Carefully Examining the Text

Tommy Peeler
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To know God and to make Him known through the teaching of the Scriptures

  1. 4H AGO

    Job 11

    11:7 Can you discover the depths of God? These questions of Zophar expect a negative reply. The same Hebrew word is behind the word discover in both parts of the sentence.  The NASB preserves that idea by translating this with the same English word. It is often translated find and is used in Job 28:12 when the question where is wisdom found used. The word depths is from a Hebrew word (cheqer) used 12 times in the OT, 7 of those cases from the book of Job (5:9; 8:8; 9:10; 34:24; 36:26; 38:16). The word is particularly significant in Job 5:9 and 9:10 for both Eliphaz and Job acknowledged that God does things beyond searching out. Psalm 145:3 also uses the term. (I Cor. 2:10) Can you discover the limits of the Almighty? The word limits (taklith) describes the boundaries, the farthest reaches of something (Neh.3:21; Job 26:10; 28:3; Ps.139:22).  We cannot search the heart of the highest men (Prov. 25:3), how much less can we search the heart of God? Human beings cannot reach the outer limits of the physical universe, who can reach the outer limits of God? God’s presence dwarfs the physical world that He created (Isa. 40:12).   11:8 They are high as the heavens, what can you do? Isa. 7:11; 55:8-9; Ps.103:11. Job used this word for do (paal) in 7:20 asking what he had done to God to deserve his suffering. Bildad uses the same word to ask Job what he has done that leads him to think he understands God.  Deeper than Sheol, what can you know? Lam. 2:13 The height of the heavens is contrasted with the depth of Sheol (Ps. 135:6; 139:8; Amos 9:2). In 10:13 Job used the same word know to affirm that he knew what was in God’s heart.   11:9 Its measure is longer than the earth- Eph. 3:18. The earth and sea are mentioned together in Hag. 2:6. And broader than the sea This section remind us of Psalms 103, 139; Isaiah 40:12-17, and even the LORD’s speeches in Job 38-41. The friends say many things that are good and right, but they draw the wrong conclusions from those truths. “A human being has a difficult time comprehending God’s ways, for he observes them only in part. He lacks the full picture that is necessary to understand how a particular occurrence fits within God’s plan.”[1] How is Zophar using this statement on God limitless nature? He especially applies it to God’s knowledge to separate the righteous from the wicked, the guilty from the innocent in vs. 10-11. Prov. 25:3; 30:4 Is Zophar implying that he has searched deeper and higher than Job has? Does he think that he had figured God out? How does he know that God has overlooked some of Job’s sins?   [1] Hartley, 197.

    24 min

  2. FEB 26

    Job 10:8-22

    10:8 Your hands fashioned me and made me altogether,-  Job 31:15; Ps. 119:73 The word hands is the same word used in vs. 7. The God whose hands formed Job is the same God from whose hands there is no deliverance. The verb fashioned is used of the making of an idol in Hos. 8:4. Jer. 44:19. God’s hands fashioned us and in rebellion man’s hands fashion gods (idols).  And would You destroy me?- The word destroy is used of Jonah being swallowed by the great fish in Jonah 1:17. More importantly to this study is that this is the word the LORD used in 2:3. Little does Job know that God Himself has used this same word of Job’s destruction and the LORD has stated that his suffering is without cause. The LORD is pained by the pain that Job has endured.  Job has trouble recognizing that the One who made him with such intimate care was now going to swallow Him alive. “Would the potter take his most delicate and intricate creation and smash it into fragments like a defective pot?"  Job assumes that the Creator of mankind should be good and that His purposes for man are to bless him, but that is not what he is experiencing presently.   10:9 Remember now,- 7:7. When God remembers He acts on behalf of the one remembered (Gen. 8:1: Ex.2:23-25). Remember is in Ps. 20:3; 25:6; 79:8; Lam. 5:1 a call to God to show mercy.  that You have made me as clay,- Isaiah 64:8-9 the fact that LORD is the potter and His people are the clay is a call for God to have mercy upon them. The fact that man is made of clay shows his weakness and his dependence on God. Man’s weakness is often a basis for God showing mercy unto us (Ps. 103:14), but the LORD seems to have no mercy on Job.  Isa. 45:9-10; Jer. 18:5-10; Rom. 9:20-21 use this same image of God as Potter and man as the clay.  These three texts just mentioned stress God’s sovereign rights and man’s inability to call God to account.

