Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Job 40:9

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Job 40:9. Hast thou an arm like God? — Every word, from this to the end of Job 40:14, has a wonderful tendency to humble the soul; and it is no wonder that at the conclusion of these sayings Job fell in the dust confounded, and ascribed righteousness to his Maker.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

A direct challenge (40:1-14)

God now challenges Job to present his arguments (40:1-2). Although God’s speech has not specifically dealt with the problem of Job’s suffering, Job has no argument to present. God has not solved Job’s intellectual problems, nor has he confirmed or denied the theories of the three friends. He has said nothing against Job, but he has shown Job that people cannot expect to understand everything about the activity of God in the complex world he has made. Job is sorry for his former rash words and has nothing more to say (3-5).
However, God is not yet finished with Job. He asks about Job’s accusations of injustice in God. Does he still want to make God wrong merely to prove himself right? Does he want to be like God, to take God’s place and govern the moral order of the universe, to decree what is right and what is wrong (6-9)? If so, let Job clothe himself with God’s magnificent robes and sit in judgment on all who are proud and wicked. Then God will acknowledge Job’s assessment of himself as correct (10-14).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

GOD CHALLENGES JOB TO TAKE OVER THE UNIVERSE

"Then Jehovah answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said, Gird up thy loins now like a man: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me. Wilt thou even annul my judgment? Wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be justified? Or hast thou an arm like God? And canst thou thunder with a voice like him? Deck thyself now with excellency and dignity; And array thyself with honor and majesty. Pour forth the overflowings of thine anger; And look upon every one that is proud, and abase him. Look upon every one that is proud, and bring him low. And tread down the wicked where they stand. Hide them in the dust together; Bind their faces in the hidden place. Then will I also confess of thee That thine own right hand can save thee."

OK, mankind! Here God challenges you to take over the universe. The humanistic idiots of our own generation need to read this. Their manifesto in 1933 declared that, "Never again shall we seek to build a society upon the principles of the Judeo-Christian scriptures." And the sorrows that have overwhelmed all nations since then have demonstrated conclusively that "It is not in man that walketh to direct his steps" (Jeremiah 10:23).

In these verses, we have the revelation of Job's sin, namely, pride. Although his manifold sufferings were not the visitation of God upon him for gross and reprobate wickedness (as his friends erroneously concluded); nevertheless, Job had imagined that God was acting as his enemy, and had even wished for an `umpire' who might plead against that imagined hostility on the part of God.

"Job's criticism of God's judgment, especially his boast that he will overcome the Lord's imagined opposition to his justification was, in principle, a usurpation of the divine prerogative of world government, a lusting after God-like knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 3:5)."Wycliffe Old Testament Commentary, p. 488. See under Job 40:8, below.

"Gird up thy loins… declare thou unto me" Some critics have resented what they interpret as God's efforts to "browbeat Job into a more abject submission." Has he not admitted that he is silenced? Why go any further? This is to miss the whole point that Job is indeed a sinner (not as the friends imagined), but in his conception of God.

"Wilt thou condemn me that thou mayest be justified" To paraphrase this, "Do you think it necessary to accuse me of injustice and to condemn me in order to establish thine own innocence"?The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 7b, p. 641. There was no need whatever for such a viewpoint. God's justice and Job's innocence were perfectly compatible. In order to see this, it was only necessary to get rid of the false theory, held by Job's friends and unconsciously supported by Job's own suppositions (i.e., that God was his enemy), that earthly sorrows and afflictions are necessarily punitive. In these verses, Job would come to see that, "The things that had been, and still were, a puzzle to men were no puzzle at all to God.The New Bible Commentary, Revised, p. 442.

"Hast thou an arm like God? And canst thou thunder with a voice like him" The argument here is that, "The world is so large, and the circumstances and situations of individual life are so infinitely varied, that none but an omnipotent Ruler could govern them with perfect justice. Therefore, one who does not possess God's might must refrain from passing judgment upon God's justice."International Critical Commentary, op. cit., p. 350.

