that godless men should not rule or lay snares for the people.
Parallel translations
- WEB that the godless man may not reign, that there be no one to ensnare the people.
- KJV That the hypocrite reign not, lest the people be ensnared.
- NKJV That the hypocrite should not reign, Lest the people be ensnared.
- NASB “So that godless people would not rule, Nor be snares for the people.
- NLT He prevents the godless from ruling so they cannot be a snare to the people.
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's sovereign rule restrains godless rulers so they cannot ensnare and oppress the people. His justice protects communities from tyranny.
Overview
Elihu explains the purpose behind God's governance: to prevent the godless from reigning and trapping the people in their snares. This reflects the biblical conviction that God raises up and removes rulers (Dan. 2:21) for the good of His people. It points forward to the righteous reign of Christ, the King who delivers His people from every oppressor.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Prov 29:2–12When the righteous flourish, the people rejoice, but when the wicked rule, the people groan.
- 2 Kgs 21:9But the people did not listen and Manasseh led them astray, so that they did greater evil than the nations that the LORD had destroyed before the Israelites.
- Mic 6:16You have kept the statutes of Omri and all the practices of Ahab’s house; you have followed their counsel. Therefore I will make you a desolation, and your inhabitants an object of contempt; you will bear the scorn of the nations.”
- Rev 13:3–4One of the heads of the beast appeared to be mortally wounded. But the mortal wound was healed, and the whole world marveled and followed the beast.
- Rev 13:11–14Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. This beast had two horns like a lamb, but spoke like a dragon.
- Hos 13:11So in My anger I gave you a king, and in My wrath I took him away.
- Job 34:21For His eyes are on the ways of a man, and He sees his every step.
- 1 Kgs 12:28–30After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves and said to the people, “Going up to Jerusalem is too much for you. Here, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.”
- Ps 12:8The wicked wander freely, and vileness is exalted among men.
- 2 Th 2:4–11He will oppose and exalt himself above every so-called god or object of worship. So he will seat himself in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.
- Hos 5:11Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgment, for he is determined to follow worthless idols.
- Eccl 9:18Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.
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 34:30 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.