וַיֹּסֶף אֱלִיהוּא וַיֹּאמַר׃

Elihu continued and said:

כַּתַּר לִי זְעֵיר וַאֲחַוֶּךָּ כִּי־עוֹד לאֱלוֹהַּ מִלִּים

Wait for me a bit more, and I will convey to you, as there are more words to say on God’s behalf, in His name.

אֶשָּׂא דֵעִי לְמֵרָחוֹק וּלְפֹעֲלִי אֶתֵּן־צֶדֶק

I will project my opinion afar, and I will ascribe righteousness to my Maker. I will make known His righteousness.

כִּי־אָמְנָם לֹא־שֶׁקֶר מִלָּי תְּמִים דֵּעוֹת עִמָּךְ

Indeed, my words are not false. I am not against you, Job, as one of sound opinions is with you. I am speaking to you honestly, with full understanding of your feelings.

הֶן אֵל כַּבִּיר וְלֹא יִמְאָס כַּבִּיר כֹּחַ לֵב

Behold, God is mighty; He does not despise any man, or, alternatively, He will not ruin and destroy anyone for no reason. For He is great in strength of heart. He can tolerate much due to His might and wisdom.

לֹא־יְחַיֶּה רָשָׁע וּמִשְׁפַּט עֲנִיִּים יִתֵּן

Yet He will not keep the wicked alive; He will give justice to the poor. In accordance with the demands of the law, He will punish the wicked who harm the poor.

לֹא־יִגְרַע מִצַּדִּיק עֵינָיו וְאֶת־מְלָכִים לכִּסֵּא וַיֹּשִׁיבֵם לָנֶצַח וַיִּגְבָּהוּ

He will not withdraw His eyes from the righteous, watching over them carefully, and he places kings upon the throne. He has seated them there to reign forever, and they are exalted.

ואִם אֲסוּרִים בַּזִּקִּים יִלָּכְדוּן בְּחַבְלֵי־עֹנִי

In contrast, if there are those bound in shackles or trapped in the pangs of affliction,

וַיַּגֵּד לָהֶם פָּעֳלָם וּפִשְׁעֵיהֶם כִּי יִתְגַּבָּרוּ

know that He has told them, through the suffering He brings upon them, of their actions, their evil deeds, and their transgressions, that they are steadily increasing.

וַיִּגֶל אָזְנָם לַמּוּסָר וַיֹּאמֶר כִּי־יְשׁוּבוּן מֵאָוֶן

In this manner, He has exposed their ear to receive chastisement and said to them, through their suffering, that they should repent from iniquity.

אִם־יִשְׁמְעוּ וְיַעֲבֹדוּ יְכַלּוּ יְמֵיהֶם בַּטּוֹב ושְׁנֵיהֶם בַּנְּעִימִים

If they heed the word of God, which is revealed to them through their pain, and serve Him, they will end their days in ease and their years in pleasantness.

וְאִם־לֹא יִשְׁמְעוּ בְּשֶׁלַח יַעֲבֹרוּ וְיִגְוְעוּ בִּבְלִי־דָעַת

But if they do not heed, they will be dispatched by the sword and expire without knowledge.

וְחַנְפֵי־לֵב יָשִׂימוּ אָף לֹא יְשַׁוְּעוּ כִּי אֲסָרָם

But the hypocritical of heart, the wicked, will arouse God’s wrath; they do not cry out to Him for help even when He binds them with their troubles.

תָּמֹת בַּנֹּעַר נַפְשָׁם וְחַיָּתָם בַּקְּדֵשִׁים

Their souls will die in youth, and their lives will be ended in a disrespectful manner, among the male cult prostitutes.

יְחַלֵּץ עָנִי בְעָנְיוֹ וְיִגֶל בּלַּחַץ אָזְנָם

Elihu returns to discussing people who perceive their suffering as a message from God: He rescues the poor in His affliction, and He exposes their ear by oppression. They are able to hear the word of God, which is expressed through their suffering.

וְאַף הֲסִיתְךָ מִפִּי־צָר רַחַב לֹא־מוּצָק תַּחְתֶּיהָ וְנַחַת שֻׁלְחָנְךָ מָלֵא דָשֶׁן

After describing the people who listen to the word of God as expressed through their pain, as well as those who deny it, Elihu now addresses Job directly: My comments apply to you personally, as it is through the very suffering that God has brought upon you that He has even moved you far from a narrow opening, its bottom wide and insubstantial. Gehenna is compared to an oven, which is typically wide below and narrow on top so that its heat and smoke accumulate inside. And furthermore, the comfort of your table, set there gently by God, is full of fat. Not only are you spared the punishment of Gehenna through your suffering, but it also earns you the reward of tranquility and great benefit.

