Jobchapter 35
16 verses · KJVJob book hub →
Key verse
But none saith, Where is God my maker, who giveth songs in the night;
It stands in scene B of the chapter, verses 9 to 16.
The chapter
Chapter summary
Elihu's third turn answers the claim that righteousness gains nothing. Thinkest thou this to be right, that thou sayest, My righteousness is more than God's? Look unto the heavens, and behold the clouds which are higher than thou: 'if thou hast sinned, what doest thou against him?… If thou be righteous, what givest thou him?' (35:6-7). Thy wickedness may hurt a man as thou art. Men cry out under oppression and are not answered, he says, because they cry as animals cry: 'none saith, Where is God my Maker, who giveth songs in the night' (35:10). God will not hear an empty cry.
Context
Poetry · Unknown · Job overview
Where the chapter sits
Job 35 falls in Elihu: a younger voice (chapters 32–37). Four speeches. A late intervention, structurally unresolved: neither rebuked nor endorsed; Elihu's argument is theologically closer to YHWH's but stops short of the theophanic mode.
Before it: Job's closing defense, chapters 29–31. After it: YHWH speaks from the whirlwind, chapters 38–41.
The whole shape of Job→The world behind this chapter
Job 35The history
Elihu takes up a question Job had raised in chapter 21 and turns it around: what advantage is it to you, and what profit do I have, if I am cleansed from my sin? His answer is that a man's righteousness neither adds to God nor takes from him. Look to the heavens and see, and behold the clouds which are higher than thou, if you sin, what do you accomplish against him? Your wickedness hurts a man like yourself, and your righteousness may profit a son of man.
The rest of the history, and what it meant to them
That was a genuine correction in a world where sacrifice was widely understood as feeding the gods and keeping them in a good mood. Mesopotamian religion assumed the gods depended on human offerings. Elihu says God has no such need, so neither obedience nor sin changes his position.
His explanation for unanswered prayer follows. By reason of many oppressions men cry out, and they cry out because of the arm of the mighty, but none says, 'Where is God my maker, who giveth songs in the night, who teacheth us more than the beasts of the earth and maketh us wiser than the fowls of heaven?' The complaint goes up, but it is not addressed to anyone. Elihu is distinguishing a howl of pain from a prayer.
'Songs in the night' is a small, memorable phrase. Nights were long, dark, and often frightening; a song in the night was what a person had when nothing else could be done, and Elihu credits God with supplying it.
What it meant to them
The chapter makes a point Israel needed and would repeat: God does not need us, so his attention to us is not a transaction. Obedience is not a payment and worship is not maintenance.
Where Elihu goes wrong is in applying it to Job. Job's cries were addressed to God, by name, over and over. The young man has the doctrine right and the man in front of him wrong, which is the friends' error in a newer coat.
Sources cited
- John H. Walton, Victor H. Matthews & Mark W. Chavalas, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament
- John E. Hartley, The Book of Job
A. Elihu: What Doth Thy Righteousness Give Him?
1. (vv. 1-4)
a.Elihu spake moreover, and said: Elihu opens his third speech by restating a charge against Job, my righteousness is more than God's, and promises an answer for Job's companions as well as for Job himself. Henry notes that Elihu is summarizing rather than quoting Job's exact words, tightening what Job argued in chapters 9 and 10 into a single hard claim to knock down. Gill reads verse 3 as Job's question turned into a complaint, what profit shall I have if I be cleansed from my sin, which Elihu treats as the real center of Job's case.
Job 35:1, 3 voicesWhat preachers and commentators have said about this verse, in their own words.
Job 35:1
“Eliu therefore spake these words again. Every one, who says many things, is anxious to be always beginning, in his speech, in order, by this very beginning, to keep his hearers in suspense, so that they may be the more attentively silent, the more they expect, as it were, to hear some new thing. But Eliu, finishing one subject, begins another without delay, in order that his loquacity may be continued without limit, by beginnings being constantly joined on.”
Gregory the Dialogist· written before 604· Morals on the Book of Job, Book XXVIpatristic
Job 35:1
“Elihu spake moreover, and said. Elihu very probably paused awhile, and waited to observe whether any of the company would rise up, and either contradict and refute what he had said, or declare their assent unto it and approbation of it; or rather to see whether Job would make any reply or not; but perceiving no inclination in him to it, he proceeded to take notice of some other undue expressions of Job, and refute them; one of which is observed in Job 35:2, and the proof of it given in Job 35:3.”
