Job 12:1; 13:3-17, 21-27

12 Then Job answered: (Job 12:1, NRSV)

3 But I would speak to the Almighty,

and I desire to argue my case with God.

4 As for you, you whitewash with lies;

all of you are worthless physicians.

5 If you would only keep silent,

that would be your wisdom!

6 Hear now my reasoning,

and listen to the pleadings of my lips.

7 Will you speak falsely for God,

and speak deceitfully for him?

8 Will you show partiality toward him,

will you plead the case for God?

9 Will it be well with you when he searches you out?

Or can you deceive him, as one person deceives another?

10 He will surely rebuke you

if in secret you show partiality.

11 Will not his majesty terrify you,

and the dread of him fall upon you?

12 Your maxims are proverbs of ashes,

your defenses are defenses of clay.

13 "Let me have silence, and I will speak,

and let come on me what may.

14 I will take my flesh in my teeth,

and put my life in my hand.

15 See, he will kill me; I have no hope;

but I will defend my ways to his face.

16 This will be my salvation,

that the godless shall not come before him.

17 Listen carefully to my words,

and let my declaration be in your ears. (Job 13:3-17, NRSV)

21 withdraw your hand far from me,

and do not let dread of you terrify me.

22 Then call, and I will answer;

or let me speak, and you reply to me.

23 How many are my iniquities and my sins?

Make me know my transgression and my sin.

24 Why do you hide your face,

and count me as your enemy?

25 Will you frighten a windblown leaf

and pursue dry chaff?

26 For you write bitter things against me,

and make me reap the iniquities of my youth.

27 You put my feet in the stocks,

and watch all my paths;

you set a bound to the soles of my feet. (Job 13:21-27, NRSV)

The following comments are repeated here from September 5, 2006 (Tuesday in the week of the Sunday closest to August 31, Year Two):

As noted yesterday Job’s speech in response to Zophar fills three chapters (12-14) and is divided between the part addressed to the friends (Job 12:1-13:19) and the part addressed to God (13:20-14:22). Today’ reading covers the middle section, overlapping the end of the part addressed to Job’s friends and the beginning of the part addressed to God. While addressing them, he expresses his desire “to speak to the Almighty” and “argue my case with God” (Job 13:3). His friends, who “whitewash with lies . . . are worthless physicians” (v. 4), who would do better to “keep silent,” for “that would be your wisdom!” (v. 5). Mayer Gruber says, ‘This reflects a common wisdom notion, seen in Prov. 17:28: “Even a fool, if he keeps silent, is deemed wise; / Intelligent, if he seals his lips’” (The Jewish Study Bible, 2004, p. 1521 on Job 13:5). Or, as is often attributed to Mark Twain, “It is better to be silent and thought a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt.”

Job calls for his arguments to be heard. “Hear now my reasoning, / and listen to the pleadings of my lips” (v. 7). Will the friends “speak falsely” and “deceitfully” “for God” (v. 7)? Will they defend God’s side in the requested lawsuit between Job and God (v. 8)? Leong Seow says, “Several expressions in vv. 6-8 suggest legal terminology (e.g., pleadings, speak falsely, plead the case)” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., 2001, on Job 13:1-12, esp. vv. 6-8). Job’s questions imply partiality toward God’s side in the case. “Will you show partiality toward him, / will you plead the case for God?” (v. 8). He implies that God may turn on them. “Will it be well with you when he searches you out? / Or can you deceive him, as one person deceives another? (v. 9). Job answers his own question. “He will surely rebuke you / if in secret you show partiality” (v. 10). Guber reminds us–as we know– that “Job is ultimately proven correct in 42:7” (op. cit., on vv. 9-10). They should fear God’s terrible majesty. “Will not his majesty terrify you, / and the dread of him fall upon you?” (v. 11). Job calls their wise sayings, “maxims,” “proverbs of ashes,” and their “defenses,” presumably, defenses of God’s side in the matter, “defenses of clay” (v. 12).

As Job gathers his courage (defiance?) to confront God directly, he calls for silence. “Let me have silence, and I will speak, / and let come on me what may” (v. 13). He is determined to face God down, as it were. “I will take my flesh in my teeth, / and put my life in my hand” (v. 14 NRSV based on the LXX; Heb. ‘Why should I take my flesh in my teeth, / and put my life in my hand?’ NRSV text note a). At this point in Job we come to a passage that, in its traditional reading, perhaps taken out of context, has been a comfort to many. “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him” (Job 13:15a AV/KJV) is reflected in Today’s New International Version, “Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him,” and in marginal notes of the NRSV, “Though he kill me, yet I will trust in him” (text note b), and the NJPS 1985, 1999 translation, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him” (note c-c), explained as the qere (scribal suggested reading). The kethib reading (what is written) is used in the NJPS text, “He may well slay me; I may have no hope,” and in the text of the NRSV, “See, he will kill me; I have no hope.” This negative version is relegated to the margin by the TNIV, “Or He will surely slay me; I have no hope – / yet I will”(note a). Adam Clarke was aware of these alternatives, but preferred the positive version. “Our translators [i.e. AV/KJV] have followed the best reading” (Commentary, vol. III, p. 70 on Job 13:15). Others will regard the perhaps more desperate reading as fitting the context better. Either way, Job has a certain confidence: “This will be my salvation (hf!Uwy4, y^ešû‘āh), that the godless shall not come before him” (v. 16).

