Teach us what we shall say unto him; for we cannot order our speech by reason of darkness.
Parallel translations
- WEB Teach us what we shall tell him, for we can’t make our case by reason of darkness.
- BSB Teach us what we should say to Him; we cannot draw up our case when our faces are in 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, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
- 1 Cor 13:12For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
- Job 28:20–21Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of understanding?
- Job 13:6Hear now my reasoning, and hearken to the pleadings of my lips.
- Job 42:3Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? therefore have I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not.
- Ps 139:6Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.
- Job 12:3But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you: yea, who knoweth not such things as these?
- Job 13:3Surely I would speak to the Almighty, and I desire to reason with God.
- Job 26:14Lo, these are parts of his ways: but how little a portion is heard of him? but the thunder of his power who can understand?
- Prov 30:2–4Surely I am more brutish than any man, and have not the understanding of a man.
- Ps 73:16–17When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me;
- Ps 73:22So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before thee.
- Job 38:2Who is this that darkeneth 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.