Deeper Commentary

Job 9:1 Then Job answered- The interpretation of this chapter depends upon discerning connections with the previous speech of Bildad.

Job 9:2 Truly I know that it is so, but how can man be just with God?-

Job 9:2-24 is a poem of 23 lines each beginning with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Clearly this is poetry rather than the words that came out of Job's mouth; see on Job 1:1.

We naturally enquire what Job is agreeing with when he says "I know that it is so". In :10 he will quote verbatim Eliphaz's words of Job 5:9. From his arguments now, it seems Job is responding to Bildad’s question, "Will God pervert right?". To which Job replies: 'Of course— but how shall man ever be right with a God who behaves as He does, how can I get God to see all the righteousness I have done?'. We know from the prologue that God was intensely aware of Job’s righteousness. Job doesn't know that, and assumes God is treating him as if he is not right with Him, because God's hand on Job is wrongly seen by Job as condemnation for sin. He would then be concluding that God is impossible to please. Job has in fact totally absorbed the reasoning of the friends, much as he claims it is rubbish. He assumes he is not right with God, when in fact he was. And this is something we can wrongly feel for much of our lives. The glorious truth is that through being in Christ, we are right with God! He is not in fact continually disappointed in us. Job is not right to assume that God is condemning him and seeking an argument with him (Job 10:2). This is a transforming truth. Job's loss of his family, and the inexplicable nature of his sufferings, distracted him from this wonderful truth; as it so often does for us. God's ways are high above ours; we may think we have the right theology about Him, but we all misunderstand Him in that we fail to see ourselves as He does. We see ourselves through the lens of our failures and inherent weaknesses, and we reflect onto ourselves how others see us. Because we struggle to forgive and find it so hard to see others positively... we assume God looks at us the same way. Because we spare just a few passing thoughts for God in the course of the day... we think God treats us the same. No. He is on fire for us, 24/7. You don't give your son to die for a man you don't much think nor care about. The gift of the Spirit enables us to see what unredeemed man cannot see- something of the extent of God's love for us: "... strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, to the end that you... might be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height, and to truly know and understand the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge" (Eph. 3:16-19). No smart philosopher, powerful business man or physically stunning man or woman can ever get this. This ability to perceive something of God's huge love for me, His positivity about little me, is the greatest and most transforming gift. The book of Job brings it out so clearly- we see in the prologue how God views Job. And then we see him in the mire of depression, not knowing the prologue, unable to see himself as God sees him, and reflecting back onto God how he sees himself, and how the friends see him. How true were Simon and Garfunkel in their song about the otherwise mundane, council estate girl Mrs. Robinson: "Mrs Robinson, Jesus loves you more than you will know".

Indeed it seems to me that much of Paul's reasoning in Romans about righteousness and justification is alluding to the book of Job, even if there are few direct quotes. Indeed these are wonderful, deep things out of darkness. It is why I beg men and women to be baptized into Christ, to be counted right before God, so they can live in all joy and peace through believing these things. Tragically, like so many, Job will go off at a tangent in :3, assuming God is implacable, is against him, and needs bringing into court to be judged for His behaviour.

Or perhaps what Job is agreeing with are the statements immediately preceding this, that God will not cast away the blameless [AV "perfect"] and will judge sinners (Job 8:19-21). But Job has been driven further in his thinking- as an imperfect but relatively righteous man who is suffering the apparent judgment of God. And so he asks the question which is at the root of the book: "How can man be just with God?". Paul spends Romans 1-8 discussing this question, because it is at the heart of the Christian Gospel (see on :10). His answer is that which Job finally reasons himself towards, and which is finally revealed at the end by God's answers: by God's grace, through faith in imputed righteousness.

Job 9:3 If He wishes to contend with him, he can’t answer Him one time in a thousand-

This is legal language. But the Hebrew is ambiguous as to whether it is God wanting to contend with man with 1000 questions, or Job wanting to contend with God. LXX assumes the latter. Job wants a court case with God, wants God in the dock, but he is frustrated that God will not respond. Depending on translation, Job may even be saying that God "cannot answer" man, and so He refuses to attend court, and the chapter goes on to show how God is so powerful and thus can get away with not answering. Job here and later will thus accuse God of abuse of power on a cosmic level. No wonder Job is condemned for blasphemy. He does indeed curse God as his wife told him to, and as the satan predicted he would.

Or we can read that Job complains that God is contending with him, picking a legal case against him (Job 9:3; 10:2). But it is in fact Job who contends with God and is condemned for it (Job 33:13; 40:2). What we think God is doing to us, we are in fact doing to God.

