Job 36:15
in Job 36God rescues the afflicted by their affliction and opens their ears in oppression.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
He delivereth the afflicted by their affliction, And openeth their ear in oppression.
KJV
He delivereth the poor in his affliction, and openeth their ears in oppression.
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This verse in Job 36
Commentary
9 notes on this verseHe will deliver the poor from his straitness. The poor is delivered from his straitness, when any humble person is set free from this affliction of his pilgrimage. For he is here oppressed with even continual tribulations, in order that he may be excited to seek for the joy of real consolation. Whence it follows also, And will open his ear in tribulation. To open the ear in tribulation, is to open the hearing of the heart, by the affliction of blows.
This site's exposition
The godless in heart harbor resentment
on Job 36:13-21
Elihu warns Job directly that he is “laden with the judgment due the wicked”, and that “judgment and justice have seized you”. Wesley takes “Do not long for the night” in verse 20 as a warning against wishing for death, the wish Job voiced in chapter 3.
This site's exposition
God rescues the afflicted by their affliction
Albert Barnes prefers the afflicted to the poor, the usual sense of the Hebrew. Adam Clarke notes that the verb for opens could mean God makes them sing in oppression, like the three Hebrews in the furnace. Affliction becomes the means of rescue.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
Since he had said that God helped the powerful in tribulation, he does not want to seem to say that God is a respecter of persons and so he shows that he confers the same benefit also on the poor. He expresses this saying, "He …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
He delivereth the poor in his affliction,....
The poor in spirit, those that are of a broken and contrite heart, he looks upon with tenderness, and, when they are in affliction, is ready to help them.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
He delivereth the poor in his affliction - Margin, “or afflicted.” This accords better with the usual meaning of the Hebrew word (עני ‛ânı̂y) and with the connection. The inquiry was not particularly respecting the “poor,” but the “afflicted,” and the sentiment which Elihu is illustrating is, that when the afflicted call upon God he will deliver them. The object is to induce Job to make such an application to God that he might be rescued from his calamities, and be permitted yet to enjoy life and happiness.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Same sentiment as Job 36:11, 12, expanded. hypocrites--or, the ungodly [MAURER]; but "hypocrites" is perhaps a distinct class from the openly wicked (Job 36:12). heap up wrath--of God against themselves (Ro 2:5). UMBREIT translates, "nourish their wrath against God," instead of "crying" unto Him. This suits well the parallelism and the Hebrew.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
And openeth their ears in oppression - He will let them know for what end they are afflicted, and why he permits them to be oppressed. The word יגל yigel might be translated he shall make them exult, or sing with joy, in oppression; like the three Hebrews in the burning fiery furnace.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
shall die by strangulation Their soul [shall die] by the strangulation that is upon them,
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
6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| יְחַלֵּ֣ץ | yechaletz | he rescues | H2502 → | |
| עָנִ֣י | ʾani | [the] afflicted | H6041 → | 73 times |
| בְעָנְי֑וֹ | veaneyo | by affliction his | H6040 → | 36 times |
| וְיִ֖גֶל | veyigel | and he uncovers | H1540 → | 186 times |
| בַּלַּ֣חַץ | balachatz | by <the> oppression | H3906 → | |
| אָזְנָֽם׃ | ʾazenam | ear their | H241 → | 187 times |
יְחַלֵּ֣ץhe rescues
yechaletzH2502 →
עָנִ֣י[the] afflicted
ʾaniH6041 →73 times
בְעָנְי֑וֹby affliction his
veaneyoH6040 →36 times
וְיִ֖גֶלand he uncovers
veyigelH1540 →186 times
בַּלַּ֣חַץby <the> oppression
balachatzH3906 →
אָזְנָֽם׃ear their
ʾazenamH241 →187 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
2 Chronicles 12:8Nevertheless, they will become his servants, so that they may learn the difference between serving Me and serving the kings of other lands.”
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 28:47–48
Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joy and gladness of heart in all your abundance,
- Isaiah 26:13
O LORD our God, other lords besides You have had dominion, but Your name alone do we confess.
- Hosea 8:10
Though they hire allies among the nations, I will now round them up, and they will begin to diminish under the oppression of the king of princes.
- Jeremiah 10:24
Correct me, O LORD, but only with justice—not in Your anger, or You will bring me to nothing.
- Judges 3:1
These are the nations that the LORD left to test all the Israelites who had not known any of the wars in Canaan,
- Deuteronomy 28:47–48
Through
Job 36:10He opens their ears to correction and commands that they turn from iniquity.
it leads to
- Isaiah 55:6–7
Seek the LORD while He may be found; call on Him while He is near.
- Matthew 3:8
Produce fruit, then, in keeping with repentance.
- Job 33:16–23
He opens their ears and terrifies them with warnings
- Isaiah 55:6–7
About Job
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); 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); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.