For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him, that we should come together in judgment.
Parallel translations
- KJV For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him, and we should come together in judgment.
- BSB For He is not a man like me, that I can answer Him, that we can take each other to court.
- NKJV “For He is not a man, as I am, That I may answer Him, And that we should go to court together.
- NASB “For He is not a man, as I am, that I may answer Him— That we may go to court together!
- NLT “God is not a mortal like me, so I cannot argue with him or take him to trial.
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 realizes God is not a mere man whom he could meet as an equal in court. It exposes the infinite gap between the creature and his Creator.
Overview
Job recognizes that God is not on his level, so summoning Him to mutual judgment is impossible. This honest confession of God's transcendence sets up his yearning for a mediator in the next verse. The gospel meets that need precisely, for the one Mediator, Christ Jesus, is both truly God and truly man (1 Timothy 2:5).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Rom 9:20But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed ask him who formed it, “Why did you make me like this?”
- Eccl 6:10Whatever has been, its name was given long ago; and it is known what man is; neither can he contend with him who is mightier than he.
- Ps 143:2Don’t enter into judgment with your servant, for in your sight no man living is righteous.
- Num 23:19God is not a man, that he should lie, nor the son of man, that he should repent. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not make it good?
- Isa 45:9Woe to him who strives with his Maker — a clay pot among the clay pots of the earth! Shall the clay ask him who fashions it, ‘What are you making?’ or your work, ‘He has no hands?’
- Job 23:3–7Oh that I knew where I might find him! That I might come even to his seat!
- Job 35:5–7Look to the heavens, and see. See the skies, which are higher than you.
- Job 33:12“Behold, I will answer you. In this you are not just, for God is greater than man.
- 1 Jn 3:20because if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.
- 1 Sam 16:7But Yahweh said to Samuel, “Don’t look on his face, or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for I don’t see as man sees. For man looks at the outward appearance, but Yahweh looks at the heart.”
- Jer 49:19“Behold, he will come up like a lion from the pride of the Jordan against the strong habitation: for I will suddenly make them run away from it; and whoever is chosen, I will appoint him over it. For who is like me? Who will appoint me a time? Who is the shepherd who will stand before me?”
- Job 13:18–23See now, I have set my cause in order. I know that I am righteous.
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 9:32 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.