²³ God understands the way to it
and he alone knows where it dwells,
²⁴ for he views the ends of the earth
and sees everything under the heavens.
²⁵ When he established the force of the wind
and measured out the waters,
²⁶ when he made a decree for the rain
and a path for the thunderstorm,
²⁷ then he looked at wisdom and appraised it;
he confirmed it and tested it.
²⁸ And he said to the human race,
“The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom,
and to shun evil is understanding.”

It’s interesting to think of “wisdom” as being a thing aside from an adjective. God looks as wisdom, analyzes it, tests it, then passes a handle on to humans.

² “As surely as God lives, who has denied me justice,
the Almighty, who has made my life bitter,
³ as long as I have life within me,
the breath of God in my nostrils,
⁴ my lips will not say anything wicked,
and my tongue will not utter lies.
⁵ I will never admit you are in the right;
till I die, I will not deny my integrity.
⁶ I will maintain my innocence and never let go of it;
my conscience will not reproach me as long as I live.

Job firmly believes that all of his troubles come from God. But he is resolute that he will not speak evil of God. Perhaps he knows that this would be a self-fulfilling prophecy – if in the course of complaining about the evil that has befallen him, he would sin, and thus justify the evil which has befallen him.

⁵ “The dead are in deep anguish,
those beneath the waters and all that live in them.
⁶ The realm of the dead is naked before God;
Destruction^[a] lies uncovered.

I’m not sure where we are chronologically, but this is the first reference to the “realm of the dead” that I recall.

Also:

¹² By his power he churned up the sea;
by his wisdom he cut Rahab to pieces.
¹³ By his breath the skies became fair;
his hand pierced the gliding serpent.

Is this a reference to a dragon?

⁴ How then can a mortal be righteous before God?
How can one born of woman be pure?

Bildad says, no matter how righteous you think you are, that’s nothing in comparison to God.

¹² The groans of the dying rise from the city,
and the souls of the wounded cry out for help.
But God charges no one with wrongdoing.

Job has the practical view, not the philosophical view. “Look around,” he says. “Evil exists and no one is punished!”

³ If only I knew where to find him;
if only I could go to his dwelling!
⁴ I would state my case before him
and fill my mouth with arguments.
⁵ I would find out what he would answer me,
and consider what he would say to me.
⁶ Would he vigorously oppose me?
No, he would not press charges against me.

¹³ “But he stands alone, and who can oppose him?
He does whatever he pleases.
¹⁴ He carries out his decree against me,
and many such plans he still has in store.
¹⁵ That is why I am terrified before him;
when I think of all this, I fear him.
¹⁶ God has made my heart faint;
the Almighty has terrified me.
¹⁷ Yet I am not silenced by the darkness,
by the thick darkness that covers my face.

Job continues to protest his innocence. There’s a certain amount of defiance here, perhaps the bravado of a person who knows they would never be called to do that which they claim they can do.

⁴ “Is it for your piety that he rebukes you
and brings charges against you?
⁵ Is not your wickedness great?
Are not your sins endless?
⁶ You demanded security from your relatives for no reason;
you stripped people of their clothing, leaving them naked.
⁷ You gave no water to the weary
and you withheld food from the hungry,
⁸ though you were a powerful man, owning land—
an honored man, living on it.
⁹ And you sent widows away empty-handed
and broke the strength of the fatherless.
¹⁰ That is why snares are all around you,
why sudden peril terrifies you,
¹¹ why it is so dark you cannot see,
and why a flood of water covers you.

Eliphaz says, even though you think you’re a good man, you probably sinned.

³⁴ “So how can you console me with your nonsense?
Nothing is left of your answers but falsehood!”

Job is had enough of this talk. He says, look around! You can see that the wicked prosper. They are not always punished in their lifetime. So don’t look at him and think that because he has had catastrophe befall him that he is wicked. That’s not a reasonable inference.

²⁷ The heavens will expose his guilt;
the earth will rise up against him.
²⁸ A flood will carry off his house,
rushing waters^[b] on the day of God’s wrath.
²⁹ Such is the fate God allots the wicked,
the heritage appointed for them by God.”

Zophar is still pretty convinced that Job did something evil and that is why he is in his current state.

² “How long will you torment me
and crush me with words?
³ Ten times now you have reproached me;
shamelessly you attack me.
⁴ If it is true that I have gone astray,
my error remains my concern alone.
⁵ If indeed you would exalt yourselves above me
and use my humiliation against me,
⁶ then know that God has wronged me
and drawn his net around me.

Job still protests against this characterization. He’s not an evil person. God has wronged him. It is interesting to me that even though Job rants against God’s treatment of him, he still looks forward to the day when he can see God.

²⁵ I know that my redeemer^[c] lives,
and that in the end he will stand on the earth.^[d]
26 And after my skin has been destroyed,
yet^[e] in^[f] my flesh I will see God;
²⁷ I myself will see him
with my own eyes—I, and not another.
How my heart yearns within me!

But what’s really going on here? Check out these footnotes:

3. Job 19:25 Or vindicator
4. Job 19:25 Or on my grave
5. Job 19:26 Or And after I awake, / though this body has been destroyed, / then
6. Job 19:26 Or destroyed, / apart from
7. Job 19:28 Many Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint and Vulgate; most Hebrew manuscripts me

Is Job’s redeemer / vindicator God? Or someone/something else? Doesn’t it seem odd for Job to spend chapters ranting about God’s treatment of him, and then call God his vindicator? It’s almost like he’s looking for someone else to come in and prove him right.

And the footnote interpretation – “in the end he will stand on my grave. After I awake, though this body has been destroyed, apart from my flesh I will see God – I myself will see him with my own eyes.” I wonder if he’s looking forward to seeing God so he can ask Him why God heaped all of this torment upon him?