to say (used with great latitude) · verb, qal imperfect, 2nd person masculine singular
advantage
יִּסְכָּןyis.kon-
H5532
to be familiar with · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
profit
אֹ֝עִ֗יל'o.'Il
H3276
properly · verb, hiphil imperfect, 1st person common singular
sin
מֵֽחַטָּאתִֽיMe.cha.ta.Ti
H2403
an offence (sometimes habitual sinfulness) · preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Job 34:9 For he hath said, It profiteth a man nothing that he should delight himself with God.
Malachi 3:14 Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the…
Job 9:21-22 Though I were perfect, yet would I not know my soul: I would despise my life.
Job 9:30-31 If I wash myself with snow water, and make my hands never so clean;
Job 10:15 If I be wicked, woe unto me; and if I be righteous, yet will I not lift up my head. I am full of confusion; therefore see thou mine afflicti…
Job 21:15 What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what profit should we have, if we pray unto him?
Job 31:2 For what portion of God is there from above? and what inheritance of the Almighty from on high?
Psalms 73:13 Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Job 35:1-8
We have here,
I. The bad words which Elihu charges upon Job, Job 35:2, Job 35:3. To evince the badness of them he appeals to Job himself, and his own sober thoughts, in the reflection: Thinkest thou this to be right? This intimates Elihu's confidence that the reproof he now gave was just, for he could refer the judgment of it even to Job himself. Those that have truth and equity on their side sooner or later will have every man's conscience on their side. It also intimates his good opinion of Job, that he thought better than he spoke, and that, though he had spoken amiss, yet, when he perceived his mistake, he would not stand to it. When we have said, in our haste, that which was not right,…
Rather, explanatory of "this" in Job 35:2, "That thou sayest (to thyself, as if a distinct person) What advantage is it (thy integrity) to thee? What profit have I (by integrity) more than (I should have) by my sin?" that is, more than if I had sinned (Job 34:9). Job had said that the wicked, who use these very words, do not suffer for it (Job 21:13-15); whereby he virtually sanctioned their sentiments. The same change of persons from oblique to direct address occurs (Job 19:28; Job 22:17).
Adam Clarke on Job 35:3
What advantage will it be unto thee? - As if he had said to God, "My righteousness cannot profit thee, nor do I find that it is of any benefit to myself." Or perhaps Elihu makes here a general assertion, which he afterwards endeavors to exemplify: Thou hast been reasoning how it may profit thee, and thou hast said, "What profit shall I have in righteousness more than in sin?"
John Gill on Job 35:3
For thou saidst, what advantage will it be unto thee?.... Meaning that his righteousness, his holy life and conversation, were of no avail to him: he received no more benefit by being righteous than if he was wicked, since God destroyed one as well as another; and since his righteousness did not secure him from afflictions and calamities, it was of no advantage to him; he had not said so in so many words, but it is inferred from what he had said, Job 9:22. Man's own righteousness is of no advantage to him as to justification before God, and acceptance with him, nor in the business of salvation, or with respect to heaven and happiness, so as to give a right and title to it; bat is of great ad…
The Church Fathers
For thou saidst, that which is right doth not please thee, or what will it profit thee, if I shall have sinned. If the whole course of the book is attended to, blessed Job is proved to have said none of these things. But haughty men, as we have also said before, are wont to have this peculiarity, that while they go on in violent invective, they also speak falsely in their inveighing, and that, when they cannot justly blame the things which exist, they reprehend, in their falsehood, those which do not exist.
"You say again, What is it for you, or what shall I do if I have sinned? He believes that Job has held this language, either to mark that his sin could be useful to God, as a way to carry him by the pain to the ungodliness of which he says: "Do not teach me to become ungodly: you would like you perhaps to see me sin (1)? Or to make it be understood that sin harms God, and that consequently God pursues Him and overwhelms Him as His enemy, to avoid His attacks; for before he had said also, "If I have sinned, what can I do against you? Whatever his thought, Eliu responds with the following:
"He said, you do not like what is virtuous." Elihu says that holy Job had a wrong opinion about God, and these words are gathered from his reflections, because God is offended by this fact, as Job ascribes to him the errors of others. "What advantage will you get if I sin?" This concept is even more evident in another passage, "What advantage did I get from not committing sin?" That is, What else would I have suffered because of the iniquity of my actions, if I received such misfortunes after my dedication to virtue? "I will answer you and your friends with you." Since your friends taught you to agree with a wrong opinion about the judgments of God, so that you think to be righteous. Whereas God is unjust, now I will take care to answer in order to confute you and them.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Infidelity · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Man · INSIGNIFI — INSIGNIFI
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
1 Then began Elihu, and said:
2 Dost thou consider this to be right,
Sayest thou: my righteousness exceedeth God's,
3 That thou sayest, what advantage is it to thee,
What doth it profit me more than my sin?
4 I will answer thee words,
And thy companions with thee.
The neutral זאת, Job 35:2, refers prospectively to כּי־תאמר, Job 35:3: this that thou sayest. חשׁב with acc. of the obj. and ל of the predicate, as Job 33:10, comp. Job 13:24, and freq. The second interrogative clause, Job 35:2, is co-ordinate with the first, and the collective thought of this ponderous construction, Job 35:2, Job 35:3, is this: Considerest thou this to be right, and thinkest thou on this account to be able to put…
