Job 35:5

5 Look at the heavens and see; observe the clouds, which are higher than you.

Job 35:5 Meaning and Commentary

Job 35:5

Look unto the heavens, and see
The firmament of heaven, in which are the sun and moon and stars:

and behold the clouds [which] are higher than thou;
the clouds of the air or sky, which are lower than the starry heavens, yet these were higher than Job, and much more the starry heavens: but because the word has the signification of "thinness", which does not so well agree with the clouds, which are thick substances, condensed air; some take it to be meant of the supreme region of the heavens, which is pure and thin; so Sephorno: and Job is directed to look to these, not as stargazers do, such as are given to judicial astrology, to judge of the fates of men and kingdoms; but rather thereby to be led to the contemplation of God the author of them, and the glorious perfections of his being they display; and chiefly to observe the height of them, that they were out of his reach, and he could neither help them nor hurt them; that he could neither increase nor diminish the light of the celestial bodies, which he could only behold; nor either advance or hinder their course, nor in the least add to or abate their influence and efficacy; and if he could neither be beneficial nor harmful to them, how was it possible that he could be of any advantage or detriment to God, by any actions of his, good or bad, who is higher and out of sight? This is the answer Elihu in general returned, he more particularly replies as follows.

Job 35:5 In-Context

3 If you ask, "What advantage have I? How am I better off than if I had sinned?'
4 I will answer you and your friends with you.
5 Look at the heavens and see; observe the clouds, which are higher than you.
6 If you have sinned, what do you accomplish against him? And if your transgressions are multiplied, what do you do to him?
7 If you are righteous, what do you give to him; or what does he receive from your hand?
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.