The idea of God in legal contention is quite a theme of the restoration prophets. And the story of Job was, I have suggested, rewritten (under inspiration) for the exiles. God had contended with Judah and found them guilty (Is. 3:13; Jer. 2:9), but He would not contend for ever (Is. 57:16). All contention or answer back against Him, counter accusing Him, placing God in the dock, was clearly wrong and useless (Is. 45:9).  Instead He by grace would contend legally against the abusers of His people (Is. 49:25; 51:22; Jer. 50:34), so that the suffering servant would be justified / counted righteous by God, so that all legal contention against him was powerless (Is. 50:8). But this contention by God against Israel's enemies depended upon their repentance (Mic. 7:9). All this was finally seen in Job's experience; he was set up as a pattern for the exiles to follow, although ultimately they didn't follow it to the end.

LXX "God would not hearken to him, so that he should answer to one of his charges of a thousand". Job appeals for ‘witnesses’ (Job 9:33–35; 16:18–22; 19:20–27), an advocate in Heaven (Job 9:33), denies his guilt and demands a legal list of his sins (Job 13:19), he wishes for God to come to trial (Job 9:3), and thus Job is described as a man who has taken out a ‘case’ with God (Job 23:4; 40:2). Job 29–31 is effectively Job’s declaration of legal innocence and an appeal to God to hear his case more sympathetically (Job 31:35). And of course God pronounces a final legal verdict at the very end (Job 42:7), in response to Job’s earlier plea: “Sleeplessly I wait for His reply” (Job 16:22). It’s as if the whole experience of Job was [at least partly] in order to test out the Canaanite theories of ‘Satan’, suffering and evil in the court of Heaven; and also the various theories which arose to explain Judah's captivity in Babylon. The friends represent the traditional views of evil, and often make reference to the myths of their day about ‘Satan’ figures. They speak as if they are the final court – Eliphaz speaks of how the judges and elders of their day, the “holy ones”, had concluded Job was guilty, and that they, the friends, were right: “To which of the holy ones will you appeal [legal language]?... we have [legally] examined this, and it [Job’s guilt] is true” (Job 5:1,27). This is of great comfort to those who feel misjudged by man – above them in Heaven the ultimate Heavenly court is considering our case, and that is all that matters.

Job 9:4 God who is wise in heart, and mighty in strength: who has hardened himself against Him, and prospered?- As explained on :3, all attempts to put God in the dock by refusing to repent, or by simply accusing Him of injustice against sinners, were therefore inappropriate and pointless. Job is effectively denying Bildad's implication that Job had "hardened himself" against God. The same word is used of Pharaoh hardening himself against Yahweh (Ex. 7:3). It was Israel who hardened themselves against God (Dt. 10:16), leading to their exile (2 Chron. 36:13; Neh. 9:29; Jer. 19:15). Job was accused of having done this and was apparently treated as if he had done so; again in the spirit of the Lord Jesus, being treated as a sinner, experiencing the judgment for sin, when personally innocent.

Job 9:5 He removes the mountains, and they don’t know it, when He overturns them in His anger- Job claims that God gets angry  for no reason with mountains who "don't know it", who have no idea or ability to understand what's happening, overturning them by volcanoes just for the sake of it. And likewise He treats Job. God's final reply doesn't much disagree with this view. "Mountains" plural can be read as an intensive plural; the one great mountain which was to be removed into exile was as it were mount Zion; and it was the house of Judah which was to be overturned- but until "He come whose right it is" (Ez. 23:25-27). The friends only dealt with present realities before their eyes, as did the exiles- they failed to see the longer term perspective. What was removed and overturned could be returned and revived. That was the Divine plan. See on :6.

Job 9:6 He shakes the earth out of its place. Its pillars tremble- Language used of the shaking of the earth and heavens of Israel and Judah at the hands of their invaders. See on :5. The idea of "place" occurs often in Job. The sinner is removed from his place, death removes man from his place. There was a strong perception that the physical earth, along with society, had a structure. Everything and every man had his "place". But Job notices that God has a way of upsetting the order which He created, moving men, rocks and mountains out of their established place. And in a random way. Job sees God turning creation into chaos, just as the Genesis record described Him turning chaos into order, through His creative words. God's final response is going to speak much about His creation, but He will give no comment on His way of apparently de-creating men and the world into chaos. The truth is that be that as it may, His saving love, His love shown in His eternal salvation of man, is the constant that shines through it all. We in the new creation still experience the sense of chaos insofar as we are not completely out of this present system. But the same guiding, constant light shines through. For in Job we see the end of the Lord, that He is very pitiful, and of tender mercy (James 5:11).

