“Who is this who obscures My counsel by words without knowledge?
Parallel translations
- WEB “Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
- KJV Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?
- NKJV “Whois this who darkens counsel By words without knowledge?
- NASB “Who is this who darkens the divine plan By words without knowledge?
- NLT “Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorant words?
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's first words ask who has obscured his wise counsel with ignorant words. It gently exposes the limits of all the speeches that came before.
Overview
The LORD challenges the way human speech, Job's included, has darkened understanding of God's purposes. This is a rebuke not of honest lament but of speaking confidently beyond one's knowledge. It sets the tone for a series of questions designed to humble Job before God's incomprehensible wisdom.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Job 42:3You asked, ‘Who is this who conceals My counsel without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know.
- 1 Tim 1:7They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not understand what they are saying or that which they so confidently assert.
- Job 35:16So Job opens his mouth in vain and multiplies words without knowledge.”
- Job 34:35‘Job speaks without knowledge; his words lack insight.’
- Job 12:3But I also have a mind; I am not inferior to you. Who does not know such things as these?
- Job 27:11I will instruct you in the power of God. I will not conceal the ways of the Almighty.
- Job 24:25If this is not so, then who can prove me a liar and reduce my words to nothing?”
- Job 23:4–5I would plead my case before Him and fill my mouth with arguments.
- Job 26:3How you have counseled the unwise and provided fully sound insight!
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 38:2 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.