Bible Verse Lookup
Job 9,8
Chapter 9
Job’s Response to Bildad
Then Job answered:
Very well, I know that it is so. But how can a mortal be justified before God?
If someone tried to engage with him, he wouldn’t respond more than once in a thousand attempts.
His power is immense, his wisdom deep. Who has challenged him and survived?
He moves mountains before they are aware; he overturns them in his rage.
He makes the earth tremble and its pillars quake.
He commands the sun, yet it refuses to shine; he seals off the light of the stars.
He alone stretches out the skies and treads on the waves of the seas.
He made the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and every constellation.
His wonders are beyond all reckoning, his miracles too numerous to count.
He passes by, but I do not see him; he moves on, but I do not notice him.
If he snatches away, who can stop him? Who can say to him, “What are you doing?”
God does not retreat when angered; before him, Rahab’s armies fled in fear.
How can I then answer him and find words to argue with him?
If he does not answer when I am right,
Even if I appealed and he responded, I don’t believe he would truly hear me.
He who crushes me for a minor reason and amplifies my pain without cause.
He doesn’t give me a moment to breathe but overwhelms me with grief nonstop.
If it’s a contest of strength, he is powerful. If it’s a matter of justice, who will summon him?
If I were innocent, my own mouth would condemn me; If blameless, it would pronounce me guilty.
But am I innocent, after all? I do not know, and so I consider my life despicable.
It is all the same! And I dare say: both blameless and wicked—he destroys.
When disaster brings sudden death, he mocks the despair of the innocent.
When a nation falls into a tyrant’s hands, it is he who makes the judges blind. But if it is not he—who else then?
Faster than a runner, my days pass; without a hint of joy, they slip away.
They glide smoothly like reed canoes or like eagles diving after their prey.
If I resolve to forget my affliction, to smile and change my expression,
my trials make me fear because I know I shall be held accountable.
Anyway, if I am going to be condemned, why should I waste effort in vain?
If I washed my body with snow and cleansed my hands with soap,
you would plunge me into the dung pit, and my very clothes would abhor me.
He is not a man like me that I might say: “let us go to court together.”
If only there were an arbiter between us, who could lay his hand upon both of us.
He would take away the rod of God from me and his terrors that intimidate me.
But that is not so. Then I will speak to myself alone without fear.
Commentaries
First Speech Session.
Appalled by Job’s laments and his repeated “whys,” the three friends break their wise silence and feel urged to reply. The speeches are divided into three sessions: 4:1-14:22, 15:1-21:34, and 22:1-27:23. In the first two, each friend speaks, and Job responds extensively. The third session seems somewhat disorganized, likely due to confusion in the text.
Job’s Response to Bildad.
Although these chapters contain numerous textual and translation issues, it is clear that they are filled with images drawn from the concept of legal justice. Job sometimes appears as a plaintiff trying to bring God to court (9:3), but, unfortunately, with the defendant and the judge being the same person, what chance does he have of obtaining justice? At other times, Job himself is the defendant who must answer because his life depends on it (9:14). Our hero’s sense of powerlessness becomes increasingly clear, especially in light of God’s overwhelming creative power. Despite everything, Job’s language grows progressively bolder and honest. He is unsure of what to do or say because his words seem useless. He cannot win the contest. And even if he could clear his name, God would tarnish it again (9:25-31). Forgotten by his friends, Job seeks a third person, an impartial mediator (cf. 16:19; 19:25), who could establish justice between God and him, but he knows this is impossible. In despair, he begins to hate life again (9:33-35b). He laments and appeals to God’s memory, reminding Him of the good days when the Creator made him (10:9-12). Why is God now persecuting him and cornering him like a wild animal? (10:16). As in 3:11 and 7:15, he again calls on death, from which there is no return (10:18-22).