God continues 'Cast down every one that is proud, and tread them down in their place.' This verse reinforces the previous command, asking Job to demonstrate the ability to cast down the proud. The repetition with variation emphasizes the point: only one with power to punish the proud can judge justice. Job lacks such power. The image of treading down the proud suggests violent and complete action, the kind of power that only God possesses. The verse's appeal to Job to demonstrate such power is clearly rhetorical; Job cannot do it. The accumulation of commands asking Job to perform actions that only God can perform establishes comprehensively that Job is not in a position to judge God. Yet the verse also raises implicit questions: if the proud are not being cast down, if they are not being trodden under foot, does this suggest that God is not executing the role God claims?

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

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