Limitless Word
who does great things that can’t be fathomed, marvelous things without number;
Job 5:9 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • KJV Which doeth great things and unsearchable; marvellous things without number:
  • BSB the One who does great and unsearchable things, wonders without number.
  • NKJV Who does great things, and unsearchable, Marvelous things without number.
  • NASB Who does great and unsearchable things, Wonders without number.
  • NLT He does great things too marvelous to understand. He performs countless miracles.

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 does great and unsearchable things and marvelous deeds beyond number. Eliphaz exalts God's limitless power and wisdom as the basis for trusting him.

Overview

Eliphaz launches into a hymn of praise to the God who works wonders past finding out. The theology is sound and beautiful, celebrating divine greatness and inscrutable wisdom. These very words later prove more profound than Eliphaz grasps, for God's unsearchable ways include the mystery of redeeming the world through the suffering of his Son, a marvel beyond all numbering.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 11

  • Ps 40:5Many, Yahweh, my God, are the wonderful works which you have done, and your thoughts which are toward us. They can’t be declared back to you. If I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be counted.
  • Job 9:10He does great things past finding out; yes, marvelous things without number.
  • Ps 72:18Praise be to Yahweh God, the God of Israel, who alone does marvelous deeds.
  • Ps 86:10For you are great, and do wondrous things. You are God alone.
  • Job 11:7–9“Can you fathom the mystery of God? Or can you probe the limits of the Almighty?
  • Job 37:5God thunders marvelously with his voice. He does great things, which we can’t comprehend.
  • Job 26:5–14“The departed spirits tremble, those beneath the waters and all that live in them.
  • Rom 11:33Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past tracing out!
  • Isa 40:28Haven’t you known? Haven’t you heard? The everlasting God, Yahweh, The Creator of the ends of the earth, doesn’t faint. He isn’t weary. His understanding is unsearchable.
  • Ps 139:18If I would count them, they are more in number than the sand. When I wake up, I am still with you.
  • 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.

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 5:9YouTube · 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 5:9 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.