Indeed, God is great—beyond our knowledge; the number of His years is unsearchable.
Parallel translations
- WEB Behold, God is great, and we don’t know him. The number of his years is unsearchable.
- KJV Behold, God is great, and we know him not, neither can the number of his years be searched out.
- NKJV “Behold, God is great, and we do not know Him; Nor can the number of His years be discovered.
- NASB “Behold, God is exalted, and we do not know Him; The number of His years is unsearchable.
- NLT “Look, God is greater than we can understand. His years cannot be counted.
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
God is great beyond our knowing, and the number of His years is unsearchable. His greatness and eternity surpass human comprehension.
Overview
Elihu confesses the limits of human knowledge before God's infinite greatness and eternal existence. We truly know God yet can never fully fathom Him, for He is from everlasting (Ps. 90:2). This humble acknowledgment of God's incomprehensibility guards against pride and points to our need for revelation, given fully in Christ who makes the unknowable God known (John 1:18).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Ps 90:2Before the mountains were born or You brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting You are God.
- Ps 145:3Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised; His greatness is unsearchable.
- Job 11:7–9Can you fathom the deep things of God or discover the limits of the Almighty?
- 1 Cor 13:12Now we see but a dim reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
- Job 37:23The Almighty is beyond our reach; He is exalted in power! In His justice and great righteousness He does not oppress.
- Job 37:5God thunders wondrously with His voice; He does great things we cannot comprehend.
- 1 Kgs 8:27But will God indeed dwell upon the earth? Even heaven, the highest heaven, cannot contain You, much less this temple I have built.
- Job 26:14Indeed, these are but the fringes of His ways; how faint is the whisper we hear of Him! Who then can understand the thunder of His power?”
- Ps 102:24–27I say: “O my God, do not take me in the midst of my days! Your years go on through all generations.
- Job 10:5Are Your days like those of a mortal, or Your years like those of a man,
- Heb 1:12You will roll them up like a robe; like a garment they will be changed; but You remain the same, and Your years will never end.”
- 2 Pet 3:8Beloved, do not let this one thing escape your notice: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.
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 36:26 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.