“Oh that I knew how to find Him, That I might come to His home!
Parallel translations
- WEB Oh that I knew where I might find him! That I might come even to his seat!
- KJV Oh that I knew where I might find him! that I might come even to his seat!
- BSB If only I knew where to find Him, so that I could go to His seat.
- NKJV Oh, that I knew where I might find Him, That I might come to His seat!
- NLT If only I knew where to find God, I would go to his court.
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
Job cries out with longing to know where he could find God and come before His throne. He desperately wants direct access to God to plead his case.
Overview
Job's deepest desire is not relief from pain but encounter with God Himself. He wishes he could journey to God's 'seat,' His judgment throne, and present his cause. This yearning expresses a profound faith and anticipates the gospel reality that through Christ, the believer may now draw near to God's throne of grace with confidence (Heb 4:16).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Job 16:21that he would maintain the right of a man with God, of a son of man with his neighbor!
- Job 31:35–37oh that I had one to hear me! Behold, here is my signature! Let the Almighty answer me! Let the accuser write my indictment!
- Job 13:3“Surely I would speak to the Almighty. I desire to reason with God.
- Heb 4:6Seeing therefore it remains that some should enter therein, and they to whom the good news was before preached failed to enter in because of disobedience,
- Jer 14:7Though our iniquities testify against us, work for your name’s sake, Yahweh; for our rebellions are many. We have sinned against you.
- Job 40:1–5Moreover Yahweh answered Job,
- Isa 26:8Yes, in the way of your judgments, Yahweh, have we waited for you. Your name and your renown are the desire of our soul.
- 2 Cor 5:19–20namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not reckoning to them their trespasses, and having committed to us the word of reconciliation.
- Isa 55:6–7Seek Yahweh while he may be found. Call on him while he is near.
Resources, by level
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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 23:3 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.