Remember that thou magnify his work, which men behold.
24. which men behold ] Rather, which men do sing, that is, celebrate with praise.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Remember that thou magnify his work – Make this a great and settled principle, to remember that God is great in all that he does. He is exalted far above us, and all his works are on a scale of vastness corresponding to his nature, and in all our attempts to judge of him and his doings, we should bear this in remembrance. He is not to be judged by the narrow views which we apply to the actions of people, but by the views which ought to be taken when we remember that he presides over the vast universe, and that as the universal Parent, he will consult the welfare of the whole. In judging of his doings, therefore, we are not to place ourselves in the center, or to regard ourselves as the whole or the creation, but we are to remember that there are other great interests to be regarded, and that his plans will be in accordance with the welfare of the whole. One of the best rules for taking a proper estimate of God is that proposed here by Elihu – to remember that he is great.
Which men behold – The Vulgate renders this, de quo cecinerunt viri – concerning which men sing. The Septuagint, hon erxan andres – over which men rule. Schultens accords with the Vulgate. So Coverdale renders it, Whom all men love and praise. So Herder and Noyes understand it, Which men celebrate with songs. This difference of interpretation arises from the ambiguity of the Hebrew word ( shoreru) some deriving it from shur, to go round about, and then to survey, look upon, examine; and some from shyr, to sing, to celebrate. The word will admit of either interpretation, and either will suit the connection. The sense of seeing those works, however, better agrees with what is said in the following verse, and perhaps better suits the connection. The object of Elihu is not to fix the attention on the fact that people celebrate the works of God, but to turn the eyes to the visible creation, as a proof of the greatness of the Almighty.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 24. Remember that thou magnify his work] Take this into consideration; instead of fretting against the dispensations of Divine providence, and quarrelling with thy Maker, attentively survey his works; consider the operation of his hands; and see the proofs of his wisdom in the plan of all, of his power in the production and support of all, and of his goodness in the end for which all have been made, and to which every operation in nature most obviously tends; and then magnify his work. Speak of him as thou shalt find; let the visible works of thy Maker prove to thee his eternal power and Godhead, and let nature lead thee to the Creator.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Remember; call to mind this thy duty, and take this matter into thy more serious thoughts, and it will prevent thy horrible mistakes and miscarriages.
That; so this Hebrew particle is used here, Job 36:10; 3:12.
His work; or, his works, the singular number being put for the plural, every work which he doth; do not condemn any of his providential works towards thee or others, but adore and glorify them, as done with admirable wisdom, and justice, and faithfulness.
Which men behold, to wit, with admiration and astonishment; which by their greatness and glory draw the eyes and minds of all men towards them; which deserve to be entertained with adoration and reverence of all men, not with censure and reproach.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
24. Instead of arraigning, letit be thy fixed principle to magnify God in His works (Psa 111:2-8;Rev 15:3); these, which all may”see,” may convince us that what we do not see isaltogether wise and good (Ro 1:20).
beholdAs “see”(Job 36:25), shows; not, asMAURER, “sing,”laud (see on Job 33:27).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Remember that thou magnify his work,…. Or his works; his works of creation and providence, which are great in themselves, and declare the greatness of God; and which, though they cannot be made greater than they are, men may be said to magnify them when they ascribe them to God, and magnify him on account of them; when they think and speak well of them, and give glory to God: and particularly by his work may be meant the chastisement of his people, which is a rod in his hand, which he appoints, and with which he smites; it is his own doing, and he may do what he pleases this way; and it becomes his people to be still and patient because he does it; and then do they magnify this work of his, when they bear it patiently, quietly submit to it, and humble themselves under the mighty hand of God;
which men behold: for the works of God are visible, particularly the works of creation, and the glory of God in them; which men of wisdom and understanding behold with admiration and praise; and so the Targum is,
“which righteous men praise;”
and some derive the word here used from a root which signifies to “sing”, and so may be understood of men’s celebrating the works of God in songs of praise; though his work here may chiefly design the afflictions he lays on his people, and particularly which he had laid upon Job, which were so visible, and the hand of God in them was so clearly to be seen, that men easily beheld it and took notice of it.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
24 Remember that thou magnify his work, which men behold. 25 Every man may see it; man may behold it afar off. 26 Behold, God is great, and we know him not, neither can the number of his years be searched out. 27 For he maketh small the drops of water: they pour down rain according to the vapour thereof: 28 Which the clouds do drop and distil upon man abundantly. 29 Also can any understand the spreadings of the clouds, or the noise of his tabernacle? 30 Behold, he spreadeth his light upon it, and covereth the bottom of the sea. 31 For by them judgeth he the people; he giveth meat in abundance. 32 With clouds he covereth the light; and commandeth it not to shine by the cloud that cometh betwixt. 33 The noise thereof showeth concerning it, the cattle also concerning the vapour.
