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Job 35:9

New American Standard Bible (NASB ©1995) [2]
— “Because of the multitude of oppressions they cry out; They cry for help because of the arm of the mighty.
King James Version (KJV 1769) [2]
— By reason of the multitude of oppressions they make [the oppressed] to cry: they cry out by reason of the arm of the mighty.
English Revised Version (ERV 1885)
— By reason of the multitude of oppressions they cry out; they cry for help by reason of the arm of the mighty.
American Standard Version (ASV 1901) [2]
— By reason of the multitude of oppressions they cry out; They cry for help by reason of the arm of the mighty.
Webster's Revision of the KJB (WEB 1833)
— By reason of the multitude of oppressions they make [the oppressed] to cry: they cry out by reason of the arm of the mighty.
Darby's Translation (DBY 1890)
— By reason of the multitude of oppressions they cry; they cry out by reason of the arm of the mighty:
Rotherham's Emphasized Bible (EBR 1902)
— By reason of the multitude of oppressions, [men] make outcry, They cry for help, by reason of the arm of the mighty;
Young's Literal Translation (YLT 1898)
— Because of the multitude of oppressions They cause to cry out, They cry because of the arm of the mighty.
Douay-Rheims Challoner Revision (DR 1750)
— By reason of the multitude of oppressors they shall cry out: and shall wail for the violence of the arm of tyrants.
Geneva Bible (GNV 1560)
— They cause many that are oppressed, to crye, which crye out for ye violence of the mightie.
Original King James Bible (AV 1611) [2]
— By reason of the multitude of oppressions they make [the oppressed] to crie: they crie out by reason of the arme of the mightie.
Lamsa Bible (1957)
— Because of the multitude of oppressions men howl; and many cry out because of iniquity.
Brenton Greek Septuagint (LXX, Restored Names)
— They that are oppressed of a multitude will be ready to cry out; they will call for help because of the arm of many.
Full Hebrew Names / Holy Name KJV (2008) [2] [3]
— By reason of the multitude of oppressions they make [the oppressed] to cry: they cry out by reason of the arm of the mighty.

Strong's Numbers & Hebrew NamesHebrew Old TestamentColor-Code/Key Word Studies
By reason of the multitude 7230
{7230} Prime
רֹב
rob
{robe}
From H7231; abundance (in any respect).
x4480
(4480) Complement
מִן
min
{min}
For H4482; properly a part of; hence (prepositionally), from or out of in many senses.
of oppressions 6217
{6217} Prime
עֲשׁוּק
`ashuwq
{aw-shook'}
Passive participle of H6231; used in plural masculine as abstraction tyranny.
they make [the oppressed] to cry: 2199
{2199} Prime
זָעַק
za`aq
{zaw-ak'}
A primitive root; to shriek (from anguish or danger); by analogy (as a herald) to announce or convene publicly.
z8686
<8686> Grammar
Stem - Hiphil (See H8818)
Mood - Imperfect (See H8811)
Count - 4046
they cry out 7768
{7768} Prime
שָׁוַע
shava`
{shaw-vah'}
A primitive root; properly to be free; but used only causatively and reflexively to halloo (for help, that is, freedom from some trouble).
z8762
<8762> Grammar
Stem - Piel (See H8840)
Mood - Imperfect (See H8811)
Count - 2447
by reason of the arm 2220
{2220} Prime
זְרוֹעַ
z@rowa`
{zer-o'-ah}
From H2232; the arm (as stretched out), or (of animals) the foreleg; figuratively force.
x4480
(4480) Complement
מִן
min
{min}
For H4482; properly a part of; hence (prepositionally), from or out of in many senses.
of the mighty. 7227
{7227} Prime
רַב
rab
{rab}
By contraction from H7231; abundant (in quantity, size, age, number, rank, quality).
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary

Job 35:9

_ _ (Ecclesiastes 4:1.) Elihu states in Job’s words (Job 24:12; Job 30:20) the difficulty; the “cries” of “the oppressed” not being heard might lead man to think that wrongs are not punished by Him.