We note that elsewhere in scripture, earthquakes, mountains being cast into the sea etc. do not harm or faze the faithful (Ps. 18:8; 46:3,4; 75:4; 97:4; 114:5-7). Quite possibly we are meant to deduce that Job's fear of these things suggests a lack of faith at this point. He doesn't have the peace predicted of the believer. The dimming of sun and stars (:7) is likewise the language of Divine judgment, and Job is clearly scared by it. His theology is limited to the understanding that serving God leads to blessing in this life. He has little conception of a future day of reward and judgment. He isn't holding on to faith in God's purpose to save him despite passing through all that in the turning upside down of his life. Job in this sense represents the exiles in Babylon. The language of earthquake, mountains moving, sun and stars darkening... is all used of the Babylonian invasion and destruction of the Mount Zion temple and the deportations of Jews into exile. Through all that, the faithful were intended to perceive God's love and final purpose to save His people. Like Job, they failed in that; but they were to follow his pattern of repentance and final blessing.

Job 9:7 He commands the sun, and it doesn’t rise, and seals up the stars- Language used in the apocalyptic message of darkness and destruction of the kingdom of Judah (e.g. Is. 13:10). The simple point is that all that was done by the hand of God and His word of prophetic command, and not because of supernatural forces of radical evil in the cosmos.

Possibly Job is sarcastically alluding to creation, where God commanded "Let there be light", and created the sun and the stars. Now, Job is saying God has a way of just annulling His creation- which is what he feels God has done to him, creating and blessing him, and then turning him upside down in random anger.

Job speaks of God's destructive, judgmental power against the mountains (9:6), earth, pillars (9:7) sun, stars (9:8), heavens (9:9) and the constellations. He sees God revealed as violent in the natural world, and He sees this violent God as violating him. In Job 38,39 God will speak of the same categories in the same order- to demonstrate His greatness, His total control, and He cites all this as evidence that Job is wrong. In the end, at "the end of the Lord" (James 5:11), God is love and salvation, not condemnation, and His control of all natural processes reveals that.

Job 9:8 He alone stretches out the heavens, and treads on the back of Yam- God is therefore seen as far greater than the legendary sea monster Yam; see on :24. "He alone" has power; He doesn't share power with any cosmic 'Satan' being, all is under His control.

Job 9:9 He makes the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades, and the rooms of the south- The surrounding culture believed (as many do today) that the stars influence life upon earth; Job emphasizes that God is the creator of the stars, and the present tense "makes" suggests that Job even perceived that the stars were not fixed but are part on an ongoing creation- something modern cosmology has finally come to realize. "The bear", Heb. 'the fool', alludes to the myth that there had been a rebellion against God in Heaven, and 'the bear' had been chained up in the sky for all to see. Job is deconstructing these myths; quite simply, God had "made" these constellations and placed them as they are by His sovereign power. The Hebrew keseel, "Orion" is indeed always translated 'fool' in its other 70 occurrences in the Bible. The idea is that the rebellious foolish bear has been strung up in the sky by God for all to see. The context is as discussed on :3, Job’s accusation that God abuses and treats as a fool any who disagree with Him. The friends may have the same idea in view when they say that He charges His Angels with folly.

Job 9:10 He does great things past finding out; yes, marvellous things without number-

Job here quotes verbatim Eliphaz's statement in Job 5:9, where Eliphaz there argues that all God does has meaning and is for good; and therefore Job's sufferings are intentioned by Him as judgment. But Job quotes this fact that God does "great things" in the context of his argument that God misuses His power to do great things without any meaning (see on :3).

Job is moving closer to the great truths which God Himself will make explicit at His appearance at the end of the book. The friends assumed that meaning could easily be attached to event by "the wise"; whereas Job is driven to conclude by his sufferings that God's ways are "past finding out", and yet all of His ways are wonderful. I suggested on :2 that Paul's arguments in Romans 1-8 about 'how a man can be just with God' are consciously based upon the book of Job. In Romans 9-11 he cites Israel as the parade example of what he has been saying in chapters 1-8. And so it is appropriate that he concludes that section by quoting these words of Job: "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past tracing out!" (Rom. 11:33). The "marvellous things" which Job sensed were somehow going on are verbalized and made explicit in Romans- they are the things of God's saving grace.

Job 9:11 Behold, He goes by me, and I don’t see Him. He passes on also, but I don’t perceive Him- This is not so much a glum lament as an extension of the argument of :10; God is doing wonderful things, things connected with His grace, which are beyond human comprehension. And Job cites his own lack of perception as proof enough of that.

