If you were pure and upright, surely now he would awaken for you, and make the habitation of your righteousness prosperous.
Parallel Translations
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If you were pure and upright, surely now he would awaken for you, and make the habitation of your righteousness prosperous.
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If thou wert pure and upright; surely now he would awake for thee, and make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous.
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If thou wert pure and upright; surely now He would awake for thee, and make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous.
Cross-references (16)
Passages linked to Job 8:6 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Isaiah 51:9 Awake, awake, put on strength, arm of Yahweh! Awake, as in the days of old, the generations of ancient times. Isn’t it you who cut Rahab in pieces, who pierced the monster?
- Job 5:24 You will know that your tent is in peace. You will visit your fold, and will miss nothing.
- Isaiah 3:10 Tell the righteous “Good!” For they shall eat the fruit of their deeds.
- Psalms 7:6 Arise, Yahweh, in your anger. Lift up yourself against the rage of my adversaries. Awake for me. You have commanded judgment.
- Proverbs 15:8 The sacrifice made by the wicked is an abomination to Yahweh, but the prayer of the upright is his delight.
- Job 16:17 Although there is no violence in my hands, and my prayer is pure.
- Psalms 59:4-5 I have done no wrong, yet they are ready to attack me. Rise up, behold, and help me! You, Yahweh God of Armies, the God of Israel, rouse yourself to punish the nations. Show no mercy to the wicked traitors.
- Job 1:8 Yahweh said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant, Job? For there is no one like him in the earth, a blameless and an upright man, one who fears God, and turns away from evil.”
- Job 4:6-7 Isn’t your piety your confidence? Isn’t the integrity of your ways your hope? “Remember, now, whoever perished, being innocent? Or where were the upright cut off?
- Job 21:14-15 They tell God, ‘Depart from us, for we don’t want to know about your ways. What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? What profit should we have, if we pray to him?’
- Job 22:23-30 If you return to the Almighty, you will be built up, if you put away unrighteousness far from your tents. Lay your treasure in the dust, the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brooks. The Almighty will be your treasure, and precious silver to you. For then you will delight yourself in the Almighty, and will lift up your face to God. You will make your prayer to him, and he will hear you. You will pay your vows. You will also decree a thing, and it will be established to you. Light will shine on your ways. When they cast down, you will say, ‘be lifted up.’ He will save the humble person. He will even deliver him who is not innocent. Yes, he will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands.”
- Psalms 26:5-6 I hate the assembly of evildoers, and will not sit with the wicked. I will wash my hands in innocence, so I will go about your altar, Yahweh,
- Psalms 44:23 Wake up! Why do you sleep, Lord? Arise! Don’t reject us forever.
- Isaiah 1:15 When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you. Yes, when you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood.
- 1 Timothy 2:8 I desire therefore that the men in every place pray, lifting up holy hands without anger and doubting.
- 1 John 3:19-22 And by this we know that we are of the truth, and persuade our hearts before him, because if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. Beloved, if our hearts don’t condemn us, we have boldness toward God; so whatever we ask, we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do the things that are pleasing in his sight.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (15 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Job 8:6 If thou [wert] pure and upright; surely…
Job 8:6 If thou [wert] pure and upright; surely now he would awake for thee, and make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous.
Ver. 6. If thou wert pure and upright] If thou didst lift up pure hands to God in prayer, &c. Oς κε θεοις επιπειθηται μαλα τ εκλυον αυτου..
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Pura Deus mens est, pura vult mente vocari:
Et puras iussit pondus habere preces.
The fountain of goodness will not be laden at with foul hearts and hands, Jer 4:14 Jas 4:8 Isa 1:15-16 Joh 9:31 1Ti 2:8. Thus a heathen philosopher, being at sea in a great storm, and perceiving many wicked wretches with him in the ship calling upon the gods, Silete, inquit, ne Dii vos hic navigare sentiant, Hold your tongues, said he, pray not, lest the gods take notice that you are here, and we all perish for your sakes. There are that take these words for reformation, as the former verse for humiliation, those two parts of true repentance: if thou wert pure and upright, as a right penitentiary would be; if thou wouldst break off thy sins by repentance, and especially thine hypocrisy which hath brought this punishment upon thee from the Lord. If thou wouldst not only repent for thy sins, but also from thy sins, and frame to lead a new life, which is optima et aptissima paenitentia, saith Luther, the best and soundest repentance.
