Job 34

19. ( Acts 10:34 , 2 Chronicles 19:7 , Proverbs 22:2 , Job 31:15 ).

20. they--"the rich" and "princes" who offend God.
the people--namely, of the guilty princes: guilty also themselves.
at midnight--image from a night attack of an enemy on a camp, which becomes an easy prey ( Exodus 12:29 Exodus 12:30 ).
without hand--without visible agency, by the mere word of God (so Job 20:26 , Zechariah 4:6 , Daniel 2:34 ).

21. God's omniscience and omnipotence enable Him to execute immediate justice. He needs not to be long on the "watch," as Job thought ( Job 7:12 , 2 Chronicles 16:9 , Jeremiah 32:19 ).

22. shadow of death--thick darkness ( Amos 9:2 Amos 9:3 , Psalms 139:12 ).

23. ( 1 Corinthians 10:13 , Lamentations 3:32 , Isaiah 27:8 ). Better, as UMBREIT, "He does not (needs not to) regard (as in Job 34:14 , Isaiah 41:20 ) man long (so Hebrew, Genesis 46:29 ) in order that he may go (be brought by God) into judgment." Literally, "lest his (attention) upon men" ( Job 11:10 Job 11:11 ). So Job 34:24 , "without number" ought to be translated, "without [needing any] searching out," such as has to be made in human judgments.

24. break in pieces--( Psalms 2:9 , Job 12:18 , Daniel 2:21 ).

25. Therefore--because He knows all things ( Job 34:21 ). He knows their works, without a formal investigation ( Job 34:24 ).
in the night--suddenly, unexpectedly ( Job 34:20 ). Fitly in the night, as it was in it that the godless hid themselves ( Job 34:22 ). UMBREIT, less simply, for "overturneth," translates, "walketh"; that is, God is ever on the alert, discovering all wickedness.

26. He striketh them--chasteneth.
as--that is, because they are wicked.
sight of others--Sinners hid themselves in darkness; therefore they are punished before all, in open day. Image from the place of public execution ( Job 40:12 , Exodus 14:30 , 2 Samuel 12:12 ).

27, 28. The grounds of their punishment in Job 34:26 . Job 34:28 states in what respect they "considered not God's ways," namely, by oppression, whereby "they caused the cry," &c.

29. ( Proverbs 16:7 , Isaiah 26:3 ).
make trouble--rather, "condemn" ( Romans 8:33 Romans 8:34 ). MAURER, from the reference being only to the godless, in the next clause, and Job 34:20 translates, "When God keeps quiet" (leaves men to perish) Psalms 83:1 ; [UMBREIT] from the Arabic (strikes to the earth), "who shall condemn Him as unjust?" Job 34:17 .
hideth . . . face--( Job 23:8 Job 23:9 , Psalms 13:1 ).
it be done--Whether it be against a guilty nation ( 2 Kings 18:9-12 ) or an individual, that God acts so.

30. Ensnared--into sin ( 1 Kings 12:28 1 Kings 12:30 ). Or rather, "enthralled by further oppression," Job 34:26-28 .

31. Job accordingly says so ( Job 40:3-5 , Micah 7:9 , Leviticus 26:41 ). It was to lead him to this that Elihu was sent. Though no hypocrite, Job, like all, had sin; therefore through affliction he was to be brought to humble himself under God. All sorrow is a proof of the common heritage of sin, in which the godly shares; and therefore he ought to regard it as a merciful correction. UMBREIT and MAURER lose this by translating, as the Hebrew will bear, "Has any a right to say to God, I have borne chastisement and yet have not sinned?" (so Job 34:6 ).
borne--namely, the penalty of sin, as in Leviticus 5:1 Leviticus 5:17 .
offend--literally, "to deal destructively or corruptly" ( Nehemiah 1:7 ).

32. ( Job 10:2 , Psalms 32:8 , 19:12 , Psalms 139:23 Psalms 139:24 ).
no more--( Proverbs 28:13 , Ephesians 4:22 ).

33. Rather, "should God recompense (sinners) according to thy mind? Then it is for thee to reject and to choose, and not me" [UMBREIT]; or as MAURER, "For thou hast rejected God's way of recompensing; state therefore thy way, for thou must choose, not I," that is, it is thy part, not mine, to show a better way than God's.

34, 35. Rather, "men . . . will say to me, and the wise man ( Job 34:2 Job 34:10 ) who hearkens to me (will say), 'Job hath spoken,'" &c.

36. Margin, not so well, "My father," Elihu addressing God. This title does not elsewhere occur in Job.
tried--by calamities.
answers for wicked godly are not removed until they produce the effect designed.

37. clappeth . . . hands--in scorn ( Job 27:23 , Ezekiel 21:17 ).
multiplieth . . . words--( Job 11:2 , 35:16 ). To his original "sin" to correct which trials have been sent, "he adds rebellion," that is, words arraigning God's justice.