Elihu: A Ransom Found
19 “He is chastened also with pain on his bed, with continual strife in his bones, 20 so that his life abhors bread, and his soul dainty food. 21 His flesh is so consumed away that it can’t be seen. His bones that were not seen stick out. 22 Yes, his soul draws near to the pit, and his life to the destroyers. 23 “If there is beside him an angel, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to show to man what is right for him, 24 then God is gracious to him, and says, ‘Deliver him from going down to the pit, I have found a ransom.’ 25 His flesh will be fresher than a child’s. He returns to the days of his youth. 26 He prays to God, and he is favorable to him, so that he sees his face with joy. He restores to man his righteousness. 27 He sings before men, and says, ‘I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and it didn’t profit me. 28 He has redeemed my soul from going into the pit. My life will see the light.’ 29 “Behold, God does all these things, twice, yes three times, with a man, 30 to bring back his soul from the pit, that he may be enlightened with the light of the living. 31 Mark well, Job, and listen to me. Hold your peace, and I will speak. 32 If you have anything to say, answer me. Speak, for I desire to justify you. 33 If not, listen to me. Hold your peace, and I will teach you wisdom.”
Pain is described as a second way God speaks, and the deliverance requires an interpreter and a ransom that God himself finds.
The second channel is the body. A man is chastened also with pain on his bed, with continual strife in his bones, until food disgusts him, his flesh is so consumed away that it can't be seen, and his bones stick out Job 33:19–21.
That is a description of Job, and Elihu is using it deliberately. He is not saying the pain is punishment. He is saying it is speech — the second way God gets a man's attention when the first was not heard.
The man reaches the edge: his soul draws near to the pit, and his life to the destroyers Job 33:22.
And then the rescue, and it has three parts that must be taken in order.
First a figure appears: if there is beside him an angel, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to show to man what is right for him Job 33:23. Someone who stands next to the dying man and explains — not to God, but to the man — what the right thing is. He is rare, one in a thousand, and his work is to make sense of what is happening to somebody who cannot make sense of it.
This is the fourth time the book has reached toward such a figure. Job wanted an umpire Job 9:33, a witness in heaven Job 16:19, and a living vindicator Job 19:25. Elihu adds an interpreter at the bedside.
Second, God speaks, and the words are the most surprising in the poem: deliver him from going down to the pit, I have found a ransom Job 33:24.
The ransom is not produced by the sufferer. It is not his repentance, not his integrity, and not the interpreter's advocacy. God finds it. What Elihu does not do is say what it is, and nothing in the book supplies an answer — this is a statement that release is purchased and that the purchaser is the one releasing.
Third, the restoration, described in physical terms: his flesh will be fresher than a child's. He returns to the days of his youth Job 33:25. He prays and is heard, and sees his face with joy Job 33:26.
And what the delivered man says is quoted, which is the finest touch in the speech. He sings before men: I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and it didn't profit me. He has redeemed my soul from going into the pit Job 33:27–28.
The confession comes after the rescue, not before it. In the friends' scheme the man must repent in order to be restored; here he is delivered, and then tells everyone what he did.
Elihu closes by offering Job the floor and stating an aim no one else in the book has stated: speak, for I desire to justify you Job 33:32. He wants Job cleared. He is the only speaker who says so.
settled What this mark means