3:1—37:24 This section covers the cycles of speeches between Job and his well meaning friends, including Elihu (chaps. 32–37).
3:1—14:22 The first cycle of speeches given by Job and his 3 friends begins. Job was the first to break the week-long silence with a lament (3:1–26).
3:1–10 Job began his first speech by cursing the day of his birth, which should have been a day of great rejoicing, and welcomed the day he would finally die. In short, Job says “I wish I’d never been born.” See 3; 6, 7; 9, 10; 12–14; 16, 17; 19; 21; 23, 24; 26–31; 40:3–5; 42:1–6 for Job’s speeches.
3:1 cursed the day of his birth. Job was in deep pain and despair. What God was allowing hurt desperately, but while Job did not curse God (cf. 2:8), he did curse his birth (vv. 10, 11). He wished he had never been conceived (v. 3) or born because the joys of his life were not worth all the pain. He felt it would have been better to have never lived than to suffer like that; better to have never had wealth than to lose it; better to have never had children than to have them all killed. He never wanted his birthday remembered, and wished it had been obliterated from the calendar (vv. 4–7).
3:8 who curse…Leviathan. Those who pronounce the most powerful curses, even to arousing the destructive sea monster (see note on 41:1; cf. Pss. 74:14; 104:26; Is. 27:1).
3:11–26 Job left the matter of never having been born (vv. 1–10) and moved to a desire to have been stillborn (vv. 11–19), then to a desire for the “light” of life to be extinguished in death (vv. 20–23). There is no hint that Job wanted to take his own life, for there was nothing stopping him. Job still trusted God for His sovereign hand in the matter of death, but he did consider the many ways in which death would be a perceived improvement to the present situation, because of the pain.
3:23 hedged in. Satan spoke of a hedge of protection and blessing (1:10), whereas Job spoke of this hedge as a prison of living death.
3:24 sighing…groanings. These destroyed any appetite he might have had.
3:25, 26 the thing I greatly feared. Not a particular thing but a generic classification of suffering. The very worst fear that anyone could have was coming to pass in Job’s life, and he is experiencing severe anxiety, fearing more.
Job 4
4:1—5:27 Eliphaz. Eliphaz’s first speech. See chaps. 15 and 22 for Eliphaz’s other speeches. He spoke profoundly and gently, but knew nothing of the scene in heaven that had produced the suffering of Job.
4:2–6 Job’s friend finally spoke after 7 days of silence and began kindly by acknowledging that Job was recognized for being a wise man. Unfortunately, with the opening of their mouths for the first speech, all the wisdom of their silence departed.
4:7 who ever perished being innocent? Eliphaz, recognizing Job’s “reverence” and “integrity” (v. 6), was likely encouraging Job at the outset by saying he wouldn’t die because he was innocent of any deadly iniquity, but must be guilty of some serious sin because he was reaping such anger from God. This was a moral universe and moral order was at work, he thought. He had oversimplified God’s pattern of retribution. This simple axiom, “the righteous will prosper and the wicked will suffer,” does not always hold up in human experience. It is true that plowing and sowing iniquity reaps judgment, so Eliphaz was partially right (cf. Gal. 6:7–9; 1 Pet. 3:12), but not everything we reap in life is the result of something we have sown (see notes on 2 Cor. 12:7–10). Eliphaz was replacing theology with simplistic logic. To say that wherever there is suffering, it is the result of sowing sin is wrong (cf. Ex. 4:11; John 9:1–3).
4:10, 11 Wanting to demonstrate that wicked men experience calamities in spite of their strength and resources, Eliphaz illustrated his point by the destruction that comes on lions in spite of their prowess. Five Heb. words were used here for lion, emphasizing the various characters of wicked people, all of whom can be broken and perish.
4:12–16 a word was secretly brought to me. Eliphaz spoke of a mysterious messenger in a vision, eerie fantasy, or a dream. He claimed to have had divine revelation to bolster his viewpoint.
4:17 Here is the conclusion of Eliphaz’s revelation—that Job suffered because he was not holy enough, not righteous enough.
4:17–21 This is the content of the message which is, in effect, that God judges sin and sinners among men (described in v. 19 as “houses of clay”) as He did among angels (v. 18; cf. Rev. 12:3, 4).
