Job
Chapter 33
So now, O Job, listen to my words, hear everything I have to say.
My words are on the tip of my tongue,
words from a sincere and upright heart, words full of knowledge and truth.
The spirit of God has created me; the breath of the Almighty sustains my life.
Answer me if you can; draw up your arguments and take your stand.
Like you, I too have been shaped by God from the same clay.
Therefore, you need not fear me, nor should my presence weigh heavily on you.
But I heard what you said, none of your words escaped my hearing:
“I am clean and free of sin; I am innocent, and guiltless.
Yet God has found fault with me and considers me his enemy;
he shackles my feet, keeps watch of all my paths.”
I tell you, you are wrong about this, because greater than man is God.
Why then do you complain that he will not answer any of your words?
See, God gives a warning but does not repeat it a second time.
In a dream, in a night vision, when deep sleep falls on people while they are sleeping in their beds,
it is then that he opens their ears and warns them by terrifying them.
So he turns man from wrongdoing and keeps him away from pride,
God preserves his soul from the pit, and his life from perishing by the sword.
Man is also humbled in his bed by pain and constant distress upon his body,
so much that he finds food repulsive, even the finest meal loathsome.
His flesh wastes away to nothing; his bones, once hidden, now stick out.
His soul nears the pit, and his life approaches the realm of death.
Yet if an angel stands by his side —a mediator, one in a thousand—to show him what is right for man, to restore justice to him.
God will have mercy and say: “Deliver him from going down to the pit; I have found a ransom for him.”
Then his flesh will be renewed like that of a child, restored as in his youth.
He will pray and find favor with God; he will see God’s face and rejoice,
He will testify to men and say: “I sinned and distorted what was right, but I was not punished as I deserved.”
He rescued my soul from going down into the pit, and gave me life to enjoy light.”
God does all this to man— twice, even thrice—
to turn him back from the pit, to lead him with the light of life.
Pay attention, Job, listen to me; keep silent, and I will continue speaking.
But if you have anything to say, say it now; speak up, for I want to see you justified.
If not, then listen; stay silent as I teach you wisdom.
Commentaries
Elihu’s Speeches.
Job ends his defense by asking for a response from God. What will happen now? When least expected, an intruder named Elihu appears. He is an angry young man who has apparently been listening to the debate and can no longer contain himself. Irritated by what he has just heard, he interjects himself into the matter (32:19). He does so with four speeches that, although they say nothing new, reveal his conviction, his passion, and his abundant verbiage.
Elihu’s First Speech.
Despite his youth, Elihu feels compelled to speak. Wisdom is not always—or necessarily—linked to age, because it is a gift of the Spirit or breath of God (32:8-18). Unlike Job’s friends, the young man calls Job by name (33:31). After a lengthy introduction (32:6b-33:7), he finally gets to the main point. Job has claimed his innocence, asserting that God is treating him like an enemy and ignoring his cries for help. But Job is wrong (33:12). God speaks; surely Job has not heard. And he says, whether through dreams and nightmares or through illness, to warn sinners and bring them back to the path of life (33:14-22). Elihu also mentions a heavenly mediator, a member of God’s court (33:23), who helps sinners repent. Job has earnestly desired a mediator (16:19-22), but surely, he expected something different from him.