‘He puts no trust even in His servants; And He accuses His angels of error.
Parallel translations
- WEB Behold, he puts no trust in his servants. He charges his angels with error.
- KJV Behold, he put no trust in his servants; and his angels he charged with folly:
- BSB If God puts no trust in His servants, and He charges His angels with error,
- NKJV If He puts no trust in His servants, If He charges His angels with error,
- NLT “If God does not trust his own angels and has charged his messengers with foolishness,
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
Even God's heavenly servants and angels are charged with error in his sight. The point is that if pure spirits fall short, frail humans surely do.
Overview
The vision argues from greater to lesser: God finds fault even with his angelic servants, so how much more with people. This underscores the infinite gap between Creator and creature and the universality of imperfection before absolute holiness. Such teaching magnifies the wonder of grace, for the gospel reveals a God who not only judges but justifies the ungodly through Christ rather than leaving them condemned.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Job 25:5–6Behold, even the moon has no brightness, and the stars are not pure in his sight;
- 2 Pet 2:4For if God didn’t spare angels when they sinned, but cast them down to Tartarus, and committed them to pits of darkness, to be reserved for judgment;
- Jude 1:6Angels who didn’t keep their first domain, but deserted their own dwelling place, he has kept in everlasting bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day.
- Job 15:15–16Behold, he puts no trust in his holy ones. Yes, the heavens are not clean in his sight;
- Ps 104:4He makes his messengers winds; his servants flames of fire.
- Ps 103:20–21Praise Yahweh, you angels of his, who are mighty in strength, who fulfill his word, obeying the voice of his word.
- Isa 6:2–3Above him stood the seraphim. Each one had six wings. With two he covered his face. With two he covered his feet. With two he flew.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 4:18 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.