Or, ‘Deliver me from the adversary's hand’? Or, ‘Redeem me from the hand of the ruthless’?
Job is answering Eliphaz, and here he turns the accusation back with a string of questions that need no answer. He had never asked them for a gift, a bribe, or a rescue. So why did they argue with him instead of pitying him?
Questions That Answer Themselves
Job's friends had come to him, then kept their distance from the man they came to see. William Kelly reads the questions as Job's protest against friends who treat him like a beggar:
William KellyYes, that was their state; they were shocked; they did not even want to get near him. They did not wish to have even the sense of the foul breath of the poor sufferer, or to touch his skin for fear of catching something themselves. They kept away from it; they were afraid. "Did I say, 'Bring me something'? or, 'Give a bribe for me out of your wealth'?" He says, "It is not that I have the least need of anything. Yet you are treating me as if I wanted to draw on you in my trouble. No, I ask nothing of you except that you should not misjudge me."
No Money, No Rescue
Job's questions name what a ruined man might want from friends: money, and rescue from an enemy's hand. Samuel Ridout says Job asked for neither. He compares the friends to a stream that runs dry:
Samuel RidoutIn his time of great need they showed themselves wholly unfit to be friends. They are not the kind of brother who is born for times of trouble. These "brothers" are like a summer stream. Melting snow and ice swell it in winter, and it promises an endless supply for the thirsty. But when the caravans of travellers arrive, they find only dry stones to mock them. Yet he had asked nothing unreasonable of them — no money, nor rescue from the enemy, only a little sympathy.
He Never Even Asked Them to Come
Leslie Grant notes that the friends came uninvited, and then accused him:
Leslie M. GrantJob had not even asked his three friends to come, let alone asking them for some benefit from their hands. Why did they then accuse him when all he needed was a little sympathy?
What Job Did Ask For
Job did ask his friends for one thing. Arno Gaebelein sets it beside what Job never asked for:
Arno Clemens GaebeleinHe had asked nothing like this of them; all he longed for was kind and tender sympathy. He urges them to teach him, to show him where he has sinned, if he is suffering for his sins. He urges them to look straight into his face and see whether he is lying. He solemnly assures his friends of his innocence.
Grant draws out how willing Job was to be corrected, if only the correction had substance:
Leslie M. GrantIf they had something profitable and true to teach him, Job would willingly hold his tongue and listen. If he had erred as they supposed, why did they not tell him in what way he had erred (v.24). Right words would have been forceful and effective, but their arguments proved nothing (v.25).
When Friends Fail
Ridout finds a warning here. He sets Job beside Paul, who also lost every friend:
Samuel RidoutIt was indeed most disappointing. Eliphaz might speak in grand language about the greatness and faithfulness of God. But what about himself? Was he acting the part of a true friend? Seeing them like this, Job might say of them, "You have caused my beloved and my friend to shun me." And when they failed, he could not add, "You are with me." Paul speaks very differently: "At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me… But the Lord stood by me" (2 Tim. 4:16-17). Let us learn from Job's failure not to put the dearest earthly friend between us and God.
Summary
- Nothing asked. Job asked his friends for no gift, no bribe, no rescue. Every question he puts answers itself: no.
- Only sympathy. What he wanted cost them nothing: a little pity, not money and not rescue from an enemy's hand.
- Uninvited. He had not even asked them to come; they arrived on their own, then accused the man they came to comfort.
- Teach me. The one thing Job did ask for was instruction — show me where I sinned, look me in the face — and he staked his innocence on it.
- One Friend. Friends dry up like a winter stream in summer heat. Ridout's lesson: never put even the dearest of them between yourself and God.