Limitless Word
The Almighty is beyond our reach; He is exalted in power! In His justice and great righteousness He does not oppress.
Job 37:23 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB We can’t reach the Almighty. He is exalted in power. In justice and great righteousness, he will not oppress.
  • KJV Touching the Almighty, we cannot find him out: he is excellent in power, and in judgment, and in plenty of justice: he will not afflict.
  • NKJV As for the Almighty, we cannot find Him; He is excellent in power, In judgment and abundant justice; He does not oppress.
  • NASB “The Almighty—we cannot find Him; He is exalted in power And He will not violate justice and abundant righteousness.
  • NLT We cannot imagine the power of the Almighty; but even though he is just and righteous, he does not destroy us.

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

The Almighty is beyond our reach, supreme in power, yet he never abuses his justice and righteousness. God's might is matched by his goodness.

Overview

Elihu affirms both God's transcendence and his moral perfection: exalted in power yet never oppressive in justice. This directly answers Job's fear that God might be a capricious tyrant. It points forward to the gospel assurance that the all-powerful God is also perfectly just and good (Romans 3:26).

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 30

  • 1 Tim 6:16He alone is immortal and dwells in unapproachable light. No one has ever seen Him, nor can anyone see Him. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen.
  • Rom 11:33O, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and untraceable His ways!
  • Job 36:5Indeed, God is mighty, but He despises no one; He is mighty in strength of understanding.
  • Lam 3:32–33Even if He causes grief, He will show compassion according to His abundant loving devotion.
  • Ps 99:4The mighty King loves justice. You have established equity; You have exercised justice and righteousness in Jacob.
  • Job 9:4God is wise in heart and mighty in strength. Who has resisted Him and prospered?
  • Ezek 18:23Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Lord GOD. Wouldn’t I prefer that he turn from his ways and live?
  • Ezek 18:32For I take no pleasure in anyone’s death, declares the Lord GOD. So repent and live!
  • Ps 30:5For His anger is fleeting, but His favor lasts a lifetime. Weeping may stay the night, but joy comes in the morning.
  • Isa 63:9In all their distress, He too was afflicted, and the Angel of His Presence saved them. In His love and compassion He redeemed them; He lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.
  • Job 11:7Can you fathom the deep things of God or discover the limits of the Almighty?
  • Prov 30:3–4I have not learned wisdom, and I have no knowledge of the Holy One.
  • Isa 45:21Speak up and present your case—yes, let them take counsel together. Who foretold this long ago? Who announced it from ancient times? Was it not I, the LORD? There is no other God but Me, a righteous God and Savior; there is none but Me.
  • Ps 36:5–7Your loving devotion, O LORD, reaches to the heavens, Your faithfulness to the clouds.
  • Heb 12:10Our fathers disciplined us for a short time as they thought best, but God disciplines us for our good, so that we may share in His holiness.
  • Job 8:3Does God pervert justice? Does the Almighty pervert what is right?
  • Ps 66:3Say to God, “How awesome are Your deeds! So great is Your power that Your enemies cower before You.
  • 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?”
  • Eccl 3:11He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men, yet they cannot fathom the work that God has done from beginning to end.
  • Job 37:19Teach us what we should say to Him; we cannot draw up our case when our faces are in darkness.
  • Matt 6:13And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’
  • Luke 10:22All things have been entrusted to Me by My Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.”
  • Ps 62:11God has spoken once; I have heard this twice: that power belongs to God,
  • Job 9:19If it is a matter of strength, He is indeed mighty! If it is a matter of justice, who can summon Him?
  • Job 36:26Indeed, God is great—beyond our knowledge; the number of His years is unsearchable.
  • Ps 93:1The LORD reigns! He is robed in majesty; the LORD has clothed and armed Himself with strength. The world indeed is firmly established; it cannot be moved.
  • Ps 146:6–7the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them. He remains faithful forever.
  • Ps 65:6You formed the mountains by Your power, having girded Yourself with might.
  • Job 16:7–17Surely He has now exhausted me; You have devastated all my family.
  • Job 12:13Wisdom and strength belong to God; counsel and understanding are His.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Job videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Job 37:23YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on JobMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 37:23 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.