Job 5
5:1 holy ones. Angelic beings (cf. 4:18) are in view. Job was told that not even the angels could help him. He must recognize his mortality and sin if he would be healed.
5:2–6 Job was told not to be a fool or simpleton, but to recognize that sin is judged, wrath kills, envy slays, foolishness is cursed (vv. 2–5), and this wasn’t merely a physical matter (v. 6), but came from man’s sin. Sin is inevitable in man; so is trouble (v. 7).
Job 5:2
Job’s Living Death
1. Painful boils from head to toe (2:7, 13; 30:17)
2. Severe itching/irritation (2:7, 8)
3. Great grief (2:13)
4. Lost appetite (3:24; 6:6, 7)
5. Agonizing discomfort (3:24)
6. Insomnia (7:4)
7. Worm and dust infested flesh (7:5)
8. Continual oozing of boils (7:5)
9. Hallucinations (7:14)
10. Decaying skin (13:28)
11. Shriveled up (16:8; 17:7; 19:20)
12. Severe halitosis (19:17)
13. Teeth fell out (19:20)
14. Relentless pain (30:17)
15. Skin turned black (30:30)
16. Raging fever (30:30)
17. Dramatic weight loss (33:21)
5:7 sparks. Lit. “the sons of Resheph,” an expression which describes all sorts of fire-like movement (cf. Deut. 32:24; Ps. 78:48; Song 8:6).
5:8 Job’s solution was to go to God and repent, his friend thought.
5:9–16 The whole of Eliphaz’s argument is based on the moral perfection of God, so he extolled God’s greatness and goodness.
5:13 Paul used this line from Eliphaz in 1 Cor. 3:19 to prove the foolishness of man’s wisdom before God.
5:17 happy is the man whom God corrects. Eliphaz put a positive spin on his advice by telling Job that enviable or desirable is the situation of the one God cares enough to chasten. “If only Job admitted his sin, he could be happy again” was the advice.
5:18–27 The language of this section promising blessing for penitence was strongly reminiscent of Lev. 26, which elaborated the blessing of a faithful covenant relationship with God. If Job confessed, he would have prosperity, security, a family, and a rich life.
5:23 covenant…peace. Even the created order will be in harmony with the man whose relationship with God is corrected through God’s disciplinary process.
Job 6
6:1—7:21 Job’s response to Eliphaz was recorded. On top of his physical misery and his tempting wife, he had to respond to ignorance and insensitivity from his friend, by expressing his frustration.
6:2, 3 The heaviness of his burden caused the rashness of his words.
6:4 the arrows of the Almighty…terrors of God. Here are figures of speech picturing the trials as coming from God, indicating that Job believed these were God’s judgments.
6:5–7 These are all illustrations of the fact that Job complained because he had reason. Even animals expect palatable food.
6:8, 9 my request. Job’s request was that God would finish whatever process He began. Death was desirable for no other reason than it would be relief from the inevitable course of events (see chap. 3).
6:9 cut me off. This is a metaphor from a weaver, who cuts off the excess thread on the loom (cf. Is. 38:12).
6:10 the words of the Holy One. Job had not been avoiding the revelation of God that he had received. The commands of the Holy One were precious to him and he had lived by them. This was confusing to him, as he couldn’t find any sinful source for his suffering. He would rejoice in his pain if he knew it would soon lead to
death, but he couldn’t see any hope for death or deliverance in himself (vv. 11–13).
6:14 kindness…even though. Job rebuked his friends with sage words. Even if a man has forsaken God (which he hadn’t), should not his friends still show kindness to him? How can Eliphaz be so unkind as to continually indict him?
6:15–23 Job described his friends as being about as useful with their counsel as a dry river bed in summer. “You are no help,” he said (v. 21), “although all I asked for was a little sympathy, not some great gift or deliverance” (vv. 22, 23).
6:19 Tema…Sheba. Tema in the N, named for the son of Ishmael (Gen. 25:15; Is. 21:14), and Sheba in the S (Jer. 6:20) were part of the Arabian desert, where water was precious.
6:24–30 Teach me…Cause me to understand wherein I have erred. Job was not admitting to having sinned. Rather he said to his accusers, “If I’ve sinned, show me where.” The sufferer indicted his friends for their insensitivity, and while not claiming sinlessness, he was convinced there was no sin in his life that led directly to such suffering.
