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Selected Verse: Job 34:16 - Strong Concordance

Verse	Translation	Text
Job 34:16	Strong Concordance	If now thou hast understanding [0998], hear [08085] this: hearken [0238] to the voice [06963] of my words [04405].
	King James	If now thou hast understanding, hear this: hearken to the voice of my words.

Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse

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A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
In Job 34:2, Elihu had spoken to all in general, now he calls Job's special attention.

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

In Job 34:2, Elihu had spoken to all in general, now he calls Job's special attention.

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
If now thou hast understanding hear this - This appears to be addressed to Job. The discourse before this had been directed to his three friends, but Elihu appears here to have turned to Job, and to have made a solemn appeal to him, whether this were not so. In the subsequent verses he remonstrates with him about his views, and shows him that what he had said implied severe reflections on the character and government of God.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]
16 And oh understand now, hear this; Hearken to the sound of my words. 17 Would one who hateth right also be able to subdue? Or wilt thou condemn the All-just? 18 Is it becoming to say to a king: Worthless One!? Thou evil-doer! to princes? 19 To Him who accepteth not the person of rulers, And regardeth not the noble before the poor: For they are all the work of His hands. 20 In a moment they die, and at midnight The people are overthrown and perish, And they put aside the mighty - not by the hand of man. This strophe contains several grammatical rarities. At first sight it appears that Job 34:16 ought to be translated: "and if there is understanding (viz., to thee = if thou hast), then hear this." But בּינה is accented as Milel and with Mercha, and can therefore not be a substantive (Hirz., Hahn, and others); for the retreat of the accent would be absolutely incomprehensible, and instead of a conjunctive, a distinctive, viz., Dech, ought to be expected. Several of the old expositors, therefore, interpret with Nolde: quod quum ita sit, intellige; but this elliptical ואם, well as it might also be used for Job 21:4, is unsupportable; the Makkeph between the two words is also against it, which rather arises from the assumption that בּינה is the imperat., and אם as an exception, like Gen 23:13, is an optative particle joined to the imper. 2 instead of to the fut.: "and if thou shouldst observe" (= ואם־תּבין). To translate Job 34:17 with Schultens: num iram osor judicii frenabit, is impracticable on account of the order of the words, and gives a thought that is inappropriate here. אף is a particle, and the fut. is potentialis: is it also possible that an enemy of right should govern? (חבשׁ, imperio coercere, as אצר Sa1 9:17, אסר Psa 105:22); right and government are indeed mutually conditioned, without right everything would fall into anarchy and confusion. In Job 34:17 this is applied to the Ruler of the world: or (ואם, an, as Job 8:3; Job 21:4; Job 40:9) wilt thou condemn the mighty just One, i.e., the All-just? As Elihu calls God שׂגּיא כח, Job 37:23, as the Almighty, and as the Omniscient One, תּמים דּעים, Job 37:16, so here as the All-just One, צדּיק כּבּיר. The two adjectives are put side by side ἀσυνδέτως, as is frequently the case in Arabic, and form one compound idea, Ew. 270, d. Job 34:18 The interrogative ה is joined to the