Therefore I am terrified in His presence; when I consider this, I fear Him.
Parallel translations
- WEB Therefore I am terrified at his presence. When I consider, I am afraid of him.
- KJV Therefore am I troubled at his presence: when I consider, I am afraid of him.
- NKJV Therefore I am terrified at His presence; When I consider this, I am afraid of Him.
- NASB “Therefore, I would be terrified at His presence; When I consider this, I am frightened of Him.
- NLT No wonder I am so terrified in his presence. When I think of it, terror grips me.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Because God is so sovereign and inscrutable, Job is terrified before Him. It matters as an honest expression of holy dread before an awesome God.
Overview
Reflecting on God's unstoppable will, Job is filled with terror at His presence. This is not the fear of a guilty conscience but the dread of a finite creature before the infinite and incomprehensible God. Such fear is answered in Christ, who grants believers bold access to the Father's throne of grace (Heb. 4:16).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Ps 119:120My flesh trembles in awe of You; I stand in fear of Your judgments.
- Ps 77:3I remembered You, O God, and I groaned; I mused and my spirit grew faint. Selah
- Job 31:23For calamity from God terrifies me, and His splendor I cannot overpower.
- Job 23:3If only I knew where to find Him, so that I could go to His seat.
- Hab 3:16I heard and trembled within; my lips quivered at the sound. Decay entered my bones; I trembled where I stood. Yet I must wait patiently for the day of distress to come upon the people who invade us.
- Job 10:15If I am guilty, woe to me! And even if I am righteous, I cannot lift my head. I am full of shame and aware of my affliction.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Job's cry for a mediator who can lay his hand on both God and man, and his confidence that 'my Redeemer lives' and will stand on the earth, reaches forward to Jesus the living Redeemer.
How Job 23:15 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.