Job 34:23

For he will not lay upon man more than right - Very various translations have been given of this verse. According to our common version, it means that God will not deal with man in such a manner as to give him just reason for calling in question the rectitude of the divine dealings. He shall in no case receive more than his sins deserve, so as to give him cause for complaint. This is undoubtedly a correct sentiment; but it may be doubted whether it is the sense conveyed by the original. Umbreit renders it:

Denn er braucht auf einem Mann nicht lang zu achten

Um ihm vor Gott in das Gericht zn ziehen.

“For he needs not long to regard a man in order to bring him before God in judgment” - meaning that he has all power; that he can at once see all his character; and that he can bring him at once to his bar. This translation undoubtedly accords with the general scope of the argument. Noyes renders it:

He needeth not attend long to a man,

To bring him into judgment before God.

Wemyss renders it in a similar way:

He has no need of laborious inquiry,

In order to convict men at his tribunal.

Rosenmuller gives a similar sense to the passage. According to this, the meaning is, that there is no need that God should give long attention to a man, or go into a protracted investigation, in order that he may bring him to judgment. He knows him at a glance. He can at once convict him, and can decide the case in a moment without danger of error. Human tribunals are under a necessity of long and patient investigation, and then are often deceived; but no such necessity, and no such danger, pertains to God. This interpretation agrees with the scope of the passage (compare the notes at Job 34:24), and seems to me to be correct. The Hebrew literally is, “For not upon man will he place (scil. his mind or attention) long that he should go before God in judgment;” that is, there is no need of long and anxious investigation on his part, in order that he may prove that it is right for him to cut man off. He may do it at once, and no one has a right to complain.