Berean Standard Bible
Job 40:4
4“Behold, I am insignificant. How can I reply to You? I place my hand over my mouth.
Job 40:4 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth.
- New International Version (NIV)“I am unworthy—how can I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth.
- English Standard Version (ESV)"Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth.
- New King James Version (NKJV)“Behold, I am vile; What shall I answer You? I lay my hand over my mouth.
Context of Job 40:4
2“Will the faultfinder contend with the Almighty? Let him who argues with God give an answer.” 3Then Job answered the LORD: “Behold, I am insignificant. How can I reply to You? I place my hand over my mouth. 5I have spoken once, but I have no answer— twice, but I have nothing to add.” 6Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:
Read all of Job 40Job 40:4 word by word
הֵ֣ן קַ֭לֹּתִי מָ֣ה אֲשִׁיבֶ֑ךָּ יָ֝דִ֗י שַׂ֣מְתִּי לְמוֹ־פִֽי׃Read the interlinear
Cross-references for Job 40:4
- Job 42:6Therefore I despise myself, and I repent in dust and ashes.”
- Genesis 18:27Then Abraham answered, “Now that I have ventured to speak to the Lord—though I am but dust and ashes—
- Genesis 32:10I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness You have shown Your servant. Indeed, with only my staff I came across the Jordan, but now I have become two camps.
- 2 Samuel 24:10After David had numbered the troops, his conscience was stricken and he said to the LORD, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. Now, O LORD, I beg You to take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.”
- 1 Kings 19:4while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He sat down under a broom tree and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, LORD,” he said. “Take my life, for I am no better than my fathers.”
- Ezra 9:6and said: “O my God, I am ashamed and embarrassed to lift up my face to You, my God, because our iniquities are higher than our heads, and our guilt has reached the heavens.
- Nehemiah 9:33You are just in all that has befallen us, because You have acted faithfully, while we have acted wickedly.
- Psalms 51:4Against You, You only, have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You may be proved right when You speak and blameless when You judge.
- Isaiah 6:5Then I said: “Woe is me, for I am ruined, because I am a man of unclean lips dwelling among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of Hosts.”
- Isaiah 53:6We all like sheep have gone astray, each one has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all.
- Isaiah 64:6Each of us has become like something unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all wither like a leaf, and our iniquities carry us away like the wind.
- Daniel 9:5we have sinned and done wrong. We have acted wickedly and rebelled. We have turned away from Your commandments and ordinances.
- Luke 5:8When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees. “Go away from me, Lord,” he said, “for I am a sinful man.”
- Luke 15:18I will get up and go back to my father and say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.
- Luke 18:13But the tax collector stood at a distance, unwilling even to lift up his eyes to heaven. Instead, he beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner!’
- 1 Timothy 1:15This is a trustworthy saying, worthy of full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the worst.
Commentaries on Job 40:4
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4Behold, I am vile - I acknowledge my inward defilement. I cannot answer thee. I will lay mine hand upon my mouth - I cannot excuse myself, and I must be dumb before thee.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4Behold, I am vile: what shall I answer thee? - “Instead of being able to argue my cause, and to vindicate myself as I had expected, I now see that I am guilty, and I have nothing to say.” He had argued boldly with his friends. He had, before them, maintained his innocence of the charges which they brought against him, and had supposed that he would be able to maintain the same argument before God. But when the opportunity was given, he felt that he was a…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4I am insignificant (compare 42:6): Job was not asking God to forgive his sin. Like Abraham, he recognized that he was not worthy (Genesis 18:27). Job had asked those comforting him to cover their mouths to show shock (21:5). Here, he does so himself in reaction to his own inappropriate words.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. I am (too) vile (to reply). It is a very different thing to vindicate ourselves before God, from what it is before men. Job could do the latter, not the former. lay ... hand ... upon ... mouth--I have no plea to offer (Job 21:5; Jud 18:19).Read the comment
Topics related to Job 40:4
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Job 40
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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