Job Chapter 42
1 Then Job answered the LORD,
2 "I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be restrained.
3 You asked, 'Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge?' therefore I have uttered that which I didn't understand, things too wonderful for me, which I didn't know.
4 You said, 'Listen, now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you will answer me.'
5 I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you.
6 Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes."
7 It was so, that after the LORD had spoken these words to Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, "My wrath is kindled against you, and against your two friends; for you have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job has.
8 Now therefore, take to yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you, for I will accept him, that I not deal with you according to your folly. For you have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job has."
9 So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went, and did what the LORD commanded them, and the LORD accepted Job.
10 The LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends. The LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.
11 Then came there to him all his brothers, and all his sisters, and all those who had been of his acquaintance before, and ate bread with him in his house. They comforted him, and consoled him concerning all the evil that the LORD had brought on him. Everyone also gave him a piece of money, and everyone a ring of gold.
12 So the LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand female donkeys.
13 He had also seven sons and three daughters.
14 He called the name of the first, Jemimah; and the name of the second, Keziah; and the name of the third, Keren Happuch.
15 In all the land were no women found so beautiful as the daughters of Job. Their father gave them an inheritance amongst their brothers.
16 After this Job lived one hundred and forty years, and saw his sons, and his sons' sons, to four generations.
17 So Job died, being old and full of days.
Footnotes
- Verse 11 (piece of money)
- literally, kesitah, a unit of money, probably silver
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Job Chapter 42 Guide
Job's answer is full of the stateliness of a great submission. As he speaks the words of surrender he appears mightier in his submission than all the things into the presence of which he has been brought. In his confession of the sufficiency of God, of the folly of his own past speech, of his present repentance in the light of God's glory, there is revealed a glory of God not manifest in any other part of the universe described. This surrender is God's victory of vindication. There has been no explanation of pain, but pain is forgotten, and all the circumstances of trial against which the spirit of the man has rebelled are out of sight. He has found himself in relationship to God. What Eliphaz asked him to do, but could not teach him how, he now has done. Acquainted with God, his treasure is laid in the dust, and he has found Jehovah to be his all-sufficient wealth.
The victory being won in the soul of Job, Jehovah deals with his friends. His wrath is kindled against them, and yet it is mingled with mercy. Their intention was right, but their words were wrong. In their attempt to explain God, they had not said of Him "the thing that was right." Notwithstanding all his murmuring, nay, in the very affirmation of his inability to comprehend, Job had spoken profounder truth concerning God than they. God's vindication of him to them is marked by the fact that He speaks of him as "My servant," the same term He used at the beginning. It is also marked in His appointment of His servant as intercessor on their behalf. They had attempted to restore Job to God by philosophy. He is now to be the means of restoring them by prayer. As at the beginning there were things to be said in their favour, so at the close. Their sincerity is shown in the fact that they submit, bring their offerings, and make confession.
Up to this point it would seem as if there had been no change in Job's circumstances. The bands of his captivity were broken in the activity of prayer on behalf of others. All the rest is told in brief sentences. Job had been in the fire, and now he emerged from it, and his latter days on earth were characterized by even greater prosperity than his earlier ones.
In ending our consideration of this great Book, let us not attempt to formulate a philosophy which includes a solution of the problem of pain. This much at least we know, that through it this man gained, and there we leave it.
From "An Exposition of the Whole Bible" by G. Campbell Morgan.
Job Chapter 42 Commentary
Chapter Outline
- Job humbly submits unto God. -- (1-6)
- Job intercedes for his friends. -- (7-9)
- His renewed prosperity. -- (10-17)
Verses 1-6
Job was now sensible of his guilt; he would no longer speak in his own excuse; he abhorred himself as a sinner in heart and life, especially for murmuring against God, and took shame to himself. When the understanding is enlightened by the Spirit of grace, our knowledge of Divine things as far exceeds what we had before, as the sight of the eyes excels report and common fame. By the teachings of men, God reveals his Son to us; but by the teachings of his Spirit he reveals his Son in us, Ga 1:16, and changes us into the same image, 2Co 3:18. It concerns us to be deeply humbled for the sins of which we are convinced. Self-loathing is ever the companion of true repentance. The Lord will bring those whom he loveth, to adore him in self-abasement; while true grace will always lead them to confess their sins without self-justifying.
Verses 7-9
After the Lord had convinced and humbled Job, and brought him to repentance, he owned him, comforted him, and put honour upon him. The devil had undertaken to prove Job a hypocrite, and his three friends had condemned him as a wicked man; but if God say, Well done, thou good and faithful servant, it is of little consequence who says otherwise. Job's friends had wronged God, by making prosperity a mark of the true church, and affliction a certain proof of God's wrath. Job had referred things to the future judgment and the future state, more than his friends, therefore he spake of God that which was right, better than his friends had done. And as Job prayed and offered sacrifice for those that had grieved and wounded his spirit, so Christ prayed for his persecutors, and ever lives, making intercession for the transgressors. Job's friends were good men, and belonged to God, and He would not let them be in their mistake any more than Job; but having humbled him by a discourse out of the whirlwind, he takes another way to humble them. They are not to argue the matter again, but they must agree in a sacrifice and a prayer, and that must reconcile them, Those who differ in judgment about lesser things, yet are one in Christ the great Sacrifice, and ought therefore to love and bear with one another. When God was angry with Job's friends, he put them in a way to make peace with him. Our quarrels with God always begin on our part, but the making peace begins on his. Peace with God is to be had only in his own way, and upon his own terms. These will never seem hard to those who know how to value this blessing: they will be glad of it, like Job's friends, upon any terms, though ever so humbling. Job did not insult over his friends, but God being graciously reconciled to him, he was easily reconciled to them. In all our prayers and services we should aim to be accepted of the Lord; not to have praise of men, but to please God. (Job 42:10-17)
Verses 10-17
In the beginning of this book we had Job's patience under his troubles, for an example; here, for our encouragement to follow that example, we have his happy end. His troubles began in Satan's malice, which God restrained; his restoration began in God's mercy, which Satan could not oppose. Mercy did not return when Job was disputing with his friends, but when he was praying for them. God is served and pleased with our warm devotions, not with our warm disputes. God doubled Job's possessions. We may lose much for the Lord, but we shall not lose any thing by him. Whether the Lord gives us health and temporal blessings or not, if we patiently suffer according to his will, in the end we shall be happy. Job's estate increased. The blessing of the Lord makes rich; it is he that gives us power to get wealth, and gives success in honest endeavours. The last days of a good man sometimes prove his best, his last works his best works, his last comforts his best comforts; for his path, like that of the morning light, shines more and more unto the perfect day.
From the "Concise Commentary on the Bible" by Matthew Henry.