“Behold, I go forward, but he is not there, and backward, but I do not perceive him;
Here, I. Job complains that he cannot understand the meaning of God's providences concerning him, but is quite at a loss about them (Job 23:8, Job 23:9): I go forward, but he is not there, etc. Eliphaz had bid him acquaint himself with God.
Commenting on Job 23:8-12
On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him,.... The northern part of the world, where his seat is, or the circle of the earth, says Bar Tzemach, and who has stretched out the north over the empty place, Job 26:7.
But I wish in vain. For "behold," &c. forward . . . backward--rather, "to the east--to the west." The Hebrew geographers faced the east, that is, sunrise: not the north, as we do. So "before" means east: "behind," west (so the Hindus). Para, "before"--east: Apara, "behind"--west: Daschina, "the right hand"--south: Bama, "left"--north.