Job 7
7:1–21 After having directed his words at his friends in chap. 6, Job then directed them at God. Throughout this section he used words and arguments that sounded much like Solomon in Ecclesiastes, i.e., “labor, vanity, trouble, and breath.”
7:1–10 a time of hard service. He felt like a slave under tyranny of his master, longing for relief and reward (vv. 1, 2); he was sleepless (vv. 3, 4); he was loathsome because of worms and scabs, dried filth and new running sores (v. 5); he was like a weaver’s shuttle, tossed back and forth (v. 6); he was like a breath or cloud that comes and goes on its way to death (vv. 7–10). In this discourse, Job attempted to reconcile in his own mind what God was doing.
7:11 Therefore. On the basis of all he had said in vv. 1–10, he felt he had a right to express his complaint.
7:12 sea, or a sea serpent. The sea and the whale are two threatening forces that must be watched or curbed due to their destructive force. Job was not like that.
7:13, 14 Even when he slept, he had terrifying dreams so that he longed for death (vv. 15, 16).
Job’s intense physical suffering is mentioned throughout the book.
7:17, 18 Why is he so important, Job wonders, that God would spend all this attention on him? Why did God cause all this misery to one so insignificant as he?
7:19 till I swallow my saliva. This strange statement was an Arabic proverb, indicating a brief moment. Job was asking for a moment “to catch his breath,” or in the case of the proverb, “swallow his saliva.”
7:21 not pardon my transgression. Job conceded the argument of Eliphaz that he must have sinned, not because he was convinced, but because he seemed to find no other explanation (cf. 6:24).
Job 8
8:1–22 The second friendly accuser, Bildad, now offered his wisdom to Job. Bildad, also absolutely certain that Job had sinned and should repent, was ruthless in the charges he raised against God’s servant. See Job 18; 25 for Bildad’s other speeches.
8:2–7 Bildad accused Job of defending his innocence with a lot of hot air and reasoned that Job’s circumstances were God’s judgment on his sins and those of his family. Again, this is logical, based on the principle that God punishes sin, but it failed to account for the mystery of the heavenly debate between God and Satan (see chaps. 1, 2). He was sure something was wrong in Job’s relationship with God, thus his call for repentance, with the confidence that when Job repented he would be blessed (vv. 6, 7).
8:3 Almighty pervert justice. Bildad took Job’s claims for innocence and applied them to his simplistic notion of retribution. He concluded that Job was accusing God of injustice when God must be meting out justice to Job. Job tried to avoid outright accusations of this sort, but the evidence led Bildad to this conclusion because he had no knowledge of the heavenly facts.
8:7 In fact, this was Job’s outcome (cf. 42:10–17), not because Job repented of some specific sin, but because he humbled himself before the sovereign, inscrutable will of God.
8:8–10 Here Bildad appealed to past authorities, godly ancestors who taught the same principle—that where there is suffering, there must be sin. So he had history as a witness to his misjudgment.
8:11–19 He further supported his simple logic of cause and effect by illustrations from nature. Again he accused Job of sin, but surely he had forgotten God as well (v. 13).
8:20 God will not cast away the blameless. This comment contains a veiled offer of hope. Job could laugh again but he must take steps to become blameless. But Bildad, like Job, was unaware of the dialogue between the Sovereign Judge and the Accuser in the opening chapters of the book and unaware that God had already pronounced Job “blameless” twice to heavenly beings (1:8; 2:3), as had the writer (1:1). Cf. Pss. 1:6; 126:2; 132:18.
Job 9
9:1—10:22 Job, in a mood of deep despair, responded to Bildad’s accusations with arguments surrounding God’s nature, also raised by Bildad, and started to rationalize something about which he would later admit he knew dangerously little. Job concluded that God is holy, wise, and strong (vv. 4–10); but he wondered if He is fair (v. 22) and why He wouldn’t make Himself known to him. Before the mighty God, Job felt only despair. If God is not fair, all is hopeless, he thought.
9:3 contend with Him. Job referred to disputing one’s innocence or guilt before God as a useless endeavor. Psalm 130:3 illustrates the point, “If You…should mark iniquities (keep records of sin),…who could stand (innocently in judgment)?”