As Job begins to address God directly, he has two requests (v. 20). The first is to “withdraw your hand far from me, / and do not let dread of you terrify me” (v. 21). The second is, “Then call, and I will answer; / or let me speak, and you reply to me” (v. 22). Job, says Seow, is “appealing to God to let him make his case without intimidation” (op. cit., on v. 20). So much for the form of encounter which Job desires. His first question of substance follows. “How many are my iniquities and my sins?” he asks; “Make me know my transgression and my sin” (v. 23). Job has claimed to be innocent, and as we know, God has pronounced him so in heaven. But in the midst of his suffering and when confronted with the accusation of his “friends,” he surely has some doubts. He wants God to clarify the situation. “Why do you hide your face, / and count me as your enemy?” he asks (v. 24). According to Seow, “Job’s personal name [bOy0x9, ’iyyôb], attested in various texts from the second millennium BCE, etymologically means ‘Where is the Father?’ (A reference to God). The form in Hebrew may, however, be taken to mean ‘one who is treated as an enemy’ (see 13:24)” (op. cit., on Job 1:1). Job continues to question God. “Will you frighten a windblown leaf / and pursue dry chaff?” (v. 25). He says, “you write bitter things against me, / and make me reap the iniquities of my youth” (v. 26), perhaps, says Seow, referring “to aspects of his sentence, which he deduces to have been written on account of offenses he committed as a youth (cf. Ps. 25:7)” (op. cit., on v. 26). Job feels imprisoned. “You put my feet in the stocks, / and watch all my paths; / you set a bound to the soles of my feet” (v. 27).

Acts 12:1-17

James Killed and Peter Imprisoned

12:1 About that time King Herod laid violent hands upon some who belonged to the church. 2 He had James, the brother of John, killed with the sword. 3 After he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. (This was during the festival of Unleavened Bread.) 4 When he had seized him, he put him in prison and handed him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending to bring him out to the people after the Passover. 5 While Peter was kept in prison, the church prayed fervently to God for him.

Peter Delivered from Prison

6 The very night before Herod was going to bring him out, Peter, bound with two chains, was sleeping between two soldiers, while guards in front of the door were keeping watch over the prison. 7 Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He tapped Peter on the side and woke him, saying, "Get up quickly." And the chains fell off his wrists. 8 The angel said to him, "Fasten your belt and put on your sandals." He did so. Then he said to him, "Wrap your cloak around you and follow me." 9 Peter went out and followed him; he did not realize that what was happening with the angel's help was real; he thought he was seeing a vision. 10 After they had passed the first and the second guard, they came before the iron gate leading into the city. It opened for them of its own accord, and they went outside and walked along a lane, when suddenly the angel left him. 11 Then Peter came to himself and said, "Now I am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hands of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting."

12 As soon as he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose other name was Mark, where many had gathered and were praying. 13 When he knocked at the outer gate, a maid named Rhoda came to answer. 14 On recognizing Peter's voice, she was so overjoyed that, instead of opening the gate, she ran in and announced that Peter was standing at the gate. 15 They said to her, "You are out of your mind!" But she insisted that it was so. They said, "It is his angel." 16 Meanwhile Peter continued knocking; and when they opened the gate, they saw him and were amazed. 17 He motioned to them with his hand to be silent, and described for them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he added, "Tell this to James and to the believers." Then he left and went to another place. Acts 12:1-17, NRSV)

On July 17, 2007 (Tuesday in the week of the Sunday closest to July 13, Year One), comments were repeated with editing and supplement from September 5, 2006 (Tuesday in the week of the Sunday closest to August 31, Year Two), when comments were repeated from July 12, 2005 (Tuesday of the week of the Eighth Sunday after Pentecost, Year One). The revised comments are repeated again here with some further editing and supplement:

