Lo, he goeth by me, and I see him not: he passeth on also, but I perceive him not.
Parallel translations
- WEB Behold, he goes by me, and I don’t see him. He passes on also, but I don’t perceive him.
- BSB Were He to pass by me, I would not see Him; were He to move, I would not recognize Him.
- 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 23:8–9Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him:
- Job 35:14Although thou sayest thou shalt not see him, yet judgment is before him; therefore trust thou in him.
- Ps 77:19Thy way is in the sea, and thy path in the great waters, and thy footsteps are not known.
- 1 Tim 6:16Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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 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.