Job 35:1
“Elihu spake - Hebrew, ויען vaya‛an “And he answered”; the word “answer” being used, as it is often in the Scriptures, to denote the commencement of a discourse. We may suppose that Elihu had paused at the close of his second discourse, possibly with a view to see whether there was any disposition to reply.”
Job 35:2, 3 voices
Job 35:2
“Doth thy thought seem right to thee, that thou saidst, I am more righteous than God. Every one observes, who reads the text of the history, that blessed Job did not say that he was more righteous than God. But he says, Let Him put forth equity against me, and my judgment shall come to victory. [Job 23, 7. Vulg.] Examining namely his life, and not knowing the reasons of his smiting, as has been often observed, he believed that he was scourged for the sake of washing away his sins, and not of increasing his merits.”
Gregory the Dialogist· written before 604· Morals on the Book of Job, Book XXVIpatristic
Job 35:2
“My righteousness is more than God’s? - This would indeed be a blasphemous saying; but Job never said so, neither directly nor constructively: it would be much better to translate the words צדקי מאל tsidki meel, I am righteous Before God. And Job’s meaning most certainly was, “Whatever I am in your sight, I know that in the sight of God I am a righteous man;” and he had a right to assume this character, because God himself had given it to him.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Job 35:2
“25:4: "I am righteous (literally, my righteousness is) before God." The English Version, however, agrees with Job 9:17; Job 4:17 is susceptible of either rendering. Elihu means Job said so, not in so many words, but virtually.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Job 35:3, 3 voices
Job 35:3
“For thou saidst, that which is right doth not please thee, or what will it profit thee, if I shall have sinned. If the whole course of the book is attended to, blessed Job is proved to have said none of these things. But haughty men, as we have also said before, are wont to have this peculiarity, that while they go on in violent invective, they also speak falsely in their inveighing, and that, when they cannot justly blame the things which exist, they reprehend, in their falsehood, those which do not exist.”
Gregory the Dialogist· written before 604· Morals on the Book of Job, Book XXVIpatristic
Job 35:3
“For thou saidst - Another sentiment of a similar kind which Elihu proposes to examine. He had already adverted to this sentiment of Job in Job 34:9, and examined it at some length, and had shown in reply to it that God could not be unjust, and that there was great impropriety when man presumed to arraign the justice of the Most High. He now adverts to it again in order to show that God could not be benefited or injured by the conduct of man, and that he was, therefore, under no inducement to treat him otherwise than impartially.”
Job 35:3
“Rather, explanatory of "this" in Job 35:2, "That thou sayest (to thyself, as if a distinct person) What advantage is it (thy integrity) to thee? What profit have I (by integrity) more than (I should have) by my sin?" that is, more than if I had sinned (Job 34:9).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Job 35:4, 1 voice
Job 35:4
“I will therefore answer thy words, and thy friends with thee. In his former saying, he mentioned culpable words, as if those of blessed Job, and derived from them matter for his remarks. But, in the words which follow, he examines, with great acuteness, that, which he craftily invented as matter to speak upon. And the sentiments which follow are powerful, but are not applicable to the character of blessed Job; and the shafts of this reproof strike him the less, the more unjustly they are launched against him.”
Gregory the Dialogist· written before 604· Morals on the Book of Job, Book XXVIpatristic
2. (vv. 5-8)
a.Look unto the heavens: Elihu points Job to the heavens and clouds higher than himself, then asks the wager's own question from the other side: if thou sinnest, what doest thou against him, and if thou be righteous, what givest thou him. Satan's charge at 1:9 asked whether Job's piety was paid; Elihu's version at 35:7 asks whether God is the one being paid, and both point the same way, that a man's righteousness cannot obligate the Most High. Delitzsch reads verse 8 as the true weight of the answer, thy wickedness may hurt a man as thou art, and thy righteousness may profit the son of man: sin and virtue land on neighbors, not on God's own account.
Job 35:5, 2 voices
Job 35:5
“Look unto the heavens, and see - This is the commencement of the reply which Elihu makes to the sentiment which he had understood Job to advance, and which Eliphaz had proposed formerly to examine. The general object of the reply is, to show that God is so great that he cannot be affected with human conduct, and that he has no interest in treating people otherwise than according to character. He is so exalted that their conduct cannot reach and affect his happiness.”
Job 35:5
“Elihu like Eliphaz (Job 22:2, 3, 12) shows that God is too exalted in nature to be susceptible of benefit or hurt from the righteousness or sin of men respectively; it is themselves that they benefit by righteousness, or hurt by sin. behold the clouds, which are higher than thou--spoken with irony.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Job 35:6, 3 voices
Job 35:6
“If you look at the heavens and contemplate the clouds, you will understand that you sinned. And what do you need to do? It is necessary that you approach the high priest and implore him to offer a victim for you. "If any one does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the expiation of our sins." If you will do this, you will dissolve your numerous sins.”
