Chapter 34 contains Elihu's second address, in which he sets out to answer Job's claims and refute them one by one. Job had argued: the fact that righteous people suffer, that people who do the will of Hashem nevertheless endure affliction, is proof that the Holy One, blessed be He, does not judge man directly Himself. What happens instead? The Holy One has supposedly handed over governance to the natural order - the celestial systems and constellations are the active forces, while He, as it were, does not oversee the lowly earth, but has placed the world into the hands of "deputies." And these deputies afflict man arbitrarily, even without any wrongdoing on his part.
Job constructed a framework within which he could complain about Divine providence while still claiming: Heaven forbid, I am not denying Hashem, nor am I saying that Hashem is at fault. I am merely claiming that the deputies are abusing me and treating me unfairly. Systemic governance does not distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, and that is why I suffer.
Job went even further, arguing: this cannot even be classified as injustice, for according to the natural mechanics of the world's operation, it is inevitable that some things will suffer damage and loss. Consider an analogy: when someone drives a car, wear and tear is an unavoidable byproduct of its operation. When a physical world exists, by the very nature of natural forces, there is a sea, and inevitably people drown in the sea; there are storms, and inevitably people are killed in storms; there are blizzards, and inevitably people are buried in the snow. The Holy One created a car, and that car can cause someone to die in a traffic accident - does that make the car inherently bad? Does that make the creation of the world bad? All the negativity in the world is merely like a tiny grain compared to all the good it contains. If we ask: Has the automobile brought more benefit or more harm? Undeniably, it has brought far more benefit. If we look at how many people drove today for their needs, the number reaches a million, while those who were injured might number fifteen. The injury is tragic, but quantitatively, the benefit far outweighs the harm. This, argued Job, is how the world is governed: the governance itself is inherently good, but by its very nature, some inevitably suffer harm along the way, and they are like a grain of sand compared to the whole.
To this, Elihu responds with a parable. A person attempts to defend a minister who committed an injustice against someone, saying: "He did not do this to harm that specific person individually; rather, that is simply his general manner of conduct - he always harms everyone." Is this a defense or an indictment? To illustrate: you approached a minister asking for assistance, and instead of helping, he caused you even more harm. When you complain, someone tells you: "Listen, I will speak in his defense - know that it was nothing personal against you; he is simply an abrasive character, inherently malicious, and he treats everyone that way, so do not take it to heart." Has that person defended him? No, he has indicted him, and with an accusation far more severe than what was initially thought!
Elihu says to him: This is precisely what you are doing. You claim that the wrong done to you was not aimed at you personally, but is part of a sweeping injustice that affects all mankind, because the Holy One has supposedly abandoned us to a cruel, crude ruler - the natural forces, the stars and constellations, the lower mechanisms of governance. Yet that itself would be an injustice: Why would Hashem entrust the world to wrongful agents? Furthermore, you argue that by the very nature of creation, injustices and casualties are inevitable - exactly like the parable, where it is not personal, but the ruler is simply the type who constantly harms everyone. This is dreadful: not only have you failed to vindicate your Creator, but you have introduced an even greater problem. First, why would Hashem place the world in the hands of such a corrupt ruler? And second, why would the Holy One create a world that inherently produces widespread suffering without distinguishing between the righteous and the wicked - who forced this upon Him?
Elihu also addresses another of Job's arguments: Why does the Holy One, blessed be He, not punish the wicked immediately, in instantaneous response to their evil deeds? After all, when punishment is delayed, wickedness only multiplies, as people observe: this person committed endless evil and yet prospers, enjoying wealth and possessions. Saddam Hussein should have been dragged out of his bunker during the first Gulf War and hanged two weeks later, rather than left to continue causing misery. Hitler should have died before the war even began. In short, every perpetrator of evil ought to receive his punishment on the spot, and then Divine Providence would be unmistakably clear.
To this, Elihu son of Barachel the Buzite answers: Know that one cannot question the Creator of the universe about how He conducts His world. Nevertheless, I will offer you an explanation. The Holy One punishes in concealed ways, because overt, immediate retribution would cause people to avoid wrongdoing not out of genuine awe of Hashem or sincere service of God, but merely out of fear of punishment - and what would be gained by that? The Holy One does not desire that man serve Him like a robot: perform a mitzvah - receive an immediate reward; commit a transgression - receive an immediate punishment. The Holy One could have created us as automatons, and then we would be like animals, compelled in all our actions. Instead, He desires that we possess free will. And how can free will truly exist? Only when one does not immediately see punishment for a negative action, nor immediately see reward for a positive deed.