    20 min

  3. FEB 19

    Job 10:1-7

    Job 10 10:1 I loathe my own life- This uses a different Hebrew word for loathes than is used in 9:21. 10:2 I will say to God, ‘Do not condemn me;- He is addressing God. With all he has said about the impossibility of receiving a fair trial before God, He is still the One to whom Job turns. Let me know why You contend with me- Contend is a form of the Hebrew rib, a word often used in a legal context (Job 9:3; 13:8, 19; 33:13; 40:2). It seems that a plaintiff was obligated to make known the charges against the defendant and Job has not been given that right. Job is genuinely confused and disoriented by this whole process and longs to know the why.  10:3 Is it right for You indeed to oppress, - The word translated right in the NASB is a word used repeatedly in the creation account in Gen. 1 . Is it good for God to act as He has toward Job? The verb oppress is used 35 times in the OT. It describes the horrors God’s people suffered at the hand of the Assyrians (Isa. 52:4) and the Babylonians (Jer. 50:33).  God brings justice for those who are oppressed (Ps. 103:6; 146:7). Proverbs 14:31 says, “He who oppresses the poor taunts his Maker.” The one who oppresses men ultimately insults God.  What is striking about this use of the verb in Job 10 is that it is God doing the oppressing. It is God who delivers the oppressed. This is the only time in the OT that God is the subject of the verb oppressed.  To reject the labor of Your hands,- The phrase work/ works of Your (His) hand/ hands is used in Ps. 138:8; Job 14:15; 34:19 speaking of man as the object of God’s care. But here instead of God showing compassion, God is rejecting, repudiating what His hands have made.  And to look favorably on the schemes of the wicked? The verb look favorably  is a rare word in the OT used in Ps. 94:1 where the author begs the God of vengeance to shine forth. In Ps. 50:2-3 God has shone forth to bring fire on his adversaries. In Job 10:3 Job laments that instead of God showing His vengeance to the wicked, He is showing His favor. The two words translated schemes of the wicked here are translated counsel of the wicked in Ps. 1:1. In that Psalm the man who avoids the counsel of the wicked is blessed.    10:4 Have You eyes of flesh? God is Spirit and not flesh in II Chron. 32:7-8; Isa. 31:3 /Or do You see as a man sees?- Here he emphasizes that God does not see the same way man sees (I Sam. 16:7; Job 26:6; 28:24; 31:4; 34:21; Prov. 16:2; 21:2).   10:5 And Your days as the days of a mortal, Or Your years as a man’s years- In 36:26 Job says of God that “the number of His years is unsearchable.” Ps. 90:1-12; 102:27.  10:6 That You should seek for my guilt- The word seek is often used to describe God being the object of man’s seeking (Job 5:8; I Chron. 16:10, 11; II Chron. 7:14; 11:16; 15:4, 15; 20:4).  And search are my sin? The word search is also used with God being the object of our search in I Chron. 10:14; 15:13; 16:11; 22:19; II Chron.12:14; 14:4, 7; 15: 2,1 2; 16:12. Here it is God searching out our sin.    10:7 And there is no deliverance from Your hand- Often this word for deliverance is used in a context speaking of God as the One who gives deliverance (Gen. 32:11; Ex. 3:8; 6:6; I Sam. 10:18; 17:37). While God is usually the One who brings deliverance, here He is the One from whom deliverance is sought.

