Job 36:15

THE BRUTAL CHARGE OF ELIHU REGARDING JOB'S SO-CALLED "WICKEDNESS"

"He delivereth the afflicted by their affliction,

And openeth their ear in oppression.

Yea, he would have allured thee out of distress

Into a broad place where there is no straitness;

And that which is set on thy table would be full of fatness.

But thou art full of the judgment of the wicked:

Judgment and justice take hold on thee."

The entire assumption of Elihu was sinfully presumptuous. God had not sent affliction upon Job to punish him, nor to discipline him; all of his sorrowful experiences were due to Satan, and to no one else.

"But thou art full of the judgment of the wicked" (Job 36:17). This verse is obscure, and several different renditions are given; but as it stands here, it is an unqualified condemnation of Job. God would have done wonderful things for him, prosperity, fatness, all that; but because Job would not repent, he continues to suffer.

Many scholars have complained of damaged or corrupt text in Job 36:16-21. Driver wrote concerning these verses that, "The text is scarcely intelligible ... the details are uncertain ... perhaps corrupt ... uncertain ... extremely uncertain ... (and on Job 36:20), the most unintelligible of all these verses."[14] A comparison of the various versions will emphasize the uncertainty that pertains to these verses. This writer claims no ability to solve the problems of this passage.