Will ye accept his person? will ye contend for God?
Job 13:8 belongs to Job's appeal to God in answer to his friends' arguments, where he challenges their case and turns to God. It is his reply to their constant accusations, whether implied or openly stated, and is to be read together with those accusations and responses rather than divided apart from them. The controversy concerns the cause and purpose of suffering, with his three friends charging him with sin and declaring his sufferings are because of sin. In this setting God was disciplining Job by bringing him through the fire of affliction under overruling providence, an experience that shows how humanity misjudges its fellows. Their statements were often true in general but misapplied to Job's case, since adversity does not prove that a sufferer is under God's displeasure.
Job 13:8 belongs to Job's appeal to God in answer to his friends' arguments, where he challenges their case and turns to God. It is his reply to their constant accusations, whether implied or openly stated, and is to be read together with those accusations and responses rather than divided apart from them. The controversy concerns the cause and purpose of suffering, with his three friends charging him with sin and declaring his sufferings are because of sin. In this setting God was disciplining Job by bringing him through the fire of affliction under overruling providence, an experience that shows how humanity misjudges its fellows. Their statements were often true in general but misapplied to Job's case, since adversity does not prove that a sufferer is under God's displeasure.