    19 min

  4. FEB 9

    Job 9:13-35

    Jesus’ Fulfillment of Job 9:14-35  Job is not stating a prediction of the Messiah but is expressing a longing, a desire. Job was longing for an umpire who could somehow go between himself and God and lead to Job receiving a fair trial and being pronounced innocent before God.  The word for umpire in the NASB was translated mediator in the LXX. In the NT this word is used of the work of Jesus in I Tim. 2:5; Heb. 8:6; 9:15; 12:24. This is particularly tied to what was accomplished by the death of Jesus in several of these passages. Job as an innocent man (9:15, 20-21) longed for a mediator that he could get a fair trial before such a holy God. Jesus’ work as mediator goes far beyond what Job expected. It is not only innocent people who can stand before God, but guilty people, guilty people who have turned to Him for forgiveness. Rom. 4:5 tells us that God “justifies the ungodly.” These same three Greek words translated “justifies the ungodly” are used in the same order in the LXX of Ex. 23:7 to warn judges not to kill the innocent or righteous because God “will not acquit the guilty.” The reason God can now justify the ungodly is because Christ died for the ungodly in Rom. 5:6.   In Jesus we have One who is both God and man and can serve in the way that Job 9:32-33; 16:19-21; 19:23-27 describe. The deity of Jesus is stressed in the New Testament (John 1:1-3; 8:58; Phil. 2:5-8; Titus 2:13). The humanity of Jesus is also stressed (John 1:14; I Tim. 2:5-6; I John 4:1-3; II John 7). While Job lamented “He is not a man as I am,” Paul proclaimed Jesus as the “man Christ Jesus” (I Tim. 2:5; Acts 17:31).  The deity/ humanity of Jesus qualifies Him as a faithful and merciful high priest Heb. 2:17-18; 4:14-16; 5:7-10. Jesus would live and die to bridge the gap between God and man.  Job complained that God mocks the despair of the innocent (Job 9:23), but in Jesus’ death man mocks the pain and suffering of God (Matt. 20:19; 27:29, 31, 41; Mk. 10:34) (The Greek word in the LXX in Job 9:23 is not the same as used in these NT passages).    In Job 9 Job proclaimed his innocence (9:15, 20, 21) and stated that his wounds were without cause (9:17). Job had done nothing to earn them his suffering. His suffering showed (to Job) that God made no distinction between the blameless and the guilty (9:22-24). Job’s innocence does not compare to Jesus’ innocence (II Cor. 5:21; I Peter 2:22). While Job will complain in the bitterness of his soul (10:1), Jesus offered no complaint or protest (Isa. 53:6-7).  Job feared that even though He was innocent the words of his mouth would be used against him (9:20). Unjust judges condemned Jesus by words from His own mouth (Matt. 26:64-66; Lk. 22:70-71).   Job 9:30-31 In the Bible story it is we who have plunged ourselves in the pit and soiled our clothes and it is God who washes us and makes us clean. God far from mocking the despair of the innocent (9:23) enters into this world of sin and suffering to redeem us. Jesus weeps with us and for us (John 11:35; Luke 19:41-44; Heb. 5:7).   Job lamented the brevity of life in Job 9:25-26. Job’s life was so full of pain that he could say he despised his life (9:21, 27-28). Jesus answered this lament via His resurrection. He gives eternal life (John 11:23-26; I Cor. 15:50-58; I Thess. 4:13-18). The pain that Job feared would One day pass away and be no more (Rev. 21:4).