inf., not, however, as Job 40:2 (num litigare cum Deo castigator, scil. vult), with the inf. absol., but with the inf. constr.; the form אמר for אמר occurs also in Pro 25:7, and is also otherwise not rare, especially in combination with particles, e.g., בּאכל, Num 26:10, Olsh. 160, b. (Note: Eze 25:8 is also to be read אמר according to the Masora and old editions (as אבד Deu 7:20, אכל Deu 12:23, אחז Kg1 6:6), for distinction from the imperatives, which have Chateph-Segol.) It is unnecessary to suppose that the inf. constr., which sometimes, although rarely, does occur (Ges. 131, rem. 2), is used here instead of the inf. absol.; it is thus, as after טּוב, e.g., Jdg 9:2 (המשׁל), Pro 24:7; Psa 133:1, and Psa 40:6 after אין, used as n. actionis, since ha in a pregnant sense is equivalent to num licet (הטוב), if one does not prefer, with Olsh., to suppose an aposiopesis: "(dare one be so bold as) to say to a king: Thou worthless one! Thou evil-doer! to princes?" The reading האמר is an unnecessary lightening of the difficulty. It were a crimen laesae, if one reproached a king with being unjust, and therefore thereby denied him the most essential requisite of a ruler; and now even Him (Merc. correctly supplies tanto minus ei) who does not give the preference to the person (נשׂא פּני as Job 13:8; Job 32:21) of princes, and does not (with preference) regard (on נכּר vid., on Job 21:29, also here Piel, and according to the statement of the Masora, Milel, for an acknowledged reason which can be maintained even in remarkable instances, like Deu 10:5 in ויהיו, Eze 32:26 in מחללי, whereas Sa1 23:7 is Milra) the rich before (לפני in the sense of prae) the poor! therefore the King of kings, who makes no partial distinction, because the king and the beggar are the work of His hands: they stand equally near to Him as being His creatures, and He is exalted above both alike as their Creator, this order and partiality are excluded; - what a nota bene against the doctrine of the decretum absolutum, which makes the love of the Creator a partial love, and turns this love, which in its very nature is perfect love, into caprice! In Job 34:20 Elihu appeals to human history in favour of this impartiality of the Ruler of the world. It may there appear as though God with partiality suffered rulers and peoples in authority in the world to do as they please; but suddenly they die away, and in fact in the middle of the night (here Mercha-mahpach), the individuals of a great people (thus must עם be understood in accordance with the prominently-placed plur. predicate, Ges. 146, 1) tremble and perish; and they remove (ויסירוּ instead of the passive, as Job 4:20 and frequently) the mighty - לא־ביד. It is not the hand of man which does this, but an invisible higher power (which, if it is called yd, only bears this name per anthropomorphismum); comp. Dan 2:34, לא בידין; Dan 8:25, בּאפס יד; and also Job 20:26, like the New Testament use of ου ̓ χειροποίητος. The subj. of Job 34:20 are the previously mentioned princes. The division according to the accents may be received with hesitation, since the symmetry of the sticks, which it restores, is not unfrequently wanting in the Elihu section. Job 34:20 refers back to the possessors of power, and in the interval, Job 34:20 describes the fate of those who belong to the people which has become subservient to their lust of conquest, for עם cannot signify "in crowds" (Ew., Hahn); it is therefore, and especially when mentioned as here between princes and rulers, the people, and in fact, in distinction from gwy, the people together forming a state.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]

