“So teach the rest of us what to say to God. We are too ignorant to make our own arguments.
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.
- 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.
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 we are children of God, and it is not yet revealed what we will be. But we know that, when he is revealed, we will be like him; for we will see him just as he is.
- 1 Cor 13:12For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, even as I was also fully known.
- Job 28:20–21Where then does wisdom come from? Where is the place of understanding?
- Job 13:6Hear now my reasoning. Listen to the pleadings of my lips.
- Job 42:3You asked, ‘Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge?’ therefore I have uttered that which I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I didn’t know.
- Ps 139:6This knowledge is beyond me. It’s lofty. I can’t attain it.
- Job 12:3But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you. Yes, who doesn’t know such things as these?
- Job 13:3“Surely I would speak to the Almighty. I desire to reason with God.
- Job 26:14Behold, these are but the outskirts of his ways. How small a whisper do we hear of him! But the thunder of his power who can understand?”
- Prov 30:2–4“Surely I am the most ignorant man, and don’t have a man’s understanding.
- Ps 73:16–17When I tried to understand this, it was too painful for me;
- Ps 73:22I was so senseless and ignorant. I was a brute beast before you.
- Job 38:2“Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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.