Job 34:10

Main division. ELIHU FORMULATES AND REFUTES JOB’S ERROR BY A COUNTER PROPOSITION: THE NATURE OF GOD NOT ONLY DECLARES IT IMPOSSIBLE FOR GOD TO DO WRONG, BUT NECESSITATES RIGHT DOING IN ALL HIS WORKS, Job 34:10-30.

a. The proposition is stated (Job 34:10-12 ) and enforced by the consideration that the creation and continued preservation of the world, and all that live, imply that God, because of his almightiness thus declared, and who consequently must forever be independent of all, must be animated by love for his creatures. “An almighty, and at the same time an unjust, God, is an unimaginable thought.” Hengstenberg. Job 34:10-15. Comp. Bildad’s position, Job 8:3.

10. Men of understanding Literally, Men of heart.

Far be it from God Far from God be wickedness, and iniquity (far be it) from the Almighty! The italics in A.V. are not needed. The word rendered far is a strong expression of aversion. He abhors the thought that wickedness should or could belong to God. If such were the case, man would have to deal with an infinite monster. The entrance of evil into the divine nature would be the wreck of right, of justice, and of all hope. Happy are we that we have not to harbour the thought of omnipotence linked with evil. “If God is the author of evil, he is consequently not good; and if he is not good, he is not God.” Basil the Great.