Job Thirty Five

by Dr. Henry M. Morris

(taken from the Defender's Study Bible)

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Job 35:1 Elihu spake moreover, and said,

Job 35:2 Thinkest thou this to be right, that thou saidst, My righteousness is more than God's?

that thou saidst. Job never said any such thing. Elihu is so impressed with his own eloquence that he begins to exaggerate and distort Job's statements.

Job 35:3 For thou saidst, What advantage will it be unto thee? and, What profit shall I have, if I be cleansed from my sin?

Job 35:4 I will answer thee, and thy companions with thee.

Job 35:5 Look unto the heavens, and see; and behold the clouds which are higher than thou.

Job 35:6 If thou sinnest, what doest thou against him? or if thy transgressions be multiplied, what doest thou unto him?

Job 35:7 If thou be righteous, what givest thou him? or what receiveth he of thine hand?

Job 35:8 Thy wickedness may hurt a man as thou art; and thy righteousness may profit the son of man.

Job 35:9 By reason of the multitude of oppressions they make the oppressed to cry: they cry out by reason of the arm of the mighty.

Job 35:10 But none saith, Where is God my maker, who giveth songs in the night;

Job 35:11 Who teacheth us more than the beasts of the earth, and maketh us wiser than the fowls of heaven?

Job 35:12 There they cry, but none giveth answer, because of the pride of evil men.

Job 35:13 Surely God will not hear vanity, neither will the Almighty regard it.

Job 35:14 Although thou sayest thou shalt not see him, yet judgment is before him; therefore trust thou in him.

Job 35:15 But now, because it is not so, he hath visited in his anger; yet he knoweth it not in great extremity:

Job 35:16 Therefore doth Job open his mouth in vain; he multiplieth words without knowledge.

words without knowledge. The arrogance of young Elihu is becoming insufferable. He accuses Job, far older and wiser than he, of speaking “words without knowledge.” When God comes down, just a few minutes later, He asks Job, whom He knew very well: “Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge” (Job 38:2), thus turning Elihu's presumptuous words back on himself.