---
title: "Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible · Volume 1: Genesis to Jeremiah"
author: "Adam Clarke"
languages: [en]
shelf: "Commentaries"
section: 531 of 914
url: https://scriptura.si/works/adam-clarke-commentary-volume-1-genesis-to-jeremiah/531/
cite: "Adam Clarke, Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible · Volume 1: Genesis to Jeremiah, section 531. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/adam-clarke-commentary-volume-1-genesis-to-jeremiah/531/"
---

# Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible · Volume 1: Genesis to Jeremiah

*Adam Clarke*

Clarke's learned notes on the Hebrew and Greek, verse by verse, from Genesis to Revelation: volume 1 of 2.

## 531. Job · 58 of 73

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/adam-clarke-commentary-volume-1-genesis-to-jeremiah/531/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/adam-clarke-commentary-volume-1-genesis-to-jeremiah/531/#p-N

### Verse 5

[¶1] Look unto the heavens - These heavens, and their host, God has created: the bare sight of them is sufficient to show thee that God is infinitely beyond thee in wisdom and excellence.

[¶2] Behold the clouds - שחקים shechakim, the ethers, (Vulgate, aethera), from שחק shachak, to contend, fight together: the agitated or conflicting air and light; the strong agitation of these producing both light and heat. Look upon these, consider them deeply, and see and acknowledge the perfections of the Maker.

### Verse 6

[¶4] If thou sinnest - God is not benefited by thy righteousness, nor injured by thy iniquity, howsoever multiplied it may be.

### Verse 8

[¶6] Thy wickedness may hurt - It is better to translate this literally:

[¶7] To a man like thyself is thy wickedness:

[¶8] And to the son of man, thy righteousness:

[¶9] That is: -

[¶10] Thou mayest injure thyself and others by thy wickedness,

[¶11] And thou mayest benefit both by thy righteousness;

[¶12] But God thou canst neither hurt nor profit.

### Verse 9

[¶14] By reason of the multitude - Or rather, "From among the multitude" the oppressed clamor, יזעיקו yaziku: they shout, ישועו yeshavveu, because of the mighty. The wicked rich oppress the wicked poor; these cry aloud because of their oppressors; but they have no relief, because they call not upon God.

### Verse 10

[¶16] Where is God my Maker - They have no just apprehension of his being; they do not consider themselves his creatures, or that he who created them still preserves them, and would make them happy if they would pray unto him.

[¶17] Who giveth songs in the night - This is variously translated. "Before whom the high angels give praise in the night." - Chaldee. "Who sets the night-watches." - Septuagint. "Gives meditations in the night." - Syriac and Arabic. "And that shyneth upon us that we might prayse him in the night." - Coverdale.

[¶18] A holy soul has continual communion with God: night and day its happiness is great; and God, from whom it comes, is the continual subject of its songs of praise.

### Verse 11

[¶20] Who teacheth us more than the beasts - "The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib; but Israel doth not know me, my people do not consider;" [Isa 1:3]. Beasts, bards, fowls, and in many cases pond-fishes, know and seem thankful to the hand that feeds them; while man, made much more noble than they, gifted with the greatest powers, privileged with the most important benefits, considers not the Lord, nor discerns the operation of his hand. Quadrupeds, reptiles, and fowls, have more gratitude to their masters than man has to his God.

### Verse 12

[¶22] There they cry - They bewail their calamities, but sorrow not for the cause of them; they cry against their oppressors, but they call not upon God.

[¶23] Because of the pride of evil men - Or מפני mippeney, from the face, presence, or influence, of the pride of wicked men. They cry for deliverance from the pride of wicked men; but they are not heard, because they cry not to God.

### Verse 13

[¶25] Surely God will not hear vanity - He will not attend to such vain cries; they cry from their oppressions, but they cry not to God.

### Verse 14

[¶27] Thou sayest thou shalt not see Him - Several MSS. have "Thou shalt not see me," and the Septuagint, and one other, "Thou shalt not see us," but without the points, תשורנו, the original may be read see Him or see Us, the third person singular, or the first person plural.

