Job 19:23-27

5. And asserts his hope of a vindicator (go-'el) (Job 19:23-27)

TEXT 19:23-27

23 Oh that my words were now written!

Oh that they were Inscribed in a book!

24 That with an iron pen and lead

They were graven in the rock for ever!

25 But as for me I know that my Redeemer liveth,

And at last he will stand up upon the earth:

26 And after my skin, even this body, is destroyed,

Then without my flesh shall I see God;

27 Whom I, even I, shall see, on my side,

And mine eyes shall behold, and not as a stranger.
My heart is consumed within me.

COMMENT 19:23-27

Job 19:23Job still holds out hope of the vision of God (Job 19:23-27). The foregoing appeal has fallen on deaf ears, as is apparent from the following speech. At the conclusion, job is completely alienated from: (1) family; (2) men, i.e., intimate friends; and apparently (3) God. Yet out of his depth of despair, he achieves a heightened faith in God which maintains that He will Shatter His Silence in the future. But for the existential moment, Job will endure this cosmic muteness. Note how his traditionalist friends have appealed to the wisdom of the past, how Job is enduring the present, and that only the future holds the solution to his dilemma.-'[213] If neither the past nor the present provide clues to the presence of God (i.e., a transcendent creator-redeemer God who is immanent in nature-history-social institutions-individual lives), where, if there are any, are the clues of God's love and mercy? Since the first scientific revolution, western man has been moving in a naturalistic-humanistic direction. This process called for the death of God and the humanization of man. Oh, Job is our contemporary. Has God abandoned us? Job wants the protestation of his innocence to survive after his death in the form of a book or scroll.[214] Seper usually means book or scroll. But the verb here means to engrave. We now have the copper treasure scroll from Qumran; perhaps it is an illustration of what Job had in mind. He surely wanted his record to be permanent.

[213] Historical theology has progressed along these same lines: (1) Traditionalists depend on the past; (2) after Hegel and Kierkegaard, the emphasis was placed on the existential moment and leap of faith, and after the first collapse of Neo-orthodoxy (of Revolution-Liberation-Political Theory) influence, we move toward (3) Theology of Hope, egs. E. Block, J. Moltmann with the emphasis on the future.

[214] For possibilities of the form of materials implied, see G. R. Driver, Semitic Writing, 1954, p. 92; S. H. Gehman, JBL, 1944, pp. 3O3ff; Pope, Job, pp. 143-4.

Job 19:24A lead stylus could not make an impression on even the softest stone; therefore, the lead here must be to fill the incisions made by an iron tool. An ancient example of the use of lead in stone is Darius I'S Behistun Inscription.[215]

[215] For ancient evidence of this art, see K. Galling, Die Welt des Orients, 1954-59, p. 6; and J.J. Stamm, Zeitschrift fur die alttestamenttiche Wissenschaft, 1953, p. 302.

