Job 40:2

NET Bible® (New English Translation)

“Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him? Let the person who accuses God give him an answer!”

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

הֲ֭רֹב עִם־שַׁדַּ֣י יִסּ֑וֹר מוֹכִ֖יחַ אֱל֣וֹהַּ יַעֲנֶֽנָּה׃ פ

Transliteration

hă-rōb ʿim-Šadday yissōr mōkîaḥ ʾĕlōahh yaʿănennâ

Grammar Details

• *hă-rōb*: interrogative particle + infinitive/noun - contend/contention
• *ʿim*: preposition - with
• *Šadday*: divine name - Almighty
• *yissōr*: qal imperfect, 3rd masculine singular - he contends/disputes
• *mōkîaḥ*: hiphil participle, masculine singular - one who reproves/argues
• *ʾĕlōahh*: noun, masculine singular - God
• *yaʿănennâ*: qal imperfect, 3rd masculine singular + 3rd feminine singular suffix - he will answer it

Word Meanings

• *rōb*: contention, dispute, argument
• *yissōr*: to contend, argue, dispute
• *mōkîaḥ*: reprover, disputer, arguer
• *ʾĕlōahh*: God, deity
• *yaʿănennâ*: to answer, respond, reply

Referenced Verses

• Job 33:13 : 13 Why do you contend against him, that he does not answer all a person’s words?
• Job 9:3 : 3 If someone wishes to contend with him, he cannot answer him one time in a thousand.
• Isa 45:9-9 : 9 The Lord Gives a Warning One who argues with his Creator is in grave danger, one who is like a mere shard among the other shards on the ground! The clay should not say to the potter,“What in the world are you doing? Your work lacks skill!” 10 Danger awaits one who says to his father,“What in the world are you fathering?” and to his mother,“What in the world are you bringing forth?” 11 This is what the LORD says, the Holy One of Israel, the one who formed him, concerning things to come:“How dare you question me about my children! How dare you tell me what to do with the work of my own hands!
• Isa 50:8 : 8 The one who vindicates me is close by. Who dares to argue with me? Let us confront each other! Who is my accuser? Let him challenge me!
• Ezek 18:2 : 2 “What do you mean by quoting this proverb concerning the land of Israel,“‘The fathers eat sour grapes And the children’s teeth become numb?’
• Matt 20:11 : 11 When they received it, they began to complain against the landowner,
• Rom 9:19-23 : 19 You will say to me then,“Why does he still find fault? For who has ever resisted his will?” 20 But who indeed are you– a mere human being– to talk back to God? Does what is molded say to the molder,“Why have you made me like this?” 21 Has the potter no right to make from the same lump of clay one vessel for special use and another for ordinary use? 22 But what if God, willing to demonstrate his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience the objects of wrath prepared for destruction? 23 And what if he is willing to make known the wealth of his glory on the objects of mercy that he has prepared beforehand for glory–
• Rom 11:34-36 : 34 For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor? 35 Or who has first given to God, that God needs to repay him? 36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever! Amen.
• 1 Cor 2:16 : 16 For who has known the mind of the Lord, so as to advise him? But we have the mind of Christ.
• 1 Cor 10:22 : 22 Or are we trying to provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we really stronger than he is?
• Job 9:17-18 : 17 he who crushes me with a tempest, and multiplies my wounds for no reason. 18 He does not allow me to recover my breath, for he fills me with bitterness.
• Job 9:32-35 : 32 For he is not a human being like I am, that I might answer him, that we might come together in judgment. 33 Nor is there an arbiter between us, who might lay his hand on us both, 34 who would take his rod away from me so that his terror would not make me afraid. 35 Then would I speak and not fear him, but it is not so with me.
• Job 10:3-7 : 3 Is it good for you to oppress, to despise the work of your hands, while you smile on the schemes of the wicked? 4 Motivations of God“Do you have eyes of flesh, or do you see as a human being sees? 5 Are your days like the days of a mortal, or your years like the years of a mortal, 6 that you must search out my iniquity, and inquire about my sin, 7 although you know that I am not guilty, and that there is no one who can deliver out of your hand?
