Job 36:24

36:24-33 Elihu endeavours to fill Job with high thought of God, and so to persuade him into cheerful submission to his providence. Man may see God's works, and is capable of discerning his hand in them, which the beasts are not, therefore they ought to give him the glory. But while the worker of iniquity ought to tremble, the true believer should rejoice. Children should hear with pleasure their Father's voice, even when he speaks in terror to his enemies. There is no light but there may be a cloud to intercept it. The light of the favour of God, the light of his countenance, the most blessed light of all, even that light has many a cloud. The clouds of our sins cause the Lord to his face, and hinder the light of his loving-kindness from shining on our souls.

Remember that thou magnify his work,.... Or his works; his works of creation and providence, which are great in themselves, and declare the greatness of God; and which, though they cannot be made greater than they are, men may be said to magnify them when they ascribe them to God, and magnify him on account of them; when they think and speak well of them, and give glory to God: and particularly by his work may be meant the chastisement of his people, which is a rod in his hand, which he appoints, and with which he smites; it is his own doing, and he may do what he pleases this way; and it becomes his people to be still and patient because he does it; and then do they magnify this work of his, when they bear it patiently, quietly submit to it, and humble themselves under the mighty hand of God; which men behold: for the works of God are visible, particularly the works of creation, and the glory of God in them; which men of wisdom and understanding behold with admiration and praise; and so the Targum is, "which righteous men praise;'' and some derive the word here used from a root which signifies to "sing", and so may be understood of men's celebrating the works of God in songs of praise; though his work here may chiefly design the afflictions he lays on his people, and particularly which he had laid upon Job, which were so visible, and the hand of God in them was so clearly to be seen, that men easily beheld it and took notice of it.

Job 36:24-25 . Remember — Call to mind this thy duty; that thou magnify his work — Every work which he doth; do not condemn any of his providential works, but adore them as done with admirable wisdom and justice. Behold — With admiration and astonishment. Every man may see it — Namely, his work last mentioned. The power, and wisdom, and greatness of God are so manifest in all his works, that all who are not stupid must see and acknowledge them. Man may behold it afar off — The works of God are so great and conspicuous, that they may be seen at a great distance. Hence Elihu proceeds to give some instances, in the works of nature and common providence. His general aim is to show, 1st, That God is the first cause and supreme director of all the creatures; whom therefore we ought with all humility and reverence to adore: 2d, That it is presumption in us to prescribe to him in his special providence toward men, when the operations even of common providence about the meteors are so mysterious and unaccountable.

Verse 24. - Remember that thou magnify his work . Instead of murmuring, Job should "magnify God's work." He should recognize the mercy of God, even in his own afflictions, and praise him for it. Which men behold. Men are looking on, anxiously considering Job's sufferings; he is a spectacle to them, as the apostles were to men and angels ( 1 Corinthians 4:9 ), and the more reason therefore that he should, by patient endurance, by submission and confession, cause his sufferings to redound to the glory and honour of God. Job 36:24

24. Instead of arraigning, let it be thy fixed principle to magnify God in His works (Ps 111:2-8; Re 15:3); these, which all may "see," may convince us that what we do not see is altogether wise and good (Ro 1:20). behold—As "see" (Job 36:25), shows; not, as Maurer, "sing," laud (see on [541]Job 33:27).

Remember; call to mind this thy duty, and take this matter into thy more serious thoughts, and it will prevent thy horrible mistakes and miscarriages. That; so this Hebrew particle is used here, Job 36:10 3:12 . His work; or, his works , the singular number being put for the plural, every work which he doth; do not condemn any of his providential works towards thee or others, but adore and glorify them, as done with admirable wisdom, and justice, and faithfulness. Which men behold, to wit, with admiration and astonishment; which by their greatness and glory draw the eyes and minds of all men towards them; which deserve to be entertained with adoration and reverence of all men, not with censure and reproach.

Remember that thou magnify his work - Make this a great and settled principle, to remember that God is "great" in all that he does. He is exalted far above us, and all his works are on a scale of vastness corresponding to his nature, and in all our attempts to judge of him and his doings, we should bear this in remembrance. He is not to be judged by the narrow views which we apply to the actions of people, but by the views which ought to be taken when we remember that he presides over the vast universe, and that as the universal Parent, he will consult the welfare of the whole. In judging of his doings, therefore, we are not to place ourselves in the center, or to regard ourselves as the "whole" or the creation, but we are to remember that there are other great interests to be regarded, and that his plans will be in accordance with the welfare of the whole. One of the best rules for taking a proper estimate of God is that proposed here by Elihu - to remember that he is great. Which men behold - The Vulgate renders this, "de quo cecinerunt viri" - "concerning which men sing." The Septuagint, ὧν ἦρξαν ἄνδρες hōn ērxan andres - "over which men rule." Schultens accords with the Vulgate.

So Coverdale renders it, "Whom all men love and praise." So Herder and Noyes understand it, "Which men celebrate with songs." This difference of interpretation arises from the ambiguity of the Hebrew word (שׁררוּ shorerû) some deriving it from שׁור shûr, "to go round about, and then to survey, look upon, examine"; and some from שׁיר shı̂yr, "to sing, to celebrate." The word will admit of either interpretation, and either will suit the connection. The sense of "seeing" those works, however, better agrees with what is said in the following verse, and perhaps better suits the connection. The object of Elihu is not to fix the attention on the fact that people "celebrate" the works of God, but to turn "the eyes to the visible creation," as a proof of the greatness of the Almighty.

22 Behold, God acteth loftily in His strength; Who is a teacher like unto Him? 23 Who hath appointed Him His way, And who dare say: Thou doest iniquity!? 24 Remember that thou magnify His doing, Which men have sung. 25 All men delight in it, Mortal man looketh upon it from afar. Most modern expositors, after the lxx δυνάστης, give אמת the signification lord, by comparing the Arab. mar-un (imru-un), Syr. mor (with the art. moro) or more (with the art. morjo), Chald. מרא, Talmud. מר (comp. Philo, ii. 522, ed. Mangey: οὃτως, viz., μάριν φασὶ τὸν κύριον ὀνομάζεστηαι παρὰ Σύροις), with it; but Rosenm., Arnh., Lwenthal, Wolfson, and Schlottm., after the Targ., Syr., and Jer., rightly abide by the signification: teacher. For (1) אמת (from הורה, Psalm 25:8, Psalm 25:12; Psalm 32:8) has no etymological connection with mr (of מרא, Arab. maru'a, opimum, robustum esse); (2) it is, moreover, peculiar to Elihu to represent God as a teacher both by dreams and dispensations of affliction, Job 33:14, Job 34:32, and by His creatures, Job 35:11; and (3) the designation of God as an incomparable teacher is also not inappropriate here, after His rule is described in Job 36:22 as transcendently exalted, which on that very account commands to human research a reverence which esteems itself lightly. Job 36:23 is not to be translated: who overlooketh Him in His way?