Job 23

23:2 Job dropped the doubt he had expressed earlier (9:14-20, 32) and here expressed confidence that he could successfully present his complaint.

23:4 present my arguments: Job wanted to make his case with God (13:3, 18, 22; 16:21; 31:35); Abraham pled directly with God regarding Sodom (Gen 18:25-32), and Moses did the same for Israel (Exod 32:12-13; Num 14:13-19).

23:6-7 Earlier, Job had believed that God was too strong for him to summon (9:19), so he had requested an arbiter (9:33-34) and asked God not to terrify him (13:21). Here he expressed more hope that God would grant him a fair hearing. • acquitted: Job did not want to be pardoned as a guilty man but to be declared innocent (13:18; see Pss 17:2-3; 26:1-3).

23:10 tests me: Job did not want the kind of chastising that would cleanse him like a refiner’s fire (Prov 17:3; Zech 13:9; Mal 3:2-3). He wanted an examination that would prove that he had been as pure as gold and did not need to amend his life (Job 22:23).

23:13-14 No one can change God’s mind (9:12-13; 11:10; 12:14; 34:29; Num 23:19-20; Jas 1:17).

23:15-17 terrified in his presence: See Pss 77:3; 88:16; 119:120. • Job had complained earlier of being plunged into darkness (Job 19:8); Eliphaz (15:22; 22:1) and Bildad (18:6, 18) ascribed this fate to the wicked.