NOTES for Job 37:1-24

¹At this also my heart trembleth, and is moved out of his place.

²Hear attentively the noise of his voice, and the sound that goeth out of his mouth.

³He directeth it under the whole heaven, and his lightning unto the ends of the earth.

⁴After it a voice roareth: he thundereth with the voice of his excellency; and he will not stay them when his voice is heard.

⁵God thundereth marvellously with his voice; great things doeth he, which we cannot comprehend.

⁶For he saith to the snow, Be thou on the earth; likewise to the small rain, and to the great rain of his strength.

⁷He sealeth up the hand of every man; that all men may know his work.

⁸Then the beasts go into dens, and remain in their places.

⁹Out of the south cometh the whirlwind: and cold out of the north.

¹⁰By the breath of God frost is given: and the breadth of the waters is straitened.

¹¹Also by watering he wearieth the thick cloud: he scattereth his bright cloud:

¹²And it is turned round about by his counsels: that they may do whatsoever he commandeth them upon the face of the world in the earth.

¹³He causeth it to come, whether for correction, or for his land, or for mercy.

¹⁴Hearken unto this, O Job: stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God.

¹⁵Dost thou know when God disposed them, and caused the light of his cloud to shine?

¹⁶Dost thou know the balancings of the clouds, the wondrous works of him which is perfect in knowledge?

¹⁷How thy garments are warm, when he quieteth the earth by the south wind?

¹⁸Hast thou with him spread out the sky, which is strong, and as a molten looking glass?

¹⁹Teach us what we shall say unto him; for we cannot order our speech by reason of darkness.

²⁰Shall it be told him that I speak? if a man speak, surely he shall be swallowed up.

²¹And now men see not the bright light which is in the clouds: but the wind passeth, and cleanseth them.

²²Fair weather cometh out of the north: with God is terrible majesty.

²³Touching the Almighty, we cannot find him out: he is excellent in power, and in judgment, and in plenty of justice: he will not afflict.

²⁴Men do therefore fear him: he respecteth not any that are wise of heart.

At the end of his speech, Elihu delivers a veritable panegyric to God, worthy of becoming a hymn if set to music. This is not merely an actor's declamation. What we have here is the vivid speech of a charismatic preacher, which, judging by the character of his speech, is what Elihu was. He concludes his address to Job by bearing witness to the greatness and might of God, who created the world and governs it. In Elihu's eyes, this greatness and might justify anything that may happen to a person. A human being is too small for any of his troubles or misfortunes to disturb the majestic harmony of creation.

The problems of a grain of sand or a drop of water are nothing compared with the cosmos. And it is precisely on a cosmic scale that both God's power and God's wisdom are manifested. What is a human being, then, to question His power and His wisdom against the backdrop of the universe's grandeur merely because of his own sufferings? Such a view may seem like the worst example of theodicy. But it is important to remember that Elihu is by no means speaking here as a theoretical theologian.

He speaks as a charismatic carried away by the action of the very power of God whose praises he sings. And this explains a great deal. A person caught up in ecstasy may indeed be inclined to forget both himself and others. This is especially true when the source of that ecstasy is a power external to the person, even God's power, rather than his own awareness of God's presence and God's will. Enveloped by this external power, a person quite genuinely sees and notices no problems, either his own or anyone else's.

And if he does notice them, he remains convinced that they are all merely an illusion compared with the power revealed to him. A person has no reason to complain: let him come into contact with that same power, that same breath of God, and everything will fall into place. In the language of charismatics, this is what is usually called “knowing God”. From Elihu's perspective, Job does not truly know God, hence his complaints and demands for some meeting, some trial. Elihu is certain that Job is behaving inappropriately, and hopes that his impassioned speech, bearing witness to God's power, a power he himself has come to know, will help Job understand how things stand and reveal the truth to him.

Other notes

For Job 37:1-24