Job 35:1-3

D.

THE ACTS OF GOD AND THE ACTS OF MAN (Job 35:1-16)

1. Job has said he has seen no profit in righteousness. (Job 35:1-3)

TEXT 35:1-3

1 Moreover Elihu answered and said,

2 Thinkest thou this to be thy right,

Or sayest thou, My righteousness is more than God'S,

3 That thou sayest, What advantage will it be onto thee?

And, What profit shall I have more than if I had sinned?

COMMENT 35:1-3

Job 35:1Elihu proceeds to respond to Job's assertion that piety in no way affects God, but that both sin and piety affect only man. This speech is composed of two parts: (1) Elihu seeks to refute Job's claim that the pious person is not rewarded by propertyJob 35:2-8; and (2) when the cry of the afflicted is not heard by God, they have not responded to the lesson intended by the discipline of sufferingJob 35:9-16. Elihu first defines the position of Job, then points to the greatness of God, who can neither be positively or negatively affected by anything man does. Man alone is affected by his own behavior.

Job 35:2The antecedent of this refers to what follows in verse three. Elihu is quoting Job's claim that he is in the right, or righteous. But Job has never claimed that he is more righteous than God; rather he has consistently asserted that he is innocent in the presence of GodJob 4:17; Job 13:18; Job 19:6-7; and Job 27:2-6.

Job 35:3How am I profited from my sin? Job has never denied that he has sinned (Heb. means more than if I had sinned), but not serious enough to deserve the unbearable suffering which has fallen upon himJob 32:2. Elihu could not admit that Job had correctly evaluated his spiritual condition, as that would impugn the justice of God. Job often seems to imply that it would not make any difference whether he had sinned or not, since justice seems to be abortive in the universe; i.e., the universe is amoralJob 34:9. It is doubtful that the pronoun thee in the A. V. refers to God; perhaps it is best taken as a taunt hurled at another one of Job's antagonists.