After a period of relative calm and expansion for the church in Judea–after the conversion of Saul–persecution resumes, led this time by King Herod. “About that time King Herod laid violent hands upon some who belonged to the church” (Acts 12:1). This time, notes Christopher R. Matthews “persecution touches the apostles” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., 2001, on Acts 12:1-19). Herod Agrippa I, a grandson of Herod the Great who was raised and educated in Rome, was the king of Judea, appointed by Claudius from A.D. 41 to his [Agrippa’s] death in 44. He was also king of Galilee, Perea and other territories. This reign interrupted the series of Roman Governors (Prefects and Procurators) who governed Judea from A.D. 6-66. One of these was Tiberius Julius Alexander (46-48), a Jew whose culture and loyalties were fully Roman. Luke tells us that Herod “had James, the brother of John, killed with the sword.” (v. 2). And “after he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also” (v. 3a). In an aside, Luke tells us that “this was during the festival of Unleavened Bread)” (v. 3b); thus, says Matthews, “Peter, like Jesus, is arrested at Passover season (v. 4), the festival of Unleavened Bread (v. 3)” (op. cit., on v. 3). When Peter was seized, we are told, Herod “put him in prison and handed him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him” (v. 4a). Beverly Roberts Gaventa explains the reference to “four squads of soldiers,” as “one for each watch of the night” (HarperCollins Study Bible, rev. ed., 2006, on Acts 12:4). This phrase, says Matthews, “emphasizes the impossibility of escape (similarly v. 6)” (op. cit., on v. 4).

One might wonder whether Agrippa really thought he was pleasing the Jews by killing James (v. 2) and arresting Peter (v. 3). Luke points out that Agrippa was “intending to bring him [Peter] out to the people after the Passover” (v. 4b). But, as we know, this plan was frustrated, in answer to the prayers of the church. “While Peter was kept in prison,” we are told, “the church prayed fervently to God for him” (v. 5). And we know that Peter, like Paul and Silas later (Acts 16:25-30), was miraculously delivered from prison, Peter by an angel, and Paul and Silas by an earthquake.

In the present account, Luke tells us that, “the very night before Herod [Agrippa] was going to bring him out, Peter, bound with two chains, was sleeping between two soldiers, while guards in front of the door were keeping watch over the prison” (v. 6). Matthew explains “bring him out [as] for execution” (ibid., on v. 6). “Suddenly,” we are told, “an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He tapped Peter on the side and woke him, saying, ‘Get up quickly.’ and the chains fell off his wrists” (v. 7). Among other similarities to accounts of the appearance of angels in this account, Gaventa finds a kind of parallel to the appearance of the Christmas angels: “On angels as agents of rescue, see 5:19; 1 Kings 19:5; Dan. 3:19-28; Mt. 18:10; cf. Acts 8:26; 10:3, 7, 22; 11:13; 27:23. The wording here is very close to that of Lk. 2:9. Light accompanies the divine presence; see 9:3; 26:13” (op. cit., on v. 7).

The angel tells Peter, “Fasten your belt and put on your sandals,” and when Peter does so, the angel says, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me” (v. 8). Peter does not yet realize what is happening. Although “he went out and followed him [i.e., the angel], he did not realize that what was happening with the angel's help was real; he thought he was seeing a vision” (v. 9). They pass two guards, and as they approach “the iron gate leading into the city,” it opens “of its own accord” and they find themselves outside, but then “suddenly the angel left him” (v. 10). At this point Peter realizes what has happened, as “he came to himself.” He tells himself, “Now I am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hands of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting” (v. 11).

When Peter realizes what has happened (v. 12) he goes to the home of Mary and John Mark where the believers are praying, apparently for his deliverance from prison. Peter makes his presence known by knocking, and “when he knocked at the outer gate, a maid named Rhoda came to answer” (v. 13). Gaventa notes that “an iron gate did not prevent Peter’s escape from Herod, but incredulity nearly prevents his welcome by those who are praying for him” (op. cit., on vv. 13-16). We can joke about the fact that group gathered there could not believe that God had answered their prayer. Rhoda, of course, “on recognizing Peter’s voice . . . was so overjoyed that, instead of opening the gate, she ran in and announced that Peter was standing at the gate” (v. 14). But she, like the women who first reported Jesus empty tomb (Lk. 24:11), was met with disbelief. “They said to her, ‘You are out of your mind!’ But she insisted that it was so. They said, ‘It is his angel’ ” (v. 15). But Peter continued his knocking, “and when they opened the gate, they saw him and were amazed” (v. 16). His appearance resolved the doubts, and “he motioned to them with his hand to be silent, and described for them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison” (v. 17a). And, before leaving for “another place,” Peter says, “Tell this to James and to the believers” (v. 17b). One James, the son of Zebedee, was killed by Herod (v. 12), but another, the brother of Jesus, will preside over the Jerusalem Council in chapter 15. Matthews says, “James, the brother of Jesus next in age . . . soon emerges as the leader of the Jerusalem church (15:13; see Gal. 1:19; 2:12)” (op. cit., on v. 17, with reference to 1:14, where he refers to Mt. 13:35; Mk. 6:3).

John 8:33-47

33 They answered him, "We are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean by saying, 'You will be made free'?"

