‘Job speaks without knowledge; his words lack insight.’
Parallel translations
- WEB ‘Job speaks without knowledge. His words are without wisdom.’
- KJV Job hath spoken without knowledge, and his words were without wisdom.
- NKJV ‘Jobspeaks without knowledge, His words are without wisdom.’
- NASB ‘Job speaks without knowledge, And his words are without wisdom.
- NLT ‘Job speaks out of ignorance; his words lack insight.’
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
Elihu summarizes the wise verdict: Job speaks without knowledge and his words lack wisdom. He charges Job with ignorant complaint against God.
Overview
Here Elihu states the conclusion he expects the wise to reach: that Job has spoken without understanding. While Job did speak some things rashly, God will later affirm that Job spoke of Him what was right, unlike the friends (Job 42:7). The verse cautions against harsh judgments, even as it highlights how easily suffering tempts us to words we cannot defend before God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Job 35:16So Job opens his mouth in vain and multiplies words without knowledge.”
- Job 38:2“Who is this who obscures My counsel by words without knowledge?
- Job 13:2What you know, I also know; I am not inferior to you.
- Job 15:2“Does a wise man answer with empty counsel or fill his belly with the hot east wind?
- Job 42:3You asked, ‘Who is this who conceals My counsel without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know.
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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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 34:35 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.