“Who is this who darkens the divine plan 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?
- BSB “Who is this who obscures My counsel by words without knowledge?
- NKJV “Whois this who darkens counsel 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 hides counsel without knowledge?’ therefore I have uttered that which I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I didn’t know.
- 1 Tim 1:7desiring to be teachers of the law, though they understand neither what they say, nor about what they strongly affirm.
- Job 35:16Therefore Job opens his mouth with empty talk, and he multiplies words without knowledge.”
- Job 34:35‘Job speaks without knowledge. His words are without wisdom.’
- 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 27:11I will teach you about the hand of God. That which is with the Almighty will I not conceal.
- Job 24:25If it isn’t so now, who will prove me a liar, and make my speech worth nothing?”
- Job 23:4–5I would set my cause in order before him, and fill my mouth with arguments.
- Job 26:3How have you counseled him who has no wisdom, and plentifully declared sound knowledge!
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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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.