Origen of Alexandria· written before 253· FRAGMENTS ON JOB 24.15-16patristic
Job 35:6
“If thou sinnest, what dost thou against him?.... Sin is expressly said to be against God, Psa 51:4; it is contrary to his nature, as any opposites can be to each other: it is against his law, a breach and violation of it; and so against his supreme legislative power and authority, and a contempt of it; it is what he is angry with and is provoked by, being what he hates and abhors, and is abominable in his sight.”
Job 35:6
“It speaks much for the greatness and glory of God that it is not in the power of his worst enemies to do him any real prejudice. Sin is said to be against God because so the sinner intends it and so God takes it, and it is an injury to his honour; yet it cannot do any thing against him.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Job 35:7, 2 voices
Job 35:7
“If thou be righteous, what givest thou him?.... All righteousness is of God that any creatures have.”
Job 35:7
“Our religion brings no accession at all to his felicity. He is so far from being beholden to us that we are beholden to him for making us righteous and accepting our righteousness; and therefore we can demand nothing from him, nor have any reason to complain if we have not what we expect, but to be thankful that we have better than we deserve.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Job 35:8, 3 voices
Job 35:8
“Thine iniquity will hurt a man, who is like thee, and thy righteousness will profit the son of man. The iniquity of man hurts him, whom it pollutes by perversion. And, again, our righteousness profits him, whom it converts from his wickedness. For those things cannot either hurt, or profit, which cannot either corrupt from what is good, or change from what is evil. The powers above, then, cannot be either hurt, or profiled, because they have already received to be free from change. But they who are involved in earthly desires, cannot consider these things.”
Gregory the Dialogist· written before 604· Morals on the Book of Job, Book XXVIpatristic
Job 35:8
“Thy wickedness may hurt - It is better to translate this literally: To a man like thyself is thy wickedness: And to the son of man, thy righteousness: That is: - Thou mayest injure thyself and others by thy wickedness, And thou mayest benefit both by thy righteousness; But God thou canst neither hurt nor profit.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Job 35:8
“A wicked man may wound, or rob, or slander his neighbour, or may draw him into sin and so prejudice his soul. Thy righteousness, thy justice, thy charity, thy wisdom, thy piety, may perhaps profit the son of man. Our goodness extends to the saints that are in the earth, Ps. xvi.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
B. Elihu: None Saith, Where Is God, Who Giveth Songs in the Night?
1. (vv. 9-11)
a.the multitude of oppressions they make the oppressed to cry: Elihu names a real evil, oppressed men crying out under the weight of the mighty, and Barnes reads this as the honest half of his argument, the world plainly holds unanswered cries. Verse 10 is the chapter's keeper line, but none saith, Where is God my maker, who giveth songs in the night, and Spurgeon preached the sermon Songs in the Night directly from this verse, reading it as the praise God gives in the darkest hour rather than after it lifts. Gill takes the songs as mercies given even while the trouble continues, night itself made to sing, which is Elihu's answer to the cry of verse 9 before he gives it.
Job 35:9, 2 voices
Job 35:9
“By reason of the multitude of oppressions they make the oppressed to cry - It is not quite easy to see the connection which this verse has with what goes before, or its bearing on the argument of Elihu. It seems however, to refer to the “oppressed in general,” and to the fact, to which Job had himself adverted Job 24:12, that people are borne down by oppression and that God does not interpose to save them.”
Job 35:9
“Is there a righteous God, and can it be that he should so slowly hear, so slowly see? How Elihu solves the difficulty. If the cries of the oppressed be not heard, the fault is not in God; he is ready to hear and help them.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Job 35:10, 4 voices
Job 35:10
“But none saith, where is God my Maker?.... Or "Makers" (y), as in Psa 149:2; for there are more concerned in the formation of man, Gen 1:26; even the Father, Son, and Spirit, who are the one God that has made all men, Mal 2:”
Job 35:10
“Where is God my Maker - They have no just apprehension of his being; they do not consider themselves his creatures, or that he who created them still preserves them, and would make them happy if they would pray unto him. Who giveth songs in the night - This is variously translated. “Before whom the high angels give praise in the night.” - Chaldee. “Who sets the night-watches.” - Septuagint. “Gives meditations in the night.” - Syriac and Arabic. “And that shyneth upon us that we might prayse him in the night.” - Coverdale.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Job 35:10
“ELIHU was a wise man, exceedingly wise, though not as wise as the All-Wise Jehovah, who sees light in the clouds and finds order in confusion. Hence Elihu, being much puzzled at beholding Job so afflicted, cast about him to find the cause of it and he very wisely hit upon one of the most likely reasons, although it did not happen to be the right one in Job's case.”