    21 min

  5. JAN 29

    Job 9:1-13

    Carefully Examining the Text

    24 min

  6. JAN 19

    Job 8

    What does Bildad say that is right? 1.He says God does not pervert justice. If this were not true, there would be no moral order to the universe. There would be no hope that righteousness would ultimately prevail. Thankfully, God’s throne is built on righteousness and justice (Ps. 33:5; 89:14; 97:2; 99:4). These qualities are what God expects of His rulers (II Sam. 8:18; I Kings 10:9; Jer. 22:15-16) and His people generally (Isa. 5:7; Amos 5:24). Sin and suffering are connected Biblically. The blessings of the covenant in Lev. 26:6-13; Deut.28:1-14 and the curses of the covenant in Lev. 26:14-39; Deut. 28:15-68 illustrate the link between blessing and righteousness and sin and suffering. Much of the story of Israel’s history recorded from Joshua- II Kings demonstrates the working out of those principles.  But what does this mean to Bildad? Does he mean that a righteous person will not suffer? Ecclesiastes 3:16-17; 7:15; 8:14 show that this is no true. It is the very fact that things do not always work out in this life that drives us to a life beyond this one where wrongs are righted and the wicked and righteous are given the results of the different paths they have pursued.    2. He says that the godless will perish. He says that the confidence of the wicked is placed in things as fragile as spider’s web The fundamental question of life is Where is our confidence? On whom do we rely? On whom do we depend? Isaiah 36-37 deals with the days Assyria was attacking Jerusalem in the days of Hezekiah. Sennacherib asks Hezekiah why he is rebelling against him. Where is your confidence? Word “confidence” (36:4), “rely” (36:5, 6, 6, 9), “trust” (36:7, 15) are all from the same Hebrew root word. The word is used 8 times in Isaiah 36. It is used as a verb except in 36:4 where it is translated with the noun confidence. The question that the king of Assyria asks is a fundamental question in the book of Isaiah and to the Bible as a whole and it is the foundational question of our lives. To put our place in the wrong place means that we will inevitably be clothed with shame.    3. There will an ultimate separation of the righteous and the wicked in eternity 8:18 Ultimately that the statement that it place does not know it anymore will be God’s pronouncement on the wicked (Matt. 7:13-14, 23; 25:12). 8:21 In God’s presence our mouths will be filled with laughter.    Job 8 and Jesus Bildad says that God does not reject the blameless in 8:20. He anticipates those who will cry to Jesus, “He trusts in God. Let God deliver him” in Matt. 27:43. “Job has a lesser Calvary, and each person has his own. But when we know of God’s rejection of Jesus, our dereliction can never be as dark as Job’s again”[1] It is through the suffering of God’s perfect servant, Jesus, that God ultimately showed His justice and righteousness (Rom. 3:21-26). Job’s battle foreshadows the even greater battle and the more intense suffering that God’s servant, Jesus, would endure.    [1] Anderson, 142-143.

    20 min

  7. JAN 9

    Job 7

    Jesus and Job 7 7:1-2 Jesus confronted with unbelief from the disciples and crowd asked, “How long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you?” Matt. 17:17; Mark 9:19. In a sense Jesus was like a hired man counting his days (Isa. 16:14; 21:16).  7:5 While Job suffered horribly in his flesh, Jesus’ flesh was beaten in scourging and suffered the horrors of crucifixion.   7:9 Jesus did go down into Hades and come up. Hades is the Greek equivalent to the Hebrew word Sheol. Jesus went down to Hades but was not abandoned there (Acts 2:27, 31) and He was brought up (or ascended as Acts 2:34 uses the same Greek word for the ascension and the LXX uses in Job 7:9). Through his death and resurrection, Jesus gives firm hope to all who put their trust in Him of victory over death (I Cor. 15:50-58; II Tim. 1:10).   7:11, 13 The Hebrew word translated complain is the same word translated considered in Isa. 53:8. As for His generation, who considered (complained). Job spoke in bitterness, but the Suffering Servant did not complain (Isa. 53:6).   7:18 Jesus was tested and tempted when He came to earth (Matt. 4:1-11; Mk. 1:12-13; Lk. 4:1-13).  7:19 Isa. 50:4-11 is a servant song that ultimately finds fulfillment in Jesus. While it seems like God will not let Job swallow his spit, men could not let God alone but spit in His face (Matt. 26:67; Mk. 14:65) in preparation for His crucifixion.   7:20-21 What sin have we committed to cause Christ to have to die for me? Gal. 2:20. Job longs for God’s forgiveness and that forgiveness is given through Jesus. Would God rather punish and destroy or forgive and carry away man’s guilt? The answer to this is found in the cross of Jesus. God forgives sin in Jesus in a way that is right (Rom. 3:21-26). God cannot simply say that sin is not so bad because that is not true. But God punishes sin in a way that opens up salvation for the sinner.   7:21 God seeks to save us in and through Jesus- Luke 19:10.  Jesus is the answer to Psalm 8 and Job 7. God is so big that He built the world with His fingers (Ps.8:3) and His hands (Ps. 8:6). This enormous God became a man in the person of Jesus (John 1:1, 14). He subjected Himself to shame, abuse, and even murder in the cross. He was tempted and tried (Job 7:18; Matt. 4:1-11; Mk. 1:12-13; Lk. 4:1-13). He was spit upon (Job 7:19; Isa.50:6; Matt. 26:67). He defeated death and Hades by the resurrection. He gave hope to all who put their trust and hope in Him (John 11:25). Job’s sufferings and pain should help us to stand in awe of what Jesus willingly endured for us.   Hebrews 2:6-8 quotes Psalm 8:4-6 and applies the words to Jesus in Heb. 2:9. Notice how the text picks up on the words of the Psalm and applies them to Jesus. Some form of the word “subject” or “subjection” is used in Heb. 2:5 to introduce the quotation, and three times in Heb. 2:8 after the word is quoted from Psalm 8. Heb. 2:7 quotes Psalm 8 in saying, “You have made Him for a little while lower than the angels” and Heb; 2:9 applies it to Jesus being made a little lower than the angels by the suffering of death.  Heb. 2:7 quotes Psalm 8 in “You have crowned him with glory and honor” and Heb. 2:9 applies those words and to Jesus. As Jesus was crowned with glory and honor, He also brings many sons to glory- Heb. 2:10.