16 And oh understand now, hear this;

Hearken to the sound of my words.

17 Would one who hateth right also be able to subdue?

Or wilt thou condemn the All-just?

18 Is it becoming to say to a king: Worthless One!?

Thou evil-doer! to princes?

19 To Him who accepteth not the person of rulers,

And regardeth not the noble before the poor:

For they are all the work of His hands.

20 In a moment they die, and at midnight

The people are overthrown and perish,

And they put aside the mighty - not by the hand of man.

This strophe contains several grammatical rarities. At first sight it appears that Job 34:16 ought to be translated: "and if there is understanding (viz., to thee = if thou hast), then hear this." But בּינה is accented as Milel and with Mercha, and can therefore not be a substantive (Hirz., Hahn, and others); for the retreat of the accent would be absolutely incomprehensible, and instead of a conjunctive, a distinctive, viz., Dech, ought to be expected. Several of the old expositors, therefore, interpret with Nolde: quod quum ita sit, intellige; but this elliptical ואם, well as it might also be used for Job 21:4, is unsupportable; the Makkeph between the two words is also against it, which rather arises from the assumption that בּינה is the imperat., and אם as an exception, like Gen 23:13, is an optative particle joined to the imper. 2 instead of to the fut.: "and if thou shouldst observe" (= ואם־תּבין). To translate Job 34:17 with Schultens: num iram osor judicii frenabit, is impracticable on account of the order of the words, and gives a thought that is inappropriate here. אף is a particle, and the fut. is potentialis: is it also possible that an enemy of right should govern? (חבשׁ, imperio coercere, as אצר Sa1 9:17, אסר Psa 105:22); right and government are indeed mutually conditioned, without right everything would fall into anarchy and confusion. In Job 34:17 this is applied to the Ruler of the world: or (ואם, an, as Job 8:3; Job 21:4; Job 40:9) wilt thou condemn the mighty just One, i.e., the All-just? As Elihu calls God שׂגּיא כח, Job 37:23, as the Almighty, and as the Omniscient One, תּמים דּעים, Job 37:16, so here as the All-just One, צדּיק כּבּיר. The two adjectives are put side by side ἀσυνδέτως, as is frequently the case in Arabic, and form one compound idea, Ew. 270, d.

Job 34:18

The interrogative ה is joined to the inf., not, however, as Job 40:2 (num litigare cum Deo castigator, scil. vult), with the inf. absol., but with the inf. constr.; the form אמר for אמר occurs also in Pro 25:7, and is also otherwise not rare, especially in combination with particles, e.g., בּאכל, Num 26:10, Olsh. 160, b.

(Note: Eze 25:8 is also to be read אמר according to the Masora and old editions (as אבד Deu 7:20, אכל Deu 12:23, אחז Kg1 6:6), for distinction from the imperatives, which have Chateph-Segol.)

It is unnecessary to suppose that the inf. constr., which sometimes, although rarely, does occur (Ges. 131, rem. 2), is used here instead of the inf. absol.; it is thus, as after טּוב, e.g., Jdg 9:2 (המשׁל), Pro 24:7; Psa 133:1, and Psa 40:6 after אין, used as n. actionis, since ha in a pregnant sense is equivalent to num licet (הטוב), if one does not prefer, with Olsh., to suppose an aposiopesis: "(dare one be so bold as) to say to a king: Thou worthless one! Thou evil-doer! to princes?" The reading האמר is an unnecessary lightening of the difficulty. It were a crimen laesae, if one reproached a king with being unjust, and therefore thereby denied him the most essential requisite of a ruler; and now even Him (Merc. correctly supplies tanto minus ei) who does not give the preference to the person (נשׂא פּני as Job 13:8; Job 32:21) of princes, and does not (with preference) regard (on נכּר vid., on Job 21:29, also here Piel, and according to the statement of the Masora, Milel, for an acknowledged reason which can be maintained even in remarkable instances, like Deu 10:5 in ויהיו, Eze 32:26 in מחללי, whereas Sa1 23:7 is Milra) the rich before (לפני in the sense of prae) the poor! therefore the King of kings, who makes no partial distinction, because the king and the beggar are the work of His hands: they stand equally near to Him as being His creatures, and He is exalted above both alike as their Creator, this order and partiality are excluded; - what a nota bene against the doctrine of the decretum absolutum, which makes the love of the Creator a partial love, and turns this love, which in its very nature is perfect love, into caprice! In Job 34:20 Elihu appeals to human history in favour of this impartiality of the Ruler of the world. It may there appear as though God with partiality suffered rulers and peoples in authority in the world to do as they please; but suddenly they die away, and in fact in the middle of the night (here Mercha-mahpach), the individuals of a great people (thus must עם be understood in accordance with the prominently-placed plur. predicate, Ges. 146, 1) tremble and perish; and they remove (ויסירוּ instead of the passive, as Job 4:20 and frequently) the mighty - לא־ביד. It is not the hand of man which does this, but an invisible higher power (which, if it is called yd, only bears this name per anthropomorphismum); comp. Dan 2:34, לא בידין; Dan 8:25, בּאפס יד; and also Job 20:26, like the New Testament use of ου ̓ χειροποίητος. The subj. of Job 34:20 are the previously mentioned princes. The division according to the accents may be received with hesitation, since the symmetry of the sticks, which it restores, is not unfrequently wanting in the Elihu section. Job 34:20 refers back to the possessors of power, and in the interval, Job 34:20 describes the fate of those who belong to the people which has become subservient to their lust of conquest, for עם cannot signify "in crowds" (Ew., Hahn); it is therefore, and especially when mentioned as here between princes and rulers, the people, and in fact, in distinction from gwy, the people together forming a state.