And yet from the context discussed in :3, it seems that :12-24 is Job's description of God's huge power in order to back up His conclusion- that God as it were throws His power about, in order to crush and paralyze those He chooses to. Without any moral restraint and paying no attention to human suffering and experience in this life.

Job 9:12 Behold, He snatches away-

 

The idea is that God 'carries off' as a hunting animal carries off its' prey. His idea is that God uses His great, irresistible power in an irresponsible way. He cannot be hindered, and His power is such that [according to Job] He refuses to be questioned nor to give any legal account of what He is doing. This is the kind of crude atheistic blasphemy that believers just turn their eyes and ears away from when they hear it. And yet here it is coming out of Job's mouth; and he is the hero of the story. Specifically this is perhaps a reference to the snatching away of Job's cattle. He doggedly insists that all his sufferings were from God.

Who can hinder Him?- The dramatic story of Job thrice uses the same phrase as in Is. 43:13, concluding that "who can hinder...?" God's way (Job 9:12; 11:10; 23:13). The exiles were to understand that no human opposition or discouragement can turn back or hinder God's purpose to save His people, even if they are as Job in suffering. His saving and restorative purpose will not be hindered, if we wish to identify with it.

Who will ask Him, ‘What are you doing?’- It is for God to ask this of sinful man (s.w. Gen. 3:13; 4:10); but not for man to demand this of God. It is for man to ask himself "What have I done?", and repent (s.w. Jer. 8:6). And yet it could be argued that Job does indeed ask this of God, and has to lay his hand upon his mouth at the end. In the restoration context, Israel as the clay were not to ask the Divine potter "What are You doing?" (s.w. Is. 45:9). To do so would be to strive with our maker.

Job 9:13 God will not withdraw His anger. The cohorts of Rahab stoop under Him- "Rahab" is a symbol of both Egypt and Babylon. GNB "God's anger is constant. He crushed his enemies who helped Rahab, the sea monster, oppose him". This language is clearly alluding to the helpers of Tiamat in the Babylonian myth; see on :24. Job's argument is that even the sea monster has to submit and collapse, God is so powerful. God lashes out in a random way, and abuses His power. So Job feels. We note that Job clearly believed in sea monsters. His theology was wrong, but he still hugely pleased God despite that.

Job 9:14 How much less shall I answer Him, and choose my words to argue with Him?- Job argues that God is sovereign in Heaven, with no evil rival (contrary to the view of the friends, and of many today). Therefore, who is a single man like Job to argue back with God? He would love his day in court with God, but he knows that however well he argues his case, God is so powerful that He will do what He wants anyway and so the whole legal case he fantasizes about would be a waste of time. Again, Job is accusing God of an abuse of power. God's response will be to talk even more of His vast power, picking up many of the aspects of creation which Job here touches on. And He leaves it at that. That is His response.

Job 9:15 Though I were righteous, yet I wouldn’t answer Him. I would make supplication to my judge-

Job feels overpowered by the irresistible and awful might of his opponent. His righteousness means nothing [athough we know from the prologue how much it meant to God his judge!]. He felt just one little guy in a legal case against the big business corporation. LXX "For though I be righteous, he will not hearken to me: I will intreat his judgment"; GNB "Though I am innocent, all I can do is beg for mercy from God my judge". The ambiguity of the original is perhaps intentional; for Job teeters between accepting his sinfulness, and yet claiming he is without sin. See on :35 for another example.

Job 9:16 If I had called, and He had answered me, yet I wouldn’t believe that He listened to my voice-

The legal language continues. Job says that even if he had managed to call God to account in court, and God had responded- he says that God wouldn't listen to him, and nobody could make God engage with him. He will repeat this desire to get God in court in Job 23:3-9: "Would that I knew where to find Him that I might come to his tribunal. I would lay my case before Him, would fill my mouth with [legal] arguments. I want to know what words He would answer me. I want to consider what He would say to me... and I could carry my case through successfully". If only he had known the prologue, and known how constantly high was God's impression of him and His feelings towards him!

Here is spiritual depression in its classic form. The cup is always seen as half empty rather than half full. Even answered prayer is seen as irrelevant and no proof that the God who appears so distant has in fact responded to little me. The weight of suffering and the sense that we are suffering at God's hand "without cause" (:17), with no discernible meaning attached to event, outweighs all the evidence of His intense love and interest in us. 

Job 9:17 For He bruises me with a storm, and multiplies my wounds without cause-

We know from the prologue that indeed Job's wounds are "without cause". But he draws a terribly wrong conclusion about God from that. We can translate "He would bruise me...". Even if, as described in :14-16, he managed to get God in court- God would just lash out at him again. What follows now in :17-21 is not so much a description of Job's present suffering, but rather his imagination of what God would do to him even if he ever did manage to get God into court to answer for His behaviour.

