EasyEnglish Bible 2018
Job 21:22
22No one can teach God what he should do. He himself judges the most powerful rulers.
Job 21:22 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Shall any teach God knowledge? seeing he judgeth those that are high.
- New International Version (NIV)“Can anyone teach knowledge to God, since he judges even the highest?
- English Standard Version (ESV)Will any teach God knowledge, seeing that he judges those who are on high?
- New King James Version (NKJV)“Can anyone teach God knowledge, Since He judges those on high?
Context of Job 21:22
20Wicked people should receive their own punishment. They should see that Almighty God is angry with them. 21After wicked people have died, it does not matter to them if their family suffers. No one can teach God what he should do. He himself judges the most powerful rulers. 23One person has good health all his life. Even when he is ready to die, he still lives a safe and happy life. 24He eats good food and his body is strong.
Read all of Job 21Job 21:22 word by word
הַלְאֵ֥ל יְלַמֶּד־דָּ֑עַת וְ֝ה֗וּא רָמִ֥ים יִשְׁפּֽוֹט׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Job 21:22
- Job 40:2‘Do you still want to argue with me, the Almighty God? You say that I have not been fair. Now you must explain what you mean.’
- Isaiah 40:13Nobody understands the mind of the Lord. Nobody can be his advisor, to tell him what he should do.
- Isaiah 45:9It will be very bad for people who quarrel with their Maker. They are like pieces of a pot that are lying on the ground among all the other pieces. The clay does not say to the potter, ‘What do you think you are you making?’ The pot does not say to the potter, ‘Your work is useless!’
- Romans 11:34The Bible says this: ‘Nobody knows the thoughts of the Lord God. Nobody is able to tell him what he should do.’
- 1 Corinthians 2:16As it says in the Bible: ‘Nobody can know what the Lord God is thinking. Nobody can tell him what he should do.’ But we think about these things in the same way that Christ thinks.
- Job 34:17If God refused to do what is right, he could not rule the world. He is the powerful Judge who knows what is right. But you say that he is guilty!
- Psalms 113:5There is nobody like the Lord our God. He sits on his throne high above us.
- Ecclesiastes 5:8You may see a place where poor people are suffering. Powerful people may be hurting them. Do not be surprised if you see that. The judges may not be doing what is right and fair. That happens because the government's officers have to obey people who are more important than them.
- Isaiah 40:22God sits high above on his throne where the earth and the sky meet. The people on the earth seem like grasshoppers to him. He hangs out the sky like a curtain. He makes it like a tent for him to live in.
- 1 Corinthians 6:3You know that we will judge the angels one day. So we must be able to decide about ordinary things here on earth.
- 2 Peter 2:4God even punished the angels who refused to obey him. He threw them down into the deep hole of hell. He tied them up and he kept them in that completely dark place. They will remain there until the day when God will judge them.
- Jude 1:6Also remember that some angels refused to obey God. They took more authority for themselves than God had given them. They left their own proper place with God in heaven. So God has tied them up as prisoners for ever in a completely dark place. He will keep them there until that great day when he will judge everyone.
- Revelation 20:1Then I saw an angel who was coming down from heaven. He was holding the key to the deep hole. He also held a great chain in his hand.
Commentaries on Job 21:22
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 22Shall any teach God knowledge? - Who among the sons of men can pretend to teach God how to govern the world, who himself teaches those that are high - the heavenly inhabitants, that excel us infinitely both in knowledge and wisdom? Neither angels nor men can comprehend the reasons of the Divine providence. It is a depth known only to God.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 22Shall any teach God knowledge? - This commences the reply of Job to the sentiments of his friends to which he had just adverted. The substance of the reply is, that no one could prescribe to God how he should deal with people, and that it; was not a FACT that people were treated as they had supposed. Instead of its being true, as they maintained, that wicked people would all be cut down in some fearful and violent manner, as a punishment for their sins…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 17-26Verses 17-26 Job had described the prosperity of wicked people; in these verses he opposes this to what his friends had maintained about their certain ruin in this life. He reconciles this to the holiness and justice of God. Even while they prosper thus, they are light and worthless, of no account with God, or with wise men. In the height of their pomp and power, there is but a step between them and ruin. Job refers the difference Providence makes between…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 22This question assumes the answer that no one can teach God a lesson (Isaiah 40:13–14; 45:9; Romans 11:34; 1 Corinthians 2:16). The phrase those on high might refer to good or bad angels (demons) (1 Corinthians 6:3; 2 Peter 2:4; Jude 1:6; Revelation 20:1–3). Or, more likely, it refers to powerful people on earth (Job 34:17–19).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2222. Reply of Job, "In all these assertions you try to teach God how He ought to deal with men, rather than prove that He does in fact so deal with them. Experience is against you. God gives prosperity and adversity as it pleases Him, not as man's wisdom would have it, on principles inscrutable to us" (Is 40:13; Ro 11:34). those ... high--the high ones, not only angels, but men (Is 2:12-17).Read the comment
Topics related to Job 21:22
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Job 21
- 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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