• Job 10:14-17 : 14 If I sinned, then you would watch me and you would not acquit me of my iniquity. 15 If I am guilty, woe to me, and if I am innocent, I cannot lift my head; I am full of shame, and satiated with my affliction. 16 If I lift myself up, you hunt me as a fierce lion, and again you display your power against me. 17 You bring new witnesses against me, and increase your anger against me; relief troops come against me.
• Job 13:21-27 : 21 Remove your hand far from me and stop making me afraid with your terror. 22 Then call, and I will answer, or I will speak, and you respond to me. 23 How many are my iniquities and sins? Show me my transgression and my sin. 24 Why do you hide your face and regard me as your enemy? 25 Do you wish to torment a windblown leaf and chase after dry chaff? 26 For you write down bitter things against me and cause me to inherit the sins of my youth. 27 And you put my feet in the stocks and you watch all my movements; you put marks on the soles of my feet.
• Job 14:16-17 : 16 The Present Condition“Surely now you count my steps; then you would not mark my sin. 17 My offenses would be sealed up in a bag; you would cover over my sin.
• Job 16:11-21 : 11 God abandons me to evil men, and throws me into the hands of wicked men. 12 I was in peace, and he has shattered me. He has seized me by the neck and crushed me. He has made me his target; 13 his archers surround me. Without pity he pierces my kidneys and pours out my gall on the ground. 14 He breaks through against me, time and time again; he rushes against me like a warrior. 15 I have sewed sackcloth on my skin, and buried my horn in the dust; 16 my face is reddened because of weeping, and on my eyelids there is a deep darkness, 17 although there is no violence in my hands and my prayer is pure. 18 An Appeal to God as Witness“O earth, do not cover my blood, nor let there be a secret place for my cry. 19 Even now my witness is in heaven; my advocate is on high. 20 My intercessor is my friend as my eyes pour out tears to God; 21 and he contends with God on behalf of man as a man pleads for his friend.
• Job 19:6-9 : 6 know then that God has wronged me and encircled me with his net. 7 Job’s Abandonment and Affliction“If I cry out,‘Violence!’ I receive no answer; I cry for help, but there is no justice. 8 He has blocked my way so I cannot pass, and has set darkness over my paths. 9 He has stripped me of my honor and has taken the crown off my head. 10 He tears me down on every side until I perish; he uproots my hope like an uprooted tree. 11 Thus his anger burns against me, and he considers me among his enemies.
• Job 27:2 : 2 “As surely as God lives, who has denied me justice, the Almighty, who has made my life bitter–
• Job 30:21 : 21 You have become cruel to me; with the strength of your hand you attack me.
• Eccl 6:10 : 10 The Futile Way Life Works Whatever has happened was foreordained, and what happens to a person was also foreknown. It is useless for him to argue with God about his fate because God is more powerful than he is.
• Isa 40:14 : 14 From whom does he receive directions? Who teaches him the correct way to do things, or imparts knowledge to him, or instructs him in skillful design?
• Job 3:11-12 : 11 Job Wishes He Had Died at Birth“Why did I not die at birth, and why did I not expire as I came out of the womb? 12 Why did the knees welcome me, and why were there two breasts that I might nurse at them?
• Job 3:20 : 20 Longing for Death“Why does God give light to one who is in misery, and life to those whose soul is bitter,
• Job 3:23 : 23 Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden, and whom God has hedged in?
• Job 7:12 : 12 Am I the sea, or the creature of the deep, that you must put me under guard?
• Job 7:19-21 : 19 Will you never look away from me, will you not let me alone long enough to swallow my spittle? 20 If I have sinned– what have I done to you, O watcher of men? Why have you set me as your target? Have I become a burden to you? 21 And why do you not pardon my transgression, and take away my iniquity? For now I will lie down in the dust, and you will seek me diligently, but I will be gone.”