Matthew Henry's Commentary

Job 35:9-13

_ _ Elihu here returns an answer to another word that Job had said, which, he thought, reflected much upon the justice and goodness of God, and therefore ought not to pass without a remark. Observe,

_ _ I. What it was that Job complained of; it was this, That God did not regard the cries of the oppressed against their oppressors (Job 35:9): “By reason of the multitude of oppressions, the many hardships which proud tyrants put upon poor people and the barbarous usage they give them, they make the oppressed to cry; but it is to no purpose: God does not appear to right them. They cry out, they cry on still, by reason of the arm of the mighty, which lies heavily upon them.” This seems to refer to those words of Job (Job 24:12), Men groan from out of the city, and the soul of the wounded cries out against the oppressors, yet God lays not folly to them, does not reckon with them for it. This is a thing that Job knows not what to make of, nor how to reconcile to the justice of God and his government. Is there a righteous God, and can it be that he should so slowly hear, so slowly see?

_ _ II. How Elihu solves the difficulty. If the cries of the oppressed be not heard, the fault is not in God; he is ready to hear and help them. But the fault is in themselves; they ask and have not, but it is because they ask amiss, James 4:3. They cry out by reason of the arm of the mighty, but it is a complaining cry, a wailing cry, not a penitent praying cry, the cry of nature and passion, not of grace. See Hosea 7:14, They have not cried unto me with their heart when they howled upon their beds. How then can we expect that they should be answered and relieved?

_ _ 1. They do not enquire after God, nor seek to acquaint themselves with him, under their affliction (Job 35:10): But none saith, Where is God my Maker? Afflictions are sent to direct and quicken us to enquire early after God, Psalms 78:34. But many that groan under great oppressions never mind God, nor take notice of his hand in their troubles; if they did, they would bear their troubles more patiently and be more benefited by them. Of the many that are afflicted and oppressed, few get the good they might get by their affliction. It should drive them to God, but how seldom is this the case! It is lamentable to see so little religion among the poor and miserable part of mankind. Every one complains of his troubles; but none saith, Where is God my Maker? that is, none repent of their sins, none return to him that smites them, none seek the face and favour of God, and that comfort in him which would balance their outward afflictions. They are wholly taken up with the wretchedness of their condition, as if that would excuse them in living without God in the world which should engage them to cleave the more closely to him. Observe, (1.) God is our Maker, the author of our being, and, under that notion, it concerns us to regard and remember him, Ecclesiastes 12:1. God my makers, in the plural number, which some think is, if not an indication, yet an intimation, of the Trinity of persons in the unity of the Godhead. Let us make man. (2.) It is our duty therefore to enquire after him. Where is he, that we may pay our homage to him, may own our dependence upon him and obligations to him? Where is he, that we may apply to him for maintenance and protection, may receive law from him, and may seek our happiness in his favour, from whose power we received our being? (3.) It is to be lamented that he is so little enquired after by the children of men. All are asking, Where is mirth? Where is wealth? Where is a good bargain? But none ask, Where is God my Maker?

_ _ 2. They do not take notice of the mercies they enjoy in and under their afflictions, nor are thankful for them, and therefore cannot expect that God should deliver them out of their afflictions. (1.) He provides for our inward comfort and joy under our outward troubles, and we ought to make use of that, and wait his time for the removal of our troubles: He gives songs in the night, that is, when our condition is ever so dark, and sad, and melancholy, there is that in God, in his providence and promise, which is sufficient, not only to support us, but to fill us with joy and consolation, and enable us in every thing to give thanks, and even to rejoice in tribulation. When we only pore upon the afflictions we are under, and neglect the consolations of God which are treasured up for us, it is just with God to reject our prayers. (2.) He preserves to us the use of our reason and understanding (Job 35:11): Who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth, that is, who has endued us with more noble powers and faculties than they are endued with and has made us capable of more excellent pleasures and employments here and for ever. Now this comes in here, [1.] As that which furnishes us with matter for thanksgiving, even under the heaviest burden of affliction. Whatever we are deprived of, we have our immortal souls, those jewels of more worth than all the world, continued to us; even those that kill the body cannot hurt them. And if our affliction prevail not to disturb the exercise of their faculties, but we enjoy the use of our reason and the peace of our consciences, we have much reason to be thankful, how pressing soever our calamities otherwise are. [2.] As a reason why we should, under our afflictions, enquire after God our Maker, and seek unto him. This is the greatest excellency of reason, that it makes us capable of religion, and it is in that especially that we are taught more than the beasts and the fowls. They have wonderful instincts and sagacities in seeking out their food, their physic, their shelter; but none of them are capable of enquiring, Where is God my Maker? Something like logic, and philosophy, and politics, has been observed among the brute-creatures, but never any thing of divinity or religion; these are peculiar to man. If therefore the oppressed only cry by reason of the arm of the mighty, and do not look up to God, they do no more than the brutes (who complain when they are hurt), and they forget that instruction and wisdom by which they are advanced so far above them. God relieves the brute-creatures because they cry to him according to the best of their capacity, Job 38:41; Psalms 104:21. But what reason have men to expect relief, who are capable of enquiring after God as their Maker and yet cry to him no otherwise than as brutes do?