Elihu is here endeavouring to possess Job with great and high thoughts of God, and so to persuade him into a cheerful submission to his providence.
I. He represents the work of God, in general, as illustrious and conspicuous, v. 24. His whole work is so. God does nothing mean. This is a good reason why we should acquiesce in all the operations of his providence concerning us in particular. His visible works, those of nature, and which concern the world in general, are such as we admire and commend, and in which we observe the Creator’s wisdom, power, and goodness; shall we then find fault with his dispensations concerning us, and the counsels of his will concerning our affairs? We are here called to consider the work of God, Eccl. vii. 13. 1. It is plain before our eyes, nothing more obvious: it is what men behold. Every man that has but half an eye may see it, may behold it afar off. Look which way we will, we see the productions of God’s wisdom and power; we see that done, and that doing, concerning which we cannot but say, This is the work of God, the finger of God; it is the Lord’s doing. Every man may see, afar off, the heaven and all its lights, the earth and all its fruits, to be the work of Omnipotence; much more when we behold them nigh at hand. Look at the minutest works of nature through a microscope; do they not appear curious? The eternal power and godhead of the Creator are clearly seen and understood by the things that are made, Rom. i. 20. Every man, even those that have not the benefit of divine revelation, may see this; for there is no speech or language where the voice of these natural constant preachers is not heard, Ps. xix. 3. 2. It ought to be marvellous in our eyes. The beauty and excellency of the work of God, and the agreement of all the parts of it, are what we must remember to magnify and highly to extol, not only justify it as right and good, and what cannot be blamed, but magnify it as wise and glorious, and such as no creature could contrive or produce. Man may see his works, and is capable of discerning his hand in them (which the beasts are not), and therefore ought to praise them and give him the glory of them.
II. He represents God, the author of them, as infinite and unsearchable, v. 26. The streams of being, power, and perfection should lead us to the fountain. God is great, infinitely so,–great in power, for he is omnipotent and independent,–great in wealth, for he is self-sufficient and all-sufficient,–great in himself,–great in all his works,–great, and therefore greatly to be praised,–great, and therefore we know him not. We know that he is, but not what he is. We know what he is not, but not what he is. We know in part, but not in perfection. This comes in here as a reason why we must not arraign his proceedings, nor find fault with what he does, because it is speaking evil of the things that we understand not and answering a matter before we hear if. We know not the duration of his existence, for it is infinite. The number of his years cannot possibly be searched out, for he is eternal; there is no number of them. He is a Being without beginning, succession, or period, whoever was, and ever will be, and ever the same, the great I AM. This is a good reason why we should not prescribe to him, nor quarrel with him, because, as he is, such are his operations, quite out of our reach.
