Job 35:10 · Bible study
Job 35:10 Commentary: Songs in the Night
Hebrew · 10 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Elihu challenges the sufferer who cries out but fails to ask for God, who alone gives songs of praise in the darkest night.
Research Summary
- Meaning: Elihu rebukes the sufferer for crying out without seeking God, who alone gives joy and praise in affliction.
- Key words: אַיֵּה (where, rhetorical); אֱלוֹהַּ (God); עֹשָׂי (my Maker, plural intensive); נֹתֵן זְמִרוֹת (gives songs, participle implying continuous action).
- Main debate: Whether “songs in the night” refers to literal nightly praise, figurative joy in calamity, or angelic praise (Targum).
- Theological theme: God’s readiness to help and the human failure to seek Him in humility.
- Best use: Preaching on prayer in suffering, the nature of true seeking, and God’s gift of consolation in darkness.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
But no one asks, ‘Where is God my Maker, who gives us songs in the night,
WEB World English Bible 2000
But no one says, ‘Where is God my Maker, who gives songs in the night,
KJV King James Version 1769
But none saith, Where is God my maker, who giveth songs in the night;
ASV American Standard Version 1901
But none saith, Where is God my Maker, Who giveth songs in the night,
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
And none said, `Where is God my maker? Giving songs in the night,
Darby Darby Bible 1890
But none saith, Where is God my Maker, who giveth songs in the night,
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
And he hath not said: Where is God, who made me, who hath given songs in the night?
Translations in other languages (10 available)
Y ninguno dice: ¿ Dónde está Dios mi Hacedor, que da canciones en la noche,
Porém ninguém diz: Onde está Deus, meu Criador, que dá canções na noite,
Mais nul ne dit: Où est Dieu, mon créateur,
aber man fragt nicht: “ Wo ist Gott, mein Schöpfer, der Lobgesänge gibt in der Nacht,
Maar niemand zegt: Waar is God, mijn Maker, Die de psalmen geeft in den nacht?
ma nessuno dice: “Dov’è Dio, il mio creatore, che nella notte concede canti di gioia,
Żaden nie mówi: Gdzież jest Bóg, stworzyciel mój, choć on daje śpiewanie i w nocy?
Но никто не говорит: где Бог, Творец мой, Который дает песни в ночи,
卻無人 說：造我的 神 在哪裡？他使 人夜間 歌唱，
But no one has said, Where is God my Maker, who gives songs in the night;
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · Job 35:10
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators agree that Elihu is addressing a specific failure among the oppressed: they cry out from pain, but they do not genuinely seek God. Barnes notes that “none saith, Where is God my Maker?”, the sufferer complains to men but does not appeal to heaven. The Hebrew verb āmar (Qal perfect) indicates that this inquiry should have been made but was not. The phrase “songs in the night” receives multiple explanations. Clarke cites the Targum (“before whom the high angels give praise in the night”), the Septuagint (“who sets the night-watches”), and Coverdale (“that shyneth upon us that we might prayse him in the night”). Gill expands on it as both literal nightly praise for the day’s mercies and figurative joy granted in calamity. Keil and Delitzsch render it as “songs of praise concerning the dawning light of help” that God puts into the sufferer’s mouth. All traditions hold that God is the source of consolation and praise even in the darkest season, and that the refusal to seek Him is the reason relief is delayed. The pastoral point is not accusation but invitation: the same God who gave life can give joy in the night.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Medium
Main views:
- Literal nightly praise: Gill and some older exegetes see it as the praise that arises from reflecting on the day’s mercies at bedtime (Psalm 42:8).
- Figurative joy in calamity: Modern commentators like Barnes, Keil and Delitzsch read “night” as a metaphor for affliction, and “songs” as the praise God gives in the midst of trouble (Acts 16:25).
- Angelic praise: The Targum interprets “songs in the night” as the praise of the high angels before God in the nighttime.
