to hear intelligently (often with implication of attent… · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
serve
וְֽיַ֫עֲבֹ֥דוּve.Ya.'a.Vo.du
H5647
to work (in any sense) · conjunction + verb, qal, 3rd person masculine plural
spend
יְכַלּ֣וּye.kha.Lu
H3615
to end · verb, piel imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
days
יְמֵיהֶ֣םye.mei.Hem
H3117
a day (as the warm hours) · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
prosperity
בַּטּ֑וֹבba.Tov
H2896
good (as an adjective) in the widest sense · preposition with the article + adjective, masculine singular absolute
years
וּ֝שְׁנֵיהֶ֗םu.she.nei.Hem
H8141
a year (as a revolution of time) · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
pleasures
בַּנְּעִימִֽיםba.ne.'i.Mim
H5273
delightful (objective or subjective · preposition with the article + adjective, masculine plural absolute
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
Jeremiah 7:23 But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that…
Isaiah 1:19 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:
Jeremiah 26:13 Therefore now amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the LORD your God; and the LORD will repent him of the evil that he hat…
Deuteronomy 4:30 When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the LORD thy God, and shalt…
Hebrews 11:8 By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not k…
Job 22:23 If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles.
James 5:5 Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter.
Job 22:21 Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Job 36:5-14
Elihu, being to speak on God's behalf, and particularly to ascribe righteousness to his Maker, here shows that the disposals of divine Providence are all, not only according to the eternal counsels of his will, but according to the eternal rules of equity. God acts as a righteous governor, for,
I. He does not think it below him to take notice of the meanest of his subjects, nor does poverty or obscurity set any at a distance from his favour. If men are mighty, they are apt to look with a haughty disdain upon those that are not of distinction and make no figure; but God is mighty, infinitely so, and yet he despises not any, Job 36:5. He humbles himself to take cognizance of the affairs of the…
serve--that is, worship; as in Isa 19:23. God is to be supplied (compare Isa 1:19-20).
Adam Clarke on Job 36:11
If they obey and serve him - There may appear in the course of Providence to be some exceptions to this general rule; but it is most true, that this is literally or spiritually fulfilled to all the genuine followers of God. Every man is happy, in whatsoever circumstances, whose heart is unreservedly dedicated to his Maker.
John Gill on Job 36:11
If they obey and serve him,.... That is, God, to whom so many things are ascribed in the preceding verses; and who only is to be obeyed and served in a religious way, with the obedience of faith and love, in all his commands and ordinances. But here not so much obedience to his word, his law or Gospel, as to his rod is intended: "if they hear", &c. (q); hear the rod and him that has appointed it; hearken to his reproving, instructing, and commanding voice, in affliction; to his calls, cautions, and admonitions thereby given; and act according to them; humble themselves under the mighty hand of God, and return from iniquity:
they shall spend their days in prosperity, and their years in pleas…
"If they hear and observe my law, they will spend their days in joy and their years in glory. In man there will be no sin then, because there will be no more to fight against death. One will no longer be condemned to die because of sin, for it is written, "Where is, O death, your ardor to fight?" "
If they shall hear and observe Him, they shall fulfil their days in good, and their years in glory; but if they shall not hear, they shall pass away by the sword, and shall be consumed with folly. By 'good,' is designated right conduct, but by 'glory,' heavenly recompense. They, then, who study to obey the Divine commands, fulfil their days in good, and their years in glory. Because they pass the course of this life in right deeds, and perfect their consummation by a blessed retribution. But if they shall not hear, they shall pass away by the sword, and shall be consumed in their folly. For vengeance smites them in tribulation, and the end shuts them up in folly. For there are some, whom not even torments keep back from their abandoned habits. Of whom it is said by the Prophet, Thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; Thou hast scourged them, and they have refused to receive correction. [Jer. 5, 3] And of whom it is said under the figure of Babylon, We have cured Babylon, and she is not healed. [Jer. 51, 9] Of whom it is said again, I have slain and destroyed My people, and yet they have not returned from their ways? [Jer. 15, 7] These sometimes become worse by the scourge, because, when attacked by pain, they are either more hardened in their contumacious obstinacy, or, what is worse, launch out into even the exasperation of blasphemy. It is well said, then, that they pass away by the sword, and are consumed with folly; for through their scourges, they increase those sins, which they ought, in consequence of them, to correct. And they both feel even here the punishments of the blow, and do not escape there the sufferings of righteous retribution. For it is the infatuation of folly that iniquity so fetters them, that not even punishment keeps them from offending.
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
Blessing · CONTINGENT UPON OBEDIENCE — CONTINGENT UPON OBEDIENCE
Contingencies · IN DIVINE GOVERNMENT OF MAN — IN DIVINE GOVERNMENT OF MAN
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).
Keil & Delitzsch on Job 36:11-12
11 If they hear and yield,
They pass their days in prosperity
And their years in pleasure.
12 And if they hear not,
They pass away by the bow
And expire in lack of knowledge.
Since a declaration of the divine will has preceded in Job 36:10, it is more natural to take ויעבדוּ in the sense of obsequi, to do the will of another (as Kg1 12:7, comp. מעבּד from עבד in the generalized sense of facere), than, with Umbr., in the sense of colere scil. Deum (as Isa 19:23, Arab. ‛âbid, one who reveres God, a godly person). Instead of יבלּוּ, Isa 65:22 (on which the Masora observes לית, i.e., "nowhere else") and Job 21:13 Chethb, 'it is here without dispute יכלּוּ (Targ. ישׁלּמוּן, peragent, as Eze 43:2…
If they listen and obey God, they will be blessed: This is a valid biblical principle of repentance (see 11:13-19; 22:21-25; Deut 4:30; Jer 7:23; 26:13).