"Deck thyself with excellency… dignity… honor… majesty" Such language as this is ironical and sarcastic. If Job is really going to take over management of the universe, "He would need to be as splendid and majestic as God."Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries, op. cit., p. 287. By his imagining that, if he had an umpire, he might even dispute the judgments of God (as he understood his sufferings) with the Lord himself, Job had presumed to question the infinite wisdom and justice of God; and, if he were indeed to succeed in such a role, he would have to look the part! As Franks understood the implication of God's Words here, "If Job cannot put himself in the place of God, and govern the world, neither can he understand the method of the government."Arthur S. Peake, A Commentary on the Bible (London: T. C. and E. C. Jack, Ltd., 1924), p. 364.

This tremendously significant paragraph makes the devastating charge against Job, that, "If he can do what God here challenged him to do, and what by implication his words had assumed that he could do, - then he will BE God! That was the ancient sin of the pair in Eden, with their attempt to be `like God' (Genesis 3:5); and here it is revealed to be the sin of Job. Every effort at self-justification must ultimately stand under the same condemnation."Ibid.

"Then will I confess of thee that thine own right hand can save thee" If any mortal could justify himself before God, he would not need a Saviour; and by God's Words to Job in this passage, we see that such a justification is impossible, apart from the redemptive love of God and the unspeakable gift of his beloved Son upon Calvary as an atonement for the sins of the whole world.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

Hast thou an arm like God? - The arm is the symbol of strength. The question here is, whether Job would venture to compare his strength with the omnipotence of God?

Or canst thou thunder with a voice like him? - Thunder is a symbol of the majesty of the Most High, and is often spoken of as the voice of God; see Psalms 29:1-11. The question here is, whether Job could presume to compare himself with the Almighty, whose voice was the thunder?

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 40

Moreover the Lord answered Job, and said, Shall he that contends with the Almighty instruct him? ( Job 40:1-2 )

"Job, are you trying to instruct me?" Isn't that ridiculous? Can you think of anybody trying to instruct God? How foolish! But you're looking at one. How many times I've tried to instruct God. "Now, God, this is the way I see it, and I think You ought to work it out this way." "Lord, why aren't you doing it this way?" I have been so foolish thinking that I can instruct God, and I get upset when He doesn't follow my instructions. That's the dumb part. I seek to instruct God and then get upset when He doesn't follow them. Unfortunately, there are those who are espousing some kind of a doctrine that really deals with instructing God and telling God exactly what to do and when to do it and how to do it and He's got to do it if you instruct Him in the right ways. And they take the power out of God's hands and put it in man's hands of man's destiny. "You control your destiny; it is your confession that controls the destiny." Making the positive confession, that's the control of your destiny. And they take the control of a man's destiny out of God's hands and put it into man's hands, and they are constantly instructing God. That's dangerous.

God said to Job,

Shall he who contends with the Almighty instruct him? he that reproves God, let him answer it. Job answered the LORD, and said, Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? ( Job 40:2-4 )

God said, "Hey, look, you've been trying to instruct Me, contending with Me, trying to instruct Me. All right, answer Me, Job." Job said, "What can I say? What can I answer, Lord? I am vile. Trying to instruct You, contending with You. God, I am vile."

Once I have spoken; but I'm not going to answer: yea, twice; but I will proceed no further. Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said, Gird up your loins like a man: I'm going to demand of thee, declare unto Me. Will you also disannul my judgment? will you condemn me, that you may be righteous? ( Job 40:5-8 )

Think about this for a moment, because I think quite often we are guilty of this ourselves. Condemning God in seeking to make ourselves righteous. "I don't know how God could do that to me. After all, when I'm so good and I'm so pure and I'm so righteous. Why would God allow that to happen to me? God isn't fair to me. God isn't just. He's allowed it to happen to me." Dangerous.

Have you an arm like God? or can you thunder with a voice like him? Cast abroad the rage of your wrath: and behold everyone that is proud, abase him ( Job 40:9 , Job 40:11 )

Now God says, "Here, do this now. Go ahead and,"

Deck yourself with the majesty and excellency; array yourself with glory and beauty. And cast abroad the rage of the angry person: behold everyone that is proud in the earth, abase him. Look on every one that is proud, and bring him low; and tread down the wicked in their place. Hide them in the dust together; bind their faces in secret. And then I also will confess to you that your own right hand can save you ( Job 40:10-14 ).

God said, "If you can do these things, then I'll confess to you your right hand can save you. If you can abase every proud person and bring them low and all."

