Lest ye should say, We have found out wisdom: God thrusteth him down, not man.
The book of Job is the oldest poetical book that has come down, and its human writer is not known. It is in four parts, with the prose prologue in chapters 1 and 2 first, the debate between Job and his three friends in chapters 4 to 31 second, the speeches of Elihu in chapters 32 to 37 third, and the speeches of the Lord out of the storm-cloud followed by the prose epilogue in chapter 42:7-17 last. The instructive discourses of Elihu in chapters 32 to 36 come before God speaks to His servant Job in chapters 38 to 41.
The verse belongs to Elihu's intervention in the argument between Job and his friends, in which he believes his wisdom will correct Job but follows much the same line as the others and receives no answer. It stands in his admirable discourse that follows the friends' failed last effort to convince Job that he was a sinner deserving his condition and Job's persistent self-justification provoked by their false accusations. That discourse does not help Job much before the Lord speaks for Job's sake and for all who should come after.
It warns Job's friends not to claim that they have discovered the true wisdom behind Job's suffering and that God, rather than human judgment, has brought him low. Their own wisdom and observations led them to conclude that a good person would not suffer this way, but their conclusion was misapplied, since suffering does not prove that a person is under God's displeasure. More generally, it warns against claiming that people have discovered wisdom by themselves when God is the one who brings a person down.
The book of Job is the oldest poetical book that has come down, and its human writer is not known. It is in four parts, with the prose prologue in chapters 1 and 2 first, the debate between Job and his three friends in chapters 4 to 31 second, the speeches of Elihu in chapters 32 to 37 third, and the speeches of the Lord out of the storm-cloud followed by the prose epilogue in chapter 42:7-17 last. The instructive discourses of Elihu in chapters 32 to 36 come before God speaks to His servant Job in chapters 38 to 41.
The verse belongs to Elihu's intervention in the argument between Job and his friends, in which he believes his wisdom will correct Job but follows much the same line as the others and receives no answer. It stands in his admirable discourse that follows the friends' failed last effort to convince Job that he was a sinner deserving his condition and Job's persistent self-justification provoked by their false accusations. That discourse does not help Job much before the Lord speaks for Job's sake and for all who should come after.
It warns Job's friends not to claim that they have discovered the true wisdom behind Job's suffering and that God, rather than human judgment, has brought him low. Their own wisdom and observations led them to conclude that a good person would not suffer this way, but their conclusion was misapplied, since suffering does not prove that a person is under God's displeasure. More generally, it warns against claiming that people have discovered wisdom by themselves when God is the one who brings a person down.