What ye know, the same do I know also ,.... Concerning God and his perfections, his sovereignty, holiness, justice, wisdom, power, goodness, &c.; and concerning his providences, and his dealings with men in an ordinary or in an extraordinary way: I am not inferior unto you ; as might be deduced from the preceding discourse; See Gill on Job 12:3 . read more
The first two verses of Job 13:1-28 . are closely connected with Job 12:1-25 ; forming the natural termination to the first section of Job's argument, that all results, whether good or evil, must be referred to God. Job 13:1 is little more than a repetition of Job 12:9 and Job 13:2 of Job 12:3 . read more
Trite sayings. Job's complaint is that there was nothing new in his friends' pretentious harangues. All their pompous airs of superiority and authority did not deceive the patriarch, and prevent him from detecting the essentially commonplace character of their ideas. I. MOST SAYINGS ARE TRITE . It is not often given to a man to discover a new truth. Even when a person makes a remark that is original in him, i.e. that he has not derived from any other man, the probability is... read more
Correction of the friends. I. TRANSITION IN JOB 'S ADDRESS . ( Job 13:1-3 .). He pauses for a moment before entering on a new course of thought. He asserts that his experience has not been without fruit. The eye , the ear , the mouth ( Job 12:11 ), are the physical symbols of living and actual experience. So St. John: "That which we have heard ,… seen with our eyes looked upon, and our bands have handled" ( 1 John 1:1 ). And in no particular is their knowledge, in... read more
Job to Zophar: 4. A wounded soul at bay. I. THE VOICE OF FIERCE RECRIMINATION . Transfixing on the spear-point of his remorseless logic the men who had mocked at his misery, and converted his very piety into a laughing-stock, with infinite scorn Job holds them up a spectacle to angels and to men, charging them with at least three most detestable offences. 1 . Ignoring of facts. They had favoured him with their views of how God conducted the affairs of the universe, citing... read more
Man's injustice and the justice of God. Job proceeds to turn the tables upon these self-complacent friends, who are so disposed to moralize and find illustrations of their conceptions of the Divine righteousness at his expense. His friends, however, really do him a service; not, indeed, by manifesting the sympathy he craves, but by throwing him upon his own resources—still better, by throwing him upon his God. The tonic of opposition is sometimes far more needed in mental suffering than is... read more
What ye know , the same do I know also . Job's friends have claimed to instruct him and set him right, on the ground of their age and experience ( Job 4:8 ; Job 5:27 ; Job 8:8-10 ), He protests that, in the matters on which they have lectured him, they have no advantage over himself—he knows all that they know—in truth, the knowledge is open to all (see Job 12:3 ). I am not inferior unto you. An exact repetition of the second clause of Job 12:3 . read more
What ye know ... - See the note at Job 12:3. read more
Job’s reply to Zophar (12:1-14:22)The reply from Job opens with a sarcastic comment on the supposed wisdom of the three friends. They have merely been repeating general truths that everybody knows (12:1-3). They do not have the troubles Job has, and they make no attempt to understand how Job feels. A good person suffers while wicked people live in peace and security (4-6).Job does not argue with the fact that all life is in God’s hands. What worries him is the interpretation of that fact... read more
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Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Job 13:1-12
Job here warmly expresses his resentment of the unkindness of his friends. I. He comes up with them as one that understood the matter in dispute as well as they, and did not need to be taught by them, Job 13:1, 2. They compelled him, as the Corinthians did Paul, to commend himself and his own knowledge, yet not in a way of self-applause, but of self-justification. All he had before said his eye had seen confirmed by many instances, and his ear had heard seconded by many authorities, and he... read more