Job 34:7
What man is like Job, who drinketh up scorning like water?
Original Language Analysis
מִי
H4310
מִי
Strong's:
H4310
Word #:
1 of 6
who? (occasionally, by a peculiar idiom, of things); also (indefinitely) whoever; often used in oblique construction with prefix or suffix
גֶ֥בֶר
What man
H1397
גֶ֥בֶר
What man
Strong's:
H1397
Word #:
2 of 6
properly, a valiant man or warrior; generally, a person simply
Cross References
Job 15:16How much more abominable and filthy is man, which drinketh iniquity like water?Proverbs 1:22How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?Deuteronomy 29:19And it come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst:
Historical Context
Ancient Near Eastern culture highly valued measured, dignified speech, especially regarding deity. Job's passionate complaints would have seemed scandalous to observers unfamiliar with Israel's lament tradition. Elihu, younger and more concerned with propriety, mistakes honest grief for impiety. His rebuke reflects cultural assumptions about suffering—the righteous should bear it silently—which Scripture itself challenges through Job and the lament psalms.
Questions for Reflection
- How do you distinguish between honest lament (which Scripture permits) and actual mockery of God?
- Have you ever judged someone's grief as irreverence when it was actually faith seeking understanding?
- What does God's later vindication of Job teach about the legitimacy of bringing our raw emotions before Him?
Analysis & Commentary
What man is like Job, who drinketh up scorning like water? Elihu's rhetorical question carries biting sarcasm. The verb "drinketh up" (shatah, שָׁתָה) ordinarily means to drink normally, but paired with "scorning" (la'ag, לַעַג, mockery or derision) it suggests Job imbibes mockery as readily and constantly as one drinks water. The imagery is vivid—Job doesn't merely endure mockery but seems to consume it eagerly. Elihu accuses Job of habitually speaking contemptuously about divine providence.
This characterization is deeply unfair. Job hasn't mocked God but has honestly expressed his anguish and confusion. Yet Elihu interprets Job's passionate protestations of innocence as scorning divine justice. The verse reveals how easily raw honesty in suffering can be misread as irreverence. It also demonstrates the danger of judging another's suffering from outside—what appears as "scorning" may be the desperate cry of faith seeking understanding. Significantly, God later vindicates Job's speech (42:7), proving Elihu's accusation false. The verse warns against confusing authentic lament with rebellion, a distinction the Psalms preserve by including cries of apparent despair (Psalm 22, 88) as legitimate worship.