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² Hear [08085] my words [04405], O ye wise [02450] men; and give ear [0238] unto me, ye that have knowledge [03045].

²⁰ In a moment [07281] shall they die [04191], and the people [05971] shall be troubled [01607] at midnight [02676] [03915], and pass away [05674]: and the mighty [047] shall be taken away [05493] without hand [03027].

²⁶ All darkness [02822] shall be hid [02934] in his secret places [06845]: a fire [0784] not blown [05301] shall consume [0398] him; it shall go ill [03415] with him that is left [08300] in his tabernacle [0168].

²⁵ And through his policy [07922] also he shall cause craft [04820] to prosper [06743] in his hand [03027]; and he shall magnify [01431] himself in his heart [03824], and by peace [07962] shall destroy [07843] many [07227]: he shall also stand up [05975] against the Prince [08269] of princes [08269]; but he shall be broken [07665] without [0657] hand [03027].

³⁴ Thou sawest [02370] [01934] till [05705] that a stone [069] was cut out [01505] without [03809] hands [03028], which smote [04223] the image [06755] upon [05922] his feet [07271] that were of iron [06523] and clay [02635], and brake [01855] them [01994] to pieces [01855].

²⁰ They are destroyed [03807] from morning [01242] to evening [06153]: they perish [06] for ever [05331] without any regarding [07760] it.

⁷ And it was told [05046] Saul [07586] that David [01732] was come [0935] to Keilah [07084]. And Saul [07586] said [0559], God [0430] hath delivered [05234] him into mine hand [03027]; for he is shut in [05462], by entering [0935] into a town [05892] that hath gates [01817] and bars [01280].

²⁶ There is Meshech [04902], Tubal [08422], and all her multitude [01995]: her graves [06913] are round about [05439] him: all of them uncircumcised [06189], slain [02490] by the sword [02719], though they caused [05414] their terror [02851] in the land [0776] of the living [02416].

⁵ And I turned [06437] myself and came down [03381] from the mount [02022], and put [07760] the tables [03871] in the ark [0727] which I had made [06213]; and there they be, as the LORD [03068] commanded [06680] me.

²⁹ Have ye not asked [07592] them that go [05674] by the way [01870]? and do ye not know [05234] their tokens [0226],

²¹ Let me not, I pray you, accept [05375] any man's [0376] person [06440], neither let me give flattering titles [03655] unto man [0120].

⁸ Will ye accept [05375] his person [06440]? will ye contend [07378] for God [0410]?

⁶ Sacrifice [02077] and offering [04503] thou didst not desire [02654]; mine ears [0241] hast thou opened [03738]: burnt offering [05930] and sin offering [02401] hast thou not required [07592].

¹ A Song [07892] of degrees [04609] of David [01732]. Behold, how good [02896] and how pleasant [05273] it is for brethren [0251] to dwell [03427] together [03162] in unity [03162]!

⁷ Wisdom [02454] is too high [07311] for a fool [0191]: he openeth [06605] not his mouth [06310] in the gate [08179].

² Speak [01696], I pray you, in the ears [0241] of all the men [01167] of Shechem [07927], Whether is better [02896] for you, either that all the sons [01121] of Jerubbaal [03378], which are threescore and ten [07657] persons [0376], reign [04910] over you, or that one [0259] reign [04910] over you? remember [02142] also that I am your bone [06106] and your flesh [01320].