"Bruises" is the same word translated "bruise" in Gen. 3:15, thus implying that he is receiving the result of the covenant in Eden for no reason. Therefore he is finally led to acceptance of his sinfulness. The Lord Jesus must have been sorely tempted to adopt the same false reasoning of His great antitype, but He surely had learnt the lesson that Job like Himself was suffering as representative of God's people and not as a consequence of personal sin. The references earlier in Job 9 to God spreading out the Heavens and creating the stars show Job's mind at this time was set early in Genesis (:8-10). See on Job 10:9; 13:20-22. This is yet another lesson which comes out of Job- we are suffering the results of living in a fallen creation. The only ultimate answer to that is through the work of the seed of the woman, the Lord Jesus, and the resolution is not going to come completely in this life.

God had accused the Satan figure of wanting to have Job suffer "without cause" (Job 2:3 s.w.). And here Job repeats this. The Lord Jesus likewise suffered "without cause" (Ps. 69:4; 109:3 s.w.). Israel did suffer for a "cause" or reason- they had indeed sinned (s.w. Ez. 6:10; 14:23). Job as their representative, like the Lord Jesus, suffered those same judgments but without a cause.

Job 9:18 He will not allow me to catch my breath, but fills me with bitterness- "Catch" is the usual word for "return"; the complaint is that God doesn't allow Job to die, to return his breath or spirit to Him in death. The suggestion is that because God has total control over the moment of human death, there is absolutely no point in arguing back with Him. On this reading, he argues that God is a sadist because He won't let Job die. But as God didn't listen to Israel's words to Moses, wanting to remain in Egypt, so He doesn't do what Job asks- because He has a far more glorious "latter end" for him. It's no bad thing to list all the prayers of ours that were never answered.

Or we could read this as perhaps Job's response to Eliphaz's claim that God both wounds (:17) and heals (Job 5:18). Job's comment is that God wounds without cause- and keeps on doing so, not healing, not even a chance to catch his breath. Again, he presents God as a sadist, mercilessly chasing a panting man. He is cursing God.

Job 9:19 If it is a matter of strength, behold, He is mighty! If of justice, ‘Who’, says He, ‘will summon me?’- Job has been fantasizing about calling God to judgment. But he realizes that God would just flatly refuse. He is above the legal process of man, and Job is angry about this. Finally of course God will appear, and summon Job to judgment and condemn him.

No human strength or argument about justice is relevant; God cannot be summoned to court by man and placed in the dock. Therefore, one can only accept His ways and trust that He is ultimately right. That isn't what Job explicitly says nor wishes to recognize at this point, but his sufferings and reflections upon them lead him to be just moments away from this conclusion. And when God expresses this more specifically at the end of the book, He is only verbalizing what Job has already come to tacitly realize. And for us too, God's revelation in His word often simply confirms the understandings He has led us to through our sufferings in life.

Job 9:20 Though I am righteous, my own mouth shall condemn me. Though I am blameless, it shall prove me perverse-

The Hebrew is difficult. We could read: "If I justify myself, my own mouth shall condemn me; if I say I am perfect, it shall prove me perverse". But God considered him "perfect", despite those imperfections. Job didn't get to read the prologue that we readers have read. He failed to know how high was God's opinion of him; just as we can labour under false guilt, and consider that because man no longer loves us, then neither does God. 

The implication might be that Job considers that God will make him say the words confessing guilt,  even though he feels none.  

This can as well be rendered as AV "Though I be blameless", i.e. 'even if I were blameless', and likewise in :21. The ambiguity of the original is perhaps intentional; for Job teeters between accepting his sinfulness, and yet claiming he is without sin. See on :11,15 for other examples. God's opinion of Job was that he was "blameless" (Job 1:1). But as the drama progresses, Bildad argues that if Job were in fact "blameless" then God would not cast him away (Job 8:20 s.w.). Job absorbs this reasoning, and confesses that he is not "blameless" (Job 9:20,21 s.w.), and yet he is driven to the conclusion that the "blameless" and sinner are "destroyed together" by God (Job 9:22 s.w.). It's quite possible that in depression and periods of suffering, we can come to have a lower view of ourselves than that which God has of us; just as at other times we can have a higher view of ourselves spiritually than we ought to. There is true guilt, the guilt which we should take, and false guilt. And Job seems to have picked up the false guilt thrown upon him by Bildad. We too need to learn this difference between false and true guilt.

