Job 23:3-5

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Job 23:1-7

Job is confident that he has wrong done him by his friends, and therefore, ill as he is, he will not give up the cause, nor let them have the last word. Here, I. He justifies his own resentments of his trouble (Job 23:2): Even to day, I own, my complaint is bitter; for the affliction, the cause of the complaint, is so. There are wormwood and gall in the affliction and misery; my soul has them still in remembrance and is embittered by them, Lam. 3:19, 20. Even to day is my complaint counted... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 23:3

O that I knew where I might find him ,.... That is, God, who is understood, though not expressed, a relative without an antecedent, as in Psalm 87:1 ; Jarchi supplies, and interprets it, "my Judge", from Job 23:7 ; and certain it is Job did desire to find God as a judge sitting on his throne, doing right, that he might have justice done to him: indeed he might be under the hidings of God's face, which added to his affliction, and made it the heavier; in which case, the people of God are... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 23:4

I would order my cause before him ,.... Either, as a praying person, direct his prayer to him, and set it in order before him, see Psalm 5:3 ; or else as pleading in his own defence, and in justification of himself; not of his person before God, setting his works of righteousness in order before him, and pleading his justification on the foot of them; for, by these no flesh living can be justified before God; but of his cause, for, as a man may vindicate his cause before men, and clear... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 23:5

I would know the words which he would answer me ,.... Being a God hearing and answering prayer, who always hears, and sooner or later answers the petitions of his people in his own way; and which when he does, they know, take notice, and observe it: or then he should know the reason why the Lord contended with him, and what were his sins and transgressions, which were the cause of his afflictions; things he had desired to know, but as yet had no answer, see Job 10:2 ; and understand... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 23:3

O that I knew where I might find him! - This and the following verse may be read thus: "Who will give me the knowledge of God, that I may find him out? I would come to his establishment; (the place or way in which he has promised to communicate himself); I would exhibit, in detail, my judgment (the cause I wish to be tried) before his face; and my mouth would I fill with convincing or decisive arguments;" arguments drawn from his common method of saving sinners, which I should prove applied... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 23:5

I would know the words which he would answer me - He would speak nothing but what was true, decree nothing that was not righteous, nor utter any thing that I could not comprehend. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 23:1-7

Job to Eliphaz: 1. The experience of a seeker after God. I. GREAT SORROW . (Verse 2.) Two wonders. 1 . An afflicted man a seeker after God. Designed to recall men to God ( Job 36:8 , Job 36:9 ; Isaiah 19:22 ; Jeremiah 2:27 ; Hosea 5:15 ), temporal calamity is not always attended by so blessed a result. Unaccompanied by grace, it tends to harden rather than soften the human heart, to repel rather than attract the soul's confidence and love. Happily, however, in Job's case... 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

Oh that I knew where I might find him! This is the cry of the desolate human soul, feeling its need of God, and yet not knowing how to approach him. God seems to be very far removed from us. He is in heaven, and we are on earth; nay, he is in the highest heaven, or outside it, walking on its circumference ( Job 22:14 ). How are we to approach near to him, so near as to be sure that he can hear us? How are we to "find" him? So, in all ages, has the human heart gone out to God, aspiring... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 23:3

A great question answered. I. THE RECORDED QUESTION . "Oh that I knew where I might find him!" 1 . Necessary ; since man does not naturally understand either where or how to find God ( Romans 1:28 ; 1 Corinthians 1:21 ; Ephesians 4:18 ). 2 . Important ; since only in the finding and knowing God lies the secret of true happiness ( Job 22:21 ) and the pathway to eternal life ( John 17:3 ). 3 . Personal ; since no man can find God for his neighbour, but... read more

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