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Jó 35

BLIVRE · Chapter 35/42

1Eliú respondeu mais, dizendo:

2Pensas tu ser direito dizeres: Maior é a minha justiça do que a de Deus?

3Porque disseste: Para que ela te serve? [Ou] : Que proveito terei dela mais que meu pecado?

4Eu darei reposta a ti, e a teus amigos contigo.

5Olha para os céus, e vê; e observa as nuvens, [que] são mais altas que tu.

6Se tu pecares, que [mal] farás contra ele? Se tuas transgressões se multiplicarem, que [mal] lhe farás?

7Se fores justo, que lhe darás? Ou o que ele receberá de tua mão?

8Tua perversidade [poderia afetar] a outro homem como tu; e tua justiça [poderia ser proveitosa] a [algum] filho do homem.

9[Os aflitos] clamam por causa da grande opressão; eles gritam por causa do poder dos grandes.

10Porém ninguém diz: Onde está Deus, meu Criador, que dá canções na noite,

11Que nos ensina mais que aos animais da terra, e nos faz sábios mais que as aves do céu?

12Ali clamam, porém ele não responde, por causa da arrogância dos maus.

13Certamente Deus não ouvirá a súplica vazia, nem o Todo-Poderoso dará atenção a ela.

14Quanto menos ao que disseste: que tu não o vês! Porém o juízo está diante dele; portanto espera nele.

15Mas agora, já que a ira dele [ainda] não está castigando, e ele não deu completa atenção à arrogância,

16Por isso Jó abriu sua boca em vão, e multiplicou palavras sem conhecimento.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Elihu questions Job's claim that his personal righteousness would be greater than God's, arguing that neither human sin diminishes God nor human righteousness benefits Him — both affect only other people. He suggests that Job cries out but receives no answer because he does not seek God with genuine humility.

Explanation

Here Elihu presents an important theological argument about God's transcendence: He is not diminished by human sin nor exalted by human virtue, since He is completely self-sufficient and beyond any need for human approval or contribution. His suggestion that Job's cries go unanswered because of "the pride of evil men" (verse 12) is an implicit accusation that is not entirely fair, since God Himself, later in the book, does not condemn Job in this specific way. Application for today: human goodness or sin has real consequences for other people and for oneself, but it does not change God's essential nature or greatness.

Fun facts

  • The observation that God makes us "wiser than the beasts of the earth" and "wiser than the fowls of heaven" (verse 11) acknowledges humanity's distinctive rational capacity as a specific divine gift, a theme that echoes the creation narrative in Genesis 1:26-28.
  • This is one of Elihu's shortest speeches, functioning as a bridge between the more elaborate arguments of chapters 34 and 36, maintaining a tone of respectful yet firm rebuke directed at Job.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Jó 35:1Elihu speaks again — a short narrator line that opens his third speech to Job.
  2. Jó 35:2Elihu accuses Job of effectively saying that his own righteousness is greater than God’s — a harsh reading of Job’s insistence on his own innocence.
  3. Jó 35:3He paraphrases what he understands of Job’s argument: “What advantage will it be unto thee? and, What profit shall I have, if I be cleansed from my sin?” — echoing similar complaints Job already made back in chapters 9 and 10.
  4. Jó 35:4Elihu announces that he will answer both Job and the three friends — signaling that his response covers both sides of the debate.
  5. Jó 35:5He invites Job to look up at the heavens and the clouds, higher than any person — using the distance between high and low as an image of God’s transcendence.
  6. Jó 35:6Elihu asks what Job’s sin would actually do to God — the argument is that human failure does not diminish or affect God in any way.
  7. Jó 35:7On the other side, he asks what Job’s righteousness would give to God — repeating, in different words, the argument Eliphaz had already made back in chapter 22.
  8. Jó 35:8Elihu concludes that the real effect of human wickedness or righteousness falls on other human beings, not on God — suggesting that Job’s suffering is not some cosmic “transaction” with God.
  9. Jó 35:9Elihu explains why so many people cry out and get no answer: to him, the cry of the sufferer is not always sincere — sometimes it is just a complaint about the pain itself, without truly seeking the One who sent it.
  10. Jó 35:10Continuing the previous verse about the oppressed crying out: Elihu notes that no one truly asks, “Where is God my maker, who giveth songs in the night” — people seek relief, not God Himself.
  11. Jó 35:11God teaches us more than the beasts and makes us wiser than the birds of the air, says Elihu — but that wisdom is rarely used to actually seek God.
  12. Jó 35:12So when they cry out, they get no answer — Elihu attributes this to the arrogance of the wicked surrounding such a shallow cry.
  13. Jó 35:13“Surely God will not hear vanity” sums up the idea: empty prayers, with no real seeking, produce no answer, in Elihu’s view.
  14. Jó 35:14Elihu directly criticizes Job’s complaint that he cannot see God — insisting that Job’s case is already before Him, and that Job should therefore wait patiently.
  15. Jó 35:15This obscure verse discusses why God’s judgment seems to take so long — Elihu suggests that the absence of immediate punishment does not mean the absence of justice.
  16. Jó 35:16Elihu closes his third speech with a direct accusation: Job opens his mouth in vain and multiplies words without knowledge.

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