“The Almighty—we cannot find Him; He is exalted in power And He will not violate justice and abundant righteousness.
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.
- BSB The Almighty is beyond our reach; He is exalted in power! In His justice and great righteousness He does not oppress.
- NKJV As for the Almighty, we cannot find Him; He is excellent in power, In judgment and abundant justice; He does not oppress.
- 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 6:16who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light; whom no man has seen, nor can see: to whom be honor and eternal power. Amen.
- Rom 11:33Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past tracing out!
- Job 36:5“Behold, God is mighty, and doesn’t despise anyone. He is mighty in strength of understanding.
- Lam 3:32–33For though he cause grief, yet he will have compassion according to the multitude of his loving kindnesses.
- Ps 99:4The King’s strength also loves justice. You do establish equity. You execute justice and righteousness in Jacob.
- Job 9:4God who is wise in heart, and mighty in strength: who has hardened himself against him, and prospered?
- Ezek 18:23Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked?” says the Lord Yahweh; “and not rather that he should return from his way, and live?
- Ezek 18:32For I have no pleasure in the death of him who dies,” says the Lord Yahweh. “Therefore turn yourselves, and live!
- Ps 30:5For his anger is but for a moment. His favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may stay for the night, but joy comes in the morning.
- Isa 63:9In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them. In his love and in his pity he redeemed them. He bore them, and carried them all the days of old.
- Job 11:7“Can you fathom the mystery of God? Or can you probe the limits of the Almighty?
- Prov 30:3–4I have not learned wisdom, neither do I have the knowledge of the Holy One.
- Isa 45:21Declare and present it. Yes, let them take counsel together. Who has shown this from ancient time? Who has declared it of old? Haven’t I, Yahweh? There is no other God besides me, a just God and a Savior; There is no one besides me.
- Ps 36:5–7Your loving kindness, Yahweh, is in the heavens. Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
- Heb 12:10For they indeed, for a few days, punished us as seemed good to them; but he for our profit, that we may be partakers of his holiness.
- Job 8:3Does God pervert justice? Or does the Almighty pervert righteousness?
- Ps 66:3Tell God, “How awesome are your deeds! Through the greatness of your power, your enemies submit themselves to you.
- 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?”
- Eccl 3:11He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in their hearts, yet so that man can’t find out the work that God has done from the beginning even to the end.
- Job 37:19Teach us what we shall tell him, for we can’t make our case by reason of darkness.
- Matt 6:13Bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the Kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amen.’
- Luke 10:22Turning to the disciples, he said, “All things have been delivered to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is, except the Father, and who the Father is, except the Son, and he to whomever the Son desires to reveal him.”
- Ps 62:11God has spoken once; twice I have heard this, that power belongs to God.
- Job 9:19If it is a matter of strength, behold, he is mighty! If of justice, ‘Who,’ says he, ‘will summon me?’
- Job 36:26Behold, God is great, and we don’t know him. The number of his years is unsearchable.
- Ps 93:1Yahweh reigns! He is clothed with majesty! Yahweh is armed with strength. The world also is established. It can’t be moved.
- Ps 146:6–7who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them; who keeps truth forever;
- Ps 65:6Who by his power forms the mountains, having armed yourself with strength;
- Job 16:7–17But now, God, you have surely worn me out. You have made desolate all my company.
- Job 12:13“With God is wisdom and might. He has counsel and understanding.
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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 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
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