Teach me that which I don’t see. If I have done iniquity, I will do it no more’?
Parallel translations
- KJV That which I see not teach thou me: if I have done iniquity, I will do no more.
- BSB Teach me what I cannot see; if I have done wrong, I will not do it again.’
- NKJV Teach me what I do not see; If I have done iniquity, I will do no more’?
- NASB Teach me what I do not see; If I have done wrong, I will not do it again’?
- NLT Or ‘I don’t know what evil I have done—tell me. If I have done wrong, I will stop at once’?
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 penitent also prays, 'Teach me what I cannot see; if I have sinned, I will stop.' Genuine repentance welcomes correction and instruction.
Overview
Continuing the model of true contrition, Elihu describes one who asks God to reveal hidden faults and pledges to forsake iniquity. This humility before God's teaching contrasts with self-justification. It echoes the psalmist's prayer to be searched and cleansed of hidden faults (Ps. 19:12; 139:23-24), a teachable heart that the Spirit works in those united to Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Ps 32:8I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you shall go. I will counsel you with my eye on you.
- Ps 19:12Who can discern his errors? Forgive me from hidden errors.
- Ps 139:23–24Search me, God, and know my heart. Try me, and know my thoughts.
- Ps 25:4–5Show me your ways, Yahweh. Teach me your paths.
- Ps 143:8–10Cause me to hear your loving kindness in the morning, for I trust in you. Cause me to know the way in which I should walk, for I lift up my soul to you.
- Prov 28:13He who conceals his sins doesn’t prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.
- Job 10:2I will tell God, ‘Do not condemn me. Show me why you contend with me.
- Job 35:11who teaches us more than the animals of the earth, and makes us wiser than the birds of the sky?’
- Luke 3:8–14Therefore produce fruits worthy of repentance, and don’t begin to say among yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father;’ for I tell you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones!
- Eph 4:22that you put away, as concerning your former way of life, the old man, that grows corrupt after the lusts of deceit;
- Eph 4:25–28Therefore putting away falsehood, speak truth each one with his neighbor. For we are members of one another.
- Job 33:27He sings before men, and says, ‘I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and it didn’t profit me.
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 34:32 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.