Job 9:32-35

4. There is no mediator between the man and his creator. (Job 9:32-35)

TEXT 9:32-35

32 For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him,

That we should come together in judgment.

33 There is no umpire betwixt us,

That might lay his hand upon us both.

34 Let him take his rod away from me,

And let not his terror make me afraid:

35 Then would I speak, and not fear him;

For I am not so in myself.

COMMENT 9:32-35

Job 9:32A fair trial before God is an impossibility. Come together in judgment means to go to court or before the lawPsalms 143:2. Here we see that a theology of commutative justice between man and God will destroy God's transcendence and ensnare Him in the immanent trap that enslaves man.[134] Zechariah 3:3-5 provides a beautiful background to the problem, where the acquitted defendant receives clean clothes. (Note New Testament reference to white garments, esp. in The Revelationsee my The Seer, the Saviour, and The Saved, 1972 ed. in this series of commentaries.)[135]

[134] The nature of God's transcendence and immanence is one of the major issues in contemporary theological thought. Since the 17th-18th centuries-' Scientific Revolution, the transcendence of God has been suspect. The Newtonian World Machine conceived Deism and Deism gave birth to scientific positivism. Newton is the basis of Kant, Kant the basis of Hegel's immanent transcendence, and Hegel is the father of naturalistic pantheism, which is presently expressed by C. Hartshorne, Whitehead, and Teilhard de Chardin, et al.

[135] Compare also with the theology of righteousness in the Qumran Literature, esp. 1QH Job 5:4; Job 5:4; Job 7:12; Job 9:14 ff; Job 12:3 Off; Job 14:15 ff; and the teacher of righteousness see W. Grundmain Der Lehrer der gerechtigkeit von Qumran, Revue de Qumran 2, 1959- 60 237-259

Job 9:33Since God is prejudiced by His despotic power, Job calls for an arbitermokiahmediator, one who decides with equityGenesis 31:37; Isaiah 2:4. Job is still searching for a just reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:17 ff).

Job 9:34Remove your rod (sebetclub) same word as in Psalms 23:4. To David, God's rod was his defense against his enemies; for Job, God's rod brings only violence and pain. To Job, the rod signifies coercion and intimidation.

Job 9:35If there is no mediator, then I will speak for myself. But what shall I say that has not already been said?