Elihu: Listen to the Thunder
1 “Yes, at this my heart trembles, and is moved out of its place. 2 Hear, oh, hear the noise of his voice, the sound that goes out of his mouth. 3 He sends it out under the whole sky, and his lightning to the ends of the earth. 4 After it a voice roars. He thunders with the voice of his majesty. He doesn’t hold back anything when his voice is heard. 5 God thunders marvelously with his voice. He does great things, which we can’t comprehend. 6 For he says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth,’ likewise to the shower of rain, and to the showers of his mighty rain. 7 He seals up the hand of every man, that all men whom he has made may know it. 8 Then the animals take cover, and remain in their dens. 9 Out of its room comes the storm, and cold out of the north. 10 By the breath of God, ice is given, and the width of the waters is frozen. 11 Yes, he loads the thick cloud with moisture. He spreads abroad the cloud of his lightning. 12 It is turned around by his guidance, that they may do whatever he commands them on the surface of the habitable world, 13 whether it is for correction, or for his land, or for loving kindness, that he causes it to come. 14 “Listen to this, Job. Stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God. 15 Do you know how God controls them, and causes the lightning of his cloud to shine? 16 Do you know the workings of the clouds, the wondrous works of him who is perfect in knowledge? 17 You whose clothing is warm when the earth is still by reason of the south wind? 18 Can you, with him, spread out the sky, which is strong as a cast metal mirror? 19 Teach us what we will tell him, for we can’t make our case by reason of darkness. 20 Will it be told him that I would speak? Or should a man wish that he were swallowed up? 21 Now men don’t see the light which is bright in the skies, but the wind passes, and clears them. 22 Out of the north comes golden splendor. With God is awesome majesty. 23 We can’t reach the Almighty. He is exalted in power. In justice and great righteousness, he will not oppress. 24 Therefore men revere him. He doesn’t regard any who are wise of heart.”
The last human speech is drowned out by weather, and it ends by telling Job to stand still and consider — which is what God is about to make him do.
Elihu is frightened while he is speaking. At this my heart trembles, and is moved out of its place Job 37:1. A storm is building over the ash heap, and he is describing it as it arrives.
He treats the thunder as speech. Hear, oh, hear the noise of his voice, the sound that goes out of his mouth, and he doesn't hold back anything when his voice is heard Job 37:2 Job 37:4. The word he uses is deliberate: God is talking, and the whole sky is the volume.
The survey of weather that follows is unusually careful. Snow told to fall, showers of rain, animals taking cover in their dens, the storm coming out of its room, cold out of the north, water frozen by the breath of God Job 37:6–10. It is a man watching the sky and reporting what he sees.
One verse in it is the theological heart of the speech, and it holds three possibilities together without ranking them. The cloud turns wherever it is directed, whether it is for correction, or for his land, or for loving kindness Job 37:12–13.
The same rain punishes, waters a country, and is simple kindness. Nothing in the weather tells an observer which one it is on any given day, and Elihu does not pretend otherwise. That is the closest anyone in the book comes to admitting that a given event cannot be read backward to a motive — which is exactly the mistake the three friends have made for twenty-nine chapters.
Then he turns to Job with the instruction the whole book has been moving toward: listen to this, Job. Stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God Job 37:14.
And he starts asking questions of a kind Job cannot answer. Do you know how the lightning is controlled? The workings of the clouds? Can you spread out the sky, which is strong as a cast metal mirror? Job 37:15–18.
This is the form God is about to use, and Elihu has found it first. The difference is that Elihu asks four questions and God asks scores of them, and that Elihu is still trying to win an argument.
His last honest moment is verse 19: teach us what we will tell him, for we can't make our case by reason of darkness. He does not know what to say to God either. Every speaker in the book is in the dark, and he is the only one who says so.
The final verse is the last human sentence in the poem, and it is a good one to end on: in justice and great righteousness, he will not oppress Job 37:23. Elihu asserts it. He cannot demonstrate it, and neither can anyone else present.
Then the storm he has been describing opens, and the voice in it is not describing anything.
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