Those who are sure they won’t be condemned, taking the emblems with self-assurance, come together unto condemnation. Job knew this when he said that if he justifies himself, he will be condemned out of his own mouth (Job 9:20- he understood the idea of self-condemnation and judgment now). Isaiah also foresaw this, when he besought men (in the present tense): “Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty”, and then goes on to say that in the day of God’s final judgment, “[the rejected] shall go into the holes of the rock... for fear of the Lord and for the glory of His majesty when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth” (Is. 2:10,11,19-21). We must find a true, self-condemning humility now, unless it will be forced upon us at the judgment.

Job 9:21 I am blameless. I don’t respect myself- LXX "For even if I have sinned, I know it not in my soul" may be alluded to by Paul in 1 Cor. 4:4. Even if we have a good conscience, it is not our conscience which will stand and judge us at the last day. It is before God's word that we stand or fall. Or perhaps along with GNB we can read this as simply the nadir of spiritual depression: "I am innocent, but I no longer care. I am sick of living. Nothing matters; innocent or guilty, God will destroy us".

Here and by implication in other places, Job effectively says that there is no point in serving God or striving for obedience to God. This is what the priests of Israel later said after the restoration, to whom this book was partly addressed in its later rewriting: "It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept His ordinance?" (Mal. 3:14). Elihu claimed that Job "has said, It profits a man nothing that he should delight himself in God" (Job 34:9)- i.e. keep the commands of God, seeing that  the Hebrew for "delight" often occurs in the context of obedience to the word. The Malachi passage is more specifically alluding to Job 21:7,15: "What is the Almighty that we should serve Him? and what profit should we have, if we pray unto Him?". These are the words of Job, complaining about the prosperity of the wicked who had such an attitude, and the carefree happiness of their lives: "Their children dance. They take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ" (Job 21:11,12). It is in this that the Malachi context is so significant, for Mal. 3:15 continues: "We (the Israelites) call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up" . This was also Job's view. Notice that Job is probably implying that his prosperous three friends were among the wicked whom he is describing, thus associating them with the corrupt Jewish priesthood.

I despise my life- The grace of it all was that although he wanted to cast away his life (Job 7:16; 9:21), just as God's people cast away His covenant (Is. 8:6; 30:12; Jer. 6:19), God would not cast away His people in their exile and depression (s.w. Lev. 26:44), even if they cast Him away. Job felt despised or cast away by God (Job 10:14) just as the exiles did, but this wasn't the case; God will not despise or cast away His servant people (Job 36:5; Is. 41:9; Jer. 31:37; 33:26). Again and again, we who have read the prologue know that Job thinks God thinks about him in a negative way, when this was not at all the case. His great sin, for which he must repent, was in not seeing God for who He was, and not wanting to still see that God did love him.

Job 9:22 It is all the same. Therefore I say that He destroys the blameless and the wicked- Here we have another example of Job's disbelief in any future judgment. And yet these dialogues are an example of what happens when theology fails. Their theology was that obedience to God brings blessing, and disobedience results in curse. But that theology had failed. Job is driven to the understanding that there must surely be a future day of judgment, which meant resurrection, which meant God somehow revealed on earth at some latter day, when justice would finally be done. Likewise, he is increasingly driven to the reflection that life for all men, the good and the bad, is very brief- and for good and bad alike, ends in death: "together in the dust [all men] lie, and the worm will cover them" (Job 21:26). This clearly alludes to the curse upon man in Eden. All have sinned, and whether some sin more than others they all alike come to dust. Job suffered "without cause" and I don't discern any spiritual growth in him within the dialogues; but it would be true to say that his theology developed. And we are possibly intended to discern that.

This and :21 are in response to the statement in Job 8:20 "Behold, God will not cast away a blameless man". Job appears to argue with this in his reply, insisting that he is not "blameless" or (AV) "perfect" (Job 9:20,21). He realizes through this false statement of Bildad's that in fact God cannot require utter perfection in order to save a man; and at the same time, He clearly blesses the sinful and brings calamity to the righteous. The conclusion therefore is that there is no direct connection between sin and present suffering; and the salvation of the righteous, none of whom are "perfect", is by grace. And the narrative of the book of Job takes us beyond even that, suggesting that being blameless or perfect is only by God imputing that status to believers. For God's opinion of Job was that he was "blameless" (Job 1:1). But as the drama progresses, Bildad argues that if Job were in fact "blameless" then God would not cast him away (Job 8:20 s.w.). Job absorbs this reasoning, and confesses that he is not "blameless" (Job 9:20,21 s.w.), and yet he is driven to the conclusion that the "blameless" and sinner are "destroyed together" by God (Job 9:22 s.w.). It's quite possible that in depression and periods of suffering, we can come to have a lower view of ourselves than that which God has of us; just as at other times we can have a higher view of ourselves spiritually than we ought to. There is true guilt, the guilt which we should take, and false guilt. And Job seems to have picked up the false guilt thrown upon him by Bildad. We too need to learn this difference between false and true guilt. See on Job 8:6.