Furthermore, you want to know why wicked people are permitted to exist in the world? Know that at times, the Holy One uses that wicked individual to exact retribution from those who have sinned. "Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger" - Assyria was wicked, coming to lay waste and oppress, which is true. But what was Assyria in essence? The rod of the Holy One's anger. A rod is a staff, and anger is wrath - the staff of the Creator's wrath. When the Holy One is wrathful, He uses Assyria to chastise us. Ultimately, that rod will be broken and will pay the penalty, for "liability is brought about through the guilty," and had Assyria not been culpable, this destructive role would not have been assigned to them. Yet the fact that people are afflicted through the wicked serves a purpose in the Divine plan, for this is the means by which those individuals pay the price for their actions. Therefore, it is impossible for Hashem to destroy the wicked immediately: if He breaks the staff at once, how will it discipline those who need rectification and refinement? The function of the staff depends on its enduring and striking, until Hashem ultimately exacts retribution from it as well. "He is slow to anger, but He collects what is His" - the Holy One is patient and forbearing, but in the end, there is a full accounting.
(א) וַיַּעַן אֱלִיהוּא וַיֹּאמַר׃ (ב) שִׁמְעוּ חֲכָמִים מִלָּי וְיֹדְעִים הַאֲזִינוּ לִי׃ - (1) And Elihu answered and said: (2) "Hear my words, you wise men; and give ear to me, you who possess knowledge."
I ask that you hear my words, my speech. You, Iyov, claimed that it is impossible that the Holy One, blessed be He, directs the world and that there is individual Divine providence (hashgachah peratit), for if so, how could it be that He treats me unjustly and brings harm upon the righteous? From this you sought to prove that Hashem does not oversee what happens here with man, and certainly not the details of his deeds, but rather the matter was handed over to the celestial system, to the governance of the stars, and from there stems injustice toward the righteous and good toward the wicked, because the system does not distinguish between righteous and wicked. To this, Bildad the Shuchite asked him: But isn't that itself an injustice - that the Holy One, blessed be He, handed governance over to a wicked ruler, into the hands of the celestial system! And Iyov answered him: On the whole, Hashem's governance is good, for more people benefit from this world than suffer in it; and even if the entire earth were destroyed - what is planet Earth compared to all the galaxies and all the worlds? It is still like fleeting dust compared to all the rest. Now Elihu comes to show him the fallacy in these words, and how he contradicts himself inherently.
(ג) כִּי־אֹזֶן מִלִּין תִּבְחָן וְחֵךְ יִטְעַם לֶאֱכֹל׃ - (3) "For the ear tests words, as the palate tastes food."
Just as the palate can distinguish whether food is bitter or sweet, sour or any other taste - the palate is what perceives it - so too, "the ear tests words"; the ear analyzes words and can discern whether there is truth or falsehood here, whether the statements are sound or misleading.
(ד) מִשְׁפָּט נִבְחֲרָה־לָּנוּ נֵדְעָה בֵינֵינוּ מַה־טּוֹב׃ - (4) "Let us choose justice for ourselves; let us know among ourselves what is good."
A person who wants to decide whether something is true or not must choose a judgment - meaning, choose a single, consistent line of reasoning. One cannot maintain two mutually contradictory premises. You must have one consistent approach and follow it from beginning to end. Let us assume Hashem does not commit injustice, or let us assume Hashem commits injustice - but one cannot assume both in the same breath. Do you want to say Hashem commits injustice? Explain how that accords with His goodness, why such injustice is legitimate, and pursue that line of reasoning. Do you want to say Hashem does not commit injustice? Explain why we observe the righteous suffering, and pursue that line of reasoning. "Let us choose justice for ourselves" - let us choose one foundational premise; "let us know among ourselves what is good" - and through this we will discern what is true and what is false, rather than halting between two opinions.
(ה) כִּי־אָמַר אִיּוֹב צָדַקְתִּי וְאֵל הֵסִיר מִשְׁפָּטִי׃ (ו) עַל־מִשְׁפָּטִי אֲכַזֵּב אָנוּשׁ חִצִּי בְלִי־פָשַׁע׃ - (5) "For Iyov has said, 'I am righteous, yet God has deprived me of justice; (6) Concerning my right, shall I lie? My wound is incurable, though I am without transgression.'"