What is clear: The verse affirms that God is the source of consolation and praise even in the darkest times, and that the failure to seek Him in distress is a reason for unanswered prayer.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning of “songs in the night” | God is the giver of praise and consolation even in times of darkness and affliction. | Some interpret it as literal songs of praise at night (Gill), others as figurative joy in calamity (Barnes, Keil), and the Targum as the praise of angels. |
| Reason for unanswered prayer | The sufferer fails to seek God humbly, so relief is delayed. | Elihu seems to imply that all unanswered prayer is due to the sufferer’s lack of seeking, a view that some traditions moderate with pastoral sensitivity to innocent suffering. |
| Plural “my Maker” (עֹשָׂי) | God is the Creator of each person, deserving trust and appeal. | Some see the plural as an intensive or majestic plural; Gill and others read it as a hint at the Trinity (Father, Son, Spirit). This is not debated among all traditions but is a distinct interpretive choice. |
| Elihu’s role and reliability | Elihu offers a corrective to Job’s friends and to Job’s own despairing words. | Some commentators view Elihu as arrogant or doctrinally flawed, while others see him as a faithful forerunner to God’s final speech. The book of Job does not explicitly endorse or condemn him. |
Historical & Cultural Context
Job 35 is the third speech of Elihu, a younger friend who enters the debate after Job’s three comforters fall silent. Elihu’s argument responds directly to Job’s earlier complaint that God does not answer the cry of the oppressed (Job 24:12). In this chapter, Elihu takes up the question of why godly suffering often seems to go unrelieved. His answer: the sufferer’s cry is merely the voice of nature, a howl of pain, not a humble, penitent plea to God.
Culturally, night held multiple meanings in the ancient Near East. It was a time of danger, when the poor were especially vulnerable to bandits and wild animals. Yet it was also a time for reflection and prayer. The Psalms speak of meditating on God “in the night watches” (Ps 63:6; 119:62). The Hebrew zemirote (songs) is an onomatopoeic word for a sung melody, and the participle noten (“gives”) pictures God as the ongoing source of that praise. The Targum reads the phrase as the angels’ nightly praise; the Septuagint as God “who sets the night-watches.”
Elihu presses further in verse 11: God “teaches us more than the animals of the earth.” Human beings possess a capacity for self-knowledge and worship that animals lack. Therefore when a person suffers, he or she is meant to respond not by instinctive complaint but by asking the fundamental question: “Where is God my Maker?” That question contains within it the implicit trust that the Maker can also be the Deliverer. The tragedy Elihu identifies is that the oppressed stop short of that question, remaining stuck in the cry of the flesh.
Textual Notes
The consulted sources note no significant textual variants for Job 35:10. The Masoretic Text is stable across manuscripts. The ancient versions (Septuagint, Targum, Syriac) differ interpretatively, for example, the Septuagint renders “who sets the night-watches” and the Targum “before whom the high angels give praise in the night”, but these reflect divergent understandings of the metaphor, not a corrupted Hebrew base. The verse is textually sound.
Reception History
Christian tradition has warmly received “songs in the night” as a promise of God’s comfort in trial. The Geneva Bible (1599) and the King James Version fixed the phrase in English devotion. The Reformers, Luther and Calvin, saw it as God’s work of giving inward joy independent of outward circumstances. Matthew Henry used the verse to encourage humble prayer rather than natural complaint. In hymnody, the line has inspired verses about God’s presence in the dark, notably in Isaac Watts’s paraphrases of the Psalms. Modern pastoral literature frequently quotes Job 35:10 in counseling those who lament, urging them to move from complaint to active seeking. The Targumic and Septuagintal readings show that even early interpreters recognised the line’s poetic depth, connecting it to angelic worship or to God’s ordering of the night hours.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- The wrong cry: The oppressed cry out, but their cry is mere complaint, a reflex of pain, not a search for God.
- The missing question: “Where is God my Maker?”, a question of both location and relationship. The sufferer does not ask it, and so fails to invite divine help.
- The gift still given: Even when we do not ask, God remains the one “who gives songs in the night.” He is ready to supply joy and praise in the darkest time.
Five-point outline
- Suffering is real. Elihu does not deny the oppressions (v.9). Pain is not imaginary.
- Our cry can be empty. The Hebrew verb for “cry” in verse 9 is a natural howl. It lacks faith.
- The search for our Maker. The word e·lo·ah (God) and the plural ō·sāy (my Makers) remind us that our Creator is also personal, not a distant force.
- Songs in the night. God can give praise and peace even when the darkness does not lift. This is not denial, but a deeper reality.
- Waiting with trust. Verse 14 (next context) urges waiting on God. The question “Where is God?” is an expression of faith, not despair.