Job 9:23 If the scourge kills suddenly, He will mock at the trial of the innocent-

The scourge had indeed killed suddenly for Job and his family, and Job considers that God laughed or mocked at it. And he claims God would mock any trial, any court proceeding, even though Job is innocent. This is all blasphemous and God and Elihu will sharply reprove him later.

What began as what I called "the nadir of spiritual depression" in :21 now moves beyond that to outright false accusation towards God. For He does not mock at the "sudden" suffering of His people, such as Job experienced in the sudden loss of all he had. We marvel the more at God's final statement that Job had spoken rightly about Him (Job 42:7,8). That Divine comment may indeed simply be upon Job's statement of repentance. But all the same, we would expect God to clarify that was what He intended, and to offer some note that Job has indeed falsely accused Him. But God doesn't. He doesn't need to. He has completely justified Job by faith, clothing him with imputed righteousness. And His demonstration of His ways has in any case made the required point, and Job recognized that.

Job 9:24 The earth is given into the hand of the wicked. He covers the faces of its judges-

Job claims that God wants the wicked to prosper, and just as He Himself is [according to Job] totally lacking in integrity and has ignored the legal system, so, Job says, He has blinded the eyes of human judges.

Or we could argue that again Job is driven towards an understanding that God will finally bring about a day of justice when He gives the earth into the hands of the righteous. He realizes that all creation is to some extent in his situation- groaning for the manifestation of the sons of God, as Paul puts it.

If it be not He, then who is it?- I noted on Job 1:1; 3:8 that a major theme in the book of Job is the deconstruction of the ‘satan’ myth. A key passage is Job 9:24: “If it be not he, who then is it?” (R.V.); or as the G.N.B. puts it: “If God didn’t do it, who did?”. After all the theories of ‘Who’s responsible for all this evil in Job’s life?’, Job concludes that the source simply has to be God – and not anyone else. If He truly is all powerful, then who else could ultimately be responsible? Job states that “the cohorts of Rahab [a Canaanite ‘Satan’ figure] shall stoop under [God]” (Job 9:13), clearly alluding to the helpers of Tiamat in the Babylonian myth. “God alone stretches out the heavens, and treads on the back of Yam” – the sea, or sea–monster (Job 9:8). See on Job 10:8.

Job 9:25 Now my days are swifter than a runner. They flee away, they see no good- Seeing no good was the punishment upon God's exiled people because of their sins (s.w. Jer. 17:6; 29:32). Again we see Job suffering the judgment of sinners when he himself had not sinned. This was exactly what happened to the Lord on the cross.

Job 9:26 they have passed away as the swift ships, as the eagle that swoops on the prey- Heb. "ships of reed", alluding to the swift skiffs on the river Nile. Perceiving how quickly life has sped by is typical of the thoughts of dying men. I argued on Job 1:1 that Job was indeed a historical person, and the language he uses in his depression and illness is poetically formulated, but all the same has absolute verisimilitude to the thoughts and feelings of an actual person in his situation.

Job 9:27 If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint, I will put off my sad face, and cheer up’- As noted on :26, these thoughts are exactly true to life of a real historical person. He realizes that putting on a brave face and forgetting his sufferings for a moment- is just not going to work. He still suffers from a nagging sense of being wrong before God (:28), and it is this which is preparing the way for his final repentance at the end of the book.

Job 9:28 I am afraid of all my sorrows, I know that You will not hold me innocent- Job works himself up deeper and deeper into a position that is opposite to what is in fact God's position on him. Just as so many can do today. LXX "I quake in all my limbs". That quaking was apparently in prospect of the future judgment which he feared, although at other times Job longs for that judgment day to come. This again as noted on :26 is absolutely psychologically credible. Job may be using the term translated "innocent" in the sense of 'acquitted' as it is in Job 10:14. He fears God will not forgive him at the final judgment; and this is all part of the build up towards the final bursting of the tension at the end of the book, when God appears, condemns Job and then justifies and restores him. And all Job's fears are proven ultimately unnecessary- but only because of God's grace.   

Job 9:29 I shall be condemned. Why then do I labour in vain?- Job sees no point in the court case with God he dreams of, because he feels God will condemn him whatever. We of course know from the prologue that God had a very high opinion of him. He is so not getting God's view of him...

