Bible Study Job 34
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Job 34 · WEB

Elihu's Second Speech: God Does No Wrong

Listen — WEB narration 0:00 / 0:00 Narration: World English Bible (David Williams), public domain — AudioTreasure.

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Moreover Elihu answered,
2\"Hear my words, you wise men. Give ear to me, you who have knowledge.
3For the ear tries words as the palate tastes food.
4Let us choose for us that which is right. Let us know among ourselves what is good.
5For Job has said, 'I am righteous and God has taken away my right.
6Notwithstanding my right I am considered a liar. My wound is incurable, though I am without disobedience.'
7\"What man is like Job, who drinks scorn like water,
8who goes in company with the workers of iniquity and walks with wicked men?
9For he has said, 'It profits a man nothing that he should delight himself with God.'
10\"Therefore listen to me, you men of understanding. Far be it from God that he should do wickedness, far be it from the Almighty that he should commit iniquity.
11For the work of a man he will render to him and cause every man to find according to his ways.
12Yes, surely God will not do wickedly, neither will the Almighty pervert justice.
13Who put him in charge of the earth? Or who has appointed him over the whole world?
14If he set his heart on himself, if he gathered to himself his spirit and his breath,
15all flesh would perish together and man would turn again to dust.
16\"If now you have understanding, hear this. Listen to the voice of my words.
17Shall even one who hates justice govern? Will you condemn him who is righteous and mighty,
18who says to a king, 'Vile!' and to nobles, 'Wicked!'
19who doesn't respect the persons of princes, nor regards the rich more than the poor? For they all are the work of his hands.
20In a moment they die. Yes, at midnight, the people are shaken and pass away. The mighty are taken away without hand.
21\"For his eyes are on the ways of a man. He sees all his steps.
22There is no darkness nor thick gloom where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.
23For he doesn't need to consider a man further, that he should go before God in judgment.
24He breaks in pieces mighty men in ways past finding out and sets others in their place.
25Therefore he takes knowledge of their works. He overturns them in the night, so that they are destroyed.
26He strikes them as wicked men in the open sight of others,
27because they turned away from following him and wouldn't pay attention to any of his ways,
28so that they caused the cry of the poor to come to him and he heard the cry of the afflicted.
29\"When he gives quietness, who then can condemn? When he hides his face, who then can see him? Alike whether to a nation or to a man,
30that the godless man may not reign and that there be no one to ensnare the people.
31\"For has any said to God, 'I have borne chastisement, I will not offend any more.
32That which I don't see teach me. If I have done iniquity, I will do it no more'?
33Shall his recompense be as you desire it, that you refuse it? For you must choose, and not I. Therefore speak what you know.
34\"Men of understanding will tell me, yes, every wise man who hears me,
35'Job speaks without knowledge. His words are without wisdom.'
36I wish that Job were tried to the end, because of his answering like wicked men.
37For he adds rebellion to his sin. He claps his hands among us and multiplies his words against God.\"
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Summary

Elihu's second speech addresses what he considers Job's most dangerous claim: that it profits nothing to delight in God, and that God has perverted justice. Elihu defends God's moral governance of the universe: God cannot do wrong because he is accountable to no one above him — he is the source, not the recipient, of justice. God sees every human step, holds kings accountable as readily as servants, and overturns the mighty. Elihu argues that Job's complaint against God's justice is therefore rebellion, not honest inquiry. His defense of God's justice is correct in principle but misses what God himself will confirm: Job has spoken rightly, and the friends have not.

Themes

  • The moral integrity of God as the ground of all justice
  • God's impartiality — kings and paupers alike accountable
  • The danger of confusing honest lament with rebellion

Key verses

  • Job 34:10 — “\"Far be it from God that he should do wickedness, far be it from the Almighty that he should commit iniquity.\”
  • Job 34:18-19 — “\"Who says to a king, 'Vile!' and to nobles, 'Wicked!'... who doesn't respect the persons of princes, nor regards the rich more than the poor?\”
  • Job 34:21 — “\"For his eyes are on the ways of a man. He sees all his steps.\”

Context & background

Elihu's argument in this chapter is philosophically the strongest of any speaker so far: God's justice cannot be judged by human standards because God is not accountable to a standard external to himself — he *is* the standard. This is the same point God will make from the whirlwind (chapters 38-41), but Elihu frames it as an argument against Job rather than as an invitation into awe. The phrase \"far be it from God to do wickedness\" (v. 10) is the classic theodicy affirmation, echoed throughout the Old Testament. Elihu's charge that Job \"speaks like wicked men\" (v. 36) is the harshest judgment in the book — and one God will explicitly reject when he vindicates Job in chapter 42.

Cross-references

  • Deuteronomy 32:4 — \"He is the Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice\" — the same confession
  • Genesis 18:25 — \"Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?\" — Abraham's same affirmation of divine justice
  • Job 42:7-8 — God vindicates Job against the friends — and implicitly against Elihu's charge of rebellion
  • Psalm 33:13-15 — \"Yahweh looks from heaven... he who fashions the hearts of them all, who considers all their works\" — God's comprehensive sight of all humans
  • Romans 9:14 — \"Is there unrighteousness with God? May it never be!\" — Paul's echo of Elihu's core claim

Check your reading

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  1. Observe

    What does Elihu declare about God's capacity for wickedness (vv. 10-12)?

  2. Observe

    How does Elihu describe God's treatment of kings and the rich compared to the poor (vv. 18-19)?

  3. Interpret

    What is the theological strength — and the practical failure — of Elihu's argument in this chapter?

  4. Interpret

    What does the line between honest lament and rebellion look like, especially given Elihu's mistaken charge against Job?

  5. Apply

    What helps maintain confidence in God's goodness when circumstances seem to contradict it?

  6. Apply

    How does the truth that \"God sees all of a person's ways\" (v. 21) function in your spiritual life?

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