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Job 9

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Job Poses the Central Question 1–3

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Then Job answered and said,
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Of a truth I know that it is so: But how can man be just with God? ​
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If he be pleased to contend with him, He cannot answer him one of a thousand. ​

God's Irresistible Power and Wisdom 4–13

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He iswise in heart, and mighty in strength: Who hath hardened himself against him, and prospered?— ​
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Himthat removeth the mountains, and they know it not, When he overturneth them in his anger; ​
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That shaketh the earth out of its place, And the pillars thereof tremble;
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That commandeth the sun, and it riseth not, And sealeth up the stars; ​
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That alone stretcheth out the heavens, And treadeth upon the waves of the sea;
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That maketh the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades, And the chambers of the south; ​
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That doeth great things past finding out, Yea, marvellous things without number.
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Lo, he goeth by me, and I see him not: He passeth on also, but I perceive him not. ​
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Behold, he seizeth the prey, who can hinder him? Who will say unto him, What doest thou? ​
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God will not withdraw his anger; The helpers of Rahab do stoop under him. ​

Man Cannot Contend with God 14–21

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How much less shall I answer him, And choose out my words to reason with him? ​
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Whom, though I were righteous, yet would I not answer; I would make supplication to my judge. ​
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If I had called, and he had answered me, Yet would I not believe that he hearkened unto my voice.
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For he breaketh me with a tempest, And multiplieth my wounds without cause. ​
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He will not suffer me to take my breath, But filleth me with bitterness.
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Ifwe speakof strength, lo, he ismighty! And if of justice, Who, saith he, will summon me?
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Though I be righteous, mine own mouth shall condemn me: Though I be perfect, it shall prove me perverse. ​
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I am perfect; I regard not myself; I despise my life.

God Destroys the Perfect and the Wicked 22–24

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It is all one; therefore I say, He destroyeth the perfect and the wicked. ​
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If the scourge slay suddenly, He will mock at the trial of the innocent.
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The earth is given into the hand of the wicked; He covereth the faces of the judges thereof: Ifit benothe, who then is it? ​

The Search for a Mediator 25–35

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Now my days are swifter than a post: They flee away, they see no good. ​
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They are passed away as the swift ships; As the eagle that swoopeth on the prey.
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If I say, I will forget my complaint, I will put off my sad countenance, and be of good cheer;
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I am afraid of all my sorrows, I know that thou wilt not hold me innocent. ​
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I shall be condemned; Why then do I labor in vain?
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If I wash myself with snow water, And make my hands never so clean; ​
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Yet wilt thou plunge me in the ditch, And mine own clothes shall abhor me. ​
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For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him, That we should come together in judgment. ​
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There is no umpire betwixt us, That might lay his hand upon us both. ​
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Let him take his rod away from me, And let not his terror make me afraid:
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Then would I speak, and not fear him; For I am not so in myself.

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Job 9

Verse 2

how should man be just with God? — 'Man' is enosh, mortal man; 'be just' is tsadaq, to be right in a legal sense. Job grants the principle of God's justice, then asks how a mortal could be declared righteous: 'in thy sight shall no man living be justified' (Ps 143:2; Rom 3:20).

Verse 3

one of a thousand — 'Contend' is riv, the verb of a lawsuit, and 'answer' is anah: the picture is a courtroom in which God puts the questions. Job could not meet one in a thousand; 'he that contendeth with the Almighty' is later told, 'let him answer it' (Job 40:2).

Verse 4

wise in heart, and mighty in strength — Chakam (wise) and ammits (strong) set God's wisdom and force side by side, as in Job 36:5. 'Hardened' is qashah, to be tough or stubborn; 'prospered' is shalam, to be safe: no one has stiffened against him and come out whole.

Verse 5

removeth the mountains — Athaq, to move off; 'overturneth' is haphak, to turn over. 'Anger' is aph, literally the nostril, the snort of wrath. The mountains 'know not' what shifts them; compare 'The mountains saw thee, and they trembled' (Hab 3:10).

Verse 7

commandeth the sun, and it riseth not — 'Commandeth' is amar, simply 'says': his word alone holds back the sunrise. 'Sealeth up' is chatham, to close under a seal, so the stars are shut away. Darkened sun and stars mark his judgments (Amos 8:9; Matt 24:29).

