For God has no need to consider a man further, that he should go before God in judgment.
Job said his suffering was unfair. Elihu answers that God owes no man a hearing before He acts. Translations render the line in two ways: God never loads a man beyond what is right, or God needs no second look before judgment. Both readings end in the same place — God is the Judge, and man is not.
Greater than man
Job had claimed innocence while accusing God of treating him as an enemy. Both claims cannot stand. One writer shows how Elihu settles it:
C. H. MackintoshHere is a plain contradiction. How could a holy, just, and righteous Being count a pure and innocent man His enemy? Impossible. Either Job was self-deceived, or God was unrighteous. And Elihu, as the servant of truth, does not take long to give a verdict and tell us which is which. "Behold, in this you are not right; I will answer you, for God is greater than man." What a simple truth! And yet how little it is understood! If God is greater than man, then He, and not man, must be the Judge of what is right.
No second look needed
"No need to consider a man further" points to God's knowledge. One commentator says this reading, not the older English one, is what the words mean:
Samuel RidoutHe is Judge — the all-seeing One, and no secret can hide from Him. … His eye is on every step of man. Evil cannot hide itself from Him. He does not need to study a man's ways, but at a glance, as it were, knows him and enters into judgment with him. (This is the meaning of verse 23, rather than the reading in the older English version.) His all-seeing eye pierces to the innermost corners of the heart. How can we think of such a One as needing judgment Himself?
Judgment without inquiry
Nothing is hidden from God, so nothing stands between the guilty and the sentence. Another writer states what God is therefore entitled to do:
William KellyAll things are naked and open to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do — the ways of a man and all his steps. There is no darkness or shadow of death dense enough to hide those who work evil. He does not need to look a second time at a man before going to God in judgment. He has the right, without any further examination, to break the mighty and to set up others in their place.
The older reading
Commentators differ here. Older English versions read the verse differently: God never puts more on a man than is fair. One writer draws a practical conclusion from that reading:
The Bible TreasuryElihu urges Job to understand that God is righteous, and that in His righteousness He can act as He wills. "He will not lay upon men more than is right, that he should enter into judgment with God." Since this is so, the right place for Job was confession. "Surely it is fitting to say to God, I have borne chastisement — I will not offend any more."
Why no one wants his day in court
Job kept asking for a hearing before God. One writer explains what such a hearing would mean:
James BoydDo we not know that innocent people are always immune from judgment? In this world of bad government and lack of wisdom, the guiltless may be dragged before the judge, and even condemned. But such a thing is impossible in God's dealings with His creatures. No one comes into judgment unless he is guilty, and no one escapes once he is there. … The justified can never come into judgment; the judged can never be justified.
Righteous in every dealing
Elihu's argument lands on one conclusion, and it reaches far past Job's own case:
C. StanleyElihu then shows that God is just in all His ways. Whether man sees it or not, every act of God and every permission of God is necessary, both in His dealings with a nation and with a man. … Whatever God does with the world, and however He disciplines His own children — by chastening or even by removal through death — all His ways are in righteousness and truth.
Summary
- Greater. "God is greater than man" is Elihu's whole answer. The greater One decides what is right; the lesser one does not audit Him.
- Seen. Because God is greater, He needs no second look. He knows a man at a glance, so no investigation stands between the evidence and the verdict.
- Swift. He needs no inquiry, so nothing delays the sentence. He breaks the mighty and sets up others in their place.
- Measured. The older reading shows that greatness as restraint: God never loads a man beyond what is right.
- Safe. No guilty person survives a hearing. So the safe ground is confession, not a court date — the justified never come into judgment at all.