Here Elihu reiterates Iyov's words and divides them into two categories. Iyov's premise was: I am righteous, and the fact that I am stricken is without justice or due process; the Holy One, blessed be He, afflicts me disproportionately to what I deserve, and consequently this stems from the celestial arrangement, from mazal - I was born under bad mazal, and Hashem does not oversee the particulars. "I am righteous" - since I know that I am in the right; "yet God has deprived me of justice" - the Holy One, blessed be He, afflicts me without cause. "Concerning my right, shall I lie?" - I refute and brand a liar anyone who tells me this is lawful, righteous, and just, telling him: Your words are false, it cannot be. "My wound is incurable" - the arrow-wound with which Hashem strikes me is mortal; "though I am without transgression" - I have not sinned, and this is without justice. It cannot be that this emanates directly from Hashem, but rather through the celestial system.
(ז) מִי־גֶבֶר כְּאִיּוֹב יִשְׁתֶּה־לַּעַג כַּמָּיִם׃ (ח) וְאָרַח לְחֶבְרָה עִם־פֹּעֲלֵי אָוֶן וְלָלֶכֶת עִם־אַנְשֵׁי־רֶשַׁע׃ - (7) "What man is like Iyov, who drinks derision like water, (8) and travels in company with workers of iniquity, and walks with wicked men?"
Elihu says to him: Is it conceivable that a man as great as Iyov, of such elevated stature, should drink derision like water? He drinks derision - mocking the fundamental principles of faith with hollow arguments, and through this, he "travels in company with workers of iniquity," paving a road and joining forces with evildoers and wicked men. For once you deny individual Divine providence (hashgachah peratit), you give license to all the wicked to say: Do whatever your heart desires, do not worry, there is no providence. Even Iyov said that there is no hashgachah peratit, that the Holy One, blessed be He, does not scrutinize man's deeds, that the wicked may receive good while the righteous receive evil, and that there is neither justice nor a Judge.
(ט) כִּי־אָמַר לֹא יִסְכָּן־גָּבֶר בִּרְצֹתוֹ עִם־אֱלֹהִים׃ - For he said: "A man gains nothing by pleasing God."
Iyov said that we have seen that "a man gains nothing by pleasing God" - that a person being pleasing to God brings no benefit, meaning he will find no advantage in it. This word can be interpreted from the language of warmth, as in "and let her be an attendant [sochenet] to him," sochenet meaning warming (and from here sechina, the traditional Sabbath hot stew). Others explain yiskan as deriving benefit, as in "one who chops trees benefits [yisachen] from them," that he derives use from them. Iyov therefore argues: Pleasing God will bring you no benefit whatsoever; it is a waste of time and a waste of effort. Look how much I served and toiled, and look what I received instead.
(י) לָכֵן אַנְשֵׁי לֵבָב שִׁמְעוּ־לִי חָלִלָה לָאֵל מֵרֶשַׁע וְשַׁדַּי מֵעָוֶל׃ (יא) כִּי פֹעַל אָדָם יְשַׁלֶּם־לוֹ וּכְאֹרַח אִישׁ יַמְצִאֶנּוּ׃ - Therefore, men of understanding, listen to me: Far be it from God to do wickedness, and from the Almighty to commit iniquity! For He repays a man according to his deeds, and brings upon him according to the way of man.
All of this continues the portrayal of Iyov's reasoning. You, Iyov, say: After I walked with God, doing so did not avail to remove suffering from me, and my service of Hashem did not help me - and this goes against justice and fairness. "Therefore, men of understanding, listen to me": The conclusion I reach is that it is impossible for Hashem to do evil, for "far be it from God to do wickedness, and from the Almighty to commit iniquity"; it is unthinkable that Hashem would commit evil and injustice against man. If so, logic certainly dictates that "He repays a man according to his deeds" - that the Holy One, blessed be He, repays man according to his actions, "and brings upon him according to the way of man" - and the Holy One, blessed be He, does not bring retribution upon him according to what He, blessed be He, demands in the abstract, but "according to the way of man," according to a physical human being composed of material substance, and according to that standard He, as it were, holds him accountable.
If so, the question arises: Why is it that "a man gains nothing by pleasing God"? Why does Hashem not repay a person who pleases Him and serves the Holy One, blessed be He? After all, far be it from God to do wickedness, and the Holy One, blessed be He, does nothing unjust. If that is so, how could it be that I worked so hard and this is what I receive in return, and how could it be that the Holy One, blessed be He, afflicts me? From this, Iyov arrived at his conclusion: There is a contradiction here. Hashem does only justice, yet on the other hand, I receive injustice. The conclusion must be that the suffering I endure is not from Hashem at all! This is how Iyov resolved the contradiction: The Holy One, blessed be He, does not oversee individual details, and everything comes from the celestial order, from the stars and constellations. Woe to the man born under an unfavorable star - I was born under bad fortune, and the celestial forces do not distinguish between the righteous and the wicked.