    23 min

  8. 12/29/2025

    Job 6

    6:1-13 Job gives a defense of Himself Several writers on Job say that the various speakers say little about the previous speech or speakers. A strong point of Habel’s commentary is that he points out connections between the various speakers. First, there are several vocabulary connections between Eliphaz in Job 4-5 and Job’s speech in Job 6. The word ‘anguish’ in 6:2 is the same word translated ‘anger’ in 5:2. The word ‘hope’ in 6:8 was used by Eliphaz in 4:6; 5:16. The word ‘crush’ in 6:9 was used in 4:19; 5:4. ‘Fear’ in 6:14, 21 is from the same root at 4:6. The word ‘perish’ in 4:7, 9,11, 20 is used by Job in 6:18. Second, it may be that 6:1-7 is a specific response to Eliphaz in 5:1-7 where he spoke of the foolish man and Job’s words in 6:8-13 are a response to 4:2-6 that Eliphaz uttered about Job’s hope. 6:14-23 Job expresses his disappointment with his friends. The friend’s behavior was exemplary in Job 2:11-13. They came from distances, they wept over Job’s condition, and they sat with him in silence. Now, Job feels betrayed by them.  6:14 For the despairing man there should be kindness from his friend- There are three words in the Hebrew text that lead to the translation here. The word kindness is the word hesed. The word usually describes God’s love for man and loyalty to His people (Deut. 7:9; Neh. 1:5; Ps. 25:10). It also describes man’s love for one another (I Sam. 18:1; 20:14-16; Prov. 17:17; 18:24; Hos. 4:1) and in a couple of cases man’s love for God (Jer. 2:2). He speaks of his relationship with these three as being a relationship among friends and one in which he could expect lovingkindness.   So that he does not forsake the fear of the Almighty- Job uses the term Shaddai as Eliphaz did in Job 5:17. This verse is translated differently in various versions. The NIV has the that the man’s friends should stick by him even though he forsakes the fear of the Almighty. The NAB and NEB have similar translations. This translation line up with Biblical teaching (Deut. 13:6-11; I Sam. 2:29; Matt. 10:34-37). While the idea of the NIV does not fit Bible teaching does not necessarily mean that Job did not say it. Remember he too said some things that he should not say. However, it does make up think about other possibilities. Other translations have the idea that man should be encouraged that he might not forsake the fear of God (NASB).  Some translations convey the idea that the friend who withholds encouragement forsakes the fear of God (ESV, RSV, JB). I John 4:7-8.  Eliphaz wants to know why Job’s fear of God does not sustain him in his trial in Job 4:6. Job here wants to know why Eliphaz, and his friends do not encourage him more because of their fear of God.

    20 min
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To know God and to make Him known through the teaching of the Scriptures

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  • Creator
    Tommy Peeler
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2026
  • Episodes
    191
  • Rating
    Clean
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    © 2026 Carefully Examining the Text
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