And now, because his anger does not punish, and he does not take much note of transgression,
Job has complained that God lets the wicked prosper while he, a righteous man, suffers. Elihu answers with this verse, one of the most obscure in the book, and everything hangs on what God's silence about sin means.
The verse sits inside a call to wait
Elihu's closing section is an appeal for patience rather than a fresh accusation. Commentators differ over whether verse 14 quotes Job's own complaint or answers it, but the older English rendering turns it into counsel:
Samuel RidoutThere has been some difference about the meaning of verse 14 — some hold it to be a quotation of Job, as though Elihu would say, "If God does not hear pride, much less will He hear you, when you say you do not see Him, the cause lies all before Him, and yet you are forced to wait in vain on Him." This fits Elihu's earlier words; but our version, which turns them into an exhortation, makes a fitting conclusion: "Although you say you shall not see Him, yet judgment is before Him, therefore trust in Him." Do not think God has forgotten; be patient; learn the lesson He would teach you. How admirable and scriptural is this advice — exactly what Job needed.
What the difficult words mean
The verse as printed above says God "does not take much note of transgression." One translation turns that clause into a question instead:
William KellyThough you say you do not see Him, judgment is before Him, and wait for Him. And now, because His anger has not punished anything, does He not very much regard insolence? Therefore Job opens his mouth in empty talk; he multiplies words without knowledge.
Older English Bibles have the obscure word "extremity" here. A different reading takes it as a word for sin, and that decides the sense of the verse:
Samuel RidoutElihu puts the other side before Job as well. He is not to imagine that because God does not strike, He does not know. He fully sees all man's presumption. This is the probable meaning of verse 15, which is so obscure in the older English version. Others translate "extremity" as "wide-spread iniquity," which fits well with "presumption" or "sullenness." The conclusion is, "God is not mocked." Men should not despise His patience.
Why man's sin cannot touch God
Elihu asks what a man's sin does to God, and what a man's righteousness gives Him. His answer is the same for both:
William KellyMan's sin is serious for himself, and may be so for his fellows; but what difference does it make for God? No transgressor, however daring, can darken a single ray of His glory. He may turn it all, as He pleases, to exalt what He is as well as to make it known. And it is the same with the righteousness of man: what does it give to God? Or what does He receive at man's hand? God is the unchanging One, always good, never unrighteous. It is man, the human race, that feels the effect of one person's righteousness or wrongdoing.
Patience misread as indifference
This mistake reaches far beyond Job. People treat God's delay as proof that judgment will never come:
Hamilton SmithGod's judgment will most surely come, though in His goodness it may be long delayed. In His goodness God forbears to judge and bears long with evil… How then does man treat this longsuffering of God? Sadly, men despise the riches of His goodness. Because of this "forbearance" men think that God will never judge. Because of His "longsuffering" men think that God is indifferent to evil.
Where the mistake lands Job
Job's reading of God's silence is what produced his flood of words:
Leslie M. GrantJob had criticised God for allowing the wicked to prosper while he, a righteous man, was suffering. So Elihu tells him the reason. God had not punished the wicked quickly in anger, and He seemed to take little notice of man's folly. That is why Job had opened his mouth in vain criticism. He had not even paused to consider wisely what he was saying, and his many words lacked knowledge.
That charge is not the end of Job. It is the beginning of his cure:
Samuel RidoutSo Job has opened his mouth in vain; he has multiplied his words without knowledge. Later God Himself will press this home on his conscience with that terrible opening question: "Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?" So God is preparing Job to listen to that Voice.
Summary
- Silence. Elihu grants the fact: God has not struck yet. The whole argument is about what that silence means.
- Not blindness. Because God does not strike, Job assumes He does not know — yet "He fully sees all man's presumption."
- Not damage. Sin cannot dim God's glory or add to Him. The harm of wrongdoing falls on man, not on God.
- Not indifference. Men take God's patience as proof that He will never judge, but "God is not mocked."
- Not the last word. Elihu's verdict on Job is "words without knowledge" — the very phrase God Himself will use. That verdict is the first step in preparing Job to hear Him.