My desire is that Job may be tried unto the end because of his answers for wicked men.
Parallel translations
- WEB I wish that Job were tried to the end, because of his answering like wicked men.
- BSB If only Job were tried to the utmost for answering like a wicked man.
- NKJV Oh, that Job were tried to the utmost, Because his answers are like those of wicked men!
- NASB ‘Oh that Job were tested to the limit, Because he answers like sinners.
- NLT Job, you deserve the maximum penalty for the wicked way you have talked.
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 wishes Job to be tested to the limit because his answers resemble those of wicked men. He views Job's defenses as deeply misguided.
Overview
Elihu desires that Job be fully tried, believing Job's self-defending replies sound like the speech of the wicked. This is a severe judgment that overreaches, for Job's struggle was that of a faithful man in anguish, not a rebel. The verse shows how observers can misread the cries of the suffering, whereas Christ, the truly innocent sufferer, fully understands and intercedes for His own.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Ps 17:3Thou hast proved mine heart; thou hast visited me in the night; thou hast tried me, and shalt find nothing; I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.
- Job 21:7Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, yea, are mighty in power?
- Job 12:6The tabernacles of robbers prosper, and they that provoke God are secure; into whose hand God bringeth abundantly.
- Job 24:1Why, seeing times are not hidden from the Almighty, do they that know him not see his days?
- Job 22:15Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men have trodden?
- Ps 26:2Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; try my reins and my heart.
- Jas 5:11Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.
- Job 34:8–9Which goeth in company with the workers of iniquity, and walketh with wicked men.
- Job 23:16For God maketh my heart soft, and the Almighty troubleth me:
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 34:36 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.