Surely now he would awake for thee] Thou shouldst undoubtedly find speedy and unmiscarrying returns of thy prayers, and all good acceptance of thy services. He will hear thee for deliverance, so the Septuagint render it; he will up and do it, he will arise and have mercy upon Zion, Psa 102:13, for now that she prayeth and purgeth herself from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, the time to favour her, yea, the set time, is come. I am come for thy words, saith the angel to Daniel, Job 10:12.
And make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous] i.e. He will bless thy well ordered family, and whatsoever thou dost therein shall prosper, Psa 1:3. Thy children and servants shall live together in peace, and all good agreement; thy stock, also, and thy store shall be increased. He shall restore it to, or repair it for, thee, as the Septuagint here render it, αποκαταστησει δι σοι (Sept.), peace, plenty, and prosperity shall be heaped upon thee; this is the import of the word שׁלם. Some of the Hebrews by habitation of righteousness here understand the soul, in which dwelleth righteousness. Others of them take it for the body, the habitation of the soul, wherein righteousness is seated. But these senses are far fetched.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain If thou wert in truth what thou pretendest, and…
If thou wert in truth what thou pretendest, and hast been thought by others, to be,
pure and upright, i.e. of a sincere heart and blameless life towards God and men. But God’s severe dealing with thee is an evident token, that notwithstanding all thy fair shows, thou art but a hypocrite and secret sinner. And this sense may seem to agree both with the same charge brought in against Job by Eliphaz, Job 4:6,7, and with the following discourse, particularly with Job 8:13,20. Or thus, If thou wouldst be pure and upright, i.e. if thou wouldst join reformation to thy supplication. And this sense may seem best to suit with the foregoing verse, according to the common translation.
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Awake for thee, i.e. bestir himself to help thee, as being his faithful friend and servant, whom he could not in honour or justice forsake; whereas now he shows a deep sleep, and wholly neglects thee, and turneth a deaf car to all thy prayers; which showeth what opinion he hath of thee.
The habitation, i.e. the concerns of thy house and family; a usual metonymy.
Of thy righteousness; either,
1. Which thou hast got and managed with righteousness; so he calls it by way of supposition; if it were so, God would prosper thee accordingly. But because thou dost not prosper, it gives us cause to suspect that thou hast got thy estate by fraud and oppression. Or,
2. Which thou shalt now manage with justice, and not wrongfully, as thou hast done.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Though thy beginning was small,.... When, he first set…
Though thy beginning was small,.... When, he first set out in the world; and which though it greatly increased, and he was the greatest man in all the east, yet Bildad suggests, should he behave well, that was comparatively small to what it would be with him hereafter; and which was fact, for he had double of what he before enjoyed; so Mr. Broughton renders the words, "and thy former state should be little to thy latter": or rather the sense and meaning is, "though thy beginning should be small" (r); be it so that it is; or rather that though he should begin again in the world with very little, as indeed at present he had nothing to begin with, and when he did it was but with little; one gave him a piece of money, and another an earring of gold:
yet thy latter end should greatly increase; as it did, for the Lord blessed his latter end, and he had more than at the beginning, even double to what he had in his most flourishing circumstances; see Job 42:11, &c. Bildad seems to have spoken under a spirit of prophecy, without being sensible of it, and not imagining in the least that so it would be in fact; for he only affirms it on supposition of Job's good behaviour for the future, putting it entirely upon that condition, which he had no great expectation of it ever being performed.
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(r) "etsi fuerit", so some in Michaelis.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Habitation - The concerns of thy house and family;…
Habitation - The concerns of thy house and family; which thou hast got and managed with righteousness.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 6. If thou wert pure and upright] Concerning…
Verse 6. If thou wert pure and upright] Concerning thy guilt there can be no doubt; for if thou hadst been a holy man, and these calamities had occurred through accident, or merely by the malice of thy enemies, would not God, long ere this, have manifested his power and justice in thy behalf, punished thy enemies, and restored thee to affluence?
