Job 36:1 - Meaning and Application

Once more Elihu asks Job, and everyone listening, for a little patience. He has more to say, but he will not keep them long. “Stay with me a little,” is the sense of the words in Job 36:2. He is saying, “Give me your attention for a short while, and I will speak once more as clearly and directly as I can.”

He gives three reasons why they should listen. First, he has a good cause and a worthy subject. “I still have something to say on God’s behalf,” he says. He speaks as God’s advocate, so he has a right to be heard. Some people claim to speak for God, but really speak for themselves. Those who truly stand for God, his truth, his ways, and his people, will not lack guidance. As Jesus said, they will be given what to say in that very hour. They also will not lose their cause or their reward. And they should not think they can ever say all that can be said for God.

Second, Elihu says his message is not ordinary or shallow. “I will bring my knowledge from afar” (Job 36:3). That means he will go back to first principles and the highest truths he can use. It is worth going far to gain this knowledge of God. We should dig for it and pursue it, because the effort will be worth it. Even if it comes from far away, it is not too costly to obtain.

Third, his aim is honest and clear. He wants to uphold this truth: God is righteous in all his ways. When we speak of God, and especially when we speak for him, we should remember that he is our Maker. Since all we have comes from him, we should use all we have for him and care deeply about his honor. Elihu says his speech will be fair and true (Job 36:4). It will not be false, either in itself or in the way he understands it. He is arguing for truth, and he means to do so with sincerity and plainness.

He will not rely on clever tricks or fine distinctions. He says that one who is perfect, or upright, in knowledge is speaking to Job. In other words, he sees himself as honest in his search for truth, in applying it to himself, and in using what he knows for the good of others. Job should therefore listen fairly and receive his words in the same good spirit in which they are meant.