9:6 pillars tremble. In the figurative language of the day, this phrase described the supporting power that secured the position of the earth in the universe.
9:9 Bear, Orion…Pleiades. Three stellar constellations (cf. Job 38:31, 32). the chambers of the south. These were other constellations in the southern hemisphere, unseen by those who could see and name the 3 in the northern skies.
9:13 the proud. Lit. “Rahab.” This is symbolic of the ancient mythological sea monster (cf. 3:8; 7:12). God smiting the proud was a poetic way of saying that if the mythical monster of the sea (a metaphor for powerful, evil, chaotic forces) could not stand before God’s anger, how could Job hope to? In a battle in God’s court, he would lose. God is too strong (vv. 14–19).
9:15, 20 though I were righteous. He means here, not sinless, but having spiritual integrity, i.e., a pure heart to love, serve, and obey God. He was affirming again that his suffering was not due to sins he was not willing to confess. Even at that, God found something to condemn him for, he felt, making it hopeless, then, to contend with God.
9:24 covers the faces of its judges. Job here indicted God for the inequities of His world. He accused God of treating all the same way, unfairly (vv. 21–23), and of even covering the eyes of earthly judges so that they would not see injustice. These are the charges that bring about God’s rebuke of Job (chaps. 38–41) and for which he eventually repented (42:1–6).
9:25, 26 Couriers running with messages, ships cutting swiftly, and eagles swooping rapidly convey the blur of painful, meaningless days of despair that move by.
9:27, 28 Job said if he promised to change to a happy mood, he would break that promise and God would add that to His list of accusations.
9:29, 30 “God seems to have found me guilty,” Job concluded, “so why struggle? Even if I make every effort to clean every aspect of my life,You will still punish me.” This was deep despair and hopelessness.
9:32 that we should go to court together. Job acknowledged that, as a mere man, he had no right to call on God to declare his innocence or to contend with God over his innocence. Job was not arguing that he was sinless, but he didn’t believe he had sinned to the extent that he deserved his severe suffering. Job held on to the same simplistic system of retribution as that of his accusers, which said that suffering was always caused by sin. And he knew he was not sinless, but he couldn’t identify any unconfessed or unrepented sins. “Where is mercy?” he wondered.
9:33–35
any mediator between us. A court official who sees both sides clearly, as well as the source of disagreement, so as to bring resolution was not found. Where was an advocate, an arbitrator, an umpire, or a referee? Was there no one to remove God’s rod and call for justice?
Job 10
10:2 condemn me. Not the condemnation of Job’s soul, but Job’s physical suffering as a punishment. He held nothing back in his misery (v. 1), but asked God to show him why all this had happened.
10:3 the work of Your hands. This is a biblical expression identifying what someone produces, in this case man, as created by God (cf. 14:15; Ps. 102:25; Heb. 1:10).
10:4–7 see as man sees. Because he believed he was innocent, Job facetiously, somewhat sarcastically, asked if God was as limited in His ability to discern Job’s spiritual condition as were Job’s friends. He concluded by affirming that God did know he was innocent and that there was no higher court of appeal (v. 7).
10:8–12 Again he returned to the question “Why was I born?” The answer that God had created him is given in magnificent language, indicating that life begins at conception.
10:13–16 Job wondered if God had planned in His divine purpose not to be merciful to him.
10:17 renew Your witnesses. Job said God seemed to be sending people to accuse him. With each witness came another wave of condemnation and increased suffering.
10:18 brought me out of the womb. Job returned to the question of why God allowed him to be born. This time he was not just lamenting the day of his birth, but he was asking God for the reason He allowed it to occur.
10:20–22 “Since I was destined to these ills from my birth, at least give me a little breathing room during the brief days left to me, before I die,” he said. Death was gloomily described as “darkness.”
Job 11
11:1–20 Zophar the Naamathite now stepped in to interrogate Job. He was quite close to his friends and chose to pound Job with the same law of retaliation. Job must repent, he said, not understanding the reality. He was indignant at Job’s protests of innocence. See Job 20 for Zophar’s other speech.
The MacArthur Study Bible, NKJV Page 248