34 Jesus answered them, "Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. 35 The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there forever. 36 So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. 37 I know that you are descendants of Abraham; yet you look for an opportunity to kill me, because there is no place in you for my word. 38 I declare what I have seen in the Father's presence; as for you, you should do what you have heard from the Father."

Jesus and Abraham

39 They answered him, "Abraham is our father." Jesus said to them, "If you were Abraham's children, you would be doing what Abraham did, 40 but now you are trying to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. 41 You are indeed doing what your father does." They said to him, "We are not illegitimate children; we have one father, God himself." 42 Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now I am here. I did not come on my own, but he sent me. 43 Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot accept my word. 44 You are from your father the devil, and you choose to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. 46 Which of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? 47 Whoever is from God hears the words of God. The reason you do not hear them is that you are not from God." (John 8:33-47, NRSV)

On March 16, 2007 (Friday in the week of the Third Sunday of Lent, Year One), comments were repeated with revision and supplement from February 10, 2006 (Friday in the week of the Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany, Year Two), when comments were repeated from March 4, 2005, (Friday in the week of the Third Sunday of Lent, Year One). They are repeated again here with some further revision and supplement:

Jesus’ controversy with the Jewish leaders continues at a heated pitch. They say they “are descendants (spevrma, sperma) of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone (oujdeni; dedouleuvkamen pwvpote, oudeni dedouleukamen pōpopte, Jn. 8:33). According to Obery M. Hendricks, this is “an inaccurate claim (see Ex. 13:3)” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., 2001, on 8:33). Hendricks alludes to the statement of Moses, “Remember this day on which you came out of the house of slavery (Myd9b!f3 tyB2m9, mibbēyth ‘ ^avādînm, LXX ejx oi[kou douleivaV, ex oikou douleias), because the LORD brought you out from there by strength of hand; no leavened bread shall be eaten” (Deut. 13:3). In the Jews’ denial of ever having been slaves, the verb dedouleuvkamen (dedouleukamen) echoes the Septuagint translation with ejx oi[kou douleivaV (ex oikou douleias) of Moses’ words Myd9b!f3 tyB2m9 (mibbēyth ‘ ^avādînm), “from the house of slavery.”

But Jesus, in saying that the one who “commits sin is a slave (dou:loV, doulos) to sin” (v. 34), implies that their search for an opportunity to kill him amounts to sin (v. 37). The analogy in which Jesus contrasts the positions in the household of the slave and the son (v. 35, cf. Gal. 4:21-5:1; Heb. 3:1-6) leads to the promise, “So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed” (v. 36). Jesus’ challenge to the Jewish leaders admits to their claim to be “descendants of Abraham” (v. 33), but denies its spiritual effect. “I know that you are descendants of Abraham; yet you look for an opportunity to kill me, because there is no place in you for my word” (v. 37). If they were to accept Jesus’ “word” in faith, they might share in his promise. As Paul says, “For this reason it [righteousness] depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (for he is the father of all of us, as it is written, ‘I have made you the father of many nations’)” (Rom. 4:16-17a). Jesus reminds his hearers, “I declare what I have seen in the Father’s presence; as for you, you should do what you have heard from the Father” (v. 38).

They claim that “Abraham is our father” (v. 39), but Jesus denies it. Their attempt to kill him “is not what Abraham did” (v. 40). They claim that God is their father (v. 41), but Jesus responds, “If God were your father, you would love me” (v. 42). According to Jesus, they need to recognize him as “the one who comes from heaven” (3:31), whom “God has sent” (3:34). “Why do you not understand what I say?” says Jesus. “It is because you cannot accept my word” (v. 43). Their failure to recognize Jesus or respond to him in the terms of the Prologue, “the word made flesh” ((1:14), but rather, their intention to kill him, leads to Jesus’ charge: “You are from your father the devil, and you choose to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth . . . for he is a liar and the father of lies” (v. 44) Jesus asks, “Which of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me?” (v. 46). John Marsh comments as follows:

At this point Jesus offers his opponents an argument that would destroy the validity of all that he had said. Could they but show him to be a sinner, then they could reply to his own argument in his own way. If he had sinned, he would be a slave; if a slave, then he would not be a true son of Abraham; and if not a true son of Abraham, then without any claim to be a true son of the Father. But they do not produce any such argument. And again Jesus asks why. Why do they not believe him since they cannot produce any evidence of his falsity? The answer is tragically simple: they are not of God. If they were, they would listen to him: their unwillingness and inability to listen to him shows that they are not of God. (Saint John, Westminster Pelican Commentaries, 1968, p. 366, on Jn. 8:37-47)

If they were “from God,” they would hear “the words of God.” But they “are not from God” (v. 47).

Ronald D. Worden, Ph.D.

rdworden@hgst.edu

deanworden@comcast.net