Once have I spoken; but I will not answer: yea, twice; but I will proceed no further.
Parallel translations
- WEB I have spoken once, and I will not answer; Yes, twice, but I will proceed no further.”
- BSB I have spoken once, but I have no answer—twice, but I have nothing to add.”
- NKJV Once I have spoken, but I will not answer; Yes, twice, but I will proceed no further.”
- NASB “I have spoken once, and I will not reply; Or twice, and I will add nothing more.”
- NLT I have said too much already. I have nothing more to say.”
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
Job admits he has spoken and will say no more, refusing to press his case further. He withdraws his complaint in silence before God.
Overview
Job declares that whatever he has said, he will not add to it; he ceases his contention. This restraint marks a real shift from his earlier insistence on arguing with God. Yet God will continue, leading Job from silence to fuller repentance. The passage models the humility of one who, encountering God's holiness, learns to cease justifying himself and to wait on the Lord.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Ps 62:11God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongeth unto God.
- Job 33:14For God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not.
- Job 9:3If he will contend with him, he cannot answer him one of a thousand.
- Job 9:15Whom, though I were righteous, yet would I not answer, but I would make supplication to my judge.
- Rom 3:19Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.
- 2 Kgs 6:10And the king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God told him and warned him of, and saved himself there, not once nor twice.
- Job 34:31–32Surely it is meet to be said unto God, I have borne chastisement, I will not offend any more:
- Jer 31:18–19I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus; Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art the LORD my God.
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 40:5 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.