Job 23:8-9

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Job 23:8-12

Here, I. Job complains that he cannot understand the meaning of God's providences concerning him, but is quite at a loss about them (Job 23:8, 9): I go forward, but he is not there, etc. Eliphaz had bid him acquaint himself with God. ?So I would, with all my heart,? says Job, ?If I knew how to get acquainted with him.? He had himself a great desire to appear before God, and get a hearing of his case, but the Judge was not to be found. Look which way he would, he could see no sign of God's... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 23:8

Behold, I go forward, but he is not there ,.... Job here returns to what he had said before, Job 23:3 ; as Jarchi observes, where he expresses his earnest desire after God, that he might know where he was, and come up to his seat; here he relates the various ways he took to find him, and his fruitless search of him. Cocceius thinks, by these phrases "forward" and "backward", are meant times future and past; and that the sense is, that Job looked into the future times of the Messiah,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 23:9

On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him ,.... The northern part of the world, where his seat is, or the circle of the earth, says Bar Tzemach, and who has stretched out the north over the empty place, Job 26:7 . Jarchi's note is, when he created it, he did not make it the place of his throne: God works everywhere in a way of providence, but in some places more eminently than in others; the northern part of the world is observed to be more inhabited than the... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 23:8

Behold, I go forward - These two verses paint in vivid colors the distress and anxiety of a soul in search of the favor of God. No means are left untried, no place unexplored, in order to find the object of his research. This is a true description of the conduct of a genuine penitent. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 23:9

On the left hand, where he doth work - In these two verses Job mentions the four cardinal points of the heavens: the East, by the word קדם kedem , which signifies before; the West, by אחור achor , which signifies after, or the back part; the North, by שמאל semol , which signifies the left; and the South, by ימין yamin , which signifies the right. Such is the situation of the world to a man who faces the east; see Genesis 13:9 , Genesis 13:11 ; Genesis 28:14 . And from... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 23:1-17

Longing for the appearance of the delivering and justifying God. I. EXCLAMATION . ( Job 23:2-5 .) So bitter is his complaint, "his hand is heavy upon his groaning," i.e. he must force groan after groan out of himself. Oh that he knew where to find the judgment-seat of God, and that he might have the opportunity of pleading his cause! ( Job 23:3-5 ). He possesses still "faith and a good conscience," those best jewels of a Christian ( 1 Timothy 1:5 ), and can think of appearing... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 23:3-13

The true support under deferred judgment. In the bitterness of his complaint and the heaviness of his stroke, Job makes known his desire to appeal directly to God. In the impossibility of this his faith is more and more severely tested; but he reposes in an assurance that the Divine eye is upon him, and he is confident of a just and even merciful sentence. So does conscious integrity uphold the tried and suffering believer, over whom for the present the shadows of suspicion gather, although... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 23:8

Behold, I go forward, but he is not there ; that is, "He is not there to my perceptions ." I may believe it, but I have no sensible proof of it, and I cannot demonstrate it. And backward, but I cannot perceive him . In describing locality, the Hebrews, Arabs, and Orientals generally always imagined themselves to be looking eastward, facing the rising sun. Hence the same word is used for" in front," "forwards," and "the east;" for "behind," "backwards," and "the west;" for "the left hand"... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 23:8-9

Here Job returns to the complaint of verse 3. He cannot "find" God. God hides himself. It is in vain that he searches on every side. There is no manifestation, no open vision. Nothing, however, leads him to doubt God's existence, or even his presence where he is unperceived. "Job's conviction of God's absolute presence comes out most strongly when he feels that he cannot discern him" (Cook). read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 23:8-9

The unseen God. Job enlarges on the idea of his search for God and the efforts that he has vainly made to find him. God is still invisible; searching has not found him. I. THE PHYSICAL IMPOSSIBILITY OF SEEING GOD . There is more to be said for modern agnosticism than for eighteenth-century deism. Pure rationalism will not find God. Physical science cannot discover him. The animal is dissected, the metal is melted in the crucible, but the analysis reveals not Divinity. We... read more

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