New International Version
Job 11:8
8They are higher than the heavens above—what can you do? They are deeper than the depths below—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?
- 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?
- New Living Translation (NLT)Such knowledge is higher than the heavens— and who are you? It is deeper than the underworld— what do you know?
Context of Job 11:8
6and disclose to you the secrets of wisdom, for true wisdom has two sides. Know this: God has even forgotten some of your sin. 7“Can you fathom the mysteries of God? Can you probe the limits of the Almighty? They are higher than the heavens above—what can you do? They are deeper than the depths below—what can you know? 9Their measure is longer than the earth and wider than the sea. 10“If he comes along and confines you in prison and convenes a court, who can oppose 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“Is not God in the heights of heaven? And see how lofty are the highest stars!
- Job 35:5Look up at the heavens and see; gaze at the clouds so high above you.
- 2 Chronicles 6:18“But will God really dwell on earth with humans? The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built!
- Psalms 103:11For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him;
- Psalms 148:13Let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted; his splendor is above the earth and the heavens.
- Proverbs 25:2It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings.
- Isaiah 55:9“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
- Job 26:6The realm of the dead is naked before God; Destruction lies uncovered.
- Psalms 139:6Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.
- Amos 9:2Though they dig down to the depths below, from there my hand will take them. Though they climb up to the heavens above, from there I will bring them down.
- Ephesians 3:18may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,
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
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