Jó 42

ARC · Chapter 42/42

¹Então respondeu Job ao Senhor, e disse:

²Bem sei eu que tudo podes, e nenhum dos teus pensamentos pode ser impedido.

³Quem é aquelle, dizes tu, que sem conhecimento encobre o conselho? por isso relatei o que não entendia; coisas que para mim eram maravilhosissimas, e eu as não entendia.

⁴Escuta-me pois, e eu fallarei: eu te perguntarei, e tu me ensinas.

⁵Com o ouvido das orelhas te ouvi, mas agora te vê o meu olho.

⁶Por isso me abomino e me arrependo no pó e na cinza.

⁷Succedeu pois que, acabando o Senhor de fallar a Job aquellas palavras, o Senhor disse a Eliphaz, o temanita: A minha ira se accendeu contra ti, e contra os teus dois amigos; porque não fallaste de mim o que era recto, como o meu servo Job.

⁸Tomae pois sete bezerros e sete carneiros, e ide ao meu servo Job, e offerecei holocaustos por vós, e o meu servo Job orará por vós: porque devéras a elle acceitarei, para que vos não trate conforme a vossa loucura; porque vós não fallastes de mim o que era recto como o meu servo Job.

⁹Então foram Eliphaz, o temanita, e Bildad, o suhita, e Sofar, o naamathita, e fizeram como o Senhor lhes dissera: e o Senhor acceitou a face de Job.

¹⁰E o Senhor virou o captiveiro de Job, quando orava pelos seus amigos: e o Senhor accrescentou a Job outro tanto em dobro, a tudo quanto d'antes possuia.

¹¹Então vieram a elle todos os seus irmãos, e todas as suas irmãs, e todos quantos d'antes o conheceram, e comeram com elle pão em sua casa, e se condoeram d'elle, e o consolaram ácerca de todo o mal que o Senhor lhe havia enviado: e cada um d'elles lhe deu uma peça de dinheiro, e cada um um pendente de oiro.

¹²E assim abençoou o Senhor ao ultimo estado de Job, mais do que o primeiro: porque teve quatorze mil ovelhas, e seis mil camelos, e mil juntas de bois, e mil jumentas.

¹³Tambem teve sete filhos e tres filhas.

¹⁴E chamou o nome da primeira Jemima, e o nome da outra Cassia, e o nome da terceira Keren-happuch.

¹⁵E em toda a terra não se acharam mulheres tão formosas como as filhas de Job; e seu pae lhes deu herança entre seus irmãos.

¹⁶E depois d'isto viveu Job cento e quarenta annos: e viu a seus filhos, e aos filhos de seus filhos, até á quarta geração.

¹⁷Então morreu Job, velho e farto de dias.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Job finally answers God with complete humility, acknowledging that he spoke of things he did not understand, and repents in dust and ashes. God then rebukes the three friends for not having spoken rightly about him, restores Job's health and wealth twofold, and gives him new children, closing the book with Job living a hundred and forty years in peace.

Explanation

Job's final reply ("I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee") signals a profound transformation: he moves from theoretical knowledge about God to a transformative, personal encounter with him, which brings genuine peace even without a full explanation for the cause of his suffering. Surprisingly, God declares that the three friends, despite theologically defending divine justice and sovereignty, "have not spoken of me the thing that is right," as Job had, showing that Job's honesty in questioning and lamenting before God was more acceptable than the theologically correct explanations his friends applied with cruelty and presumption. Application for today: an honest, genuine relationship with God — even one that includes sincere doubts and laments — is more valuable than theologically correct answers offered without compassion or true understanding of another's pain.

Fun facts

Job's restoration is not a simple replacement but an exact doubling of his lost possessions (detailed in chapter 1), while his children are restored to the same original number — seven sons and three daughters — reflecting a belief that the children who had died were not "lost," but awaiting a future reunion.
Job's three daughters are given specific names and, unusually for the time, receive an inheritance alongside their brothers (verse 15) — a notable detail of equal treatment in a culture where normally only sons inherited property.

Verse-by-verse explanation

Jó 42:1The phrase “Then Job answered the Lord” introduces Job’s final response, following God’s two speeches about creation and the wild animals.
Jó 42:2Job acknowledges that God can do all things and that none of His purposes can be thwarted — his first direct reaction to the display of power in chapters 38 through 41.
Jó 42:3Job quotes back the very question God asked in 38:2 — “Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge?” — and admits it applied to him: he confesses to speaking of things too great for him to understand.
Jó 42:4Job also repeats the words God used to challenge him — “Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.” — acknowledging the complete reversal of roles that took place in their dialogue.
Jó 42:5The line about hearing of God by the hearing of the ear, but now seeing Him with his own eyes, marks Job’s turning point: it comes not from a logical explanation for suffering but from a direct encounter. He moves from hearing about God to experiencing God, and that changes everything even though he never gets an answer about the reason for his pain.
Jó 42:6The phrase “repent in dust and ashes” is debated among scholars — it isn’t clear whether Job repents of some specific sin or simply of having demanded explanations that were not his to demand. The Hebrew verb behind it can also just mean changing his mind or dropping his protest.
Jó 42:7The book’s most shocking reversal: God says the friends, who spent the whole time defending divine justice, did not speak of Him what was right — while Job, who complained through the entire book, spoke correctly. The defense of orthodoxy loses; the protest wins.
Jó 42:8Continuing God’s rebuke of the friends from the previous verse: He orders them to offer sacrifices and asks Job to pray for them — a remarkable turnaround, since Job, accused throughout the entire book, now acts as intercessor for his own accusers.
Jó 42:9Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar do exactly what God commanded, and God accepts Job’s prayer — Job’s complete vindication before the three friends who had condemned him.
Jó 42:10Job’s restoration is only mentioned after he prays for his own friends — this is not simply the passage of time; the text links the two events in the same sentence.
Jó 42:11Continuing the restoration from the previous verse: brothers, sisters, and acquaintances finally come to comfort Job and eat with him in his house, each one bringing a gift — the support that was missing throughout his suffering arrives, at last, after it has all already passed.
Jó 42:12God blesses the end of Job’s life more than the beginning: he receives exactly double what he had before — 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys, compared with the numbers in chapter 1.
Jó 42:13Unlike the animals, which doubled in number, Job’s children go back to being seven sons and three daughters — the same number as before, not double, as though the children he lost still somehow counted.
Jó 42:14For the first time in the book, daughters receive their own names: Jemima, Kezia, and Keren-happuch — names tied to beauty and fragrance, an unusual spotlight in an age when generally only sons were named.
Jó 42:15Job’s three daughters receive an inheritance alongside their brothers — an unusual detail for the ancient world, where normally only sons inherited.
Jó 42:16Job lives another 140 years after this, seeing his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren down to the fourth generation — a long life that contrasts sharply with the death wish he expressed several times during his suffering.
Jó 42:17The book ends with the most traditional phrase for a blessed life’s end: “So Job died, being old, and full of days.” — the exact opposite of the early death he begged for in chapters 3, 6, 7, 10, and 14.