Job 27:1-6

IV. THE LONELINESS AND ISOLATION OF JOB (Job 27:1, Job 31:40)

A. THE AFFIRMATION OF INNOCENCE (Job 27:1-6)

TEXT 27:1-6

27 And Job again took up his parable and said,

2 As God liveth, who hath taken away my right,
And the Almighty, who hath vexed my soul

3 (For my life is yet whole in me,

And the spirit of God is in my nostrils);

4 Surely my lips shall not speak unrighteousness,

Neither shall my tongue utter deceit.

5 Far be it from me that I should justify you:

Till I die I will not put away mine integrity from me.

6 My righteousness I hold fast,

and will not let it go:

My heart shall not reproach me so long as I live.

COMMENT 27:1-6

Job 27:1The preceding chapter contains the most powerful cosmological section in the dialogue for insight and scope of expression. All the verbs in Job 27:5-11 are participles or the imperfect describing God's constant Lordship over nature. Now Job resumes his response to Bildad by his inflexible protestation of innocenceJob 27:1-6. Job continues his parable (masal[276]not always a parable, mesalimcollections in Book of Proverbs; brief saying1 Samuel 10:12; longer sayingIsaiah 14:4; taunt or mockDeuteronomy 28:37), preferably discourse, taunt, or mock here. Masai is often associated in parallel with hidahriddle or dark saying as in Psalms 49:5; Ezekiel 17:2; Habakkuk 2:6. It also appears in contexts with words of derision such as Deuteronomy 28:37; 1 Samuel 10:12; Isaiah 14:4; Jeremiah 24:9; and Habakkuk 2:6. Clearly masal covers a wide variety of literary compositions, thus we should not be alarmed that Job is not uttering a parable.

[276] For examination of the meaning of masal and extensive bibliography, see A. R. Johnson, Vetus Testamentum, Supplement, 1955, pp. 162ff; also F. Hauck, Parabole, TWNT, Vol. 5, 744-761, esp. 747-751.

Job 27:2The verse is introduced by an oath formula as God lives1 Samuel 14:39 and 1 Samuel 2:27. The tension, still unresolved, is present here as Job swears by the God (Elsee my theological essay Is Job's God in Exile? in this commentary),[277] who has wronged him, i.e., made my soul bitterJob 7:11; Job 10:1; Job 21:25. The fact that Job made his vow in God's name suggests that he loved Him. Near Eastern custom would suggest this. From this curious tension the ancient rabbis deduced that Job served God out of loveJob 7:11; Job 10:1; Job 21:25; Job 34:5; Job 36:6; and Ruth 1:20.

[277] See M. Pope, El in the Ugaritic Texts, Supplement, Vetus Testamentum II, 1955, esp. 12-15, 104; that this is the most solemn oath possible see I. Guillet, L-'homme devant Dieu (Paris, 1964), pp. 19-20.

Job 27:3Job is affirming that though he is suffering, he still has control over his mental faculties. The conviction of this battered giant remains unshaken. The use of first person pronoun (12 occurrences) in Job 27:2-6 is our assurance that Job has introspectively searched out his past and does not remember a single unrighteous act. He will maintain his integrity (tummahJob 2:3) until his death. As long as my life (nepheshderives from GodGenesis 2:7; and returns to GodJob 34:14) is intact and God's ruah enlivens me, I will swear loyal allegiance to Him.

Job 27:4He contends that all along he has spoken the truth. This is the content of the oath. He swears in El's name to speak only the truth in defending his innocence. The A. V. rendering of utter derives from a verb which means moanIsaiah 38:14; meditatePsalms 1:2; devisePsalms 2:1; and here speakPsalms 71:24; deceit is the same word found in Job 13:7.

Job 27:5As long as Job lives, he will not grant his friends the right to assert his guilt. The formula used, far be it from me, implies that there is something profane in the idea which he is rejecting2 Samuel 20:20. So long as he lives, he could not deny his own integrity before God. I could never justify you (the pronoun is plural), i.e., admit that you are correct regarding my righteousness; the A. V. rendering of will not put away comes from a word meaning withhold and also appears in verse two.

Job 27:6The heart is the Hebrew seat of intelligence, reasonJob 2:9; 1 Samuel 24:6. Job denies any awareness of sins such as his consolers had charged to himJob 22:6-9. Nothing new is advanced in this speech, but he continues to scorn Bildad's defense of God, and to affirm his own innocence.