Now God goes and He gives the illustration of the elephant and talks of the elephant, again one of His creatures and of the description of the elephant, its size and its diet and so forth. "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

God’s challenge 40:6-14

God introduced this second challenge much the same as He did His first, out of the whirlwind, and with a demand that Job refute Him if he could.

"Yahweh confronts Job with the major flaw in his accusations. In defending his own innocence so emphatically and lashing out so vehemently at God because of his suffering, Job has essentially charged God with acting unjustly. For a mortal to presume himself guiltless and to impugn God’s just governance of the world approaches the sin of presumptuous pride.

"It is important to observe that Yahweh does not accuse Job of any specific sin, thereby agreeing that Job has lived a righteous life. Nevertheless, if the relationship between himself and his servant is to be restored, Job’s self-righteous attitude must be altered and his complaint against God’s just governance of the world must be corrected." [Note: Hartley, p. 519.]

Job had claimed God was unjust. In answering this challenge God did not argue with Job. He simply asked Job questions that made it obvious to Job that he was unable to do what he had blamed God for not doing. In criticizing God, Job had placed himself in a position over God. Therefore God now reminded Job that he was not superior or even equal to God (Job 40:9; Job 40:11-13). If he were superior or equal, Job could deliver himself from his own misery, which he could not do (Job 40:14). Because Job was inferior to God, he had no right to criticize God for behaving as He did (cf. Romans 9:20).

It may be that God used the Hebrew word translated "gird up your loins" in a forensic sense in Job 38:3 and Job 40:7 to heighten the irony of His interrogation. [Note: Parsons, p. 149.]

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Hast thou an arm like God?.... Such power as he has, which is infinite, almighty, and uncontrollable, and therefore there is no contending with him; as he has an arm on which good men may lean on and trust in, and by which they are supported, protected, and saved, so he has an arm to crush like a moth all that strive with him or against him;

or canst thou thunder with a voice like him? thunder is his voice; see

Job 37:4, c. and is expressive of his power,

Job 26:14 and his powerful voice may be observed in calling all things out of nothing into being in creation; in commanding and ordering all things in providence according to his pleasure; and in quickening sinners through his Gospel, by his Spirit and grace in conversion, and will be in calling men out of their graves and summoning them to judgment at the last day. God can both overpower and out voice men, and therefore it is in vain to oppose him and contend with him.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      6 Then answered the LORD unto Job out of the whirlwind, and said,   7 Gird up thy loins now like a man: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.   8 Wilt thou also disannul my judgment? wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous?   9 Hast thou an arm like God? or canst thou thunder with a voice like him?   10 Deck thyself now with majesty and excellency; and array thyself with glory and beauty.   11 Cast abroad the rage of thy wrath: and behold every one that is proud, and abase him.   12 Look on every one that is proud, and bring him low; and tread down the wicked in their place.   13 Hide them in the dust together; and bind their faces in secret.   14 Then will I also confess unto thee that thine own right hand can save thee.

      Job was greatly humbled for what God had already said, but not sufficiently; he was brought low, but not low enough; and therefore God here proceeds to reason with him in the same manner and to the same purport as before, Job 40:6; Job 40:6. Observe, 1. Those who duly receive what they have heard from God, and profit by it, shall hear more from him. 2. Those who are truly convinced of sin, and penitent for it, yet have need to be more thoroughly convinced and to be made more deeply penitent. Those who are under convictions, who have their sins set in order before their eyes and their hearts broken for them, must learn from this instance not to catch at comfort too soon; it will be everlasting when it comes, and therefore it is necessary that we be prepared for it by deep humiliation, that the wound be searched to the bottom and not skinned over, and that we do not make more haste out of our convictions than good speed. When our hearts begin to melt and relent within us, let those considerations be dwelt upon and pursued which will help to make a thorough effectual thaw of it.