The habitation of thy righteousness] Strongly ironical. If thy house had been as a temple of God, in which his worship had been performed, and his commandments obeyed, would it now be in a state of ruin and desolation?
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Job 8:6. If thou wert pure and upright —…
Job 8:6. If thou wert pure and upright — That is, of a sincere heart and blameless life toward God and men; surely now he would awake for thee — יעיר, jagnir, excitarit se, he would raise, or stir up himself. Thus David prays, using the same word, Stir up thyself, and awake to my judgment. And make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous — He would certainly have a regard to thee, and restore the concerns of thy house and family to their former splendour. He says the habitation of thy righteousness, to signify that if it were such, and he would manage his affairs with righteousness and not wrongfully, God would prosper him accordingly; and perhaps also to intimate, that because he had not prospered they had cause to suspect that he had acquired his property by fraud and oppression.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain If thou wert pure and upright - There is…
If thou wert pure and upright - There is something especially severe and caustic in this whole speech of Bildad. He first assumes that the children of Job were cut off for impiety, and then takes it for granted that Job himself was not a pure and upright man. This inference he seems to have derived partly from the fact that he had been visited with so heavy calamities, and partly from the sentiments which Job had himself expressed. Nothing could be more unjust and severe, however, than to take it for granted that he was a hypocrite, and then proceed to argue as if that were a settled point. He does not make it a supposition that possibly Job might have erred - which would not have been improper; but he proceeds to argue as if it were a point about which there could be no hesitation.
He would awake for thee - He would arouse or excite himself יעיר yā‛ı̂r on thy account. The image is that of arousing oneself from sleep or inactivity to aid another; and the idea is, that God had, as it were, slumbered over the calamities of Job, or had suffered them to come without interposing to prevent them, but that he would arouse himself if Job were pure, and would call upon him for aid.
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And make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous - That is, if thy habitation should become righteous now, he would make it prosperous. Hitherto, is the idea of Bildad, it has been a habitation of wickedness. Thy children have been wicked, and are now cut off. Thou thyself hast been a wicked man, and in consequence art afflicted. If now thou wouldest become pure and seek unto God, then God would make thy habitation prosperous. What could more try the patience of a sufferer than such cold and unfeeling insinuations? And what could more beautifully illustrate the nature of true courtesy, than to sit unmoved and hear such remarks? It was by forbearance in such circumstances eminently that Job showed his extraordinary patience.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Peaceable. Justice and peace shall kiss. (Haydock) --- Prosperity…
Peaceable. Justice and peace shall kiss. (Haydock) --- Prosperity will attend the righteous. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain He would awake for thee--that is, arise to thy…
He would awake for thee--that is, arise to thy help. God seemed to be asleep toward the sufferer (Psa 35:23; Psa 7:6; Isa 51:9).
make . . . prosperous--restore to prosperity thy (their) righteous habitation. Bildad assumes it to have been heretofore the habitation of guilt.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 6. Awake corresponds to the “seeking early,” (betimes,) תשׁחר,…
6. Awake corresponds to the “seeking early,” (betimes,) תשׁחר, a verb whose root signifies “the early light,” or “dawn.” Underlying the figure is the thought that what burdens the heart leads to early action. In response to earnest (early) supplication God arouses himself — awakes.
Habitation of thy righteousness — The abode where thou, when righteous, shalt dwell. Bildad insinuates, according to Schultens, that the home of Job had been one of wickedness.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 6. if thou wert pure] Or, if thou be…
6. if thou wert pure] Or, if thou be pure, cf. subjunctive in ch. Job_11:15.
surely now he would awake] Rather, surely now he will awake. The words, if thou wilt seek, Job_8:5, suggest the right point of view from which to look at the words, if thou be pure, &c. The whole passage refers to the conduct which Bildad hopes for from Job. The meaning, therefore, does not seem to be, If thou be pure, as thou sayest, and as we have supposed thee; but rather, If thou become pure, through penitence, and by letting afflictions work the fruits of righteousness, cf. ch. Job_11:13 seq.
