you ask him, ‘What profit is it to me,[a]
and what do I gain by not sinning?’(C)
4 “I would like to reply to you
and to your friends with you.
5 Look up at the heavens(D) and see;
gaze at the clouds so high above you.(E)
6 If you sin, how does that affect him?
If your sins are many, what does that do to him?(F)
7 If you are righteous, what do you give to him,(G)
or what does he receive(H) from your hand?(I)
8 Your wickedness only affects humans like yourself,(J)
and your righteousness only other people.(K)
9 “People cry out(L) under a load of oppression;(M)
they plead for relief from the arm of the powerful.(N)
10 But no one says, ‘Where is God my Maker,(O)
who gives songs(P) in the night,(Q)
11 who teaches(R) us(S) more than he teaches[b] the beasts of the earth
and makes us wiser than[c] the birds in the sky?’
12 He does not answer(T) when people cry out
because of the arrogance(U) of the wicked.(V)
13 Indeed, God does not listen to their empty plea;
the Almighty pays no attention to it.(W)
14 How much less, then, will he listen
when you say that you do not see him,(X)
that your case(Y) is before him
and you must wait for him,(Z)
15 and further, that his anger never punishes(AA)
and he does not take the least notice of wickedness.[d](AB)
16 So Job opens his mouth with empty talk;(AC)
without knowledge he multiplies words.”(AD)
New English Translation (NET)
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