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God thundereth marvellously with his voice; great things doeth he, which we cannot comprehend.
Job 37:5 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB God thunders marvelously with his voice. He does great things, which we can’t comprehend.
  • BSB God thunders wondrously with His voice; He does great things we cannot comprehend.
  • NKJV God thunders marvelously with His voice; He does great things which we cannot comprehend.
  • NASB “God thunders wondrously with His voice, Doing great things which we do not comprehend.
  • NLT God’s voice is glorious in the thunder. We can’t even imagine the greatness of his power.

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

God thunders marvelously and does great things beyond our comprehension. His works exceed all human understanding.

Overview

Elihu sums up his meditation: God's voice in the storm is marvelous, and His great deeds surpass what we can grasp. This confession of God's incomprehensible greatness is the proper response to His works (Job 5:9; Ps. 145:3). It humbles human pretensions to understand all of God's ways and invites trust in the One whose wisdom is unsearchable, revealed in Christ.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 11

  • Job 5:9Which doeth great things and unsearchable; marvellous things without number:
  • Rom 11:33O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
  • Job 9:10Which doeth great things past finding out; yea, and wonders without number.
  • Eccl 3:11He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.
  • Isa 40:28Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.
  • Rev 15:3And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.
  • 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?
  • Job 36:26Behold, God is great, and we know him not, neither can the number of his years be searched out.
  • Job 11:7Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection?
  • Isa 40:21–22Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth?
  • 2 Sam 22:14–15The LORD thundered from heaven, and the most High uttered his voice.

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 37:5YouTube · 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 37:5 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.