For the ear trieth words, as the mouth tasteth meat.
Parallel translations
- WEB For the ear tries words, as the palate tastes food.
- BSB For the ear tests words as the mouth tastes food.
- NKJV For the ear tests words As the palate tastes food.
- NASB “For the ear tests words As the palate tastes food.
- NLT Job said, ‘The ear tests the words it hears just as the mouth distinguishes between foods.’
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
No one else may approach the mountain, not even the flocks. God's holiness sets strict boundaries around His presence.
Overview
As at the first giving of the law, the mountain is set apart and access restricted. This guards the holiness of God's meeting with Moses. The restriction emphasizes that drawing near to a holy God is no casual matter and requires God's appointed mediator, a need fully met in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Job 12:11Doth not the ear try words? and the mouth taste his meat?
- 1 Cor 2:15But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.
- Heb 5:14But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
- Job 33:2Behold, now I have opened my mouth, my tongue hath spoken in my mouth.
- Job 31:30Neither have I suffered my mouth to sin by wishing a curse to his soul.
- Job 6:30Is there iniquity in my tongue? cannot my taste discern perverse things?
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 34:3 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.