If it is a matter of strength, He is indeed mighty! If it is a matter of justice, who can summon Him?
Parallel translations
- WEB If it is a matter of strength, behold, he is mighty! If of justice, ‘Who,’ says he, ‘will summon me?’
- KJV If I speak of strength, lo, he is strong: and if of judgment, who shall set me a time to plead?
- NKJV If it is a matter of strength, indeed He is strong; And if of justice, who will appoint my day in court?
- NASB “If it is a matter of power, behold, He is the strong one! And if it is a matter of justice, who can summon Him?
- NLT If it’s a question of strength, he’s the strong one. If it’s a matter of justice, who dares to summon him to court?
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 observes that if it comes to strength, God is mighty, and if to justice, who can even summon God to court? He sees no way to get a fair hearing.
Overview
Job feels trapped: in power God is overwhelming, and in justice no one can subpoena God to answer. He longs for a fair trial yet sees no means to obtain one. This dilemma sharpens the book's question of how a person can find vindication before God, ultimately answered through the Mediator God provides.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Job 9:32–33For He is not a man like me, that I can answer Him, that we can take each other to court.
- Job 9:4God is wise in heart and mighty in strength. Who has resisted Him and prospered?
- 1 Cor 1:25For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.
- Matt 6:13And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’
- Ps 62:11God has spoken once; I have heard this twice: that power belongs to God,
- Job 40:9–10Do you have an arm like God’s? Can you thunder with a voice like His?
- Job 31:35(Oh, that I had one to hear me! Here is my signature. Let the Almighty answer me; let my accuser compose an indictment.
- Job 36:17–19But now you are laden with the judgment due the wicked; judgment and justice have seized you.
- Job 33:5–7Refute me if you can; prepare your case and confront me.
- 1 Cor 10:22Are we trying to provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He?
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 9:19 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.