For he will not lay upon man more than right; that he should enter into judgment with God.
Parallel translations
- WEB For he doesn’t need to consider a man further, that he should go before God in judgment.
- BSB For God need not examine a man further or have him approach for judgment.
- NKJV For He need not further consider a man, That he should go before God in judgment.
- NASB “For He does not need to consider a person further, That he should go before God in judgment.
- NLT We don’t set the time when we will come before God in judgment.
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
God needs no lengthy investigation before bringing a person to judgment. It affirms that God's perfect knowledge makes His judgments immediate and sure.
Overview
Elihu states that, because God already sees all, He need not examine a person further before judgment, as a human court would. The verse underscores the directness and sufficiency of divine justice. The text is somewhat difficult, but its thrust is clear: God's omniscience makes His judgment fair and unanswerable, a judgment from which Christ alone provides refuge.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Ezra 9:13And after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds, and for our great trespass, seeing that thou our God hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and hast given us such deliverance as this;
- Ps 119:137Righteous art thou, O LORD, and upright are thy judgments.
- Rom 9:20Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?
- Dan 9:7–9O LORD, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against thee.
- Jer 2:5Thus saith the LORD, What iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain?
- Job 16:21O that one might plead for a man with God, as a man pleadeth for his neighbour!
- Job 23:7There the righteous might dispute with him; so should I be delivered for ever from my judge.
- Job 11:11For he knoweth vain men: he seeth wickedness also; will he not then consider it?
- Job 9:32–33For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him, and we should come together in judgment.
- Isa 42:3A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth.
- Job 11:6And that he would shew thee the secrets of wisdom, that they are double to that which is! Know therefore that God exacteth of thee less than thine iniquity deserveth.
- Job 34:10–12Therefore hearken unto me ye men of understanding: far be it from God, that he should do wickedness; and from the Almighty, that he should commit iniquity.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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 34:23 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.