Job23
New International Version
1Then Job replied:
2“Even today my complaint is bitter; his hand is heavy in spite of my groaning.
3If only I knew where to find him; if only I could go to his dwelling!
4I would state my case before him and fill my mouth with arguments.
5I would find out what he would answer me, and consider what he would say to me.
6Would he vigorously oppose me? No, he would not press charges against me.
7There the upright can establish their innocence before him, and there I would be delivered forever from my judge.
8“But if I go to the east, he is not there; if I go to the west, I do not find him.
9When he is at work in the north, I do not see him; when he turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of him.
10But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.
11My feet have closely followed his steps; I have kept to his way without turning aside.
12I have not departed from the commands of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread.
13“But he stands alone, and who can oppose him? He does whatever he pleases.
14He carries out his decree against me, and many such plans he still has in store.
15That is why I am terrified before him; when I think of all this, I fear him.
16God has made my heart faint; the Almighty has terrified me.
17Yet I am not silenced by the darkness, by the thick darkness that covers my face.
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Job 23.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: Job complains that God has withdrawn. (1–7). He asserts his own integrity. (8–12). The Divine terrors. (13–17).
vv1-7
Job appeals from his friends to the just judgement of God. He wants to have his cause tried quickly. Blessed be God, we may know where to find him. He is in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself; and upon a mercy-seat, waiting to be gracious. Thither the sinner may go; and there the believer may order his cause before Him, with arguments taken from his promises, his covenant, and his glory. A patient waiting for death and judgment is our wisdom and duty, and it cannot be without a holy fear and trembling. A passionate wishing for death or judgement is our sin and folly, and ill becomes us, as it did Job.
vv8-12
Job knew that the Lord was every where present; but his mind was in such confusion, that he could get no fixed view of God's merciful presence, so as to find comfort by spreading his case before him. His views were all gloomy. God seemed to stand at a distance, and frown upon him. Yet Job expressed his assurance that he should be brought forth, tried, and approved, for he had obeyed the precepts of God. He had relished and delighted in the truths and commandments of God. Here we should notice that Job justified himself rather than God, or in opposition to him, ch. 32:2. Job might feel that he was clear from the charges of his friends, but boldly to assert that, though visited by the hand of God, it was not a chastisement of sin, was his error. And he is guilty of a second, when he denies that there are dealings of Providence with men in this present life, wherein the injured find redress, and the evil are visited for their sins.
vv13-17
As Job does not once question but that his trials are from the hand of God, and that there is no such thing as chance, how does he account for them? The principle on which he views them is, that the hope and reward of the faithful servants of God are only laid up in another life; and he maintains that it is plain to all, that the wicked are not treated according to their deserts in this life, but often directly the reverse. But though the obtaining of mercy, the first-fruits of the Spirit of grace, pledges a God, who will certainly finish the work which he has began; yet the afflicted believer is not to conclude that all prayer and entreaty will be in vain, and that he should sink into despair, and faint when he is reproved of Him. He cannot tell but the intention of God in afflicting him may be to produce penitence and prayer in his heart. May we learn to obey and trust the Lord, even in tribulation; to live or die as he pleases: we know not for what good ends our lives may be shortened or prolonged.
Key Words
אִיּוֹב: Ijob, the patriarch famous for his patience
עָנָה: properly, to eye or (generally) to heed, i.e. pay attention; by implication, to respond; by extension to begin to speak; specifically to sing, shout, testify, announce
אָמַר: to say (used with great latitude)
יוֹם: a day (as the warm hours), whether literal (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next), or figurative (a space of time defined by an associated term), (often used adverb)
גַּם: properly, assemblage; used only adverbially also, even, yea, though; often repeated as correl. both...and
שִׂיחַ: a contemplation; by implication, an utterance
מְרִי: bitterness, i.e. (figuratively) rebellion; concretely, bitter, or rebellious
יָד: a hand (the open one (indicating power, means, direction, etc.),
כָּבַד: to be heavy, i.e. in a bad sense (burdensome, severe, dull) or in a good sense (numerous, rich, honorable; causatively, to make weighty (in the same two senses)
עַל: above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applications
Cross References
Job 23Repeats Job's intense, ongoing desire to plead his case directly before God's seat.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Job answers Eliphaz's exhortation to receive the law by declaring he has already done so.
Supported by JFB
Both speakers express eating, treasuring, and rejoicing in the words of God's mouth.
Supported by JFB
Parallels the declaration of God's sovereign freedom to do whatever His soul desires.
Supported by JFB
Job uses the same legal terminology of 'ordering' or methodically preparing his cause before God.
Supported by JFB
Parallel description of God's invisible presence passing by without Job being able to perceive Him.
Supported by JFB
An exact thematic echo where the heart melts like wax or is made soft by suffering.
Supported by JFB
Rebuts Eliphaz's claim about darkness by lamenting that God has covered his face with calamity.
Supported by JFB
Echoes Job's apprehension regarding contending with God's absolute, overwhelming sovereign power.
Supported by JFB
New Testament parallel of faith and integrity being tried by fire to come forth as refined gold.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Contrast of the wicked turning aside with Job's claim that he has not declined from God's way.
Supported by JFB
Parallel imagery of the righteous being taken away or cut off before the face of darkness.
Supported by JFB
Job's intense longing for an advocate or a fair judicial hearing directly with God.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Job desires God to lay aside His rod of overwhelming power so they can plead.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The psalmist, like Job, appeals to God's testing, search of the heart, and finding no dross.
Supported by JFB