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Elihu Condemns Job

35 Moreover,[a] Elihu spoke up[b] and said,

“Do you think this is justice when you say,
I am right[c] before God’?
If you ask what it profits you:
‘How do I benefit by refraining from my sin?’[d]

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Footnotes

  1. Job 35:1 Hebrew “And”
  2. Job 35:1 Literally “answered”; see NET
  3. Job 35:2 Literally “My righteousness”
  4. Job 35:3 Literally “from my sin”

Elihu’s Third Speech[a]

35 Then Elihu answered:

“Do you think this to be[b] just
when[c] you say, ‘My right before God’?[d]
But you say, ‘What will it profit you,’[e]
and, ‘What do I gain by not sinning?’[f]

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Footnotes

  1. Job 35:1 sn This short speech falls into two sections: Elihu refutes Job’s claim that goodness avails nothing (35:2-8), asserting that when the cry of the afflicted goes unanswered they have not learned their lesson (35:9-16).
  2. Job 35:2 tn The line could be read as “do you reckon this for justice? Here “to be” is understood.
  3. Job 35:2 tn The word “when” is not in the Hebrew text, but is implied.
  4. Job 35:2 tn The brief line could be interpreted in a number of ways. The MT simply has “my right from God.” It could be “I am right before God,” “I am more just/right than God” (identifying the preposition as a comparative min (מִן); cf. J. E. Hartley, Job [NICOT], 463), “I will be right before God,” or “My just cause against God.”
  5. Job 35:3 tn The referent of “you” is usually understood to be God.
  6. Job 35:3 tn The Hebrew text merely says, “What do I gain from my sin?” But Job has claimed that he has not sinned, and so this has to be elliptical: “more than if I had sinned” (H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 224). It could also be, “What do I gain without sin?”