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make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous] Or, restore thy righteous habitation, that is, restore the lost prosperity (cf. Joe_2:25) of thy habitation, now become the abode of righteousness. Bildad comes out with his suspicions of Job’s guilt much more explicitly than Eliphaz did; and similarly Zophar, ch. Job_11:13.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (6) If thou wert pure and upright.—Of course, then,…
(6) If thou wert pure and upright.—Of course, then, there is but one inference: thou art not pure and upright. These are verily the wounds of a friend which are not faithful. Bildad brings to the maintenance of his point the experience of former generations. He wishes to be very orthodox in his assertions, and to base his statements upon authority, and he appeals to the experience of former ages long gone by, and calls them to attest the truth of what he says. He also, like Eliphaz, uses figures, and has recourse to metaphor, only his figures are highly obscure and admit of various explanations. We give that which seems to commend itself most to us. It appears, then, that Bildad contemplates two representative characters, the two which are so prominent throughout this book—namely, the righteous and the wicked. He depicts the latter first, and describes him under the likeness of the paper-reed, or rush that grows in the mire of Egyptian swamps, which, though surrounded with moisture, yet as a matter of fact is liable soon to wither: so is the wicked man, according to this moralist and philosopher. He is surrounded by mercies and blessings, but they avail him nought; he withereth in the midst of abundance.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain If thou wert pure and upright. Job had asserted…
If thou wert pure and upright. Job had asserted this, not in so many words, but substantially. (Job_6:29, Job_6:30) We have God"s testimony that it was true; (Job_1:8 Job_2:3) not, of course, in the sense that he was absolutely free from sin, but in that qualified sense in which "just," and "righteous," and "pure," and "holy" can be properly used of men. Bildad implies, without boldly asserting it, that he does not believe Job to deserve the epithets, either absolutely or in a qualified sense. If he were so, Surely now he (i.e. God) would awake for thee. This is a common anthropomorphism. (see Psa_7:6 Psa_35:25 Psa_44:23 Psa_59:4, 5 Isa_51:9) And make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous; or, make peaceful the habitation wherein thy righteousness dwelleth; i.e. make peaceful the habitation wherein thou, a righteous man ex hypothesi"dwellest.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Surely now He would awake for thee.
Job_8:6
Surely now He would awake for thee.
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Prayer awaking God
God sleeps, not in regard of the act, but the consequents of sleep. Natural sleep is the binding or locking up of the senses. The eye and ear of God is never bound. But to mans apprehension the affairs of the world pass, as if God did neither hear nor see. When men are asleep things are done which they can take no notice of, much less stop and prevent. Sleeping and awaking, as applied to God, note only the changes of providence. The words teach--
1. That holy prayer shall certainly be heard.
2. That prayer shall be heard presently, Holy prayers are never deferred the hearing. The giving out of the answer may be deferred, but the answer is not deferred.
3. Prayer is the best means to awaken God. Two things in Scripture are said to awaken God. The prayers of His people, and the rage and blasphemy of His enemies.
4. Seeing that God is awakened by prayer, our prayer ought to be very strong and fervent. If God do but awake for us, all is presently (speedily) well with us. (Joseph Caryl.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
Bildad says that God would treat Job well if he was pure, but Bildad does not believe that Job is pure. (See: Hypothetical Situations)
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If you are pure and upright
"If only you were pure and righteous" or "If only you would obey God and do what is right"
stir himself on your behalf
Here Yahweh is spoken of as if he woke from sleep to help Job. AT: "help you" or "do good things for you" (See: Metaphor)
restore you to your rightful place
This refers to giving back to Job the things he lost, including his family, wealth, and honor.
Even though your beginning was small, still your final condition would be much greater
Here lack of wealth is spoken of as being a "small beginning." AT: "Even if you were poor early in your life, God would make you very wealthy later in your life" (See: Metaphor)
translationWords
pure
reward
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.