Thomas Aquinas Commentary Job 33:1-12

"Howbeit, Job, I pray thee, hear my speech, And hearken to all my words. Behold now, I have opened my mouth; My tongue hath spoken in my mouth. My words [shall utter] the uprightness of my heart; And that which my lips know they shall speak sincerely. The Spirit of God hath made me, And the breath of the Almighty giveth me life. If thou canst, answer thou me; Set [thy words] in order before me, stand forth. Behold, I am toward God even as thou art: I also am formed out of the clay. Behold, my terror shall not make thee afraid, Neither shall my pressure be heavy upon thee. Surely thou hast spoken in my hearing, And I have heard the voice of [thy] words, [saying], I am clean, without transgression; I am innocent, neither is there iniquity in me: Behold, he findeth occasions against me, He counteth me for his enemy: He putteth my feet in the stocks, He marketh all my paths. Behold, I will answer thee, in this thou art not just; For God is greater than man." — Job 33:1-12 (ASV)

The text has already stated that Elihu was angry with Job and his friends (Job 32:2–3). After denouncing the laziness of Job’s friends, he now begins to speak against Job himself. Therefore, he first gets his attention, saying, “Hear, then, Job, my words,” because he now intends to answer him. He shows that he will weigh each word very carefully, saying, “and listen to all that I say,” for he will not say anything without purpose.

So that Job does not ask why he did not speak before, Elihu says, Look, I have opened my mouth. This is as if to say: Before, when I was silent, I had kept my mouth closed out of reverence for my elders. But now that they have failed, necessity compels me to speak. He continues, my tongue will speak from my mouth, as if to say: I will not simply repeat what others say, but I will speak my own thoughts.

Since Job had previously accused his friends of afflicting him and confusing him with words (Job 19:2), Elihu shows this is not true of him, saying, “My words are from a sincere heart.” This is as if to say: I do not speak to falsely condemn or to ridicule, but to reveal the truth with a sincere heart. Since Job had accused the other three men of being “fabricators of a lie and worshippers of false dogmas” (Job 13:4), Elihu distances himself from this, saying, “and my lips will speak a pure judgment,” without any mixture of falsehood or error.

Elihu reveals the source of his confidence in explaining the truth, saying, The Spirit of God made me. Therefore, it is no wonder that God moves His creature and perfects His creation. He explains this further, continuing, and the breath of the Almighty gave me life, for God moved and perfected me for the works of life, the most important of which is understanding the truth.

So that he would not seem to have said this to prejudice Job or discourage him from answering someone speaking from divine inspiration, Elihu says, If you can, answer me to what I will say against you, and hold your ground before my face. This means that Job can also raise objections if Elihu says anything that displeases him. So that Job would not scorn to debate with him—because of Job’s reputation for wisdom and Elihu’s youth—he counters this by saying, Look, God made both you and me.

From the Creator’s perspective, then, both of them have the same hope of seeking the truth. Regarding their physical nature, the same obstacle applies to each, and so he says, and I too was formed from the same clay, whose coarseness obscures the light of truth.

However, Elihu understood that one thing might provoke Job. It was a miracle that such great wisdom and eloquence was given to a young man, which in itself was sufficient reason for him to challenge a very wise old man. Therefore, Elihu upholds this point, implying his wisdom was given miraculously, saying, Yet let my miracle not terrify you, so that you do not dare to refuse to answer one who has obtained wisdom miraculously. He adds, and let my eloquence not prove a burden for you, so that you are not astonished by it.

After this introduction, Elihu reinforces the arguments he intends to use against Job. He says, Therefore you have spoken in my hearing, as if to say: You cannot excuse yourself by claiming you did not say this. He adds, and I heard the sound of your words, for he listened attentively.

First, Elihu noted that in Job’s words, he had claimed to be immune from sin (Job 13:6 and Job 16:18). And so he quotes Job as saying, I am clean, meaning from the impurity of the flesh; and without fault, meaning from the sin of omission; without stain, meaning from grave sins against God, like idolatry and similar sins; and there is no evil in me, which would cause him to wound his neighbors unjustly.

Second, Elihu notes that Job’s words accused God of unfair judgment. Unfair judgment usually proceeds from the judge’s hatred, and regarding this, he recalls Job having said, Since he has found grievances in me, therefore he thought that I am his enemy. The commentator notes that in Job 13:24, Job had only asked, Why do you hide your face and think of me as your enemy? He did not say, “He has found grievances in me.” Therefore, this is an addition by Elihu to put a negative interpretation on Job’s words.

Indeed, a judge’s hatred seems just if, being certain of another’s malice, he acts on that hatred in punishing the fault. But if a judge is provoked to hatred by minor grievances, his hatred will be unjust. This is precisely how Elihu interpreted Job’s claim that God considered him an enemy.

Elihu continues by listing other ways Job supposedly accused God of injustice. A judge is unfair if he denies someone the ability to make a just defense, and expressing this, Elihu says Job claimed God put my feet in the stocks, meaning He bound him to hinder his work. A judge is also unfair when he gathers small faults to condemn someone, and expressing this, Elihu says Job claimed God watched all of my movements, as if spying on his every action.

The commentator clarifies that Job did not say these things to prove the divine Judge was unfair, but was speaking metaphorically, as he explained in Job 13:17: Understand my riddles with your ears. Because Job’s claim of innocence contradicts his accusation against God, Elihu then concludes, It is in this, then, that you are not justified. This is as if to say: You cannot claim to be just, because the very act of accusing God of injustice reveals your own injustice.