[¶28] Yet judgment is before him - Rest assured that God has not forgotten either to punish or to save; therefore trust in him; choose to be a monument of his mercy, rather than of his justice.

### Verse 15

[¶30] But - because it is not so - Rather, "But now, because he visiteth not in his anger." This is more literal than the versions generally proposed; and the sense of the place appears to be this: Because vengeance is not speedily executed on an evil work, therefore are the hearts of the children of men set in them to do iniquity. This is, in effect, the charge which Elihu brings against Job.

### Verse 16

[¶32] Therefore doth Job open his mouth in vain - God will execute vengeance when it may best serve the ends of his justice, providence, and mercy. The delay of judgment is not proof that it shall not be executed; nor is the deferring of mercy any proof that God has forgotten to be gracious.

[¶33] He multiplieth words without knowledge - However this may apply to Job, it most certainly applies very strongly and generally to the words, not only of Job's three friends, but to those also of Elihu himself. The contest is frequently a strife of words.

### Introduction

[¶35] Elihu vindicates God's justice, and his providential and gracious dealings with men, [Job 36:1-9]. Promises of God to the obedient, and threatenings to the disobedient; also promises to the poor and afflicted, [Job 36:10-16]. Sundry proofs of God's merely, with suitable exhortations and cautions, vv. 17-33.

### Verse 1

[¶37] Elihu also proceeded - Mr. Heath gives a good summary of this chapter. Elihu goes on to lay before Job the impropriety of his behavior towards God, and desires him to consider how vain it will prove. That God Almighty will never yield the point; that he will administer impartial justice to all men, [Job 36:2-6]. That the general course of his providence is to favor the righteous: and that though he may sometimes correct them in love, yet if they submit patiently to his fatherly corrections, they shall enjoy all manner of prosperity; but if they be stubborn, and will not submit, they will only draw down greater proofs of his displeasure, [Job 36:7-16]. He tells him that, had he followed the former course, he had probably, before now, been restored to his former condition; whereas, by persisting in the latter course, he was in a fair way of becoming a signal example of Divine justice, [Job 36:17], [Job 36:18]. He therefore warns him to use the present opportunity, lest God should cut him off while he was in a state of rebellion against him; for with God neither wealth, power, nor any other argument that he could use, would be of any avail, [Job 36:18-26]. That God was infinitely powerful; there was no resisting him: and infinitely wise, as sufficiently appeared by his works; there was, therefore, no escaping out of his hands. That his purity was so great that the sun, in his presence, was more dim than the smallest ray of light when compared to that grand luminary; that his holiness was manifest by his aversion to iniquity; and his goodness, in supplying the wants of his creatures.

### Verse 2

[¶39] That I have yet to speak on God's behalf - I have other proofs to allege in behalf of God's justice and providence.

### Verse 3

[¶41] I will fetch my knowledge from afar - למרחוק lemerachok, "from the distant place," meaning probably both remote antiquity and heaven; see below. I will show thee that all antiquity and experience are on my side. I can bring proofs from the remotest ages and from the most distant countries to demonstrate that God is infinitely Wise, and can do nothing foolish or erroneous; that he is infinitely Powerful, and can bring all the purposes of his wisdom to effect; that he is infinitely Good, and can will nothing, and can do nothing that is not good in itself, and well calculated to do good to his creatures. And I shall show that his operations in the heavens and on the earth prove and demonstrate the whole.

[¶42] And will ascribe righteousness to my Maker - By proving the above points, the righteous conduct of God, and his gracious government of the world, will be fully established. That Elihu brings his knowledge from afar - from every part of the creation, as well as from the Divine nature - is evident from the end of the chapter.

[¶43] 1. The omnipotence of God; - God is great.

[¶44] 2. The eternity of God - We know him not, the number of his years cannot be found out, [Job 36:26].

[¶45] 3. From the economy of God in the atmosphere, in dews, rain, vapor, and the irrigation of the earth; - He maketh small the drops, etc., [Job 36:27], [Job 36:28].