Therefore Job opens his mouth with empty talk, and he multiplies words without knowledge.”
Parallel translations
- KJV Therefore doth Job open his mouth in vain; he multiplieth words without knowledge.
- BSB So Job opens his mouth in vain and multiplies words without knowledge.”
- NKJV Therefore Job opens his mouth in vain; He multiplies words without knowledge.”
- NASB So Job opens his mouth with empty words; He multiplies words without knowledge.”
- NLT But you are talking nonsense, Job. You have spoken like a fool.”
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 concludes that Job opens his mouth with empty talk and multiplies words without knowledge. He charges Job with speaking ignorantly.
Overview
Elihu ends this section judging that Job's complaints amount to empty words and a multitude of statements lacking true knowledge. While Job did speak some things rashly, this verdict is harsher than God's later assessment that Job spoke rightly of Him (Job 42:7). The verse reminds us how readily even sincere sufferers can speak beyond their understanding, needing the wisdom found only in God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Job 38:2“Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
- Job 34:35–37‘Job speaks without knowledge. His words are without wisdom.’
- Job 33:8–12“Surely you have spoken in my hearing, I have heard the voice of your words, saying,
- Job 33:2See now, I have opened my mouth. My tongue has spoken in my mouth.
- Job 3:1After this Job opened his mouth, and cursed the day of his birth.
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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 35:16 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
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