Job asks a total of 122 questions throughout his speeches. God responds by asking him 61 questions, exactly half the number Job asks Him. The correspondence is perhaps God giving a nod to the fact He knows Job has asked the 122 questions. He doesn't specifically answer any of them.

Job's reliance on works to bring justification with God is clearly seen here, as if to say 'If I've been condemned, all these good works I've done are vain- they won't give me the salvation I thought'. This again is part of the build up towards the final declaration of salvation by grace which we find in God's final revelation at the end.

Job 9:30 If I wash myself with snow, and cleanse my hands with lye- This was apparently the attitude of the exiles. The question "How can a man be just with God?" is the same question as 'How can a man ever be clean before a perfect God?', and is repeated in this form in Job 15:15; 25:5.     They had considered themselves cleansed whiter than snow because of their obedience to some parts of the Mosaic law (Lam. 4:7), but failed to accept that such cleansing to be whiter than snow is only possible by doing what David did, and casting ourselves upon God's grace outside of justification by works (Ps. 51:7). Job was to learn this lesson at the end. It was this offer which was made to Job just as it was to Judah under judgment (Is. 1:18).

Job 9:31 yet You will plunge me in the ditch. My own clothes shall abhor me- This again is Job allowing his depression to lead him to unreasonable statements about God, and not speaking right about Him. The fact we are sinners doesn't mean that God makes us dirty; we make our own clothes dirty. The word translated "ditch" is usually used in Job about the grave or "pit" (Job 17:14; 33:18,22,24,28,30); so the idea may be that all the same, for all his efforts to be righteous and cleanse his own sin, God will plunge Job into the grave at the end.   

Job 9:32 For He is not a man, as I am, that I should answer Him, that we should come together in judgment- Job in his own righteousness and amateur attempts to fix up his own sins was unable to come "together" or "at one" with God in judgment. Job is driven to realize his need for outside help (:33), but by the nature of his situation that help needed to be somehow also "a man" who still could approach to God as his advocate. He was driven to his need for the Lord Jesus, who is presented as the ultimate answer to this need- a man of human nature, but sinless Son of God.

Job says that he can't get God to come to judgment. But God will bring him to judgment!

Job 9:33 There is no umpire between us, that might lay his hand on us both- The word for "umpire" suggests 'one who is right', a reasoner, an advocate, one who pleads (s.w. Job 16:21), a reprover (Job 40:2 s.w.). Job's request is not simply for a mediator; he would have used a different word if so. He seems to want to put God in the dock, but knows this is not appropriate; he wants someone else to do this who can legitimately do it. And he is rebuked for this in Job 40:2.

But to lay the hand means to impose his power and authority on both parties, and do justice between the two. Job wants someone more powerful than God. This isn't necessarily a prophecy of Jesus nor a desire for a mediator- it is a desire for someone more powerful that God. Yet there is nobody like that. And yet in another sense, Job is at least being driven to seek a mediator. But God will appear in person at the end of the book, directly to Job, without any mediator.

Job 9:34 Let Him take his rod away from me- "Take His rod away" is the very same phrase used in Gen. 49:10, promising that the sceptre (s.w. "rod") would not be taken away (s.w.) from Judah. Judah would always have God's rod or sceptre with them; David likewise takes comfort from the fact that God's "rod and staff" remained with him and were not taken away from him (Ps. 23:4 s.w.). We see here God's grace in not in fact answering every prayer of a depressed or misunderstanding believer; we can likely look back in our own lives and see examples of this. The exiles experienced God's "rod" (s.w. Lam. 3:1), and only those who passed beneath it could enter the restored Kingdom (s.w. Ez. 20:37). The desire to not experience the rod was therefore precluding a necessary step towards entrance into the Kingdom.

Let His terror not make me afraid- Job repeats this fear in Job 13:21, and Elihu alludes to it when he uses the same phrase in assuring Job that his terror will not make Job afraid (Job 33:7). The terror is perhaps "the terror of the Lord", the fear of condemnation at the last day (so Paul uses the phrase, 2 Cor. 5:11). That terror should "persuade men" to accept grace, Paul argues. To have that terror unexperienced by men would mean they had no persuasion toward grace. Job is saying that God is intentionally terrifying him by throwing His power around. He is accusing God of bullying and abuse of power...

Job 9:35 then I would speak, and not fear Him; but I am not in such a position within myself- LXX "So shall I not be afraid, but I will speak: for I am not thus conscious of guilt". The ambiguity of the original is perhaps intentional; for Job teeters between accepting his sinfulness, and yet claiming he is without sin. See on :15 for another example.