Verse 9

Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades — The Hebrew names are Ayish, Kesil and Kimah; 'maketh' is asah. Amos 5:8 gives the same claim: 'Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion'. The LORD later asks Job, 'Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades?' (Job 38:31).

Verse 11

he goeth by me, and I see him not — Abar, to pass over or by; 'passeth on' is chalaph, to slide past. God moves unseen. Job repeats it in 23:8–9, 'I go forward, but he is not there', and Paul says of God, 'whom no man hath seen, nor can see' (1 Tim 6:16).

Verse 12

he taketh away, who can hinder him? — Chathaph is to snatch or clutch; 'hinder' is shub, to turn back. Zophar later asks the same: 'then who can hinder him?' (Job 11:10). The clay may not say to the potter, 'What makest thou?' (Isa 45:9).

Verse 13

the proud helpers — Rahab means bluster or pride, and azar is to aid, so the phrase means arrogant allies. The same word for 'the proud' stands in Job 26:12, 'by his understanding he smiteth through the proud'. If God does not withdraw his anger, even these 'stoop' (shachach) under him.

Verse 14

choose out my words — Bachar, to select. Job would have to pick his words as a pleader picks arguments, and 'how much less' follows from v.13. Elsewhere he wishes the opposite: 'I would order my cause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments' (Job 23:4).

Verse 15

make supplication to my judge — Chanan, to implore favour, from the root of 'grace'; 'judge' is shaphat. Though righteous, Job would plead for mercy, not for a verdict. Paul has the same reserve: 'I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified' (1 Cor 4:4).

Verse 17

breaketh me with a tempest — Shuph, to snap at or crush; 'tempest' is searah, a storm-wind. 'Without cause' is chinnam, the word of the LORD's own statement in Job 2:3, 'to destroy him without cause'. His wounds are multiplied (rabah) beyond any charge he knows.

Verse 20

mine own mouth shall condemn me — Rasha is to declare wrong. 'Perfect' is tam, the word of Job 1:1, 'perfect and upright'. Even a sound claim spoken before God would be turned to 'perverse' (aqash, twisted); compare 'If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?' (Ps 130:3).

Verse 22

He destroyeth the perfect and the wicked — Tam and rasha, the blameless and the guilty, share one kalah, an ending. This is Job's observation of events; compare 'there is one event unto all' (Eccl 9:3), and Christ on the Galileans and the tower in Siloam (Luke 13:2–4).

Verse 24

The earth is given into the hand of the wicked — Rasha, the wicked, holds the land while the face of its judges (shaphat) is covered (kasah). The same question is raised in 'I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked' (Ps 73:3) and 'wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper?' (Jer 12:1).

Verse 25

swifter than a post — Ruts, to run: the 'post' is a runner or courier, like the royal 'posts' of Esth 8:14. 'See no good' repeats Job 7:7, 'mine eye shall no more see good'. 'Flee away' is barach, to bolt; his days run from him.

Verse 28

I know that thou wilt not hold me innocent — Yagor, to be afraid; 'sorrows' is atsebeth, pains; 'hold…innocent' is naqah, to clear or acquit. The same fear returns: 'If I sin, then thou markest me, and thou wilt not acquit me from mine iniquity' (Job 10:14).

Verse 30

snow water — Sheleg mayim, melted snow, the type of clean water. 'Never so clean' renders bor, lye or soap, with zakak, to be pure. No washing suffices: 'though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me' (Jer 2:22).

Verse 31

plunge me in the ditch — Tabal, to dip or immerse; 'ditch' is shachath, a pit, also rendered 'corruption' and 'grave'. Just after washing, he is dipped in filth, so that his 'own clothes shall abhor' (taab) him. Compare 'all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags' (Isa 64:6).

Verse 32

he is not a man, as I am — Ish, man; the contest cannot be equal. 'Come together in judgment' joins yachad (together) with mishpat, a court hearing. 'God is not a man' (Num 23:19); the thing formed may not reply against him who formed it (Rom 9:20).

Verse 33

daysman — An old English word for an umpire who fixes a day of hearing; the Hebrew is yakach, to decide, argue or reprove. He would 'lay his hand upon us both' (shith, to place). The need is met in 'one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus' (1 Tim 2:5; 1 John 2:1).