Question 1

In these two verses, what sequence of events is described from situation to outcome?

Accepted Answer

The passage sketches a simple sequence: first there is a setting where people are under pressure (“there,” pointing back to oppression). In that setting “they cry,” meaning there is public outcry or complaint. The outcome is that “none gives answer,” so the cry does not result in a response. Elihu then supplies an explanation: the lack of answer is linked to “the pride of evil men.” Finally, he states a broader principle about God: God does not hear an “empty cry,” and the Almighty does not “regard” it. The flow connects human pain, human or divine non-response, and Elihu’s diagnosis.

Question 2

What is the function of the word “there” in verse 12, based on the immediate context in Job 35:9–11?

Accepted Answer

“There” functions like a pointer back to the scenario just described—groaning and crying under oppression (Job 35:9–11). It does not introduce a new location so much as recall a particular situation: the social scene where power is being abused and people feel trapped. Read this way, v.12 is not abstract; it is grounded in a recognizable moment of injustice where cries go up. Elihu uses that shared observation as the starting point for his explanation about why cries may fail to receive an answer and what pride has to do with it.

Question 3

According to Elihu, what role does “the pride of evil men” play in the lack of an answer (v.12)?

Accepted Answer

Elihu directly links the silence—“none gives answer”—to “the pride of evil men.” At minimum, pride is presented as a cause tied to unanswered cries. The text does not spell out the mechanism, but it portrays pride as active and obstructive. It can be read as the arrogance of oppressors who refuse to respond to the cries they themselves have provoked. It can also be read more broadly as a moral atmosphere shaped by wrongdoing, where pride distorts what people say and how others respond. Either way, pride is not incidental; it is part of Elihu’s explanation for why cries end in silence.

Question 4

What does the passage mean by an “empty cry” in verse 13, and what does it say God does with it?

Accepted Answer

Verse 13 asserts that God “will not hear an empty cry,” and it restates the same point by saying the Almighty will not “regard it.” The key claim is that some crying is “empty”—hollow, without substance—so it does not receive divine attention in Elihu’s reasoning. The passage does not define “empty” in detail, but it contrasts mere outcry with a kind of appeal God treats as meaningful. “Empty” could involve a cry that is only noise, only complaint, or shaped by pride rather than truly directed toward God as helper and teacher (as implied by Job 35:10–11).

Question 5

How does verse 13 relate to verse 12: is it an explanation, an escalation, or a shift in focus?

Accepted Answer

Verse 13 works as an escalation and tightening of v.12. Verse 12 describes the phenomenon—cries without an answer—and connects it to human pride. Verse 13 then adds a strong conclusion (“surely”) and brings God explicitly into view: God does not listen to a cry that is “empty,” and he does not “regard” it. So the movement is from observation (cries, no answer) to interpretation (pride involved) to principle about divine response (God does not treat hollow outcry as a true appeal). The linkage suggests Elihu sees continuity between the social reality of v.12 and God’s evaluation in v.13.

Question 6

What distinction does Elihu make between “crying out” and being “heard” in this passage?

Accepted Answer

Elihu treats “crying out” as something people can do in great intensity without it necessarily resulting in an answer. The text explicitly says: “they cry,” yet “none gives answer,” and then it adds that God will not hear an “empty cry.” This creates a distinction between volume or intensity and substance. A cry can be real as sound and emotion but still be “empty” in the sense that it lacks what makes it a genuine appeal God “regards.” Elihu’s point is not that suffering is unreal, but that not all outcry functions the same way before God or within a pride-driven situation.

Job 35:12-13

Scripture