Job 11:8 kjv
It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst thou know?
Job 11:8 nkjv
They are higher than heaven? what can you do? Deeper than Sheol? what can you know?
Job 11:8 niv
They are higher than the heavens above?what can you do? They are deeper than the depths below?what can you know?
Job 11:8 esv
It is higher than heaven ? what can you do? Deeper than Sheol ? what can you know?
Job 11:8 nlt
Such knowledge is higher than the heavens ?
and who are you?
It is deeper than the underworld ?
what do you know?
Job 11 8 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Isa 55:8-9 | "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways... As the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts." | God's thoughts and ways are vastly superior to human. |
| Rom 11:33 | "Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!" | God's wisdom and judgments are unsearchable. |
| Ps 145:3 | "Great is the Lord, and highly to be praised, And His greatness is unsearchable." | God's greatness is immeasurable. |
| Job 37:23 | "The Almighty—we cannot find Him; He is exalted in power, And He will not pervert justice and abundant righteousness." | God's full being and power are beyond human discovery. |
| Deut 29:29 | "The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us..." | There are truths known only to God. |
| Job 38:4 | "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?" | God's challenge to human understanding of creation. |
| Job 9:11 | "Were He to pass by me, I would not see Him; Were He to move past me, I would not perceive Him." | God is beyond full human perception. |
| Ps 139:6 | "Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is too high, I cannot attain to it." | God's knowledge surpasses human comprehension. |
| Ps 139:7-8 | "Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there." | God's omnipresence transcends all human boundaries. |
| Jer 23:24 | "Can a man hide himself in hiding places So I will not see him?” declares the Lord. “Do I not fill heaven and earth?”" | God fills all space; nothing is hidden from Him. |
| Ps 36:5 | "Your lovingkindness, O Lord, extends to the heavens, Your faithfulness reaches to the skies." | God's attributes are immense and far-reaching. |
| Ps 77:19 | "Your way was in the sea and Your paths in the mighty waters, And Your footprints were not known." | God's mysterious actions are beyond human tracking. |
| Eccl 8:17 | "...a man cannot discover the work which has been done under the sun... even if the wise man claims to know, he cannot discover it." | Humans cannot fully comprehend God's work. |
| 1 Cor 1:25 | "Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men." | God's apparent "foolishness" exceeds human wisdom. |
| Col 2:3 | "in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." | Christ embodies all divine wisdom and knowledge. |
| Job 26:6 | "Sheol is naked before Him, And Abaddon has no covering." | Even the deepest parts are exposed to God. |
| Amos 9:2 | "Though they dig into Sheol, From there My hand will take them; And though they ascend to heaven, From there I will bring them down." | God's reach extends to the utmost extremes. |
| Eph 3:18-19 | "may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge..." | God's love (in Christ) also has unsearchable dimensions. |
| Prov 25:3 | "As the heavens for height and the earth for depth, So the heart of kings is unsearchable." | Emphasizes hiddenness, applied to God's ways in a larger context. |
| Job 5:9 | "Who does great and unsearchable things, wonders without number." | God's acts are immense and countless. |
| 1 Tim 6:16 | "...who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see." | God's nature is fundamentally beyond full human access. |
Job 11 verses
Job 11 8 Meaning
Job 11:8 emphasizes the incomprehensible nature of God's wisdom and power, depicting it as extending infinitely beyond human capacity to reach, measure, or understand. Zophar uses the cosmic extremes of "heaven" (the highest) and "Sheol" (the deepest underworld) to illustrate that divine truth and action transcend all human knowing and doing. This verse reflects the belief that God's ways are entirely unsearchable by mere mortals.
Job 11 8 Context
Job 11:8 is part of Zophar the Naamathite's first speech to Job, immediately following Bildad's and preceding Job's next response. Zophar, like Eliphaz and Bildad, presumes Job's suffering is a direct consequence of sin. He adopts a dogmatic and unyielding tone, believing he possesses perfect knowledge of divine justice. In this particular verse, Zophar uses rhetorical questions to underscore the infinite majesty and inscrutability of God's wisdom, implying that Job is utterly presumptuous for questioning God's actions or for not acknowledging his presumed sin. The historical context reflects a common ancient Near Eastern belief in divine retribution, where prosperity signified favor and suffering indicated divine wrath for specific transgressions. Zophar’s statements, while holding some theological truth about God's transcendence, are misapplied as a definitive explanation for Job’s specific and inexplicable suffering, serving as a polemic against any human attempt to directly discern or challenge God’s inscrutable judgments in specific situations.
Job 11 8 Word analysis
- It is as high: Refers to God's wisdom or understanding previously mentioned in verse 7. This "height" is not merely physical distance but speaks of superiority, loftiness, and unreachability. It symbolizes God's nature as transcendent and exalted above all creation and human capacity.