III. He gives some instances of God’s wisdom, power, and sovereign dominion, in the works of nature and the dispensations of common providence, beginning in this chapter with the clouds and the rain that descends from them. We need not be critical in examining either the phrase or the philosophy of this noble discourse. The general scope of it is to show that God is infinitely great, and the Lord of all, the first cause and supreme director of all the creatures, and has all power in heaven and earth (whom therefore we ought, with all humility and reverence, to adore, to speak well of, and to give honour to), and that it is presumption for us to prescribe to him the rules and methods of his special providence towards the children of men, or to expect from him an account of them, when the operations even of common providences about the meteors are so various and so mysterious and unaccountable. Elihu, to affect Job with God’s sublimity and sovereignty, had directed him (ch. xxxv. 5) to look unto the clouds. In these verses he shows us what we may observe in the clouds we see which will lead us to consider the glorious perfections of their Creator. Consider the clouds,
1. As springs to this lower world, the source and treasure of its moisture, and the great bank through which it circulates–a very necessary provision, for its stagnation would be as hurtful to this lower world as that of the blood to the body of man. It is worth while to observe in this common occurrence, (1.) That the clouds above distil upon the earth below. If the heavens become brass, the earth becomes iron; therefore thus the promise of plenty runs, I will hear the heavens and they shall hear the earth. This intimates to us that every good gift is from above, from him who is both Father of lights and Father of the rain, and it instructs us to direct our prayers to him and to look up. (2.) That they are here said to distil upon man (v. 28); for, though indeed God causes it to rain in the wilderness where no man is (Job 38:26; Psa 104:11), yet special respect is had to man herein, to whom the inferior creatures are all made serviceable and from whom the actual return of the tribute of praise is required. Among men, he causes his rain to fall upon the just and upon the unjust, Matt. v. 45. (3.) They are said to distil the water in small drops, not in spouts, as when the windows of heaven were opened, Gen. vii. 11. God waters the earth with that with which he once drowned it, only dispensing it in another manner, to let us know how much we lie at his mercy, and how kind he is, in giving rain by drops, that the benefit of it may be the further and the more equally diffused, as by an artificial water-pot. (4.) Though sometimes the rain comes in very small drops, yet, at other times, it pours down in great rain, and this difference between one shower and another must be resolved into the divine Providence which orders it so. (5.) Though it comes down in drops, yet it distils upon man abundantly (v. 28), and therefore is called the river of God which is full of water, Ps. lxv. 9. (6.) The clouds pour down according to the vapour that they draw up, v. 27. So just the heavens are to the earth, but the earth is not so in the return it makes. (7.) The produce of the clouds is sometimes a great terror, and at other times a great favour, to the earth, v. 31. When he pleases by them he judges the people he is angry with. Storms, and tempests, and excessive rains, destroying the fruits of the earth and causing inundations, come from the clouds; but, on the other hand, from them, usually, he gives meat in abundance; they drop fatness upon the pastures that are clothed with flocks, and the valleys that are covered with corn, Ps. lxv. 11-13. (8.) Notice is sometimes given of the approach of rain, v. 33. The noise thereof, among other things, shows concerning it. Hence we read (1 Kings xviii. 41) of the sound of abundance of rain, or (as it is in the margin) a sound of a noise of rain, before it came; and a welcome harbinger it was then. As the noise, so the face of the sky, shows concerning it, Luke xii. 56. The cattle also, by a strange instinct, are apprehensive of a change in the weather nigh at hand, and seek for shelter, shaming man, who will not foresee the evil and hide himself.
2. As shadows to the upper world (v. 29): Can any understand the spreading of the clouds? They are spread over the earth as a curtain or canopy; how they come to be so, how stretched out, and how poised, as they are, we cannot understand, though we daily see they are so. Shall we then pretend to understand the reasons and methods of God’s judicial proceedings with the children of men, whose characters and cases are so various, when we cannot account for the spreadings of the clouds, which cover the light? v. 32. It is a cloud coming betwixt,Job 36:32; Job 26:9. And this we are sensible of, that, by the interposition of the clouds between us and the sun, we are, (1.) Sometimes favoured; for they serve as an umbrella to shelter us from the violent heat of the sun, which otherwise would beat upon us. A cloud of dew in the heat of harvest is spoken of as a very great refreshment. Isa. xviii. 4. (2.) Sometimes we are by them frowned upon; for they darken the earth at noon-day and eclipse the light of the sun. Sin is compared to a cloud (Isa. xliv. 22), because it comes between us and the light of God’s countenance and obstructs the shining of it. But though the clouds darken the sun for a time, and pour down rain, yet (post nubila Phoebus—the sun shines forth after the rain), after he has wearied the cloud, he spreads his light upon it, v. 30. There is a clear shining after rain, 2 Sam. xxiii. 4. The sunbeams are darted forth, and reach to cover even the bottom of the sea, thence to exhale a fresh supply of vapours, and so raise recruits for the clouds, v. 30. In all this, we must remember to magnify the work of God.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
(24) Which men behold.Some render it, Whereof men sing, but the other seems to suit the context best.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
24. Which men behold Which men sing. Instead of finding fault with God’s ways, Job ought rather to extol His works, which elicit the admiration of all well-minded men.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Job 36:24 Remember that thou magnify his work, which men behold.
