Tree of Life Version
Job 4:17
17‘Can a mortal be righteous before God; or a man pure before his Creator?
Job 4:17 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his maker?
- New International Version (NIV)‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God? Can even a strong man be more pure than his Maker?
- English Standard Version (ESV)'Can mortal man be in the right before God? Can a man be pure before his Maker?
- New King James Version (NKJV)‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God? Can a man be more pure than his Maker?
Context of Job 4:17
15Then a spirit brushed over my face, and the hair of my flesh stood on end. 16It stood still, but I could not recognize its appearance, A form was before my eyes and I heard a murmur, a voice: ‘Can a mortal be righteous before God; or a man pure before his Creator? 18If He puts no trust in His servants and accuses His angels of error, 19how much more those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed before the moth?
Read all of Job 4Job 4:17 word by word
הַֽ֭אֱנוֹשׁ מֵאֱל֣וֹהַ יִצְדָּ֑ק אִ֥ם מֵ֝עֹשֵׂ֗הוּ יִטְהַר־גָּֽבֶר׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Job 4:17
- Job 8:3Does God pervert justice? Does Shaddai pervert justice?
- Job 9:2“Truly I know it is so, but how can one be righteous before God?
- Job 35:2“Do you think this is just? Do you say, ‘My righteousness is greater than God’s?’
- Job 40:8“Would you really annul My judgment? Would you condemn Me to justify yourself?
- Genesis 18:25Far be it from You to do such a thing—to cause the righteous to die with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked share the same fate! Far be it from You! Shall the Judge of the whole world not exercise justice?”
- Psalms 143:2Do not bring Your servant into judgment, for in Your eyes no one living is righteous.
- Psalms 145:17Adonai is righteous in all His ways and kind in all His deeds.
- Ecclesiastes 7:20Surely there is not a righteous person on earth who does what is good and doesn’t sin.
- Jeremiah 12:1Righteous are You, Adonai, when I plead my case with You. Yet I speak with You about justice. Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the treacherous thrive?
- Romans 2:5But by your hard and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment is revealed.
- Romans 3:4May it never be! Let God be true even if every man is a liar, as it is written, “that You may be righteous in Your words and prevail when You are judged.”
- Romans 9:20But who in the world are you, O man, who talks back to God? Will what is formed say to the one who formed it, “Why did you make me like this?”
- Romans 11:33O the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and how incomprehensible His ways!
- Job 9:30If I wash myself with melted snow and cleanse my hands with lye,
- Job 14:4Who can make something pure out of the impure? No one!
- Job 15:14“What is man, that he could be pure, or one born of woman, that he could be righteous?
Commentaries on Job 4:17
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 17Shall mortal man - אנוש enosh ; Greek poor, weak, dying man. Be more just than God? - Or, יצדק מאלוה האנוש haenosh meeloah yitsdak ; shall poor, weak, sinful man be justified before God? Shall a man - גבר gaber, shall even the strong and mighty man, be pure before his Maker? Is any man, considered merely in and of himself, either holy in his conduct, or pure in his heart? No. He must be justified by the mercy of God, through an atoning sacrifice; he must…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 17Shall mortal man - Or, shall feeble man. The idea of “mortal” is not necessarily implied in the word used here, אנושׁ 'ĕnôsh It means man; and is usually applied to the lower classes or ranks of people; see the notes at Isaiah 8:1. The common opinion in regard to this word is, that it is derived from אנשׁ 'ânash to be sick, or ill at ease; and then desperate, or incurable - as of a disease or wound; Jeremiah 15:18; Micah 1:9; Job 34:6. Gesenius (Lex)…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 12-21Verses 12-21 Eliphaz relates a vision. When we are communing with our own hearts, and are still, Psa 4:4, then is a time for the Holy Spirit to commune with us. This vision put him into very great fear. Ever since man sinned, it has been terrible to him to receive communications from Heaven, conscious that he can expect no good tidings thence. Sinful man! shall he pretend to be more just, more pure, than God, who being his Maker, is his Lord and Owner?…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 17The characters in the book often say that no one is truly righteous or pure (see 9:2; 15:14; 25:4; 35:7). This is because everyone is flawed (Psalms 14:3; 53:3; Romans 3:10–11). Eliphaz used these terms to say that humans are full of sin and God has no sin. Job and God used them to show that Job had fulfilled his duties to God. Job and Eliphaz never agreed on what these terms meant. Later, God said that Eliphaz had not spoken about him "accurately" (Job…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1717. mortal man ... a man--Two Hebrew words for "man" are used; the first implying his feebleness; the second his strength. Whether feeble or strong, man is not righteous before God. more just than God ... more pure than his maker--But this would be self-evident without an oracle.Read the comment
Topics related to Job 4:17
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Job 4
- 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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