Big Idea: God’s justice draws Job toward confidence, but God’s sovereignty intimidates him.

Understanding the Text

In Job 23, Job rejects what Eliphaz has just said in the previous chapter, when he counseled Job to “submit to God and be at peace with him” (22:21). This is yet another indicator that the communication between Job and his friends is breaking down. Instead of speaking directly either to his friends or to God, Job speaks in a soliloquy, as he did in chapter 3. His internal conversation reflects how solitary and lonely he feels, as he is increasingly isolated from both humans and God. In the first twelve verses, Job expresses confidence before God but also his inability to find God in order to present his case before him. In verses 13–17, however, Job discloses that he also fe…