Illustration hooks
- A person lying awake at night, worrying, who never actually prays about the thing that keeps them up.
- A hospital waiting room where families complain about the doctors but never ask God for strength.
Questions your congregation is asking
- “Why doesn’t God answer when I cry out to Him?”
- “How can I have joy when my circumstances are so dark?”
- “Am I really seeking God, or just venting my pain?”
Leading a Discussion
Elihu confronts a common human tendency: to cry out in pain without actually seeking God. This passage invites us to examine our own response to suffering. Are our prayers a habit of complaint, or a genuine search for the Lord?
Discussion questions
- Read Job 35:9, 10. What contrast does Elihu draw between the cry of the oppressed and the question they fail to ask?
- What does the phrase “songs in the night” suggest about God’s character and His work in hard times?
- Why do you think the sufferer does not ask “Where is God my Maker”? What might be holding them back?
- How does verse 11 (God teaching us through animals) connect to the idea of seeking God? What does it mean to be taught by creation?
- In what circumstances have you cried out to God, and in what circumstances have you actually searched for Him? What was the difference?
- How can we help one another turn natural pain into an active, hopeful seeking of God?
- What would it look like for your small group to “sing songs in the night” together during a difficult season?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| I Chronicles 10:13 | So Saul died for his trespass which he committed against Yahweh, because of Yahweh’s word, which he didn’t keep, and also because he asked counsel of one who had a familiar spirit, to inquire, |
| I Chronicles 10:14 | and didn’t inquire of Yahweh. Therefore he killed him, and turned the kingdom over to David the son of Jesse. |
| II Chronicles 28:22 | In the time of his distress, he trespassed yet more against Yahweh, this same King Ahaz. |
| II Chronicles 28:23 | For he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus which had defeated him. He said, “Because the gods of the kings of Syria helped them, I will sacrifice to them, that they may help me.” But they were the ruin of him and of all Israel. |
| Job 27:10 | Will he delight himself in the Almighty, and call on God at all times? |
| Job 32:22 | For I don’t know how to give flattering titles, or else my Maker would soon take me away. |
| Job 36:3 | I will get my knowledge from afar, and will ascribe righteousness to my Maker. |
| Job 36:13 | “But those who are godless in heart lay up anger. They don’t cry for help when he binds them. |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
9 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Adam Clarke's Commentary Methodist/Wesleyan 1826
Clarke notes that a holy person constantly talks to God and sings praises to him day and night. This person knows he was made by God and that God keeps him safe and happy if he prays.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes explains that Elihu's solution to Job's confusion is simple: the oppressed do not genuinely pray to God for relief. Their suffering continues because they fail to seek him humbly. Yet God is the one who can give songs of praise even in the darkest night of calamity, a promise fulfilled in countless Christian experiences.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
Elihu says the cries of those who suffer are just normal sounds of pain not real prayers to God. He believes no one actually asks where God their Maker is.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
The Geneva Notes highlight how people neglect to seek the God who created them and who alone provides comfort and joy even in times of darkness, symbolized as songs in the night. This failure to acknowledge God in difficulty is the heart of the rebuke.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill observes that oppressed people cry out but rarely ask, "Where is God my Maker?" This failure to seek the Creator, who gives them reasons for praise even in distress, explains why their cries go unanswered. They neither acknowledge Him as their author nor thank Him for the songs He provides.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
Jamieson Fausset Brown notes that some who suffer wrong often blame their own pride instead of seeking God. They also lose hope in God’s justice when help does not come quickly. If they turn to God in humility he will hear them.
Keil & Delitzsch OT Commentary Protestant 1876
Keil and Delitzsch note that the suffering people cry out because they refuse to turn to God their Creator who gives songs of praise in the night. They explain that true prayer comes from seeking God rather than simply complaining.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry notes that Job’s complaint focuses on God ignoring the cries of the oppressed. He explains the reason is that the people’s cries are expressions of natural anger rather than sincere prayer.
Wesley's Explanatory Notes Methodist/Wesleyan 1754
Wesley points out that many who suffer cry out to other people instead of seeking God, so it is not unjust if God does not answer. The Maker alone can deliver, turning the darkest situation into light and putting a new song of thanksgiving on our lips.