Were He to pass by me, I would not see Him; were He to move, I would not recognize Him.
Parallel translations
- WEB Behold, he goes by me, and I don’t see him. He passes on also, but I don’t perceive him.
- KJV Lo, he goeth by me, and I see him not: he passeth on also, but I perceive him not.
- NKJV If He goes by me, I do not see Him; If He moves past, I do not perceive Him;
- NASB “If He were to pass by me, I would not see Him; Were He to move past me, I would not perceive Him.
- NLT “Yet when he comes near, I cannot see him. When he moves by, I do not see him go.
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 laments that God passes right by him unseen and unperceived. The transcendent God seems hidden even when near.
Overview
After praising God's power, Job voices the pain of God's elusiveness: he is present yet invisible, moving by without Job grasping him. This sense of the hidden God intensifies Job's distress, for he cannot find the One he wishes to address. The longing to see God is finally satisfied when God draws near in Christ (John 1:18).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- Job 23:8–9If I go east, He is not there, and if I go west, I cannot find Him.
- Job 35:14How much less, then, when you say that you do not see Him, that your case is before Him and you must wait for Him,
- Ps 77:19Your path led through the sea, Your way through the mighty waters, but Your footprints were not to be found.
- 1 Tim 6:16He alone is immortal and dwells in unapproachable light. No one has ever seen Him, nor can anyone see Him. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen.
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 9:11 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.