English Standard Version
Job 9:4
4He is wise in heart and mighty in strength —who has hardened himself against him, and succeeded?—
Job 9:4 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength: who hath hardened himself against him, and hath prospered?
- New International Version (NIV)His wisdom is profound, his power is vast. Who has resisted him and come out unscathed?
- New King James Version (NKJV)God is wise in heart and mighty in strength. Who has hardened himself against Him and prospered?
- New Living Translation (NLT)For God is so wise and so mighty. Who has ever challenged him successfully?
Context of Job 9:4
2"Truly I know that it is so: But how can a man be in the right before God? 3If one wished to contend with him, one could not answer him once in a thousand times. He is wise in heart and mighty in strength —who has hardened himself against him, and succeeded?— 5he who removes mountains, and they know it not, when he overturns them in his anger, 6who shakes the earth out of its place, and its pillars tremble;
Read all of Job 9Job 9:4 word by word
חֲכַ֣ם לֵ֭בָב וְאַמִּ֣יץ כֹּ֑חַ מִֽי־הִקְשָׁ֥ה אֵ֝לָ֗יו וַיִּשְׁלָֽם׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Job 9:4
- Job 9:19If it is a contest of strength, behold, he is mighty! If it is a matter of justice, who can summon him?
- Job 36:5"Behold, God is mighty, and does not despise any; he is mighty in strength of understanding.
- Psalms 104:24O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.
- Psalms 136:5to him who by understanding made the heavens, for his steadfast love endures forever;
- Daniel 2:20Daniel answered and said: "Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to whom belong wisdom and might.
- Daniel 4:34At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation;
- Romans 11:33Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
- Ephesians 1:8which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight
- Ephesians 3:10so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.
- Jude 1:24Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy,
- Job 6:10This would be my comfort; I would even exult in pain unsparing, for I have not denied the words of the Holy One.
- Job 15:23He wanders abroad for bread, saying, 'Where is it?' He knows that a day of darkness is ready at his hand;
- Job 40:9Have you an arm like God, and can you thunder with a voice like his?
- Exodus 9:14For this time I will send all my plagues on you yourself, and on your servants and your people, so that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth.
- Exodus 14:17And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they shall go in after them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, his chariots, and his horsemen.
- Proverbs 28:14Blessed is the one who fears the Lord always, but whoever hardens his heart will fall into calamity.
Commentaries on Job 9:4
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength - By his infinite knowledge he searches out and sees all things, and by his almighty power he can punish all delinquencies. He that rebels against him must be destroyed.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4He is wise in heart - Herder renders this, Even the wise and the powerful, Who hath withstood him and prospered? But the more common interpretation is to refer it to God. The meaning of Job appears to be, that God was a sagacious adversary; that he was able to manage his cause; that he could meet and refute all objections which could be urged; and that it would be in vain to engage in a litigation before him. He so well understood the whole ground of…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-35Job answered Bildad by describing God's universal and legal power. His speech resembles a complex legal case. It includes: A summons and response (9:3, 14–16, 19b, 32). The risk of proving himself guilty (9:20). A "mediator" (9:33–34). A question of accusation (9:12). A legal sentence (9:22). A declaration of guilt (9:28–30).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. wise in heart--in understanding!--and mighty in power! God confounds the ablest arguer by His wisdom, and the mightiest by His power. hardened himself--or his neck (Pr 29:1); that is, defied God. To prosper, one must fall in with God's arrangements of providence and grace.Read the comment
Topics related to Job 9:4
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
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries