Job 37


Job 37 is the 37th chapter of the Book of Job in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. The book is anonymous; most scholars believe it was written around 6th century BCE. This chapter records the speech of Elihu, which belongs to the "Verdicts" section of the book, comprising Job 32:1–42:6.

Text

The original text is written in Hebrew language. This chapter is divided into 24 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text, which includes the Aleppo Codex, and Codex Leningradensis. Fragments containing parts of this chapter in Hebrew were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls including 4Q99 with extant verses 1–5, 14–15.
There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BC; some extant ancient manuscripts of this version include Codex Vaticanus, Codex Sinaiticus, and Codex Alexandrinus.

Analysis

The structure of the book is as follows:
  • The Prologue
  • The Dialogue
  • The Verdicts
  • The Epilogue
Within the structure, chapter 37 is grouped into the Verdict section with the following outline:
  • Elihu's Verdict
  • *Prose Introduction of Elihu
  • *Elihu's Apology
  • *A Transition from Apology to Argument
  • *Elihu's First Speech
  • *Elihu's Second Speech
  • *Elihu's Third Speech
  • *Elihu's Fourth Speech
  • **A Summons to Job
  • **Elihu's Verdict
  • **The Substantiation of the Verdict
  • **Application to Job
  • **Hymn of Praise
  • ***God's Powerful Works Deserve Praise
  • ***God's Control of Rain and Storms
  • ***God's Use of Lightning
  • ***God's Purposes through Thunder and Lightning
  • ***God's Activity in the Rest of the Natural World
  • ***Challenge to Understand God's Great Works
  • ***Fear the Coming of God
  • God's Appearance and Job's Responses
  • *God's First Speech
  • *Job's First Reply – An Insufficient Response
  • *God's Second Speech
  • *Job's Second Reply
The section containing Elihu's speeches serves as a bridge between the Dialogue and the speeches of YHWH. There is an introduction in the prose form, describing Elihu's identity and circumstances that cause him to speak. The whole speech section can be formally divided into four monologues, each starting with a similar formula. Elihu's first monologue is preceded by an apologia for speaking and a transitionary part which introduces Elihu's main arguments before the speech formally commences.
In the first three speeches Elihu cites and then disputes specific Job's charges in the preceding dialogue:
Job's chargesElihu's response
Job 33:8–11Job 33:12–30
Job 34:5–9Job 34:10–33
Job 35:2–3Job 35:4–13

The fourth speech of Elihu comprises chapters 36–37, in which Elihu stops refuting Job's charges, but states his conclusions and verdict:
  1. A summon to Job
  2. A hymn of praise to God as creator
  3. A concluding address to Job

Elihu asks Job's attention (37:1–13)

This section contains the continuation of Elihu's hymn of praise to God as Creator. The storm imagery to animately describe God's work in nature anticipates God's appearance in the whirlwind.

Verse 5

  • "Marvelously": translated from the Niphal participle form of the Hebrew verb פָּלָא, palaʾ.
This affirms that God is perfect in knowledge.

Elihu points to the corrective benefit of suffering (37:14–24)

In the last part of his last speech, Elihu calls Job to perceive God's great works and closing with a more general summary of God's greatness. The introduction of the coming of God anticipates the appearance of God and the correlation between God's power and justice prepares for God's speeches.

Verse 16

  • "Balancings": or "hoverings", translated from the Hebrew word מִפְלְשֵׂי, , probably refers to “floating” or “suspension”.