When he is quiet, who can condemn? When he hides his face, who can behold him, whether it be a nation or a man? —
Elihu is answering Job's complaint that God has denied him justice. This verse is the high point of his reply: what God settles, no one can unsettle, and what God withdraws, no one can take back by force.
Quietness that no power can break
Older translations read the first line as "When He gives quietness, who then can make trouble?", and the writers here follow that wording. One of them notes that the God who gives quietness stands above more than human power.
William KellyThen he shows another side, when God gives quietness. God, after all, is always above the devil, despite his restless wickedness. Not only above man, but above Satan and all his power.
Acquittal, and the face turned away
Commentators read the two halves in different ways. One treats God's quietness as an acquittal, and ties it to Romans 8.
Samuel RidoutIf He acquits, gives quietness, who can condemn? "It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn?" (Rom. 8:33-34). If He hides His face, who can look upon Him? He may deal this way with a single individual, or with mankind in general. He puts down evil men so that the people are not ensnared by them.
Another divides the verse by the people involved rather than by the courtroom.
F. B. HoleHe may give quietness to the afflicted, and who then can disturb it? He may hide His face from the wicked, and who then can behold Him? And this is true whether a nation is in question or only an individual.
Nations rest on the same terms as men
The verse says the rule holds for a nation as much as for one person. One writer shows this in the reign of Josiah, a king of Israel, and asks where a country should look for safety.
W. W. FeredayIn the goodness of God no external complications arose while Josiah was engaged in his good work. The movements of nations are under divine control. Elihu said truly: "When He gives quietness, who can make trouble?" and he added that this applies to nations as well as to individual men. ... In Jehoshaphat's reign "the realm was quiet, for his God gave him rest all around" (2 Chron. 20:30). ... Is it not better to trust God than to seek safety in treaties and alliances?
The purpose behind the silence
Verse 30 adds a purpose to all this. One writer explains what God's way of working does to the hypocrite.
Leslie M. GrantGod uses each of these cases to put the hypocrite in his place (v.30). A hypocrite would like to hold the place of authority. But his thoughts are moved by his feelings, not by faith. So God's sovereign wisdom defeats him, because God works in a way that does not pamper men's feelings. People are then not trapped by the hypocrite, if they simply believe God.
When the quietness has not yet come
Job had not yet been given quietness. One writer asks whether God was hearing him at all.
Leslie M. GrantDid God hear the cry of the poor? Yes indeed! Did God hear the complaints of Job? Job did not think so, but God does hear, and He will answer in His own time and way. Elihu had good reason to ask, "When He gives quietness, who then can make trouble?" (v.29). At the moment God had not given quietness to Job, though He certainly did so later. On the other hand, when God hides His face, who then can understand Him, whether a nation or an individual? God does either of these things when He pleases, and submission to Him is the only proper response from man.
What it looks like in a life
One writer applies the verse to Gideon, an early leader in Israel, who worshipped God while his nation was falling apart.
Samuel RidoutHow beautiful and quiet all this is in the middle of utter ruin and confusion. "When He gives quiet, who then can trouble?" Gideon has found the God of peace, and we see him, the accepted worshipper. He is hidden in the secret of God's presence from the pride of man and the strife of tongues.
Summary
- Source. Quietness is given, not achieved — and the God who gives it stands above man, above Satan, and above all his power.
- Security. No one can take back what God gives. If He acquits, no one can condemn. If He hides His face, no one can force Him to appear.
- Reach. The same rule governs a nation and a single person. Trusting God is a safer defence than treaties and alliances.
- Purpose. He works this way so that the hypocrite does not reign and the people are not trapped by him.
- Response. When quietness has not yet come, as with Job, God still hears. He answers in His own time, and submission is the only proper answer from man.