- high (gā-ḇō-ah גָּבֹהַּ): A Hebrew adjective meaning "high," "lofty," "exalted." It suggests immense height, something unattainable, unscalable, or supreme in position or character.
- as heaven: (kash-šā-ma-yim כַּשָּׁמַיִם): "As the heavens." The heavens here symbolize the highest observable limit, the cosmic sphere representing ultimate distance and inaccessible height to humanity. They also often represent God's dwelling place and supreme authority in biblical thought.
- what can you do?: (mah tip̄-‘al) Rhetorical question indicating human futility. The Hebrew pa‘al (פָּעַל) means to "do," "work," or "make." Here, it signifies "what can you accomplish" or "what effect can you have" in the face of such immeasurable height or power. It asserts human helplessness.
- It is deeper: Again refers to God's wisdom. This "depth" signifies profundity, mystery, and being unfathomable, lying far below any human capacity to comprehend or reach its limits.
- deeper (‘ā-mōq עָמֹק): A Hebrew adjective meaning "deep," "profound," "unfathomable." It conveys an extreme depth, a place of mystery and inaccessibility from below.
- than Sheol: (mim-mī-ššə-’ōl) "From Sheol" or "than Sheol." Sheol (שְׁאוֹל) is the Hebrew term for the grave, the underworld, the realm of the dead, universally considered the lowest, darkest, and most hidden place imaginable. It represents the ultimate boundary of human earthly existence.
- what can you know?: (mah tē-ḏā‘) Rhetorical question signifying human ignorance. The Hebrew yada‘ (יָדַע) means "to know," "perceive," "understand." Here, it highlights human cognitive limits in the face of divine inscrutability. It emphasizes human inability to grasp God’s ways fully.
Words-group by words-group analysis:
- "It is as high as heaven; what can you do?": This phrase establishes the immense vertical transcendence of God's wisdom and actions. Heaven is the pinnacle, unattainable by human effort or ability. It speaks to the ineffectiveness of human endeavor when confronting the divine.
- "It is deeper than Sheol; what can you know?": This complements the first part, adding a dimension of immeasurable depth and mystery. Sheol, the deepest abyss, emphasizes the incomprehensibility of God's wisdom to human intellect. It highlights the futility of human searching for complete understanding.
- The contrast "high as heaven" and "deeper than Sheol": These two ultimate, inaccessible cosmic realms ("as high as heaven" and "deeper than Sheol") function as hyperbole to powerfully illustrate the immeasurable, all-encompassing nature of God's wisdom, which extends beyond any human boundary or measure, vertically and horizontally. This polar expression leaves no space for human capacity to reach or comprehend.
- Rhetorical questions "what can you do?" and "what can you know?": These questions serve not to solicit an answer, but to powerfully declare human limitation and futility in both action and understanding when faced with God's transcendence. They highlight humanity's creaturely position relative to the Creator.
Job 11 8 Bonus section
- The phrasing in Job 11:8 sets up a literary pattern of merism, using two contrasting extremes (heaven and Sheol) to represent the entirety of something. In this case, it encompasses the totality of God's knowledge, wisdom, and ways, emphasizing its boundlessness.
- The verse, in its broader biblical context, warns against theological reductionism, the tendency to confine God's attributes or actions within human reason or experience. God remains greater than our capacity to define or categorize fully.
- Despite Zophar's intent, the verse points to a central tension in the Book of Job: the conflict between traditional retribution theology (that suffering directly correlates to sin) and the reality of divine mystery. Job seeks understanding beyond formulaic answers, ultimately encountering God's inexplicable sovereignty in the whirlwinds of Job chapters 38-41.
- The rhetorical questions implicitly invite surrender, suggesting that the proper human response to God's inscrutable greatness is humility and submission, rather than striving to understand or manipulate divine will.
Job 11 8 Commentary
Job 11:8 is a profound declaration by Zophar, affirming God's utterly transcendent and unfathomable nature. He correctly articulates that God's wisdom is beyond human measurement, stretching higher than the heavens and deeper than Sheol, meaning it encompasses all existence and truth, both known and unknown to humanity. The rhetorical questions, "what can you do?" and "what can you know?", effectively humble human presumption, asserting our complete inability to influence divine will or fully grasp God's infinite understanding. While Zophar's description of God's transcendence is accurate and a core biblical truth, his application to Job's situation is flawed. He uses this theological truth not to comfort or guide Job, but to harshly condemn him, implying that Job's inability to comprehend his suffering simply means he is justly condemned by an inscrutable God he cannot question. This verse serves as a potent reminder of divine majesty and human humility, though it also exemplifies how even correct theology can be misapplied or weaponized when combined with human judgment and lack of empathy.