Therefore doth Job open his mouth in vain; he multiplieth words without knowledge.
The verse belongs to Elihu's plea, argument and reproof of Job to convince him that he is not great in himself while God is everything, within the book's debates about the cause and purpose of human suffering. Job is still defending himself because he knows he has committed no open sins against God and is earnest and anxious for God to manifest Himself to him. To that charge that his speech is empty and ignorant he makes no answer and no comment is given.
The fact that a statement is recorded in the book does not by itself make it true, for the book's speakers can be wrong and Job's friends often misapplied truths to Job's case. Elihu's discourse does not seem to help Job much. To open the mouth in vain and multiply words without knowledge means that words spoken or multiplied without knowledge or sense are empty, ignorant and vain.
Multiplying words without knowledge can darken counsel. Words without knowledge belong among the harmful kinds of speech that people may choose to use. Eloquent or carefully chosen language has value only when it conveys the speaker's thought. The verse warns against speaking beyond what one knows; in affliction people should humble themselves, trust God, and be silent rather than presume to understand His ways.
The charge is taken up when the Lord answers Job by pointing out His mighty works in creation, showing His infinite power and wisdom and by contrast how exceedingly small Job is. If this is true in material things which Job can only partly comprehend, it is true in God's moral dealings with men, whose great purposes where eternal life itself is at stake Job can understand little of. Job at last learns that God is infinitely wise and infinitely good while he himself is utterly unworthy and of small account, and truly repents and humbles himself in dust and ashes.
The verse belongs to Elihu's plea, argument and reproof of Job to convince him that he is not great in himself while God is everything, within the book's debates about the cause and purpose of human suffering. Job is still defending himself because he knows he has committed no open sins against God and is earnest and anxious for God to manifest Himself to him. To that charge that his speech is empty and ignorant he makes no answer and no comment is given.
The fact that a statement is recorded in the book does not by itself make it true, for the book's speakers can be wrong and Job's friends often misapplied truths to Job's case. Elihu's discourse does not seem to help Job much. To open the mouth in vain and multiply words without knowledge means that words spoken or multiplied without knowledge or sense are empty, ignorant and vain.
Multiplying words without knowledge can darken counsel. Words without knowledge belong among the harmful kinds of speech that people may choose to use. Eloquent or carefully chosen language has value only when it conveys the speaker's thought. The verse warns against speaking beyond what one knows; in affliction people should humble themselves, trust God, and be silent rather than presume to understand His ways.
The charge is taken up when the Lord answers Job by pointing out His mighty works in creation, showing His infinite power and wisdom and by contrast how exceedingly small Job is. If this is true in material things which Job can only partly comprehend, it is true in God's moral dealings with men, whose great purposes where eternal life itself is at stake Job can understand little of. Job at last learns that God is infinitely wise and infinitely good while he himself is utterly unworthy and of small account, and truly repents and humbles himself in dust and ashes.