Job’s three friends refused to reply further to him because he kept insisting on his innocence.
Parallel translations
- WEB So these three men ceased to answer Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.
- KJV So these three men ceased to answer Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.
- BSB So these three men stopped answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.
- NKJV So these three men ceased answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.
- NASB Then these three men stopped answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.
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
The three friends stop answering Job because he was righteous in his own eyes. Their debate has reached an impasse.
Overview
With Job's defense concluded, his three friends fall silent, unable to convince him of guilt because he remained confident in his own righteousness. Their failure sets the stage for a new voice in the dialogue. The phrase righteous in his own eyes hints at the self-assurance Job will need to surrender, preparing the way for the deeper humility that comes only when one sees oneself in light of God's holiness, ultimately revealed in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Job 10:7Although you know that I am not wicked, there is no one who can deliver out of your hand.
- Job 33:9‘I am clean, without disobedience. I am innocent, neither is there iniquity in me.
- Job 13:15Behold, he will kill me. I have no hope. Nevertheless, I will maintain my ways before him.
- Job 27:4–6surely my lips shall not speak unrighteousness, neither shall my tongue utter deceit.
- Job 10:2I will tell God, ‘Do not condemn me. Show me why you contend with me.
- Job 23:7There the upright might reason with him, so I should be delivered forever from my judge.
- Job 31:1–40“I made a covenant with my eyes, how then should I look lustfully at a young woman?
- Job 29:11–17For when the ear heard me, then it blessed me; and when the eye saw me, it commended me:
- Job 6:29Please return. Let there be no injustice. Yes, return again. My cause is righteous.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 32:1 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.