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But you say, ‘What will it profit you,’[a]
and, ‘What do I gain by not sinning?’[b]
I[c] will reply to you,[d]
and to your friends with you.
Gaze at the heavens and see;
consider the clouds, which are higher than you.[e]

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Footnotes

  1. Job 35:3 tn The referent of “you” is usually understood to be God.
  2. Job 35:3 tn The Hebrew text merely says, “What do I gain from my sin?” But Job has claimed that he has not sinned, and so this has to be elliptical: “more than if I had sinned” (H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 224). It could also be, “What do I gain without sin?”
  3. Job 35:4 tn The emphatic pronoun calls attention to Elihu who will answer these questions.
  4. Job 35:4 tn The Hebrew text adds, “with words,” but since this is obvious, for stylistic reasons it has not been included in the translation.
  5. Job 35:5 tn The preposition is taken here as a comparative min (מִן). The line could also read “that are high above you.” This idea has appeared in the speech of Eliphaz (22:12), Zophar (11:7-8), and even Job (9:8-11).