Morning Bible Study: Job 32:1-5

Elihu’s Angry Response

32:1 So these three men quit answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes. 

2 Then Elihu son of Barachel the Buzite from the family of Ram became angry. He was angry at Job because he had justified himself rather than God. 

3 He was also angry at Job’s three friends because they had failed to refute him and yet had condemned him.

4 Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job because they were all older than he. 

5 But when he saw that the three men could not answer Job, he became angry.

Commentary

(the following is from Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary, 1706 -- www.christianity.com)

"Job's friends were silenced, but not convinced. Others had been present. Elihu was justly displeased with Job, as more anxious to clear his own character than the justice and goodness of God. Elihu was displeased with Job's friends because they had not been candid to Job. Seldom is a quarrel begun, more seldom is a quarrel carried on, in which there are not faults on both sides. Those that seek for truth, must not reject what is true and good on either side, nor approve or defend what is wrong."

Morning Bible Study: Job 31:33-40

33 Have I covered my transgressions as others do
by hiding my iniquity in my heart
34 because I greatly feared the crowds
and because the contempt of the clans terrified me,
so I grew silent and would not go outside?

35 If only I had someone to hear my case!
Here is my signature; let the Almighty answer me.
Let my Opponent compose his indictment.
36 I would surely carry it on my shoulder
and wear it like a crown.
37 I would give him an account of all my steps;
I would approach him like a prince.

38 If my land cries out against me
and its furrows join in weeping,
39 if I have consumed its produce without payment
or shown contempt for its tenants,
40 then let thorns grow instead of wheat
and stinkweed instead of barley.

The words of Job are concluded.

Commentary
(the following is from Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary, 1706 -- www.christianity.com) 

"Job clears himself from the charge of hypocrisy. We are reluctant to confess our faults, willing to excuse them, and to lay the blame upon others. But he that thus covers his sins, shall not prosper, 1 John 1:8. Let us all judge ourselves; in what way we are guilty, let us seek forgiveness in that blood which cleanses from all sin; and may the Lord have mercy upon us, and write his laws in our hearts!"

1 John 1:8 If we say, “We have no sin,” we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us.