God appears (Job 38-42:9)

            In the book’s first cycle, Job’s friends’ speeches were halted by the revelation of God’s wisdom. The new element in the second cycle is that Elihu’s speech is interrupted by the dramatic appearance of God himself (Job 38:1). At last, God fulfills Job’s desire for a face-to-face encounter. The reader has been waiting to see if Job will finally break and curse God to his face. Instead, Job holds firm, but gets a further education about how far God’s wisdom is beyond human knowing.