וְדִין רָשָׁע מָלֵאתָ דִּין וּמִשְׁפָּט יִתְמֹכוּ

Even if the sentence of the wicked, the judgment that the wicked deserve, has filled you, yet you should know that the sentence and justice will assist you. Such punishments will actually help you in the long term.

כִּי חֵמָה פֶּן־יְסִיתְךָ בְשָׂפֶק וְרָב־כֹּפֶר אַל־יַטֶּךָּ

This will be when you are subject to God’s great wrath. But beware lest you be misled from the upright path by the evil inclination due to your uncertainty or a blow you received, and take care that great ransom, your suffering, does not divert you from the truth. Alternatively, not even a large ransom of money can rescue you from God’s wrath.

הֲיַעֲרֹךְ שׁוּעֲךָ לֹא בְצָר וְכֹל מַאֲמַצֵּי־כֹחַ

Would your plea be formulated without distress? Suffering awakens a person to turn to God. Would you articulate your prayers if you were not experiencing troubles? And can you set forth your prayer without any exertions of effort?

אַל־תִּשְׁאַף הַלָּיְלָה לַעֲלוֹת עַמִּים תַּחְתָּם

Do not long for the speedy arrival of the night, death, to remove peoples from their place, for a time will come when you will have such power that you will even be able to remove, or cut off, peoples from their place.

הִשָּׁמֶר אַל־תֵּפֶן אֶל־אָוֶן כִּי עַל־זֶה בָּחַרְתָּ מֵעֹנִי

Beware, do not turn to injustice, for it is that, sin, which you have chosen and preferred until now, over submission.

הֶן־אֵל יַשְׂגִּיב בְּכֹחוֹ מִי כָמֹהוּ מוֹרֶה

Behold, God is exalted and mighty in His power; who is a teacher like Him? Who can teach people like He does?

מִי־פָקַד עָלָיו דַּרְכּוֹ וּמִי־אָמַר פָּעַלְתָּ עַוְלָה

Who has commanded Him His way? One cannot command God to do one thing or another. Who has said to Him: You have performed injustice? One cannot claim that God has acted improperly.

זְכֹר כִּי תַשְׂגִּיא פָעֳלוֹ אֲשֶׁר שֹׁרְרוּ אֲנָשִׁים

Remember His deeds because when you exalt Him, you will see the greatness of His work, of which men have sung, composed songs.

כָּל אָדָם חָזוּ בוֹ אֱנוֹשׁ יַבִּיט מֵרָחוֹק

All that men have seen in it, anything they have seen of His presence, man looks at only from afar. Man can only stand at a distance and receive a general impression of the ways of God.

הֶן אֵל שַׂגִּיא וְלֹא נֵדָע מִסְפַּר שָׁנָיו וְלֹא־חֵקֶר

Behold, God is exalted, and we cannot know; the number of His years is beyond scrutiny. He is not subject to the dimension of time; He is eternal.

כִּי יְגָרַע נִטְפֵי־מָיִם יָזֹקּוּ מָטָר לְאֵדוֹ

For we do not know when He emits drops of water, when He causes them to drip down, distilling, filtering or condensing them, into drops of rain from His vapor,

אֲשֶׁר־יִזְּלוּ שְׁחָקִים יִרְעֲפוּ עֲלֵי אָדָם רָב

which the skies pour out, raining on many people. Man cannot fully comprehend the greatness of God and His deeds; he cannot understand the secret of rainfall.

אַף אִם יָבִין מִפְרְשֵׂי־עָב תְּשֻׁאוֹת סֻכָּתוֹ

Not only is he unable to comprehend the falling of rain, but does he understand the sails of a cloud, the place to which the cloud floats, the sounds of His covering, His thunder?

הֵן־פָּרַשׂ עָלָיו אוֹרוֹ וְשָׁרְשֵׁי הַיָּם כִּסָּה

Behold, He spreads His light, lightning, over it, the cloud, and covers the roots, or the edge, of the sea.

כִּי־בָם יָדִין עַמִּים יִתֶּן־אֹכֶל לְמַכְבִּיר

For with these, lightning and rain, He judges peoples; through them, He also provides food in abundance.

עַל־כַּפַּיִם כִּסָּה אוֹר וַיְצַו עָלֶיהָ בְמַפְגִּיעַ

He covers the light with His hands, with His clouds, and commands it, one cloud, to collide into another cloud in order to produce rain.

יַגִּיד עָלָיו רֵעוֹ מִקְנֶה אַף עַל־עוֹלֶה

Its, the thunder’s, noise tells about Him, God and His greatness, or about the rain. The thunder is like the nose’s breath that rises up from God, so to speak.