(יב) אַף־אָמְנָם אֵל לֹא־יַרְשִׁיעַ וְשַׁדַּי לֹא־יְעַוֵּת מִשְׁפָּט׃ (יג) מִי־פָקַד עָלָיו אָרְצָה וּמִי שָׂם תֵּבֵל כֻּלָּהּ׃ (יד) אִם־יָשִׂים אֵלָיו לִבּוֹ רוּחוֹ וְנִשְׁמָתוֹ אֵלָיו יֶאֱסֹף׃ (טו) יִגְוַע כָּל־בָּשָׂר יָחַד וְאָדָם עַל־עָפָר יָשׁוּב׃ - Indeed, surely God will not do wickedly, nor will the Almighty pervert justice. Who entrusted the earth to Him, and who established the whole world? If He set His heart upon it, He would gather His spirit and his breath to Himself; all flesh would perish together, and man would return to dust.
Iyov says: Even if according to the laws of the celestial system it would be necessitated that the entire globe - "all flesh would perish together, and man would return to dust" - that all of planet Earth would cease its function and the entire human race would, as it were, be extinguished, nevertheless, "God will not do wickedly, nor will the Almighty pervert justice," and there is no evil here from the Divine perspective. And why? Because the entire existence of the earth is as nothing compared to all the worlds combined, compared to all the galaxies - a speck of dust compared to all the rest, and everything serves the universal creation. "Who entrusted the earth to Him, and who established the whole world?" - The Holy One, blessed be He, created the entire cosmos as a whole, and what we are is merely a speck of dust compared to everything; and who is it that appointed Him or, as it were, told Him what to do? Who established the entire universe? He, blessed be He. And what is the earth compared to the whole universe? Therefore, even if "He set His heart upon it, He would gather His spirit and his breath to Himself," gathering back the souls of all living people here until everyone dies - there is no injustice in this, only justice, for it serves the grand purpose of the cosmos. And this is what Iyov argued: Even when you see a system that functions perfectly overall, and through that operation someone is harmed, some speck of dust suffers - it is negligible in relation to the comprehensive system, and the overall system is good. Up to this point are Iyov's arguments.
(טז) וְאִם־בִּינָה שִׁמְעָה־זֹּאת הַאֲזִינָה לְקוֹל מִלָּי׃ - If you have understanding, hear this; listen to the voice of my words.
To this Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite responds: If you will understand and listen closely, you will see how your words contradict themselves. You want to justify Hashem and say: If someone suffers, the general whole is fine and the Holy One, blessed be He, is righteous, and only isolated individuals suffer because He does not supervise individual details, but rather everything comes from the celestial order. Elihu says to him: On the contrary, by that very reasoning you attribute a much greater injustice to the Holy One, blessed be He! For by surrendering governance into the hands of the celestial system, which does not distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, or between the innocent and the guilty, you are effectively claiming that the Holy One, blessed be He, did an evil thing to all of humanity by handing them over to an unjust ruler. You have only magnified the difficulty! You want to say, "It is not from Him," but who appointed the celestial system in the first place? Surely He, blessed be He!
(יז) הַאַף שׂוֹנֵא מִשְׁפָּט יַחֲבוֹשׁ וְאִם־צַדִּיק כַּבִּיר תַּרְשִׁיעַ׃ - "Can even one who hates justice govern? And will you condemn the mighty righteous One?"
Elihu tells him: What you are saying is that not only does the Holy One, blessed be He, fail to reward the righteous appropriately for his righteousness, but He has additionally appointed an evil ruler over the world, someone who hates justice. "Can even one who hates justice govern?" - Did the Holy One, blessed be He, appoint as ruler (*chovesh*, meaning a manager and governor over the world) someone who hates justice? Namely, the celestial order and astrological fate (*maaracha* and *mazal*), which govern according to natural law rather than justice and righteousness. "And will you condemn the mighty righteous One?" - By condemning Him profusely, have you supposedly vindicated Him? Initially, we had a single grievance: why did Hashem act "wickedly," so to speak, toward a single righteous person - poor Iyov suffers and does not deserve to suffer. But you, instead of answering the difficulty of why one person suffers unjustly, came and condemned the Holy One, blessed be He, on a grand scale: you do not say that Hashem does a little wrong, but that He does immense wrong. Until now we said: Hashem is righteous, and only one poor soul suffers. And what is your answer? That everyone suffers, that Hashem handed over the world to the governance of the stars and constellations, which do not distinguish between the righteous and the wicked. Is it not a far greater injustice to abandon the entire world to the hand of the stars and constellations? Is it in this way that you justify the Holy One, blessed be He?