_ _ 3. They are proud and unhumbled under their afflictions, which were sent to mortify them and to hide pride from them (Job 35:12): There they cry — there they lie exclaiming against their oppressors, and filling the ears of all about them with their complaints, not sparing to reflect upon God himself and his providence — but none gives answer. God does not work deliverance for them, and perhaps men do not much regard them; and why so? It is because of the pride of evil men; they are evil men; they regard iniquity in their hearts, and therefore God will not hear their prayers, Psalms 66:18; Isaiah 1:15. God hears not such sinners. They have, it may be, brought themselves into trouble by their own wickedness; they are the devil's poor; and then who can pity them? Yet this is not all: they are proud still, and therefore they do not seek unto God (Psalms 10:4), or, if they do cry unto him, therefore he does not give answer, for he hears only the desire of the humble (Psalms 10:17) and delivers those by his providence whom he has first by his grace prepared and made fit for deliverance, which we are not if, under humbling afflictions, our hearts remain unhumbled and our pride unmortified. The case is plain then, If we cry to God for the removal of the oppression and affliction we are under, and it is not removed, the reason is not because the Lord's hand is shortened or his ear heavy, but because the affliction has not done its work; we are not sufficiently humbled, and therefore must thank ourselves that it is continued.

_ _ 4. They are not sincere, and upright, and inward with God, in their supplications to him, and therefore he does not hear and answer them (Job 35:13): God will not hear vanity, that is, the hypocritical prayer, which is a vain prayer, coming out of feigned lips. It is a vanity to think that God should hear it, who searches the heart and requires truth in the inward part.

John Wesley's Explanatory Notes

Job 35:9

Cry — Thus one man's wickedness may hurt another.

Geneva Bible Translation Notes

Job 35:9

By reason of the multitude of oppressions they make [the oppressed] (e) to cry: they cry out by reason of the arm of the mighty.

(e) The wicked may hurt man and cause him to cry, who if he sought God who lends comfort would be delivered.

Cross-Reference Topical ResearchStrong's Concordance
they make:

Job 24:12 Men groan from out of the city, and the soul of the wounded crieth out: yet God layeth not folly [to them].
Job 34:28 So that they cause the cry of the poor to come unto him, and he heareth the cry of the afflicted.
Exodus 2:23 And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage.
Exodus 3:7 And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which [are] in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;
Exodus 3:9 Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them.
Nehemiah 5:1-5 And there was a great cry of the people and of their wives against their brethren the Jews. ... Yet now our flesh [is] as the flesh of our brethren, our children as their children: and, lo, we bring into bondage our sons and our daughters to be servants, and [some] of our daughters are brought unto bondage [already]: neither [is it] in our power [to redeem them]; for other men have our lands and vineyards.
Psalms 12:5 For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith the LORD; I will set [him] in safety [from him that] puffeth at him.
Psalms 43:2 For thou [art] the God of my strength: why dost thou cast me off? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?
Psalms 55:2-3 Attend unto me, and hear me: I mourn in my complaint, and make a noise; ... Because of the voice of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked: for they cast iniquity upon me, and in wrath they hate me.
Psalms 56:1-2 [[To the chief Musician upon Jonathelemrechokim, Michtam of David, when the Philistines took him in Gath.]] Be merciful unto me, O God: for man would swallow me up; he fighting daily oppresseth me. ... Mine enemies would daily swallow [me] up: for [they be] many that fight against me, O thou most High.
Luke 18:3-7 And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. ... And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?

the arm:

Job 40:9 Hast thou an arm like God? or canst thou thunder with a voice like him?
Psalms 10:15 Break thou the arm of the wicked and the evil [man]: seek out his wickedness [till] thou find none.
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Chain-Reference Bible SearchCross References with Concordance

Ex 2:23; 3:7, 9. Ne 5:1. Jb 24:12; 34:28; 40:9. Ps 10:15; 12:5; 43:2; 55:2; 56:1. Lk 18:3.

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