Job 23 | TNotes

23:2 ^a Job dropped the doubt he had expressed earlier (9:14-20 ^b, 32 ^c) and here expressed confidence that he could successfully present his complaint.
23:4 ^d present my arguments: Job wanted to make his case with God (13:3 ^e, 18 ^f, 22 ^g; 16:21 ^h; 31:35 ⁱ); Abraham pled directly with God regarding Sodom (Gen 18:25-32 ^j), and Moses did the same for Israel (Exod 32:12-13 ^k; Num 14:13-19 ^l).
Summary for Job 23:6-7: 23:6-7 ^m Earlier, Job had believed that God was too strong for him to summon (9:19 ⁿ), so he had requested an arbiter (9:33-34 ^o) and asked God not to terrify him (13:21 ^p). Here he expressed more hope that God would grant him a fair hearing.

• acquitted: Job did not want to be pardoned as a guilty man but to be declared innocent (13:18 ^q; see Pss 17:2-3 ^r; 26:1-3 ^s).
23:10 ^t tests me: Job did not want the kind of chastising that would cleanse him like a refiner’s fire (Prov 17:3 ^u; Zech 13:9 ^v; Mal 3:2-3 ^w). He wanted an examination that would prove that he had been as pure as gold and did not need to amend his life (Job 22:23 ^x).
Summary for Job 23:13-14: 23:13-14 ^y No one can change God’s mind (9:12-13 ^z; 11:10 ^aa; 12:14 ^ab; 34:29 ^ac; Num 23:19-20 ^ad; Jas 1:17 ^ae).
Summary for Job 23:15-17: 23:15-17 ^af terrified in his presence: See Pss 77:3 ^ag; 88:16 ^ah; 119:120 ^ai.

• Job had complained earlier of being plunged into darkness (Job 19:8 ^aj); Eliphaz (15:22 ^ak; 22:1 ^al) and Bildad (18:6 ^am, 18 ^an) ascribed this fate to the wicked.