Behold, he taketh away, who can hinder him? who will say unto him, What doest thou?
Parallel translations
- WEB Behold, he snatches away. Who can hinder him? Who will ask him, ‘What are you doing?’
- BSB If He takes away, who can stop Him? Who dares to ask Him, ‘What are You doing?’
- NKJV If He takes away, who can hinder Him? Who can say to Him, ‘What are You doing?’
- NASB “If He were to snatch away, who could restrain Him? Who could say to Him, ‘What are You doing?’
- NLT If he snatches someone in death, who can stop him? Who dares to ask, ‘What are you doing?’
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 says that when God snatches away, none can stop him or question what he does. God's sovereign actions are beyond human challenge.
Overview
Job acknowledges that God acts with absolute freedom; no one can restrain him or demand an account. The rhetorical questions stress human powerlessness before divine sovereignty. While Job feels the weight of this as oppressive, the book ultimately shows that God's freedom is wedded to wisdom and goodness, not arbitrary cruelty.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Isa 45:9Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands?
- Job 11:10If he cut off, and shut up, or gather together, then who can hinder him?
- Job 23:13But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth.
- Rom 11:34For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?
- Job 34:29When he giveth quietness, who then can make trouble? and when he hideth his face, who then can behold him? whether it be done against a nation, or against a man only:
- Dan 4:35And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?
- Matt 20:15Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?
- Job 33:13Why dost thou strive against him? for he giveth not account of any of his matters.
- Jer 18:6O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.
- Eph 1:11In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
- Matt 11:26Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight.
- Rom 9:18–20Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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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 9:12 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.