Ver. 24. Remember that thou magnify his work ] His work of creation; wherein the wisdom, power, and goodness of God is clearly manifested, Rom 1:19 , in that glorious structure of the heavens especially, which men behold. Or his work of administration and gubernation, whereof David saith, All thy works praise thee, O Lord; that is, they yield matter of magnifying thee; and thy saints shall bless thee, Psa 145:10 . Remember that this be done, saith Elihu. Junius, by God’s works here, understandeth Noah’s flood.
Which men behold
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
men. Hebrew, plural of ‘enosh. App-14.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Job 36:24-33
Job 36:24-33
THE GLORIES OF GOD’S CONTROL OF HIS CREATION
“Remember that thou magnify his work,
Whereof men have sung.
All men have looked thereon;
Man beholdeth it afar off.
Behold, God is great, and we know him not;
The number of his years is unsearchable.
For he draweth up the drops of water,
Which distill in rain from his vapor,
Which the skies pour down
And drop upon man abundantly.
Yea, can any understand the spreadings of the clouds,
The thunderings of his pavilion?
Behold he spreadeth his light around him;
And he covereth the bottom of the sea.
For by these he judgeth the peoples;
He giveth food in abundance.
He covereth his hands with the lightning,
And giveth it a charge that it strike the mark.
The noise thereof telleth concerning him,
The cattle also concerning the storm that cometh up.”
“Elihu here takes up again his theme of the greatness of God, calling the phenomena of nature to witness God’s might.” Rawlinson commented that, “It must be allowed that this passage is eloquent.”
This whole dissertation on the wonders of God’s control of nature, etc., “Is relevant to Elihu’s speech, only because he believes that it is God’s creative power that gives him the right to be the moral judge of the world.”
“The noise thereof telleth concerning him” (Job 36:33). This says that God’s greatness is attested by the thunder; and supporting Rawlinson’s idea that an approaching thunderstorm prompted these lines, we have the following statement in Job 36:33 b.
“And the cattle concerning the storm that cometh up” (Job 36:33 b). The imagery that comes to mind here is that of the movement of cattle toward shelter or protection from an approaching storm.
However, the exact meaning of the verse here, like several others in this chapter, is by no means certain. “This verse is notoriously difficult. Half a century ago, Peake noted that there have been more than thirty renditions of the verse.” In the judgment of this writer, our version, the ASV, is superior to any others that we have seen. Although, “The word storm is supplied here,” it fits perfectly; because of, “The ancient observation that cattle seem to have a presentiment of an approaching storm.”
E.M. Zerr:
Job 36:24. Job was told to magnify the work of God. He had already magnified the Lord and Elihu had opportunity of hearing it. See Job 9:2-3; Job 19:25-26; Job 24:1; Job 26:7-8, and the entire 28th chapter.
Job 36:25. This verse is the same in thought as Psa 19:1.
Job 36:26-33. If the student will carefully read chapter 28, he will think that Elihu got his ideas for this paragraph from that.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
magnify: Job 12:13-25, Job 26:5-14, Psa 28:5, Psa 34:3, Psa 72:18, Psa 86:8-10, Psa 92:4, Psa 92:5, Psa 104:24, Psa 107:8, Psa 107:15, Psa 111:2-4, Psa 111:8, Psa 145:10-12, Jer 10:12, Dan 4:3, Dan 4:37, Luk 1:46
which: Deu 4:19, Psa 19:1-4
Reciprocal: Job 37:7 – that Job 37:14 – consider Psa 8:3 – When Ecc 11:5 – even
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Job 36:24-25. Remember Call to mind this thy duty; that thou magnify his work Every work which he doth; do not condemn any of his providential works, but adore them as done with admirable wisdom and justice. Behold With admiration and astonishment. Every man may see it Namely, his work last mentioned. The power, and wisdom, and greatness of God are so manifest in all his works, that all who are not stupid must see and acknowledge them. Man may behold it afar off The works of God are so great and conspicuous, that they may be seen at a great distance. Hence Elihu proceeds to give some instances, in the works of nature and common providence. His general aim is to show, 1st, That God is the first cause and supreme director of all the creatures; whom therefore we ought with all humility and reverence to adore: 2d, That it is presumption in us to prescribe to him in his special providence toward men, when the operations even of common providence about the meteors are so mysterious and unaccountable.