      God begins with a challenge (Job 40:7; Job 40:7), as before (Job 38:3; Job 38:3): "Gird up thy loins now like a man; if thou hast the courage and confidence thou hast pretended to, show them now; but thou wilt soon be made to see and own thyself no match for me." This is that which every proud heart must be brought to at last, either by its repentance or by its ruin; and thus low must every mountain and hill be, sooner or later, brought. We must acknowledge,

      I. That we cannot vie with God for justice, that the Lord is righteous and holy in his dealings with us, but that we are unrighteous and unholy in our conduct towards him; we have a great deal to blame ourselves for, but nothing to blame him for (Job 40:8; Job 40:8): "Wilt thou disannul my judgment? Wilt thou take exceptions to what I say and do, and bring a writ of error, to reverse the judgment I have given as erroneous and unjust?" Many of Job's complaints had too much of a tendency this way: I cry out of wrong, says he, but I am not heard; but such language as this is by no means to be suffered. God's judgment cannot, must not, be disannulled, for we are sure it is according to truth, and therefore it is a great piece of impudence and iniquity in us to call in question. "Wilt thou," says God, "condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous? Must my honour suffer for the support of thy reputation? Must I be charged as dealing unjustly with thee because thou canst not otherwise clear thyself from the censures thou liest under?" Our duty is to condemn ourselves, that God may be righteous. David is therefore ready to own the evil he has done in God's sight, that God may be justified when he speaks and clear when he judges,Psalms 51:4. See Nehemiah 9:33; Daniel 9:7. But those are very proud, and very ignorant both of God and themselves, who, to clear themselves, will condemn God; and the day is coming when, if the mistake be not rectified in time by repentance, the eternal judgment will be both the confutation of the plea and the confusion of the prisoner, for the heavens shall declare God's righteousness and all the world shall become guilty before him.

      II. That we cannot vie with God for power; and therefore, as it is great impiety, so it is great impudence to contest with him, and is as much against our interest as it is against reason and justice (Job 40:9; Job 40:9): "Hast thou an arm like God, equal to his in length and strength? Or canst thou thunder with a voice like him, as he did (Job 37:1; Job 37:2), or does now out of the whirlwind?" To convince Job that he was not so able as he thought himself to contest with God, he shows him, 1. That he could never fight it out with him, nor carry his cause by force of arms. Sometimes, among men, controversies have been decided by battle, and the victorious champion is adjudged to have justice on his side; but, if the controversy were put upon that issue between God and man, man would certainly go by the worse, for all the forces he could raise against the Almighty would be but like briers and thorns before a consuming fire, Isaiah 27:4. "Hast thou, a poor weak worm of the earth, an arm comparable to his who upholds all things?" The power of creatures, even of angels themselves, is derived from God, limited by him, and dependent on him; but the power of God is original, independent, and unlimited. He can do every thing without us; we can do nothing without him; and therefore we have not an arm like God. 2. That he could never talk it out with him, nor carry his cause by noise and big words, which sometimes among men go a great way towards the gaining of a point: "Canst thou thunder with a voice like him? No; his voice will soon drown thine and one of his thunders will overpower and overrule all thy whispers." Man cannot speak so convincingly, so powerfully, nor with such a commanding conquering force as God can, who speaks, and it is done. his creating voice is called his thunder (Psalms 104:7), so is that voice of his with which he terrifies and discomfits his enemies, 1 Samuel 2:10. The wrath of a king may sometimes be like the roaring of a lion, but can never pretend to imitate God's thunder.

      III. That we cannot vie with God for beauty and majesty, Job 40:10; Job 40:10. "If thou wilt enter into a comparison with him, and appear more amiable, put on thy best attire: Deck thyself now with majesty and excellency. Appear in all the martial pomp, in all the royal pageantry that thou hast; make the best of every thing that will set thee off: Array thyself with glory and beauty, such as may awe thy enemies and charm thy friends; but what is it all to the divine majesty and beauty? No more than the light of a glow-worm to that of the sun when he goes forth in his strength." God decks himself with such majesty and glory as are the terror of devils and all the powers of darkness and make them tremble; he arrays himself with such glory and beauty as are the wonder of angels and all the saints in light and make them rejoice. David could dwell all his days in God's house, to behold the beauty of the Lord. But, in comparison with this, what is all the majesty and excellency by which princes think to make themselves feared, and all the glory and beauty by which lovers think to make themselves beloved? If Job think, in contending with God, to carry the day by looking great and making a figure, he is quite mistaken. The sun shall be ashamed, and the moon confounded, when God shines forth.

      IV. That we cannot vie with God for dominion over the proud, Job 40:11-14; Job 40:11-14. here the cause is put upon this short issue: if Job can humble and abase proud tyrants and oppressors as easily and effectually as God can, it shall be acknowledged that he has some colour to compete with God. Observe here,

      1. The justice Job is here challenged to do, and that is to bring the proud low with a look. If Job will pretend to be a rival with God, especially if he pretend to be a judge of his actions, he must be able to do this.

