Job 27 Yesterday Job spoke of God’s unsearchable greatness. Today Job continues his discourse, turning his attention back to himself — and holding that same Almighty God responsible for his afflictions. (v. 2) But it is all part of the same argument he is making in his own defense against his friends. In Job 27:2-6, …
Category Archives: RTB 2022 – Psalms and Wisdom Literature
February 26 / Job 26
Job 26 Job opens his reply to Bildad (and Eliphaz and Zophar) with biting sarcasm. How you have helped him who has no power! How you have saved the arm that has no strength! How you have counseled him who has no wisdom, and plentifully declared sound knowledge! (vv. 2-3) I guess Job is not …
February 25 / Job 25
Job 25 Bildad steps back in with a final (and brief) argument that no one can be found righteous before God: How then can man be in the right before God? How can he who is born of woman be pure? (v. 4) It is hard to argue with Bildad on this point. None is …
February 24 / Job 24
Job 24 Job continues his response to Eliphaz, and again asks where God is, but this time in reference to God’s apparent lack of judgment upon the wicked. In Job 24:2-12, he describes ill treatment and oppression of the poor at the hand of the wicked, yet God charges no one with wrong. (v. 12) …
February 23 / Job 23
Job 23 Job replies to Eliphaz, continuing his complaint with a mixture of frustration and confidence. Job is frustrated that he cannot find God anywhere. He looks high and low but cannot perceive God’s presence. But he is confident that, were he to find Him, he could lay out his case and be acquitted. (Job …
February 22 / Job 22
Job 22 Eliphaz jumps back into the fray and rather quickly indicts Job: Is not your evil abundant?There is no end to your iniquities.For you have exacted pledges of your brothers for nothingand stripped the naked of their clothing.You have given no water to the weary to drink,and you have withheld bread from the hungry.The …
February 21 / Job 21
Job 21 Job answers Zophar, dismissing his words as empty and false. (Job 21:34) Most of this chapter directly challenges the friends’ notion that disaster inevitably befalls the wicked. Just listen to how Job depicts the prosperity of the wicked, in stark contrast to the assertions of his friends: Why do the wicked live,reach old …
February 20 / Job 20
Job 20 Zophar rejoins the argument and says, I hear censure that insults me. Interesting. Interesting that he heard censure, because in what follows there is no evidence that he has heard Job at all. And interesting that he feels insulted. Yes, he has been sharply criticized and rebuked by Job, so he most definitely …
February 19 / Job 19
Job 19 Job replies to Bildad with a plea for his friends to stop tormenting him (Job 19:2), saying they should be ashamed of themselves (Job 19:3), and arguing that even if he has sinned somehow, he hasn’t hurt any of them. (Job 19:4) He then warns them that if they are magnifying themselves against …
February 18 / Job 18
Job 18 Bildad rejoins the conversation. He does not pursue any new line of argument here but just digs in, so, like Job, I wonder why he bothers saying anything, what provokes you that you answer? (Job 16:3) I am left thinking that Bildad is just defending his own position as a “wise” leader who …