Job 33:1-5, On the tip of my tongue
"But now, Job, listen to my words;
pay attention to everything I say.
I am about to open my mouth;
my words are on the tip of my tongue.
My words come from an upright heart;
my lips sincerely speak what I know.
The Spirit of God has made me;
the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
Answer me then, if you can;
prepare yourself and confront me.
Elihu challenges Job to now answer him. (But Job has already ended his claims.) Elihu believes he is speaking under the influence of the Spirit of God and insists that Job listen to him. After all, says Elihu, his words come from an upright heart!
Hartley says that Elihu's address of Job by name, without any titles of respect for an older man, is one more indicator of Elihu's arrogance.
Job 33:6-11, Also from clay
I am just like you before God;
I too have been taken from clay.
No fear of me should alarm you,
nor should my hand be heavy upon you.
"But you have said in my hearing
-- I heard the very words--
`I am pure and without sin;
I am clean and free from guilt.
Yet God has found fault with me;
he considers me his enemy.
He fastens my feet in shackles;
he keeps close watch on all my paths.'
Elihu begins by claiming that, just like Job, he too was molded from clay. (This echoes Genesis 2: 7.)
Like the others before him, Elihu misstates Job's words -- Job has not claimed "purity" but "innocence" -- that is, Job has claimed that the life he has lived (and attempted to live) does not reflect the punishment. However, Elihu's final quote of Job, verse 11, is accurate and comses from Job 13: 27.
There may be some wordplay in verse 10 where Elihu claims that Job (Iyyob) sees God as enemy (oyeb.)
Job 33:12-18, God speaks in many ways
"But I tell you, in this you are not right,
for God is greater than man.
Why do you complain to him that he answers none of man's words?
For God does speak--now one way,
now another-- though man may not perceive it.
In a dream, in a vision of the night,
when deep sleep falls on men as they slumber in their beds,
he may speak in their ears
and terrify them with warnings,
to turn man from wrongdoing
and keep him from pride,
to preserve his soul from the pit,
his life from perishing by the sword.
Elihu emphasizes that God speaks to humans in various ways, now one way, now another, even if mankind misses the message. This is all for the good of mankind, turning people away from destruction. Elihu says that these communications may include dreams at night. The mention of dreams and night visions agrees with Eliphaz's earlier claims of a night vision in Job 4: 12-21 and Job's statements in Job 7: 13-14.
The warning against pride is typical of the Old Testament Wisdom teachings -- see Proverbs 16: 18, for example.
Job 33:19-22, Sickness gets mans' attention
Or a man may be chastened on a bed of pain
with constant distress in his bones,
so that his very being finds food repulsive
and his soul loathes the choicest meal.
His flesh wastes away to nothing,
and his bones, once hidden, now stick out.
His soul draws near to the pit,
and his life to the messengers of death.
Or, instead of night visions, God makes a person sick and close to death, to get his attention
Job 33:23-28, An angel on his side
"Yet if there is an angel on his side as a mediator,
one out of a thousand,
to tell a man what is right for him,
to be gracious to him and say, `Spare him from going down to the pit;
I have found a ransom for him'--
then his flesh is renewed like a child's;
it is restored as in the days of his youth.
He prays to God and finds favor with him,
he sees God's face and shouts for joy;
he is restored by God to his righteous state.
Then he comes to men and says, `I sinned,
and perverted what was right,
but I did not get what I deserved.
He redeemed my soul from going down to the pit,
and I will live to enjoy the light.'
Elihu seems to believe that there is a heavenly mediator at one's side, ready to help rescue one if he turns around and is obedient to God. Elihu, like the previous three acquaintances, is admonishing Job to repent before the pit swallows him up.
To quote Hartley, "The identity of this angel is uncertain." The word "angel" in verse 23 is literally "messenger"; could Elihu merely mean a human advocate, like himself? Or could he mean an ordinary ("one in a thousand") supernatural angel? Could this be the Messiah or the "Son of the gods" of Daniel 3: 24-25? Or the "angel of YHWH" as in Genesis 16: 7-13? The passage does not really provide much information and the Elihu has already been portrayed by the author as arrogant and unreliable.
Job 33:29-30, To turn back his soul
"God does all these things to a man--
twice, even three times--
to turn back his soul from the pit,
that the light of life may shine on him.
Elihu emphasizes that God is always ready to turn someone around and save him. In this setting, the message is that there is still time for Job to repent.
Job 33:31-33, Listen, Job!
"Pay attention, Job, and listen to me;
be silent, and I will speak.
If you have anything to say, answer me;
speak up, for I want you to be cleared.
But if not, then listen to me;
be silent, and I will teach you wisdom."
Elihu insists that Job listen to him and then answer him. But Job will be silent and so the next chapter will give a new speech by young Elihu.
Hartley suggests that Elihu is offered here as comic relief. In his enthusiasm, Elihu is running roughshod over the past conversations, ignoring everything that Job has said.
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