Job 36:22-33

3. God knows what he is doing and his work should be magnified. (Job 36:22-33)

TEXT 36:22-33

22 Behold, God doeth loftily in his power:

Who is a teacher like onto him?

23 Who hath enjoined him his way?

Or who can say, Thou hast wrought unrighteousness?

24 Remember that thou magnify his work,

Whereof men have sung.

25 All men have looked thereon;

Man beholdeth it afar off.

26 Behold, God is great, and we know him not;

The number of his years is unsearchable.

27 For he draweth up the drops of water,

Which distil in ram from his vapor,

28 Which the skies pour down

And drop upon man abundantly.

29 Yea, can any understand the spreadings of the clouds,

The thunderings of his pavilion?

30 Behold, he spreadeth his light around him;

And he covereth the bottom of the sea.

31 For by these he judgeth the peoples;

He giveth food in abundance.

32 He covereth his hands with the lightning,

And giveth it a charge that it strike the mark.

33 The noise thereof telleth concerning him,

The cattle also concerning the storm that cometh up.

COMMENT 36:22-33

Job 36:22The purpose of Job's suffering is here considered by Elihu. God is Job's moreh or teacher. The content of the instruction is disciplinary suffering, if Job could only understand. This word (moreh) is also applied to God in Isaiah 30:20; Job 34:32; Job 35:11; and Psalms 32:8.

Job 36:23Since God is the almighty, no one can dictate to Him appropriate decisions; therefore, Job should stop criticizing God for his misfortunes. Instead, he should attempt to come to an understanding of what his morehteacheris saying to him. God's power and conduct are here under scrutiny. The A. V. enjoined is from a verb which means to prescribe or determine; i.e., who can determine God's ways for Him? Who can say that His conduct is unrighteous?

Job 36:24Others have sung of God's great handiwork, while you are complaining about it. Praise is at the heart of true righteousness. If you are righteous, praise will break forth from your lipsPsalms 104:33.

Job 36:25All other men have looked upon creation in awe and deep satisfaction. But not you, Job. A man must have perspective (from afar off) in order to understand the greatness of God's creation. One cannot discern the majestic magnificence of creation close at hand.

Job 36:26God's greatness is here set forth in imagery revealing His control of the universe. He is not bound by time; His years are innumerable (Heb. mispar)Job 16:22 a and Psalms 102:28.

Job 36:27The verb -gr-'. which is rendered draweth in the A. V., basically means diminish or deductJob 36:7; Isaiah 15:2; Jeremiah 48:37; and Exodus 21:10. The A. V. rendering of --'ed as vapor is defective. The word occurs only here and Genesis 2:6.[356] Albright has argued that this means the subterranean source of fresh water.[357] The word rendered as distill in the A. V. probably means filter. The image is that God controls the cosmic water system and filters vast amounts of water from a flood or giant reservoir. God is Lord of the rain, which is necessary for life and growth.

[356] See G. Lisowsky, ed., Konkordanz zum hebraischen alten Testament, 2nd ed., 1958; and S. Mandekern, Veteris Testimenti Concordantiae Hebraicae atque Chaldaicae, 2 vols., 1955 reprint, for this root.

[357] See W. F. Albright, J.B.L., 1939, pp. 102ff.

Job 36:28The late G. E. Wright took -rab, abundantly, as equivalent of rebibimshowersDeuteronomy 32:2, and rendered fall upon man as showers. Rab is probably an adjective not an adverb which modifies upon many men.Perhaps adam rah should not be translated many men but man Matthew 5:45. The rain falls upon the just and the unjust. God is impartial, as even the rain demonstrates.[358]

[358] See M. Dahood, CBQ, 1963, pp. 123-124.

Job 36:29Who can understand the wonders of a thunder-storm, diffusion of cloudsJob 26:9, thunderingsJob 30:22, all forming a canopy or pavilion of GodPsalms 18:11?

Job 36:30God spreads His light-oro, i.e., lightning a in Job 37:3, lib, 15b. The second line makes little sense, but following Psalms 18:16 the passive form of the verb cover (ksycover, to glyuncover or reveal) can be uncover; thus God uncovers or reveals the bottom or roots of the sea by His Lordship. Perhaps the deepest part of the sea is His throne. He is Lord of both the skies and the seas.

Job 36:31By the thunderstorms and seas He judges (Heb. yadin) everyone, i.e., blesses them. The imagery is polarized into judgment and blessing.[359]

[359] See M. H. Pope, El in the Ugaritic Texts, 1955, where he has demonstrated that the chief god of the Ugaritic pantheon dwelt at the confluence of the subterranean seas. pp. 61-81, e.g., Baal as storm god enthroned on a mountain and fused with features of the Ugaritic God El. But God is comparable not only in that He is Lord of these domains, but He is Lord over the entire universe, not merely certain dimensions of it. See my essay on Is God in Exile? in this commentary.

Job 36:32Neither the K. J. nor A. V. (1901) make much sense here. How God covers (Heb. verb kissah) His hands with lightning is our problemJob 37:3; 1 Kings 18:44. Light (Heb. -or or lightning) is the subject of the verb. Dhorme is probably correct in rendering the line with the sense that God places His hands into lightning and directs it to its target.[360] This imagery must not be identified with that of the Near Eastern gods hurling lightning bolts. Here we have anthropomorphism, but in ancient mythology the gods participated in such events. God is here presented as Lord over nature. If He can providentially control the universe, then He is capable of watching over Job.

[360] The emendations of G. R. Driver support Dhorme, Yetus Testamentum, 1955, pp. 88ff.

Job 36:33Peake gives a historical survey of over thirty explanations of this verse. Literally the text reads He declares His purpose concerning it; cattle also concerning what rises.[361] Dhorme presents the least amount of emendation to derive the translation The flock has warned its shepherd, the flock which sniffs the storm. This is grammatically possible; it makes sense and it emphasizes Elihu's thesisthat God providentially guards all of nature, why not Job, too?

[361] For some of the more feasible ones, see E. F. Sutcliffe, Biblica, 1949, p. 89; and G. R. Driver, Vetus Testamentum, Supplement, 1955, pp. 88ff; Pope, Job, pp. 276-277.