      (1.) It is here supposed that God can do it and will do it himself, else he would not have put it thus upon Job. By this God proves himself to be God, that he resists the proud, sits Judge upon them, and is able to bring them to ruin. Observe here, [1.] That proud people are wicked people, and pride is at the bottom of a great deal of the wickedness that is in this world both towards God and man. [2.] Proud people will certainly be abased and brought low; for pride goes before destruction. If they bend not, they will break; if they humble not themselves by true repentance, God will humble them, to their everlasting confusion. The wicked will be trodden down in their place, that is, Wherever they are found, though they pretend to have a place of their own, and to have taken root in it, yet even there they shall be trodden down, and all the wealth, and power, and interest, to which their place entitles them, will not be their security. [3.] The wrath of God, scattered among the proud, will humble them, and break them, and bring them down. If he casts abroad the rage of his wrath, as he will do at the great day and sometimes does in this life, the stoutest heart cannot hold out against him. Who knows the power of his anger? [4.] God can and does easily abase proud tyrants; he can look upon them, and bring them low, can overwhelm them with shame, and fear, and utter ruin, by one angry look, as he can, by a gracious look, revive the hearts of the contrite ones. [5.] He can and will at last do it effectually (Job 40:13; Job 40:13), not only bring them to the dust, from which they might hope to arise, but hide them in the dust, like the proud Egyptian whom Moses slew and hid in the sand (Exodus 2:12), that is, they shall be brought not only to death, but to the grave, that pit out of which there is no return. They were proud of the figure they made, but they shall be buried in oblivion and be no more remembered than those that are hidden in the dust, out of sight and out of mind. They were linked in leagues and confederacies to do mischief, and are now bound in bundles. They are hidden together; not their rest, but their shame together is in the dust,Job 17:16; Job 17:16. Nay, they are treated as malefactors (who, when condemned, had their faces covered, as Haman's was: He binds their faces in secret) or as dead men: Lazarus, in the grave, had his face bound about. Thus complete will be the victory that God will gain, at last, over proud sinners that set themselves in opposition to him. Now by this he proves himself to be God. Does he thus hate proud men? Then he is holy. Will he thus punish them? Then he is the just Judge of the world. Can he thus humble them? Then he is the Lord Almighty. When he had abased proud Pharaoh, and hidden him in the sand of the Red Sea, Jethro thence inferred that doubtless the Lord is greater than all gods, for wherein the proud enemies of his Israel dealt proudly he was above them, he was too hard for them, Exodus 18:11. See Revelation 19:1; Revelation 19:2.

      (2.) It is here proposed to Job to do it. He had been passionately quarrelling with God and his providence, casting abroad the rage of his wrath towards heaven, as if he thought thereby to bring God himself to his mind. "Come," says God, "try thy hand first upon proud men, and thou wilt soon see how little they value the rage of thy wrath; and shall I then regard it, or be moved by it?" Job had complained of the prosperity and power of tyrants and oppressors, and was ready to charge God with mal-administration for suffering it; but he ought not to find fault, except he could mend. If God, and he only, has power enough to humble and bring down proud men, no doubt he has wisdom enough to know when and how to do it, and it is not for us to prescribe to him or to teach him how to prescribe to him or to teach him how to govern the world. Unless we had an arm like God we must not think to take his work out of his hands.

      2. The justice which is here promised to be done him if he can perform such mighty works as these (Job 40:14; Job 40:14): "They will I also confess unto thee that thy right hand is sufficient to save thee, though, after all, it would be too weak to contend with me." It is the innate pride and ambition of man that he would be his own saviour (would have his own hands sufficient for him and be independent), but it is presumption to pretend that he is. Our own hands cannot save us by recommending us to God's grace, much less by rescuing us from his justice. Unless we could by our own power humble our enemies, we cannot pretend by our own power to save ourselves; but, if we could, God himself would confess it. He never did nor ever will defraud any man of his just praise, nor deny him the honour he has merited. But, since we cannot do this, we must confess unto him that our own hands cannot save us, and therefore into his hand we must commit ourselves.