Job 36 · The Lantern

And Elihu added and said:—

The author of the book, while distributing the chapters of the different speeches to us, connects the words that follow to the beginning.

Eliu also added, and spake thus; Suffer me a little, and I will shew thee. He had already said much, and hopes that he will be borne with yet a little longer; because, namely, haughty men consider that they suffer a heavy loss, if they confine their skill by speaking within brief limits.

Eliud presented two things in the words of Job again which he wanted to argue: first, the fact that he said he was just and the fact that he accused God of injustice in his judgment, according to the interpretation Eliud had given the words of Job. Eliud had disputed against these two ideas above. (cc.

Restrain thyself for me a little, and I will shew thee, that, yet—for GOD, there is justification,

I will bring my knowledge from afar, and, to my Maker, will I attribute righteousness.

For, of a truth—not false, are my words, One of competent knowledge, is with thee.

Lo! GOD, is mighty, yet will he not despise, Mighty in vigour of mind;

He will not keep alive one who is lawless, but, the right of oppressed ones, will he grant;

He will not withdraw—from a righteous one—his eyes,—but, with kings on the throne, He hath seated men triumphantly, and they have been exalted.

But, if, bound in fetters, they have been captured with cords of affliction,

Then hath he declared to them their deed, and their transgressions—that they were wont to behave themselves proudly;

Thus hath he uncovered their ear to a warning, and said—that they should turn from iniquity.

If they would hearken, and serve, they should complete their days, in prosperity, and their years, in pleasantness;

But, if they would not hearken, by a weapon, should they pass away, and breathe their last, no one knowing.

Yea, the impious in heart, should store up anger, They should not cry for help, when he bound them.

Their soul should die in youth, and their life, among the unclean.

"They will die in the tempest of their soul, and their life among the effeminate." Since he had said above, "God will not be humble before the powerful," here he has rightly said that the one who through his scorn inflames the wrath of the avenger will die among the effeminate, that is, he deserves to be deprived of all his strength by the misfortunes that will happen to him.

Their soul shall die in a tempest. For they were seeming to live as if in calm, when they were taking care to rejoice in the credit of holiness. But their soul, which used to rejoice in the fatal tranquillity of human praise, dies by a sudden tempest.

Because such men do not do penance in their punishments, they are not freed from adversity, and so he says, "Their soul will die in torment," since they suffer diverse agonies even to death, "and their life" will fail, "among effeminate men," who do not have the power to free themselves from the hand of their oppressors.

He would deliver the humbled in his humiliation, and would uncover—in oppression—their ear.

Yea he might even have allured thee—out of the mouth of straitness, [into] a wide space—no narrowness there,—and, the food set down on thy table, should have been full of fatness.

But, with the plea of a lawless one, thou art full, Plea and sentence, will take fast hold.

Because there is wrath, [beware] lest he take thee away with a stroke, Then let not, a great ransom, mislead thee.

Let not then anger overcome thee, to oppress any one, neither let the multitude of places bow thee down. In most manuscripts we find 'gifts;' in a few, however, but more ancient, we find 'places.' But since the expression, Let not the multitude of gifts turn thee aside, needs no explanation, we have thought good that that expression should be rather expounded, which seems to be…

As though this had already happened, he warns him now to bear himself in this situation. Judges sometimes deviate from justice because of anger, and as to this he says, "Do not let anger master you so that you oppress someone," unjustly, when then "you will receive the cause and judgment." Judges also sometimes deviate from justice because they are greedy for graft, and he expr…

Will he value thy riches? Nay not precious ore, nor all the forces of strength.

Do not pant for the night, when peoples disappear from their place.

Beware, do not turn unto iniquity, For, this, thou hast chosen rather than affliction.

Lo, GOD, exalteth himself by his strength, Who like him doth teach?

And you certainly, he says, were tested so far in the furnace of correction. But God will indeed restore you and will bring you back to your former wealth and dignity.

Behold, God is lofty in His strength, and none is like Him among lawgivers. As if he said plainly, He, Who will appear humble in weakness, remains lofty in strength, Paul also witnessing this, who says, For though He was crucified through weakness, yet He liveth by the power of God. [2 Cor. 13, 4] Of Whom it is rightly subjoined, None is like Him among lawgivers.

After Eliud rejected the words of Job in which he had said he was just, he here rejects his words because he believed he had spoken against the justice of divine judgment. So he first proposes the sublimity of divine power when he says, "Behold God preeminent in his power," for he has a higher power than everything else.

Who enjoined on him his way? and who ever said, Thou hast wrought perversity?

Remember, that thou extol his work, of which men have sung;

Every son of earth, hath viewed it, Mortal man, looketh at it from afar.

Lo, GOD, is greater than we can know, The number of his years, even past finding out!

For he draweth up drops of water, They trickle as rain through his mist;

With which the clouds flow down, They drop on man in abundance.

But surely none can understand the burstings of the cloud, the crashing of his pavilion!

Lo! he hath spread out over it, his lightning, The bed of the sea, hath he covered.

For, by those things, he executeth judgment on peoples, He giveth food in abundance:

Upon both hands, he putteth a covering of lightning, and layeth command upon it against an assailant:

He hideth the light from the mighty. And ordereth it to return again. For those in truth are 'mighty,' who exalt themselves with lofty thoughts. Against whom it is said by Isaiah; Woe unto you, who are wise in your own eyes, and prudent in your own sight. [Is. 5, 21] Against whom also Paul says, Be not wise in your own conceit. [Rom.

The words, "He will cover the light with his hands" [mean] that when he wants to make the rain fall for the sake of earth, he condenses the air as if with his hands and covers the sun with clouds.

Eliud had spoken above (36:27-30) about the changes in the atmosphere: drought and rain, as a result of the covering of the clouds from which God produces lightning from his light. Now he treats in an extended manner about the light itself, which is sometimes hidden by the clouds and is sometimes seen, and the thunder which arises from the clouds.

His rolling thunder telleth concerning him,—The cattle, even, concerning him that is coming up.

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