(יח) הַאֲמֹר לְמֶלֶךְ בְּלִיָּעַל רָשָׁע אֶל־נְדִיבִים׃ (יט) אֲשֶׁר לֹא־נָשָׂא פְּנֵי שָׂרִים וְלֹא נִכַּר־שׁוֹעַ לִפְנֵי־דָל כִּי־מַעֲשֵׂה יָדָיו כֻּלָּם׃ - "Can one say to a king, 'Villain!' or to nobles, 'You are wicked!'? Who shows no favoritism to princes, nor regards the wealthy above the poor, for they are all the work of His hands."
Consider a tyrannical king who commits wrongs and unjustly condemns certain individuals, and people accuse him of being wicked because of the injustice he inflicts on those nobles - "a villain, wicked to nobles." Is it conceivable that someone would come along to defend him and say: "Listen, he does not only harm nobles; you should know that he is wicked to everyone, whether poor or wealthy, noble or wicked, he mistreats everyone"? "Who shows no favoritism to princes, nor regards the wealthy above the poor, for they are all the work of His hands" - he recognizes no difference between nobleman and pauper, rich or destitute, because this king is malicious to all, and therefore, "Don't blame him, it isn't personal!" Would this constitute a defense? Have you cleared the king, or have you leveled a far greater accusation against him? Elihu says to him: This is essentially what you are doing. You claim that the Holy One, blessed be He, is not singling you out for injustice, but rather has abandoned the world and left it to the governance of the celestial order, the stars, which make no distinction between righteous and wicked - and in doing so, you have turned the Holy One, blessed be He, from one who commits a small injustice into one who commits immense injustice against everyone. What kind of justification is this?
(כ) רֶגַע יָמֻתוּ וַחֲצוֹת לָיְלָה יְגֹעֲשׁוּ עָם וְיַעֲבֹרוּ וְיָסִירוּ אַבִּיר לֹא בְיָד׃ - "In a moment they die, and at midnight the people are shaken and pass away; and the mighty are removed without a hand."
The subjects of such a king, who commits injustices and "does not regard the wealthy above the poor" (*shoa* meaning a distinguished, wealthy person), a king who torments everyone and treats everyone unfairly - even if they know that if they rise up to rebel against him, "in a moment they die," that in a single instant he might execute them all, they will not be deterred, but will rise up and rebel. "And at midnight the people are shaken" - they will all storm together and mobilize for the task with great commotion, "and pass away and remove the mighty without a hand" - they will depose this stout-hearted, ruthless king, "without a hand," meaning with great ease, without needing a mighty hand, rebelling against him to rid the nation's leadership of his evil. Would it enter anyone's mind to vindicate a king with such arguments? And how can you vindicate the Holy One, blessed be He, in this manner, by saying that Hashem does not do injustice to nobles alone but to everyone, that providence was handed over to the stars, resulting in injustice toward all creatures, since the governance of fate makes no distinction between righteous and wicked?
Elihu opens his second response with a call to test ideas just as the palate tests food, and to choose a single consistent line of reasoning instead of adopting two contradictory premises. He reiterates Iyov's claim - "I am righteous, and God has denied my justice," which implies that there is no individual Divine providence and everything is subject to natural fate - and demonstrates that in doing so, Iyov joined hands with evildoers and claimed that "a man gains nothing by being in favor with God." Above all, Elihu proves to him that the proposed resolution is far worse than the original difficulty: one who seeks to justify his Creator by claiming that injustice is not merely personal but universal, and that rule was surrendered to a governor who makes no distinction between righteous and wicked, does not advocate in His favor, but charges Him with a far greater guilt. It is like one who defends an evil minister by saying, "It is nothing personal; he is cruel to everyone." As for why the Holy One, blessed be He, does not punish the wicked immediately, there is good reason: so that divine service will not stem solely from fear of punishment, which would eliminate free will; and because the wicked person is sometimes "the rod of My anger" through which Hashem chastises the guilty - and in the end, that rod is broken, for He is patient, yet ultimately collects what is due.