Teach us what we should say to Him; we cannot draw up our case when our faces are in darkness.
Parallel translations
- WEB Teach us what we shall tell him, for we can’t make our case by reason of darkness.
- KJV Teach us what we shall say unto him; for we cannot order our speech by reason of darkness.
- NKJV “Teach us what we should say to Him, For we can prepare nothing because of the darkness.
- NASB “Teach us what we are to say to Him; We cannot present our case because of darkness.
- NLT “So teach the rest of us what to say to God. We are too ignorant to make our own arguments.
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 confesses that he and others cannot even compose what to say to God, so dim is human understanding. Honest ignorance is wiser than bold speech.
Overview
Speaking now with some humility, Elihu admits that human darkness makes it impossible to marshal a case before God. The 'darkness' is the obscurity of finite minds before infinite wisdom. The admission underlines that no one, including Job, can summon God to account as an equal.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- 1 Jn 3:2Beloved, we are now children of God, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when Christ appears, we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He is.
- 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 28:20–21From where then does wisdom come, and where does understanding dwell?
- Job 13:6Hear now my argument, and listen to the plea of my lips.
- Job 42:3You asked, ‘Who is this who conceals My counsel without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know.
- Ps 139:6Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.
- Job 12:3But I also have a mind; I am not inferior to you. Who does not know such things as these?
- Job 13:3Yet I desire to speak to the Almighty and argue my case before God.
- 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?”
- Prov 30:2–4Surely I am the most ignorant of men, and I lack the understanding of a man.
- Ps 73:16–17When I tried to understand all this, it was troublesome in my sight
- Ps 73:22I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before You.
- Job 38:2“Who is this who obscures My counsel by words without knowledge?
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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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 37:19 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.