But if they obey not, they shall perish by the sword . Not, necessarily, by a material sword, but by the sword of God's vengeance, which slays in a thousand different manners, piercing through all obstacles, and reaching to the heart and spirit. And they shall die without knowledge. Either without knowing that they are about to die, or in their wilful ignorance of God's intentions in chastising them. read more
But the hypocrites in heart heap up wrath . In his vindication of God's justice, Elihu here passes from the case of the righteous ( Job 36:7 ) to that of the "hypocrites," or rather the ungodly. They, he says, "heap up wrath," i.e. "treasure up to themselves wrath against the day of wrath" ( Romans 2:5 ), continually intensify God's anger against them, and, as it were, lay in a store of it, which will one day be outpoured upon them . They cry not when he bindeth them . They do not... read more
They die in youth ; literally, their sold dieth in youth. The result is that, while they are still young, the vital strength of their soul is sapped; they "come to a premature end, like youths who have destroyed the spring of life by licentiousness" (Cook). And their life is among the unclean . (On the particular "uncleanness" intended, see Deuteronomy 23:17 .) read more
He delivereth the poor in his affliction ; rather, he delivereth the afflicted by his affliction (see the Revised Version). Elihu recurs to what he had said in Job 36:10 with respect to the discipline of affliction. The bulk of the afflictions sent by God are, according to him, intended to act medicinally. If the afflicted man receives them aright, they are the very means of his deliverance (comp. Psalms 119:67 , Psalms 119:71 ; Hebrews 12:11 ). And openeth their ears in... read more
Affliction as a deliverer. Elihu says that God delivers the afflicted by his affliction. We have been accustomed to look on affliction as an evil, from which some deliverer may set us free. Elihu startles us with a very different view of it. In his opinion the affliction is itself a deliverer. I. AFFLICTION IS NOT THE GREATEST EVIL . In our selfish cowardice we look for some escape from pain, as though that were our supreme foe. But sin is worse than suffering—more hurtful,... read more
Even so would he have removed thee out of the strait into a broad pine, where there is no straitness; and that which should be set on thy table should be full of fatness . Another quite different interpretation has been proposed by Ewald, and adopted by Dillmann and Canon Cook, who suppose Elihu to speak, not of what would have happened to Job under certain circumstances, but of what had actually happened to him, and render, "Thee moreover hath thy unbounded prosperity seduced from listening... read more
A broad place. Elihu tells Job that it is the work of affliction to "lure" him out of a strait into a broad place. I. LIFE IS IN DANGER OF BECOMING NARROW . Various influences combine to narrow it. 1 . Selfishness. The disposition to think much of ourselves dwarfs the world to us. But when we are thus living chiefly for our own ends, we are shut into a small circle of personal, private interests, and, the great world being ignored, we ourselves shrink into... read more
But thou hast fulfilled the judgment of the wicked ; i.e. but, as thou hast not so acted, the result has been different. Thy hardness and impenitence have brought upon thee the judgments reserved by God for the wicked—judgment and justice take hold on thee—thou art suffering the just penalty of thy obstinacy. read more
Because there is wrath, beware lest he take thee away with his stroke . The original is exceedingly obscure, and three or four quite distinct renderings have been proposed; but one of the latest critics (Professor Stanley Loathes) prefers to all the other translations that of the Authorized Version. Job is threatened by Elihu with a coming judgment which shall remove him from the earth altogether. Then a great ransom cannot deliver thee. Once let destruction fall, and there is no longer... read more
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The Pulpit Commentary - Job 36:11
If they obey and serve him, they shall spend their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasures (comp. Job 12:13-19 ; Jeremiah 7:23 ; Jeremiah 26:13 ). Under the old covenant, prosperity was promised to the righteous, and even to the repentant, frequently, and in the most definite terms. Under the new, when any such promise is made, it is carefully guarded ( Mark 10:30 ); while in many passages the promise is of an opposite character—the righteous are told to expect tribulations... read more