Teach me, and I will be silent. Help me understand how I have erred.
Parallel translations
- WEB “Teach me, and I will hold my peace. Cause me to understand wherein I have erred.
- KJV Teach me, and I will hold my tongue: and cause me to understand wherein I have erred.
- NKJV “Teach me, and I will hold my tongue; Cause me to understand wherein I have erred.
- NASB ¶“Teach me, and I will be silent; And show me how I have done wrong.
- NLT Teach me, and I will keep quiet. Show me what I have done wrong.
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 invites them to teach him and show where he has erred, and he will be silent. He is open to correction if they can prove actual sin.
Overview
Job challenges his friends to instruct him and point out his specific fault, promising to fall silent if they can. This shows he is not closed to truth but resists vague accusation. His willingness to be taught models a humble, teachable spirit, the very posture the gospel commends, for the one who walks in the light welcomes correction and seeks the truth that is fully embodied in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Prov 9:9Instruct a wise man, and he will be wiser still; teach a righteous man, and he will increase his learning.
- Jas 3:2We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to control his whole body.
- Ps 39:1–2For the choirmaster. For Jeduthun. A Psalm of David. I said, “I will watch my ways so that I will not sin with my tongue; I will guard my mouth with a muzzle as long as the wicked are present.”
- Job 10:2I will say to God: Do not condemn me! Let me know why You prosecute me.
- Ps 19:12Who can discern his own errors? Cleanse me from my hidden faults.
- Job 33:1“But now, O Job, hear my speech, and listen to all my words.
- Job 5:27Indeed, we have investigated, and it is true! So hear it and know for yourself.”
- Job 34:32Teach me what I cannot see; if I have done wrong, I will not do it again.’
- Ps 32:8I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will give you counsel and watch over you.
- Prov 25:12Like an earring of gold or an ornament of fine gold is a wise man’s rebuke to a listening ear.
- Job 32:15–16Job’s friends are dismayed, with no more to say; words have escaped them.
- Job 32:11Indeed, I waited while you spoke; I listened to your reasoning; as you searched for words,
- Job 33:31–33Pay attention, Job, and listen to me; be silent, and I will speak.
- Jas 1:19My beloved brothers, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger,
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 6:24 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.