Christian Standard Bible
Job 40:4
4I am so insignificant. How can I answer 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
2Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him? Let him who argues with God give an answer. 3Then Job answered the Lord: I am so insignificant. How can I answer you? I place my hand over my mouth. 5I have spoken once, and I will not reply; twice, but now I can add nothing. 6Then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind:
Read all of Job 40Job 40:4 word by word
הֵ֣ן קַ֭לֹּתִי מָ֣ה אֲשִׁיבֶ֑ךָּ יָ֝דִ֗י שַׂ֣מְתִּי לְמוֹ־פִֽי׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Job 40:4
- Job 42:6Therefore, I reject my words and am sorry for them; I am dust and ashes.
- Genesis 18:27Then Abraham answered, “Since I have ventured to speak to my lord — even though I am dust and ashes —
- Genesis 32:10I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant. Indeed, I crossed over the Jordan with my staff, and now I have become two camps.
- 2 Samuel 24:10David’s conscience troubled him after he had taken a census of the troops. He said to the Lord, “I have sinned greatly in what I’ve done. Now, Lord, because I’ve been very foolish, please take away your servant’s guilt.”
- 1 Kings 19:4but he went on a day’s journey into the wilderness. He sat down under a broom tree and prayed that he might die. He said, “I have had enough! Lord, take my life, for I’m no better than my ancestors.”
- Ezra 9:6And I said: My God, I am ashamed and embarrassed to lift my face toward you, my God, because our iniquities are higher than our heads and our guilt is as high as the heavens.
- Nehemiah 9:33You are righteous concerning all that has happened to us, because you have acted faithfully, while we have acted wickedly.
- Psalms 51:4Against you — you alone — I have sinned and done this evil in your sight. So you are right when you pass sentence; you are blameless when you judge.
- Isaiah 6:5Then I said: Woe is me for I am ruined because I am a man of unclean lips and live among a people of unclean lips, and because my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Armies.
- Isaiah 53:6We all went astray like sheep; we all have turned to our own way; and the Lord has punished him for the iniquity of us all.
- Isaiah 64:6All of us have become like something unclean, and all our righteous acts are like a polluted garment; all of us wither like a leaf, and our iniquities carry us away like the wind.
- Daniel 9:5we have sinned, done wrong, acted wickedly, rebelled, and turned away from your commands and ordinances.
- Luke 5:8When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’s knees and said, “Go away from me, because I’m a sinful man, Lord!”
- Luke 15:18I’ll get up, go to my father, and say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight.
- Luke 18:13“But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even raise his eyes to heaven but kept striking his chest and saying, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner! ’
- 1 Timothy 1:15This saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” — and I am the worst of them.
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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