Job 36:10
in Job 36He opens their ears to correction and commands that they turn from iniquity.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
He openeth also their ear to instruction, And commandeth that they return from iniquity.
KJV
He openeth also their ear to discipline, and commandeth that they return from iniquity.
⋯
This verse in Job 36
Commentary
9 notes on this verseHe will open also their ear, to correct them, and will speak to them that they return from iniquity. To 'open the ear from iniquity,' is to lay open the understanding of knowledge. But a man is reproved, and his ear opened, when he feels within him a desire after eternal goods, and acknowledges the sins which he has outwardly committed. But temporal punishment can also be understood by the chains and cords of poverty.
This site's exposition
God is mighty, but He despises no one
on Job 36:5-12
After “He opens their ears to correction” the obedient “end their days in prosperity”. Barnes calls this a chastening theory, correction meant to be heard, set against the friends' retribution. Delitzsch notes one pattern covering the righteous of verse 7 and men “bound with chains” in verse 8.
This site's exposition
He opens their ears to correction
Albert Barnes points back to Job 33:16 and reads correction as teaching that opens the ears. John Gill hears correction reproving sin and commanding the turn from iniquity. Matthew Henry calls that turn the errand of affliction.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
Not only does he force them to recognize their past sins, but he also shows them that they are punished for these sins, and so he says, "He will also open their ears," that is, he will make them understand that God speaks to them …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
This is the errand on which the affliction is sent; it is a command to return from iniquity, to have no more to do with sin, to turn from it with an aversion to it and a resolution never to return to it any more, Hos. xiv.
He openeth also their ear to discipline,.... Or "to correction" (o); to the rod of correction; to hear the voice of it and him that has appointed it; its reproving voice for sin, its directing voice to duty, and its commanding voice to return from iniquity, as in the next clause.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
If they be afflicted, it is no proof that they are hypocrites, as the friends maintain, or that God disregards them, and is indifferent whether men are good or bad, as Job asserts: God is thereby "disciplining them," and "showing them their sins," and if they bow in a right spirit under God's visiting hand, the greatest blessings ensue.
He openeth also their ear - He gives them to understand the reason why they are thus corrected, and commands them to return from those iniquities which have induced him to visit them with afflictions and distresses.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
He openeth also their ear to discipline - To teaching; or he makes them willing to learn the lessons which their afflictions are designed to teach; coral). See the notes at Job 33:16.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
and He says that with sufferings, they will repent of iniquity.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
7 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּ֣גֶל | vaiyigel | and he uncovered | H1540 → | 186 times |
| אָ֭זְנָם | ʾazenom | ear their | H241 → | 187 times |
| לַמּוּסָ֑ר | lamusar | for <the> correction | H4148 → | 50 times |
| וַ֝יֹּ֗אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| יְשֻׁב֥וּן | yeshuvun | they will turn away ! | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| מֵאָֽוֶן׃ | meaven | from wickedness | H205 → | 77 times |
וַיִּ֣גֶלand he uncovered
vaiyigelH1540 →186 times
אָ֭זְנָםear their
ʾazenomH241 →187 times
לַמּוּסָ֑רfor <the> correction
lamusarH4148 →50 times
וַ֝יֹּ֗אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
כִּֽי־that
ki-H3588 →4482 times
יְשֻׁב֥וּןthey will turn away !
yeshuvunH7725 →1056 times
מֵאָֽוֶן׃from wickedness
meavenH205 →77 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Matthew 3:8Produce fruit, then, in keeping with repentance.
it leads to
- Luke 3:8
Produce fruit, then, in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up…
- Acts 26:20
First to those in Damascus and Jerusalem, then to everyone in the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I declared that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds worthy of…
- 2 Peter 1:4–8
Through these He has given us His precious and magnificent promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, now that you have escaped the corruption in the world caused…
- Galatians 5:22–23
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
- Philippians 1:11
filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
- Luke 3:8
Through
Isaiah 50:5The Lord GOD has opened My ears, and I have not been rebellious, nor have I turned back.
it leads to
- John 14:31
But I do exactly what the Father has commanded Me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Get up! Let us go on from here.
- Hebrews 5:8
Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from what He suffered.
- Isaiah 35:5
Then the eyes of the blind will be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped.
- John 14:31
About Job
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Job; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); 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; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.