Elihu’s second and third speeches sharpen his critique of Job considerably — no longer just a caution against self-justification, but an open accusation that Job has kept company with evildoers by the sheer scorn in his words. Underneath the harsher tone, though, Elihu is building toward a genuinely different defense of God than anything the three friends offered.
A study in Job 34-35 · Arthur Baldwin · StandUp4Jesus.Org · 11 min read
What Man Is Like Job, Who Drinketh Up Scorning Like Water?
“For Job hath said, I am righteous: and God hath taken away my judgment… What man is like Job, who drinketh up scorning like water? Which goeth in company with the workers of iniquity, and walketh with wicked men.”
Job 34:5, 7-8
Elihu’s second speech opens considerably harsher than his first — Job’s bitter complaints, in Elihu’s reading, have made him a virtual associate of actual wrongdoers, drinking down contempt the way an ordinary man drinks water. This is a real escalation, closer to the friends’ register than Elihu’s own gentler opening.
Far Be It From God, That He Should Do Wickedness
“Therefore hearken unto me, ye men of understanding: far be it from God, that he should do wickedness; and from the Almighty, that he should commit iniquity. For the work of a man shall he render unto him, and cause every man to find according to his ways.”
Job 34:10-11
This is Elihu’s central thesis, stated as plainly as possible: it is simply not conceivable that God would act unjustly, because injustice would contradict what God fundamentally is. He is not arguing from observed evidence, as the three friends did. He is arguing from God’s own character as an axiom that cannot be questioned.
His Eyes Are Upon The Ways Of Man
“For his eyes are upon the ways of man, and he seeth all his goings. There is no darkness, nor shadow of death, where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.”
Job 34:21-22
Elihu’s point here cuts a specific direction: God does not need Job’s help or advice to govern justly, because nothing anywhere escapes His notice in the first place. The implication is uncomfortable — Job’s demand for an explanation assumes a gap in God’s knowledge or fairness that, in Elihu’s view, simply does not exist.
Job Hath Spoken Without Knowledge
“Job hath spoken without knowledge, and his words were without wisdom. My desire is that Job may be tried unto the end because of his answers for wicked men. For he addeth rebellion unto his sin, he clappeth his hands among us, and multiplieth his words against God.”
Job 34:35-37
Elihu closes his second speech with a verdict as harsh as anything from the three friends — not merely mistaken, but rebellious, and deserving of continued trial rather than relief. It is a striking moment: the speaker who opened by criticizing the friends for condemning Job without an answer now offers a condemnation of his own.
My Righteousness Is More Than God’s?
“Thinkest thou this to be right, that thou saidst, My righteousness is more than God’s? For thou saidst, What advantage will it be unto thee? and, What profit shall I have, if I be cleansed from my sin?”
Job 35:2-3
Elihu’s third speech begins by paraphrasing Job in the most unflattering terms possible — a claim Job never actually made in quite these words, though it captures something of his repeated protests that his integrity has bought him nothing but ruin.
Look Unto The Heavens, And See
“Look unto the heavens, and see; and behold the clouds which are higher than thou. If thou sinnest, what doest thou against him?… If thou be righteous, what givest thou him? or what receiveth he of thine hand?”
Job 35:5-7
Elihu’s argument here is genuinely worth pausing over: neither Job’s sin nor his righteousness actually changes God in the slightest, since God is not diminished by human wrongdoing or enriched by human virtue — both only ever affect other people. It is a real corrective to any transactional view of righteousness, even if Elihu is still applying it somewhat unfairly to Job’s specific complaint.
Who Giveth Songs In The Night?
“By reason of the multitude of oppressions they make the oppressed to cry: they cry out by reason of the arm of the mighty. But none saith, Where is God my maker, who giveth songs in the night?”
Job 35:9-10
“Songs in the night” is one of Scripture’s most memorable phrases for exactly what Job has been unable to find — not merely relief from suffering, but the presence of God discoverable even inside it. Elihu’s critique is that people cry out in pain without turning that cry into an actual search for their Maker, settling for complaint where they might have found comfort.
“Although thou sayest thou shalt not see him, yet judgment is before him; therefore trust thou in him… Therefore doth Job open his mouth in vain; he multiplieth words without knowledge.”
Job 35:14, 16
Elihu’s counsel — trust, even without seeing — is genuinely sound advice, undercut somewhat by the dismissive verdict he attaches to it. One more speech remains before this pattern breaks: real insight, delivered with a harshness that keeps missing the specific man in front of him.
