Job 35:3

Study note

Setting — Elihu addresses Job and his friends immediately after challenging Job’s claim of self-righteousness in Job 35:2. He presses Job to examine the actual motive behind his complaint.

The words — The Hebrew term חַטָּת (cha.tat) translates literally as sin, while אֹוִיל ('o.il) means profit or benefit. Elihu uses these terms to question whether Job’s piety is calculated for personal gain.

The thread — This challenge echoes Job 34:9, where Elihu previously notes that delighting in God profits nothing, and aligns with Malachi 3:14’s complaint that serving God yields no gain. It also parallels Job 9:21, where Job despises his own life despite claiming blamelessness.

Why it lands — The text forces the reader to confront whether moral conduct is driven by a desire for reward rather than duty. It demands an honest assessment of one’s motives when questioning divine justice.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.