⁶ The nethermost [08481] chamber [03326] [03326] was five [02568] cubits [0520] broad [07341], and the middle [08484] was six [08337] cubits [0520] broad [07341], and the third [07992] was seven [07651] cubits [0520] broad [07341]: for without in the wall of [02351] the house [01004] he made [05414] narrowed rests [04052] round about [05439], that the beams should not be fastened [0270] in the walls [07023] of the house [01004].

²³ Only be sure [02388] that thou eat [0398] not the blood [01818]: for the blood [01818] is the life [05315]; and thou mayest not eat [0398] the life [05315] with the flesh [01320].

²⁰ Moreover the LORD [03068] thy God [0430] will send [07971] the hornet [06880] among them, until they that are left [07604], and hide [05641] themselves from [06440] thee, be destroyed [06].

⁸ Thus saith [0559] the Lord [0136] GOD [03069]; Because [03282] that Moab [04124] and Seir [08165] do say [0559], Behold, the house [01004] of Judah [03063] is like unto all the heathen [01471];

¹⁰ And the earth [0776] opened [06605] her mouth [06310], and swallowed them up [01104] together with Korah [07141], when that company [05712] died [04194], what time the fire [0784] devoured [0398] two hundred [03967] and fifty [02572] men [0376]: and they became a sign [05251].

⁷ For better [02896] it is that it be said [0559] unto thee, Come up [05927] hither; than that thou shouldest be put lower [08213] in the presence [06440] of the prince [05081] whom thine eyes [05869] haveseen [07200].

² Shall he that contendeth [07378] with the Almighty [07706] instruct [03250] him? he that reproveth [03198] God [0433], let him answer [06030] it.

¹⁸ Is it fit to say [0559] to a king [04428], Thou art wicked [01100]? and to princes [05081], Ye are ungodly [07563]?

¹⁶ Dost thou know [03045] the balancings [04657] of the clouds [05645], the wondrous works [04652] of him which is perfect [08549] in knowledge [01843]?

²³ Touching the Almighty [07706], we cannot find him out [04672]: he is excellent [07689] in power [03581], and in judgment [04941], and in plenty [07230] of justice [06666]: he will not afflict [06031].

⁹ Hast thou an arm [02220] like God [0410]? or canst thou thunder [07481] with a voice [06963] like him?

⁴ As for me, is my complaint [07879] to man [0120]? and if it were so, why should not my spirit [07307] be troubled [07114]?

³ Doth God [0410] pervert [05791] judgment [04941]? or doth the Almighty [07706] pervert [05791] justice [06664]?

¹⁷ Shall even he that hateth [08130] right [04941] govern [02280]? and wilt thou condemn [07561] him that is most [03524] just [06662]?

²² To bind [0631] his princes [08269] at his pleasure [05315]; and teach his senators [02205] wisdom [02449].

¹⁷ And when Samuel [08050] saw [07200] Saul [07586], the LORD [03068] said [06030] unto him, Behold the man [0376] whom I spake [0559] to thee of! this same shall reign [06113] over my people [05971].

¹⁷ Shall even he that hateth [08130] right [04941] govern [02280]? and wilt thou condemn [07561] him that is most [03524] just [06662]?

¹³ And he spake [01696] unto Ephron [06085] in the audience [0241] of the people [05971] of the land [0776], saying [0559], But if thou wilt give it, I pray thee [03863], hear [08085] me: I will give [05414] thee money [03701] for the field [07704]; take [03947] it of me, and I will bury [06912] my dead [04191] there.

⁴ As for me, is my complaint [07879] to man [0120]? and if it were so, why should not my spirit [07307] be troubled [07114]?

¹⁶ If now thou hast understanding [0998], hear [08085] this: hearken [0238] to the voice [06963] of my words [04405].