For truly my words are not false; one who is perfect in knowledge is with you.
Elihu is not finished speaking to Job. He asks for a little more patience, then makes two bold claims: his words are not false, and someone "perfect in knowledge" is present.
Knowledge Fetched From Afar
Elihu first tells us where his knowledge comes from. One commentator hears in that a hint of someone greater than Elihu:
Leslie M. GrantElihu continues in the same strain, for as he says, there is much more to say on God's behalf. Where did Elihu find his knowledge? He fetched it "from afar" (v.3). That would remind us of the Lord Jesus, who brought the knowledge of God from heaven itself. It came from far above man's ability to produce wisdom.
Righteousness Ascribed To The Maker
This verse only makes sense next to the purpose Elihu states one line earlier. His aim is to clear God's name:
William Kelly"I will get my knowledge from afar, and will ascribe righteousness to my Maker." He always takes his stand on this: God can never say or do anything beneath Himself.
Job's three friends had tried and failed to do this. Elihu's distinctive work is summed up in a sentence:
Charles StanleyElihu applies all this to Job himself (Job 35), and then proceeds to justify God. "To speak on God's behalf, to ascribe righteousness to Him." It is very striking how the work of Elihu is to justify God.
Who Is Perfect In Knowledge?
Commentators differ on the second half of the verse. Some take it as Elihu describing his own speaking. He is not boasting. He knows whose message he carries:
Samuel RidoutHe asks Job to let him speak for God a little longer. He will bring near the knowledge of God, who dwells far off. His constant aim is to clear God's name, and in doing so he will speak with a knowledge that is "perfect." This is no proud boast about himself. It is the solemn awareness that he is speaking for God.
Others read it as a direct reference to God, and draw out a comfort hidden inside the claim:
Leslie M. GrantElihu insists that his words are not false, and that One who is perfect in knowledge was with them (v.4). Only God fits that description, and Elihu implied that God was with Job, not against him.
Another writer joins the two readings. Elihu can speak this way because of who speaks through him:
Arno Clemens GaebeleinHe tells Job, "One who is perfect in knowledge is with you." How could he say this? Because Elihu knew that in speaking for God His Spirit would speak through him to Job.
What The Perfect Knowledge Announces
The next line says what this perfect knowledge announces. God is mighty, and He despises no one. That overturns a common instinct about God:
William KellyWhat a wonderful saying! People have thought, and still think, that the greater God's majesty, the less notice He takes of the smallest thing on earth. It is all the other way. God shows His might by being able to grasp everything. He notices the smallest insect and shows His concern for it.
Another writer applies this straight to Job:
Samuel RidoutIn one word he sweeps away the unholy suspicions Job had been holding — "God is great, and despises no one." His power is infinite, yet He looks with compassion on the weakest of His creatures. There are two infinities in which He is equally seen — the infinitely great and the infinitely small. How comforting is the truth, "He despises no one!" His greatness is never a reason for scorn. His wisdom is infinitely powerful, but never used against weakness.
A Man Standing Between
Elihu's place in the story points beyond himself:
Samuel RidoutHe acts as a mediator, an interpreter for men, a revealer of God. The way this pictures our Lord's work is plain.
Yet the likeness has limits, and one writer marks them carefully — Elihu speaks for God, but he is only a shadow:
William KellyElihu is an interpreter, one of a thousand, and he therefore does speak for God — just what Job had wanted, only very far short of the Great Interpreter... Still, the presence of Elihu is a witness to sovereign grace.
Summary
- Source — Elihu's knowledge is not his own. He fetches it "from afar," which one writer links to Christ bringing the knowledge of God down from heaven.
- Aim — every word has one purpose: to ascribe righteousness to his Maker, the God who can never say or do anything beneath Himself.
- Speaker — commentators differ on "perfect in knowledge." Some read it of Elihu's message, some of God Himself. One writer ties them together: God's Spirit speaks through the man who speaks for God.
- Comfort — if One perfect in knowledge is present, God is with Job, not against him. Greatness in God never means contempt for the small.
- Shadow — Elihu stands as mediator and interpreter, a real witness to grace. Yet he falls far short of Christ, the Great Interpreter whose work his own pictures.