1112 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
[Should it be] according, to thy mind?.... O Job, for the words seem to he directed to him; and may respect either the government of the world in general, and the disposal of all things in it, treated of in this chapter, though more remotely, Job 34:13. Is it not proper that God should govern it, who has made it, and do all things in it as he...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Let men of understanding tell me,.... Whether I am right or wrong: and let a wise man hearken unto me; to what I have said or shall say. Elihu here addresses the company around him, the wise and intelligent part of them; the words may be rendered in the future tense, men of understanding "will" tell me (n), and a wise man "will" hearken to me and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Job hath spoken without knowledge,.... Not that Job was an ignorant man, either in things natural or divine; but in this point, about the chastening hand of God upon him, he had said some things which betrayed lack of knowledge, as in Job 34:5; and his words [were] without wisdom; Job was not destitute of human wisdom, nor of spiritual wisdom, but...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
My desire [is that] Job may be tried unto the end,.... This is my opinion, or what "I bring in" (o) adduce, and lay before you, men of understanding and wisdom, and leave it with you to consider of. Some render it, "O my Father, let Job be tried", c. as if it was an apostrophe to God, and a request to him so Mr. Broughton, who adds, "which art in...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
For he addeth rebellion unto his sin,.... Or he "may" or "will" add (u), if he is suffered to go on at this rate, and is not stopped; as yet he has only committed, it may be charitably hoped, some sins through ignorance, error, and mistake, but if he is let alone he will proceed from evil to evil, to more ungodliness; to be guilty of presumptuous...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
INTRODUCTION TO Job 35 Is this chapter Elihu goes on to charge Job with other unbecoming speeches, which he undertakes to refute; as that he had represented his cause more just than God's, and religion and righteousness as things unprofitable to men, only to God; to which Elihu takes upon him to make answer, Job 35:1; and that the cries of the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Thinkest thou this to be right,.... Elihu appeals to Job himself, to his conscience and reason; who as a natural man, guided by the light of nature and reason only, and judging according to the dictates of a natural conscience, and especially as a good man, one that feared God, and had so much knowledge of him and his perfections, as his speeches...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
For thou saidst, what advantage will it be unto thee?.... Meaning that his righteousness, his holy life and conversation, were of no avail to him: he received no more benefit by being righteous than if he was wicked, since God destroyed one as well as another; and since his righteousness did not secure him from afflictions and calamities, it was...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
I will answer thee, and thy companions with thee. Meaning not his three friends, as the Septuagint version expresses it; for they were not on the side of Job, and of the same sentiment with him, but rather on the side of Elihu; especially Eliphaz, who expresses much the same sentiment he does, Job 22:2; but all that were of the same mind with Job,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Look unto the heavens, and see,.... The firmament of heaven, in which are the sun and moon and stars: and behold the clouds [which] are higher than thou; the clouds of the air or sky, which are lower than the starry heavens, yet these were higher than Job, and much more the starry heavens: but because the word has the signification of "thinness",...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
If thou sinnest, what dost thou against him?.... Sin is expressly said to be against God, Psalms 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...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
If thou be righteous, what givest thou him?.... All righteousness is of God that any creatures have. What the angels in heaven have, or Adam had in a state of innocence; or what believers in Christ have in and from him; his righteousness imputed to them is of God; the grace of righteousness, or holiness, imparted to them and implanted in them, is...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Thy wickedness [may hurt] a man as thou [art],.... But not God: a man may hurt himself by his wickedness; his body, by bringing various diseases upon it, through debauchery and intemperance; his family and estate, by wasting it; his soul, for every sin is a wrong and injury to a man's soul, and exposes it to ruin and destruction: and sin does even...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
By reason of the multitude of oppressions, they make [the oppressed] to cry,.... Which is either an illustration by an instance of what is before said, that wickedness hurts men, as particularly oppression does, which makes then cry; or this refers to something new, to another complaint of Job, or an undue expression of his. Elihu undertakes to...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
But none saith, where [is] God my Maker?.... Or "Makers" (y), as in Psalms 149:2; for there are more concerned in the formation of man, Genesis 1:26; even the Father, Son, and Spirit, who are the one God that has made all men, Malachi 2:10. Now not one of the oppressed ones that cry by reason of their oppression, or very few of them, inquire after...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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 Isaiah 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...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
There they cry,.... As brutes do, and as in, Job 35:9; by reason of their oppressions, but not under a due sense of the hand of God upon them, nor of his being their only helper, and saviour, and deliverer; but none giveth answer; to them, either God or men, and they lie groaning and howling under their oppression; because of the pride of evil...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Surely God will not hear vanity,.... Or "a lie" (z), than which nothing is more an abomination to him; if men come to him with a lie in their mouths, they cannot expect to be heard by him; he is only nigh to those who call upon him in truth: or that which is "rash" (a); which is rashly uttered, and in a passionate wrathful manner, savouring of a...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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...