Job 34 and Elihu and book of job

After giving Job several things to mull over, Elihu addresses the three friends in Job 34. His obvious sympathy for Job's plight in 32-33 seems muted here, or even contradicted, but this is amply explained by the audience he is addressing: the friends. Elihu wants to alienate neither party in his own quest to discover and impart wisdom. Traditional elements mingle with a gentler assessment of Job's condition than that of the friends.

Elihu--Weak on Tradition (34:1-4)

The source of authority for what Elihu says, however, is not the bedrock of confirmed tradition, as it was for the friends. He is looking for words that have a "taste" to them, "for the ear tests words as the palate tastes food (34:3)." Those words may not be traditional words: "Let us choose what is right, let us determine among ourselves what is good (34:4)." As it turns out, Elihu does work with and affirm traditional categories, but these words show that he is a man open to the play of the tradition and playing with the tradition.

Job's Sin (34:5-9)

He has no doubt, however, that Job has sinned. Before getting to Job's sin, however, he once again quotes Job accurately: "God has taken away my right (34:5 with 27:2)." Elihu is the only friend with the courtesy and ears to quote Job and name Job in his speeches. Still, he knows Job is at fault. "Who is there like Job, who drinks up scoffing like water?" he wants to know (34:7). However, Job's fault for Elihu does not seem to reside in the moral realm (i.e., he has not done something wicked to deserve the punishment) but more in the realm of thought--"For he has said, 'It profits one nothing to take delight in God (34:9).'"

God's Nature and Activity (34:10-30)

The greater part of the chapter is devoted to how God will respond to one who so treats him. Elihu is concerned to show that God has nothing to do with evil (10, 12, 17) and, to no one's surprise, he intones, "according to their deeds he will repay them, and according to their ways he will make it befall them (34:11)."

Verses 21-30 are especially rich in describing the ways God deals with mortals. First, as if to belie Job's emphasis on darkness being an escape from God's presence, God ferrets out humans, even in darkness--"There is no gloom or deep darkness where evildoers may hide themselves (34:22)." But, more significant, Elihu gently begins to undercut Job's reliance on legal terminology and process, a method Job has employed since chapter 9. Elihu says, "For he (God) has not appointed a time for man (literally, "for he has not yet appointed for a man") to go before God in judgment (34:23)." Thus, possibly the reason why there is no "umpire" (9:33) to mediate Job 's concern is that the court isn't yet open.

There is more. Elihu goes on to say, "He shatters the mighty without investigation, and sets others in their place (34:24)." The Almightly, according to Elihu, is not bound by the strictures and methods of human tribunals. God knows the works of humans and "strikes them for their wickedness" without trial, advocacy and witnesses being necessary (34:25-27). Then, in a note that confirms what the friends have believed all along, he says, "When he is quiet, who can condemn? When he hides his face, who can behold him... (34:29)?"

Returning to Job (34:35-37)

After a few cryptic words apparently about complaints of the wicked (vv. 31-34), Elihu concludes by referring again to Job and his condition. "Job speaks without knowledge, his words are without insight (34:35)." Though Job is guilty of "rebellion," however (v. 37), that is the biggest fault that Elihu will lay at his doorstep. Elihu has subtly redefined the nature of Job's malady and the expectations Job should have from God. It is a masterful effort.

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