New International Version
Job 21:22
22“Can anyone teach knowledge to God, since he judges even the highest?
Job 21:22 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Shall any teach God knowledge? seeing he judgeth those that are high.
- 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?
- New Living Translation (NLT)“But who can teach a lesson to God, since he judges even the most powerful?
Context of Job 21:22
20Let their own eyes see their destruction; let them drink the cup of the wrath of the Almighty. 21For what do they care about the families they leave behind when their allotted months come to an end? “Can anyone teach knowledge to God, since he judges even the highest? 23One person dies in full vigor, completely secure and at ease, 24well nourished in body, bones rich with marrow.
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“Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him? Let him who accuses God answer him!”
- Isaiah 40:13Who can fathom the Spirit of the Lord, or instruct the Lord as his counselor?
- Isaiah 45:9“Woe to those who quarrel with their Maker, those who are nothing but potsherds among the potsherds on the ground. Does the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you making?’ Does your work say, ‘The potter has no hands’?
- Romans 11:34“Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?”
- 1 Corinthians 2:16for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
- Job 34:17Can someone who hates justice govern? Will you condemn the just and mighty One?
- Psalms 113:5Who is like the Lord our God, the One who sits enthroned on high,
- Ecclesiastes 5:8If you see the poor oppressed in a district, and justice and rights denied, do not be surprised at such things; for one official is eyed by a higher one, and over them both are others higher still.
- Isaiah 40:22He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in.
- 1 Corinthians 6:3Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life!
- 2 Peter 2:4For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment;
- Jude 1:6And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day.
- Revelation 20:1And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain.
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
New International Version — © NIV® 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 Biblica
Commentaries