“To whom have you uttered words? And whose spirit was expressed through you?
Parallel translations
- WEB To whom have you uttered words? Whose spirit came out of you?
- KJV To whom hast thou uttered words? and whose spirit came from thee?
- BSB To whom have you uttered these words? And whose spirit spoke through you?
- NKJV To whom have you uttered words? And whose spirit came from you?
- NLT Where have you gotten all these wise sayings? Whose spirit speaks through you?
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 asks whose spirit inspired Bildad's words. It matters because Job questions the source and value of his friend's speech.
Overview
Job demands to know to whom Bildad has spoken and whose spirit prompted him. The implied answer is that Bildad spoke from no divine insight, only borrowed commonplaces. The verse challenges the assumption that the friends speak for God, preparing for Job's own grand declaration of God's true greatness.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- 1 Kgs 22:23–24Now therefore, behold, Yahweh has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets; and Yahweh has spoken evil concerning you.”
- Eccl 12:7and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
- Job 32:18For I am full of words. The spirit within me constrains me.
- Job 20:3I have heard the reproof which puts me to shame. The spirit of my understanding answers me.
- 1 Cor 12:3Therefore I make known to you that no man speaking by God’s Spirit says, “Jesus is accursed.” No one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” but by the Holy Spirit.
- 1 Jn 4:1–3Beloved, don’t believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
- Rev 16:13–14I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits, something like frogs;
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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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 26:4 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.