Charles Spurgeon· written before 1892· The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2558: “Songs in the Night” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition)Particular Baptist
Job 35:10
“But the reason is that the innocent sufferers often do not humbly seek God for succor; so to their "pride" is to be laid the blame of their ruin; also because (Job 35:13-16) they, as Job, instead of waiting God's time in pious trust, are prone to despair of His justice, when it is not immediately visible (Job 33:19-26).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Job 35:11, 3 voices
Job 35:11
“Who teacheth us more than the beasts of the earth?.... Who are taught and know much, especially some of them; but not so much as man, see Isa 1:3; and maketh us wiser than the fowls of heaven? who are wise to provide food and nests for themselves and their young; and such as are birds of passage, as the turtledove, the crane, the stork, and the swallow, to know the time of their coming and returning, see Jer 8:”
Job 35:11
“Who teacheth us more than the beasts of the earth - Who is able to teach us mere than the irrational creation; that is, in regard to the nature and design of affliction. They suffer without knowing why. They are subjected to toil and hardships; endure pain, and die, without any knowledge why all this occurs, and without any rational view of the government and plans of God. It is not, or need not be so, says Elihu, when man suffers. He is intelligent. He can understand why he is afflicted.”
Job 35:11
“Man's spirit, which distinguishes him from the brute, is the strongest proof of God's beneficence; by the use of it we may understand that God is the Almighty helper of all sufferers who humbly seek Him; and that they err who do not so seek Him. fowls--(see on Job 28:21).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
2. (vv. 12-13)
a.There they cry, but none giveth answer: Elihu diagnoses the silence he has just described, there they cry, but none giveth answer, because of the pride of evil men, and God will not hear vanity. Henry notes that Elihu is not denying real oppression but explaining why a particular cry goes unheard, pride corrupting the very prayer that ought to reach heaven. Wesley reads verse 13 as Elihu's general rule rather than Job's case specifically, though the sentence sits close enough to Job's own unanswered questions that the friends and the reader alike are meant to feel the edge.
Job 35:12, 3 voices
Job 35:12
“There they will cry, and He will not hear, because of the pride of evil men. There; namely, in tribulation: as it is written on the other hand of joy, The children of thy servants shall inhabit there. [Ps. 102, 28] But it seems doubtful whether he says, Because of the pride of evil men He will not hear, or, they will cry because of the pride of evil men. But it can be better understood, if they are rather said not to be heard, than to cry out, because of the pride of evil men.”
Gregory the Dialogist· written before 604· Morals on the Book of Job, Book XXVIpatristic
Job 35:12
“There they cry - They bewail their calamities, but sorrow not for the cause of them; they cry against their oppressors, but they call not upon God. Because of the pride of evil men - Or מפני mippeney, from the face, presence, or influence, of the pride of wicked men. They cry for deliverance from the pride of wicked men; but they are not heard, because they cry not to God.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Job 35:12
“It is because of the pride of evil men; they are evil men; they regard iniquity in their hearts, and therefore God will not hear their prayers, Ps. lxvi. God hears not such sinners. They have, it may be, brought themselves into trouble by their own wickedness; they are the devil's poor; and then who can pity them?”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Job 35:13, 2 voices
Job 35:13
“For God will not hear without reason, and the Almighty will behold the causes of men one by one. We must observe that two points are stated: both that He does not hear without reason him, who cries to Him, and yet regards his sufferings; and pretends not to hear his cry, and still is not ignorant what each one suffers. Let no one, then, who is not speedily heard, believe that he is not cared for by God's providence.”
Gregory the Dialogist· written before 604· Morals on the Book of Job, Book XXVIpatristic
Job 35:13
“Surely God will not hear vanity - A vain, hollow, heartless petition. The object of Elihu here is to account for the reason why sufferers are not relieved - having his eye, doubtless, on the case of Job as one of the most remarkable of the kind. The solution which he here gives of the difficulty is, that it is not consistent for God to hear a prayer where there is no sincerity.”
