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For you have added rebellion to your sin; you show no respect, and you speak many angry words against God.”
Job 34:37 · New Living Translation
Parallel translations
  • WEB For he adds rebellion to his sin. He claps his hands among us, and multiplies his words against God.”
  • KJV For he addeth rebellion unto his sin, he clappeth his hands among us, and multiplieth his words against God.
  • BSB For he adds rebellion to his sin; he claps his hands among us and multiplies his words against God.”
  • NKJV For he adds rebellion to his sin; He claps his hands among us, And multiplies his words against God.”
  • NASB ‘For he adds rebellion to his sin; He claps his hands among us, And multiplies his words against God.’ ”

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 accuses Job of adding rebellion to sin, mocking among them, and heaping up words against God. He ends his speech with a sharp indictment.

Overview

Elihu closes this section charging that Job compounds his sin with rebellion, derision, and a flood of words against God. The accusation overstates Job's fault, yet it underscores the danger of multiplying complaints against the Almighty. The verse leaves the reader longing for the only Mediator who can answer for sinful words, Jesus Christ, who speaks in our defense (1 John 2:1).

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 9

  • Job 27:23Men shall clap their hands at him, and shall hiss him out of his place.
  • 1 Sam 15:23For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as idolatry and teraphim. Because you have rejected Yahweh’s word, he has also rejected you from being king.”
  • Isa 1:19–20If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land;
  • Job 42:7It was so, that after Yahweh had spoken these words to Job, Yahweh said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is kindled against you, and against your two friends; for you have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job has.
  • Job 35:16Therefore Job opens his mouth with empty talk, and he multiplies words without knowledge.”
  • Job 11:2–3“Shouldn’t the multitude of words be answered? Should a man full of talk be justified?
  • Job 35:2–3“Do you think this to be your right, or do you say, ‘My righteousness is more than God’s,’
  • Job 23:2“Even today my complaint is rebellious. His hand is heavy in spite of my groaning.
  • Job 8:2–3“How long will you speak these things? Shall the words of your mouth be a mighty wind?

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Job videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Job 34:37YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on JobMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 34:37 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.