Job Chapter 42 verse 8 Holy Bible

Pulpit Commentary

Pulpit CommentaryVerse 8. - Therefore take unto you now seven bullocks and seven rams. (On the early and widespread prevalence of the rite of sacrifice,-see the comment upon Job 1:5.) (On the preference, for sacrificial purposes, of the number seven, see Leviticus 23:18; Numbers 23:1, 14, 29; Numbers 28:11, 19, 27; Numbers 29:2, 8, 36; 1 Chronicles 15:26 . 2 Chronicles 29:21; Ezra 8:35; Ezekiel 45:23, etc.) It is noticeable that "seven bullocks and seven rams" was exactly the offering of the Moabite king Balak, and his prophet Balaam, contemporary with Moses. And go to my servant Job. Humble yourselves before the man whom you have striven to abase and bring low. Go to him - make application to him, that he will be pleased to come to your aid, joining and assisting in the offering which I require at your hands. And offer up for yourselves a burnt offering. Do as Job had done for his sins (Job 1:5), "offer a burnt offering;" and then my servant Job shall pray for you. Present at your sacrifice, and sharing in it, he shall assume the highest priestly function, and intercede on your behalf. For him will I accept; literally, his face, or his person, will I accept. It is implied that, apart from Job, the three "comforters" would not have been listened to, much less have obtained pardon. Lest I deal with you after your folly, in that ye have not spoken of me the thing which is right, like my servant Job (see the comment on the preceding verse).

Ellicott's Commentary

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(8) Therefore take unto you now seven bullocks and seven rams.--It is remarkable that the sacrifices prescribed for Job's friends were similar to those which Balaam prescribed for Balak (Numbers 23:2-29). This is probably one indication out of many that the age of Job was that of Moses, or before it. "My servant Job shall pray for you." This, strange to say, was the very promise with which Eliphaz himself had closed his third and last speech. His words therefore received a striking fulfilment in the case of himself and his friends. The intercession of Job seems to show us that his character is a typical one, representing to us the character of Christ as the sufferer and the mediator on behalf of man; and as in Job there is no trace of acquaintance with the Divine covenant, the book shows us a sort of anticipation of the Gospel to the Gentile world, that the mercies of God are not limited, as some have thought, to the chosen race, but that the principles of God's action are the same universally. He deals with men upon a principle of mediation: whether the mediator be Moses, as the mediator of the first covenant; or Job, who was the accepted mediator for his friends beyond the pale of the covenant; or whether the mediator be Jesus Christ, as the one Mediator between God and man.