Job 19:25Here is the central verse of the entire book. Job knows that there is no immanent power within man or nature that can meet his needs. If death is the ultimate and absolute monarch of all life, then the late Heidegger is correctall of reality moves toward deathSein zum tode. The ultimate answer to evil, suffering, and death comes in this peak passageJob 19:25-27.[216] Despite the but, this verse must not be separated from the foregoing; i.e., these words in Job 19:23 are to be recorded in stone. The word go-'el (see Book of Ruth, Ruth 4:4-6) means next of kin who was obligated to exact justice in a feudDeuteronomy 19:6-12; 2 Samuel 14:11; Leviticus 25:25; Leviticus 25:48. The go-'el is the defender of both widow and orphan and the enslavedProverbs 23:10-11. God is Israel's go-'el or deliverer from Egyptian bondageExodus 6:6; Exodus 15:13; exile, Jer. 1:34; dispersionIsaiah 43:1; Isaiah 44:6; Isaiah 44:24; Isaiah 48:20; and Isaiah 52:9. God also delivers the individual from deathPsalms 103:4; Lamentations 3:58. Job's concluding remarks in Job 19:26 b clearly reveal that his redeemer is God.[217] The word -aharon is here taken as adverbial at last. If it is taken as parallel to go-'el, it should be taken as adjectival in the sense that the first and last is guarantorIsaiah 44:6; Isaiah 48:12. His vindicator is living and will stand on the earth.[218] The Hebrew hayalive or livingis a designation for GodJoshua 3:10; Hosea 1:10. Job's God is a living God. The much discussed Ugaritic example concerning Baal is upon scrutiny no parallel.[219] The Vulgate changes the Hebrew and reads I shall rise, meaning that Job shall experience resurrection. The phrase upon the earth literally reads upon the dust. Here is an expressed hope in God's victory over Sheol.[220] Job's answer comes by resurrection. Ultimately our Lord's resurrection is not merely an historical event; it is a history-making eventMatthew 22:32. Death in Sheol never means extinction or annihilation, only existence that is less to be desired; as many claim, especially Jehovah's Witnesses, Seventh Day Adventists (Soul Sleeping), Armstrongites, et. al.[221]

[216] See the brilliant and indispensable survey of the interpretation of this passage up to the 20th century by H. H. Rowley, From Moses to Qumran (New York: Association Press, 1963), pp. 180ff.

[217] M. Dahood, Biblica, 1971, p. 346.

[218] For extensive bibliographical survey of Faith, History, and Resurrection and references to the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin texts of Job 19:25-27, see my essays in James Orr, The Resurrection (College Press reprint, 1972); since the development of the Religionsgeschickte Schule, scholars have become preoccupied over the origin of the idea of resurrection. Bousset and Gressmann suggest a Persian source, so also W. Eichrodt, E. Jacob, and G. Von Rad in their respective Old Testament theologies.

[219] See E. G. Kraeling, The Book of The Ways of God (New York, 1939), p. 89; also Pritchard, ed., Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament (Princeton), p. 140.

[220] M. Dahood, Biblica, 1971, p. 346.

[221] See again N. J. Tromp, Primitive Conceptions of Death (Rome, 1969), esp. PP-32-34, 85-91.

Job 19:26The problems of translation and understanding are great in this verse. Dahood maintains that the expression in this verse sets forth the doctrine of the creation of a new body for the afterlife1 Corinthians 15. Job expects to see God, but not until after death. He does not say how he will be conscious of his vindication (compare with Job's earlier wordsJob 14:21 ff). Here is one of the Old Testament highwater marks in the development of a belief in resurrection, which culminates in the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. This fact is the very essence of the Christian faith. It is an objective fact which must be subjectively appropriated, resulting in a Christian world-life style of existence. It must be more than a legalistic doctrinal orthodoxy, but not less than orthodox. Jesus alone has revealed the true nature of Job's GodJohn 1:18The Great Explanation. Job's desire is to see (hazahsee a vision, a revelation) GodJob 42:5. He is certain of two things: (1) His Vindicator will vindicate his innocence; and (2) He will see his God.[222]

[222] See W. A. Irwin, Job's Redeemer, JBL, 1962, pp. 217-229; R. Martin-Achard, De la mort a resurrection d-'apres l-'Ancien Testament (Neuchatel, 1956); C. R. North, The Redeemer God, Interpretation, 1948, pp. 3-16; and J. Lindblom, Ich weiss, dass mein Erloser lebt, Studia Theologica, 1940, pp. 65-77.

Job 19:27God will appear on Job's behalf (Heb. on my side) and break His silence. Job will see Him for himself, not through someone else's eyes. When he sees Him, He will appear as a friend, not as an enemy or stranger. Job is overcome with emotion (heartlit. my kidneys wear out in my bosom). In Hebrew psychology, the bowels and kidneys are regarded as the center of emotions, as was the heart of intelligence. It is wonderful, but not too wonderful to be possible.