Why do you complain to Him that He answers nothing a man asks?
Parallel translations
- WEB Why do you strive against him, because he doesn’t give account of any of his matters?
- KJV Why dost thou strive against him? for he giveth not account of any of his matters.
- NKJV Why do you contend with Him? For He does not give an accounting of any of His words.
- NASB ¶“Why do you complain to Him That He does not give an account of all His doings?
- NLT So why are you bringing a charge against him? Why say he does not respond to people’s complaints?
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
Moses asks God to show him His ways so he may truly know God and keep finding favor. He longs above all to know God personally.
Overview
Moses' deepest desire is not success but intimate knowledge of God and His ways. He also intercedes by reminding God that this nation is His people. This prayer captures the heart of true faith, which seeks God Himself, the very knowledge that eternal life consists of (John 17:3).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Job 40:2“Will the faultfinder contend with the Almighty? Let him who argues with God give an answer.”
- Isa 45:9Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker—one clay pot among many. Does the clay ask the potter, ‘What are you making?’ Does your work say, ‘He has no hands’?
- Rom 11:34“Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been His counselor?”
- Dan 4:35All the peoples of the earth are counted as nothing, and He does as He pleases with the army of heaven and the peoples of the earth. There is no one who can restrain His hand or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’”
- Ps 62:11God has spoken once; I have heard this twice: that power belongs to God,
- Acts 1:7Jesus replied, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by His own authority.
- Ezek 22:14Will your courage endure or your hands be strong in the day I deal with you? I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will act.
- Job 15:25–26For he has stretched out his hand against God and has vaunted himself against the Almighty,
- Acts 9:4–5He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?”
- Isa 46:10I declare the end from the beginning, and ancient times from what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and all My good pleasure I will accomplish.’
- Jer 50:24I laid a snare for you, O Babylon, and you were caught before you knew it. You were found and captured because you challenged the LORD.
- Matt 20:15Do I not have the right to do as I please with what is mine? Or are you envious because I am generous?’
- Deut 29:29The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, so that we may follow all the words of this law.
- 1 Cor 10:22Are we trying to provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He?
- Acts 5:39But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop them. You may even find yourselves fighting against God.”
- Job 9:14How then can I answer Him or choose my arguments against Him?
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 33:13 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.