EasyEnglish Bible 2018
Job 9:3
3It is not possible to argue with God. God can ask 1,000 questions that we cannot answer.
Job 9:3 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)If he will contend with him, he cannot answer him one of a thousand.
- New International Version (NIV)Though they wished to dispute with him, they could not answer him one time out of a thousand.
- English Standard Version (ESV)If one wished to contend with him, one could not answer him once in a thousand times.
- New King James Version (NKJV)If one wished to contend with Him, He could not answer Him one time out of a thousand.
Context of Job 9:3
1Then Job replied. This is what he said: 2‘The things that you have said are true. But nobody can show God that he is completely good. It is not possible to argue with God. God can ask 1,000 questions that we cannot answer. 4God is very wise and he is very powerful. It is impossible to argue against him and win. 5He has the power to move mountains suddenly. When he is angry he can knock them down.
Read all of Job 9Job 9:3 word by word
אִם־יַ֭חְפֹּץ לָרִ֣יב עִמּ֑וֹ לֹֽא־יַ֝עֲנֶ֗נּוּ אַחַ֥ת מִנִּי־אָֽלֶף׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Job 9:3
- Job 9:20I am right. I have not done anything that is wrong. But my words would say that I am guilty.
- Job 10:2This is what I will say to God: “Do not say that I am guilty. Tell me what bad things you think I have done.
- Job 23:3I would like to know where to find him. Then I could go to the place where he lives.
- Job 31:35I want someone to listen to me! All the things that I say are true. Almighty God should give me an answer! I need to know what I have done that is wrong. He should write down the reason why I am guilty!
- Job 33:13So you should not argue against him. You should not say, “God does not answer any of my questions.”
- Job 34:14God could decide to remove life from the world. He could take back his spirit and his breath.
- 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 57:15The Mighty God is far higher than all others. He rules from above and he lives for ever. His name is holy. He says, ‘I live in a high and holy place. But I am also with anyone who is humble and who is sorry when he does wrong things. I will comfort people who are like that, and I will give them hope.
- Romans 9:20But you are only human. You have no authority to speak against God like that. God has made you. A pot cannot speak against the person who made it! It cannot ask him, ‘Why did you make me like this?’
- Psalms 19:12Nobody realizes every time they do something wrong. Please forgive me for the sins that I do not know about.
- Psalms 40:12There are many dangerous troubles all around me. They are too many to count! My sins are too strong for me. They are more than all the hairs on my head! So I am weak and I cannot see clearly.
- 1 John 1:8If we say that we never do any wrong thing, we are deceiving ourselves. Even though we may think it is true, it is a lie.
- 1 John 3:20Even if our thoughts tell us that we have done something wrong, we still will not be afraid of God. We can trust God more than we trust our thoughts. He already knows everything about us.
Commentaries on Job 9:3
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3If he will contend with him - God is so holy, and his law so strict, that if he will enter into judgment with his creatures, the most upright of them cannot be justified in his sight. One of a thousand - Of a thousand offenses of which he may be accused he cannot vindicate himself even in one. How little that any man does, even in the way of righteousness, truth, and mercy, can stand the penetrating eye of a just and holy God, when all motives, feelings…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3If he will contend with him - That is, if God enters into a controversy with man. If he chooses to charge crime on him, and to hold him responsible for his deeds. The language here is taken from courts of justice, and means that if a trial were instituted, where God should submit charges, and the matter were left to adjudication, man could not answer the charges against him; compare the notes at Isaiah 41:1. He cannot answer him one of a thousand - For…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3If one wished to contend with God: Job later wished to meet God in court (13:3, 15, 23; 23:4).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 33. If he--God will contend with him--literally, "deign to enter into judgment." he cannot answer, &c.--He (man) would not dare, even if he had a thousand answers in readiness to one question of God's, to utter one of them, from awe of His Majesty.Read the comment
Topics related to Job 9:3
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Job 9
- 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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