Job 35:3

Job 35:3 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)For thou saidst, What advantage will it be unto thee? and, What profit shall I have, if I be cleansed from my sin?
• New International Version (NIV)Yet you ask him, ‘What profit is it to me, and what do I gain by not sinning?’
• English Standard Version (ESV)that you ask, 'What advantage have I? How am I better off than if I had sinned?'
• New King James Version (NKJV)For you say, ‘What advantage will it be to You? What profit shall I have, more than if I had sinned?’

Context of Job 35:3

1Then Elihu said: 2“Do you think it is right for you to claim, ‘I am righteous before God’? For you also ask, ‘What’s in it for me? What’s the use of living a righteous life?’ 4“I will answer you and all your friends, too. 5Look up into the sky, and see the clouds high above you.

Job 35:3 word by word

כִּֽי־תֹ֭אמַר מַה־יִּסְכָּן־לָ֑ךְ מָֽה־אֹ֝עִ֗יל מֵֽחַטָּאתִֽי׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• For thou saidstאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• What advantageסָכַןsâkan · be usefulH5532
• What profitיָעַלya‛al · to gainH3276
• from my sinחַטָּאתchaţţâ'âh chaţţâ'th · sinH2403

Cross-references for Job 35:3

• Job 9:21“I am innocent, but it makes no difference to me— I despise my life.
• Job 10:15If I am guilty, too bad for me; and even if I’m innocent, I can’t hold my head high, because I am filled with shame and misery.
• Job 21:15Who is the Almighty, and why should we obey him? What good will it do us to pray?’
• Job 31:2For what has God above chosen for us? What is our inheritance from the Almighty on high?
• Job 34:9He has even said, ‘Why waste time trying to please God?’
• Psalms 73:13Did I keep my heart pure for nothing? Did I keep myself innocent for no reason?
• Malachi 3:14“You have said, ‘What’s the use of serving God? What have we gained by obeying his commands or by trying to show the Lord of Heaven’s Armies that we are sorry for our sins?

Commentaries on Job 35:3

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3What advantage will it be unto thee? - As if he had said to God, "My righteousness cannot profit thee, nor do I find that it is of any benefit to myself." Or perhaps Elihu makes here a general assertion, which he afterwards endeavors to exemplify: Thou hast been reasoning how it may profit thee, and thou hast said, "What profit shall I have in righteousness more than in sin?"Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3For thou saidst - Another sentiment of a similar kind which Elihu proposes to examine. He had already adverted to this sentiment of Job in Job 34:9, and examined it at some length, and had shown in reply to it that God could not be unjust, and that there was great impropriety when man presumed to arraign the justice of the Most High. He now adverts to it again in order to show that God could not be benefited or injured by the conduct of man, and that he…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 33. Rather, explanatory of "this" in Job 35:2, "That thou sayest (to thyself, as if a distinct person) What advantage is it (thy integrity) to thee? What profit have I (by integrity) more than (I should have) by my sin?" that is, more than if I had sinned (Job 34:9). Job had said that the wicked, who use these very words, do not suffer for it (Job 21:13-15); whereby he virtually sanctioned their sentiments. The same change of persons from oblique to direct…Read the comment

Topics related to Job 35:3

• Infidelity
• Man

In the dictionaries

• Advantage
• Elihu
• Heaven

Commentaries on Job 35

• 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
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary