Below are some preliminary questions to assist in the study of this passage. For a comprehensive study of the passage, download the Study Guide (PDF download).
1. Job is commended for having spoken of God “what is right” (42:7). What has Job said about God? See chapter 1 verse 21 (printed below.)
Job said, Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked will I return there. Jehovah gave, and Jehovah has taken away, blessed be the name of Jehovah. (Job 1:21)
The thing that is “right” which Job has spoken of God is expressed in Job 1:21, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked will I return there. Jehovah gave, and Jehovah has taken away, blessed be the name of Jehovah.” Job’s statement may be summarized as follows: all the good, the blessing, the benefits we experience are bestowed upon us by the Lord and are subject to His sovereign discretion: “Jehovah gave, and Jehovah has taken away.” Despite the change in our earthly circumstances the Lord (“Jehovah”) ever remains the faithful covenant-keeping God: He is “Jehovah”—it is significant that Job identifies God by His covenantal name, “Jehovah” (cp. Deuteronomy 7:9). It is our moral obligation to honor the Lord and render devotion unto Him as an end in itself, not merely when or because we are the recipients of temporal blessings or in an effort to induce the Lord to bestow such blessings upon us (cp. Ecclesiastes 12:13.)2. What charge does the Lord bring against Job’s three friends? See chapter 42 verse 8 (printed below.)
2. What charge does the Lord bring against Job’s three friends? See chapter 42 verse 8 (printed below.)
So now take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer up a whole burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you—because I accept him—so that I will not deal with you according to your folly. You have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has. (Job 42:8)
The Lord charges Job’s three companions with “folly” (42:8). Whether knowingly or unintentionally, they have given Job counsel that is basically the same as that given by his wife, namely, a utilitarian view of religion. Throughout the book the three companions have urged Job to confess whatever sin he may have committed, assuring him that by so doing he will once again receive temporal blessings and benefits from the Lord. They have been actually tempting Job to be dishonest and sacrifice his integrity (his devotion to God) by confessing to sin he has not committed in order to receive the restoration of temporal blessings and benefits from the Lord.
3. What does the Lord call Job (see Job 42:7-8 printed below?) How many times does He use this term? What is the significance of this?
After Jehovah had spoken these words to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My anger burns against you and your two friends, because you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has. (8) So now take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer up a whole burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you—because I accept him—so that I will not deal with you according to your folly. You have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has. (Job 42:7-8)
The Lord publicly acknowledges Job as “my servant.” Once in verse 7 and three times in verse 8 the Lord identifies Job with this most honorable title. At the very outset of the book the Lord identified Job as “my servant” (1:8; 2:3); now, having maintained his integrity and devotion in the midst of the most severe trial, Job has—by the grace of God—demonstrated that he is truly worthy of that title, he truly is “a servant of the Lord.” Thus the Lord honors Job by publicly and emphatically declaring that Job is “my servant.”
4. What happens to Job after he offers prayer for his friends? See the first half of verse 10 (printed below.) What do you think this means?
After Job had prayed for his friends, Jehovah released him from his captivity (Job 42:10a)
After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord “released him from his captivity” (42:10a). Job’s companions demonstrate a contrite heart when they, without protest, obey the Lord’s command for them to bring a burnt-offering, and when they unquestioningly accept Job’s intercession on their behalf. Now, showing himself to be truly righteous, Job complies with the Lord’s desire that he offer prayer on behalf of his companions who had formerly slandered him (unjustly accusing him of sin) but have now exhibited remorse and repentance. Job’s act of mercy in praying for his companions brings about his release from his “captivity” because it proves him to be a truly righteous man in every sense of the term; the Lord’s requirement that Job show mercy towards his former tormentors was the final capstone of his trial, which he now has successfully completed.
5. What else happened after Job had offered prayer for his friends? See the latter part of verse 10 (printed below.)
…then Jehovah gave Job twice as much as he had before. (Job 42:10b)
Job’s act of mercy, his willingness to be a blessing even to those who had formerly offended him, now opens the way for him to receive the abundant blessing of God: “then Jehovah gave Job twice as much as he had before” (42:10b). Note: the Lord displays His justice, not by withholding His servants from trial and adversity, but by abundantly blessing them as a reward for faithfully enduring whatever trial the Lord deems fit to impose upon them. “The doubling of Job’s estate…means…that JEHOVAH freely and abundantly blessed him. The blessing proves that JEHOVAH is a life-giving God, not a capricious deity who takes pleasure in the suffering of those who fear him. In his sovereign design he may permit a faithful servant to suffer ill-fortune for a season, but in due time he will bring total healing.” (The Book of Job, Hartley, p. 540)
