Surely God does not hear an empty cry, nor does the Almighty regard it.
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...
Commenting on Job 35:9-13
Surely God will not hear vanity,.... Or "a lie" (z), than which nothing is more an abomination to him; if men come to him with a lie in their mouths, they cannot expect to be heard by him; he is only nigh to those who call upon him in truth: or that which is "rash" (a); which is rashly uttered, and in a passionate wrathful...
vanity--that is, cries uttered in an unhumbled spirit, Job 35:12, which applies in some degree to Job's cries; still more to those of the wicked (Job 27:9; Pro 15:29).