Job 34:33 - Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Should it be according to thy mind? Having advised and directed Job how to conduct himself, and what to say to God in his afflicted state, he now proceeds to enforce his advice with solid arguments; should it Namely, God's chastening of thee, about which the great controversy was; be according to thy mind? Or, as thou wouldst have it? Shall thy opinion or affection give laws and measures to God, that he shall afflict only such persons, and in such a manner and measure, and so long, as thou choosest? Does God need, or should he seek for, thy advice how to govern the world, and whom and when to reward or punish? Dost thou quarrel with him because he chastises thee more severely and longer than thou expectedst? He will recompense it Namely, thy iniquity, expressed Job 34:32; whether thou choose, or whether thou refuse Whether thou art satisfied with his dispensations, and patiently submittest thereto, or whether thou art offended with them, and rebellest against them; and not I It is not I nor thou, that must prescribe to God, but he will do what he pleaseth. Or, the Hebrew, ולא אני, velo ani, may be rendered, But not I, and then the sense of the clause will be, Do thou choose or refuse as thou pleasest, and contend with God for acting otherwise with thee than according to thy opinion he ought to act; but so would not I do, if it were my case; and I can say nothing for such a course: but do thou speak what thou knowest, or what thou canst say for it, as it follows. The reader will observe, that the preceding exposition of this obscure verse is given according to our present translation, some of the first words of which, however, namely, those in Italic letters, are not in the Hebrew, and are thought by some learned men to be improperly supplied. Heath, Dodd, and many others, leaving out those words, propose to read the verse thus: It is he will recompense that which proceedeth from thee, whether thou refusest or whether thou choosest, and not I. The words, they think, were intended to induce Job to make confession of his sins, and, in order thereto, include this argument: It is God who is to punish thy sins, and not man: as he, therefore, is perfectly acquainted with them, there is no reason why thou shouldst not make an ample confession of them, since, whether thou comply or refuse, thou wilt receive the same retribution of thy actions.