3. (vv. 14-16)
a.Although thou sayest thou shalt not see him: Elihu turns from the general rule to Job directly, although thou sayest thou shalt not see him, yet judgment is before him, therefore trust thou in him, urging patience where Job has demanded an audience. Clarke reads verse 15 as Elihu accusing Job of concluding too quickly that God's slowness to punish evil means God does not notice it. The speech closes on a hard verdict, Job openeth his mouth in vain, he multiplieth words without knowledge, which JFB reads as Elihu's own version of the charge the friends have already made and which God will judge differently at 42:7.
Job 35:14, 4 voices
Job 35:14
“Although thou sayest thou shall not see him,.... Which is another expression of Job's taken notice of by Elihu, and to which he makes answer; he seems to refer to Job 23:3. God is indeed invisible in his nature and essence, but is to be seen in his works of creation and providence; which Job was acquainted with, and in which he had seen somewhat of the glory of God, and of his divine perfections in them. See Job 9:”
Job 35:14
“Thou sayest thou shalt not see Him - Several MSS. have “Thou shalt not see me,” and the Septuagint, and one other, “Thou shalt not see us,” but without the points, תשורנו, the original may be read see Him or see Us, the third person singular, or the first person plural. Yet judgment is before him - Rest assured that God has not forgotten either to punish or to save; therefore trust in him; choose to be a monument of his mercy, rather than of his justice.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Job 35:14
“But the Hebrew favors MAURER, "How much less (will God . . . regard, Job 35:13), since thou sayest, that He does not regard thee." So in Job 4:19. Thus Elihu alludes to Job's words (Job 19:7; 30:20). judgment--that is, thy cause, thy right; as in Ps 9:16;”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Job 35:14
“But it was not fair to charge this upon Job, which he had neither directly nor indirectly affirmed. Clouds, &c. - They are far above us, and God is far above them. How much then is he out of the reach either of our sins or our services?”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Job 35:15, 4 voices
Job 35:15
“But now, because it is not so - This verse, as it stands in our authorized translation, conveys no intelligible idea. It is evident that the translators meant to give a literal version of the Hebrew, but without understanding its sense. An examination of the principal words and phrases may enable us to ascertain the idea which was in the mind of Elihu when it was uttered.”
Job 35:15
MAURER translates: "Because His anger hath not visited (hath not immediately punished Job for his impious complaints), nor has He taken strict (great) cognizance of his folly (sinful speeches); therefore," &c. For "folly," UMBREIT translates with the Rabbins, "multitude." GESENIUS reads with the Septuagint and Vulgate needlessly, "transgression."
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Job 35:15
“Because - Because Job doth not acknowledge God's justice and his own sins. Anger - Hath laid grievous afflictions upon him. He - Job is not sensible of it, so as to be humbled under God's hand.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Job 35:15
“The foolishness of man perverts his way, and then his heart frets against the Lord, Prov. xix. Yet Elihu thinks that Job, being in great extremity, did not know and consider this as he should, that it was his own fault that he was not yet delivered.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Job 35:16, 3 voices
Job 35:16
“Therefore doth Job open his mouth in vain, he multiplieth words without knowledge. By introducing these words, he doubtless asserts, that blessed Job both knew nothing, and had said much; and, though he introduces his own opinions loquaciously, he accuses him of the fault of loquacity.”
Gregory the Dialogist· written before 604· Morals on the Book of Job, Book XXVIpatristic
Job 35:16
“Therefore doth Job open his mouth in vain - God will execute vengeance when it may best serve the ends of his justice, providence, and mercy. The delay of judgment is not proof that it shall not be executed; nor is the deferring of mercy any proof that God has forgotten to be gracious. He multiplieth words without knowledge - However this may apply to Job, it most certainly applies very strongly and generally to the words, not only of Job’s three friends, but to those also of Elihu himself. The contest is frequently a strife of words.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Job 35:16
“He did not, as his other friends, condemn him for a hypocrite, but charged him only with Moses's sin, speaking unadvisedly with his lips when his spirit was provoked. When at any time we do so (and who is there that offends not in word?) it is a mercy to be told of it, and we must take it patiently and kindly as Job did, not repeating, but recanting, what we have said amiss.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
The text of this chapter
This page carries no textual note on Job 35. Where this site has examined a place the manuscripts differ, the examination is in the manuscripts room. Every place this site examines →
This page draws on 11 works. Open for the list.
This page draws on Adam Clarke; Albert Barnes; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2558: “Songs in the Night” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Book of Job; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XXVI; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871); Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill; John Wesley; Matthew Henry and Origen of Alexandria, FRAGMENTS ON JOB 24.15-16.
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