God’s Word Translation
Job 11:8
8⌞God’s wisdom is⌟ higher than heaven. What can you do? It is deeper than ⌞the depths⌟ of hell. What can you know?
Job 11:8 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst thou know?
- New International Version (NIV)They are higher than the heavens above—what can you do? They are deeper than the depths below—what can you know?
- English Standard Version (ESV)It is higher than heaven—what can you do? Deeper than Sheol—what can you know?
- New King James Version (NKJV)They are higher than heaven— what can you do? Deeper than Sheol— what can you know?
Context of Job 11:8
6He would tell you the secrets of wisdom, because ⌞true⌟ wisdom is twice ⌞as great as your wisdom⌟, and you would know that God forgets your sin. 7“Can you discover God’s hidden secrets, or are you able to find the Almighty’s limits? ⌞God’s wisdom is⌟ higher than heaven. What can you do? It is deeper than ⌞the depths⌟ of hell. What can you know? 9It is longer than the earth and wider than the sea. 10If God comes along and imprisons ⌞someone⌟ and then calls a court into session, who can stop him?
Read all of Job 11Job 11:8 word by word
גָּבְהֵ֣י שָׁ֭מַיִם מַה־תִּפְעָ֑ל עֲמֻקָּ֥ה מִ֝שְּׁא֗וֹל מַה־תֵּדָֽע׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Job 11:8
- Job 22:12“Isn’t God high above in the heavens? Look how high the highest stars are!
- Job 35:5“Look at the heavens and see. Observe the clouds high above you.
- 2 Chronicles 6:18“Does God really live on earth with people? If heaven itself, the highest heaven, cannot hold you, then how can this temple that I have built?
- Psalms 103:11As high as the heavens are above the earth— that is how vast his mercy is toward those who fear him.
- Psalms 148:13Let them praise the name of the Lord because his name is high above all others. His glory is above heaven and earth.
- Proverbs 25:2It is the glory of God to hide things but the glory of kings to investigate them.
- Isaiah 55:9“Just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts are higher than your thoughts.”
- Job 26:6Sheol is naked in God’s presence, and Abaddon has no clothing.
- Psalms 139:6Such knowledge is beyond my grasp. It is so high I cannot reach it.
- Amos 9:2Even if they dig their way into Sheol, my hand will take them from there. Even if they go up to heaven, I will bring them down from there.
- Ephesians 3:18This way, with all of God’s people you will be able to understand how wide, long, high, and deep his love is.
Commentaries on Job 11:8
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 8It is as high as heaven - High as the heavens, what canst thou work? Deep below sheol, (the invisible world), what canst thou know? Long beyond the earth, and broad beyond the sea, is its measure. These are instances in the immensity of created things, and all out of the reach of human power and knowledge; and if these things are so, how incomprehensible must he be, who designed, created, preserves, and governs the whole! We find the same thought in…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 8It is as high as heaven - That is, the knowledge of God; or the subject is as high as heaven. The idea is, that man is incompetent to examine, with accuracy, an object that is as far off as the heavens; and that as the knowledge of God must be of that character, it is vain for him to attempt to investigate it fully. There is an energy in the Hebrew which is lost in our common translation. The Hebrew is abrupt and very emphatic: “The heights of the…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 7-12Verses 7-12 Zophar speaks well concerning God and his greatness and glory, concerning man and his vanity and folly. See here what man is; and let him be humbled. God sees this concerning vain man, that he would be wise, would be thought so, though he is born like a wild ass's colt, so unteachable and untameable. Man is a vain creature; empty, so the word is. Yet he is a proud creature, and self-conceited. He would be wise, would be thought so, though he…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 88. It--the "wisdom" of God (Job 11:6). The abruptness of the Hebrew is forcible: "The heights of heaven! What canst thou do" (as to attaining to them with thy gaze, Psa 139:8)? know--namely, of His perfections.Read the comment
Topics related to Job 11:8
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Job 11
- 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
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
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