Job 13:23 kjv
How many are mine iniquities and sins? make me to know my transgression and my sin.
Job 13:23 nkjv
How many are my iniquities and sins? Make me know my transgression and my sin.
Job 13:23 niv
How many wrongs and sins have I committed? Show me my offense and my sin.
Job 13:23 esv
How many are my iniquities and my sins? Make me know my transgression and my sin.
Job 13:23 nlt
Tell me, what have I done wrong?
Show me my rebellion and my sin.
Job 13 23 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Job 10:2 | "I will say to God, Do not condemn me; let me know why you contend against me." | Job's demand for explanation |
| Ps 139:23-24 | "Search me, O God, and know my heart!... See if there is any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!" | Plea for divine scrutiny |
| Jer 17:9-10 | "The heart is deceitful... who can understand it? I the LORD search the heart and test the mind..." | God's ultimate knowledge of sin |
| Prov 20:27 | "The spirit of man is the lamp of the LORD, searching all his innermost parts." | God uses conscience to reveal |
| 1 Cor 4:5 | "Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart." | Future divine revelation of truth |
| Heb 4:13 | "And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account." | God sees all sins |
| Ps 19:12 | "Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults." | Human difficulty in discerning hidden sin |
| Ecc 7:20 | "Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins." | Universal nature of sin |
| Rom 3:23 | "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," | Humanity's common sinful state |
| 1 Kgs 8:46 | "for there is no one who does not sin" | Inescapable human sinfulness |
| James 3:2 | "For we all stumble in many ways..." | Practical reality of constant sin |
| Num 32:23 | "be sure your sin will find you out." | Inescapable consequences of sin |
| Rom 6:23 | "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." | Result of sin vs. God's grace |
| Rom 3:20 | "For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin." | Law reveals sin, but doesn't justify |
| Rom 7:7 | "What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin." | Law's role in identifying sin |
| Gal 3:24 | "So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith." | Law's preparatory role for Christ |
| Job 1:1 | "There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil." | Job's character assessment by God |
| Job 2:3 | "Then the LORD said to Satan, 'Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?'" | God's affirmation of Job's integrity |
| Job 27:5-6 | "Far be it from me that I should admit you are right... I will not remove my integrity from me!" | Job's insistence on his blamelessness |
| 1 Pet 2:19-20 | "For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly... if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing..." | Righteous suffering acknowledged |
| Isa 1:18 | "Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow;" | God inviting dialogue for purification |
| Mic 6:2-3 | "Hear, O mountains, the LORD's complaint, and you mighty foundations of the earth; for the LORD has a complaint against his people... O my people, what have I done to you?" | God seeking to reason with His people |
| Job 23:3-7 | "Oh, that I knew where I might find him... I would present my case before him..." | Job's desire for a direct encounter with God |
Job 13 verses
Job 13 23 Meaning
Job 13:23 conveys Job's direct plea and demand to God, urging the Almighty to specify and enumerate his alleged sins that warrant his intense suffering. He yearns for a clear, formal indictment of his transgressions, whether general or specific, to understand the precise cause of God's contention with him. Job seeks not merely an acknowledgment but an unveiling of every offense.
Job 13 23 Context
Job 13:23 is situated in the midst of Job's continued defiant discourse directed towards his friends, and then implicitly, and increasingly explicitly, towards God. Having scorned his friends as worthless physicians and fabricators of lies (Job 13:4), Job asserts his own wisdom and ability to argue with God directly (Job 13:5-7). He challenges God to confront him (Job 13:18-22). This particular verse, Job 13:23, forms part of Job's direct petition and bold accusation of divine unfairness. He genuinely feels that he has not committed any sin grievous enough to warrant the immense suffering he is undergoing. He challenges the prevailing theology held by his friends and common at the time, which simplistically correlated all suffering directly and proportionately to specific, identified sin. Job’s question implicitly forms a polemic against the easy assumption that his afflictions must prove deep-seated sin, by asking for evidence of such transgression.
Job 13 23 Word analysis
- How many (כַּמָּ֗ה - kammah): This is an interrogative adverb. It signifies a question about quantity, but in this context, it implies more than a mere numerical tally. It suggests an underlying bewilderment or disbelief—Job is implying there cannot be so many iniquities as to justify his suffering, or he demands to know the exact number because he feels none exist. It functions as a challenge.
- are my iniquities (עֲוֺנֹתַי֙ - avonotai): This plural noun, avonot, comes from avon (עָווֹן). Avon describes an iniquity, guilt, perversity, or punishment for guilt. It speaks of a moral crookedness, a deviation from God's straight path. It often carries the sense of twistedness or warpedness, leading to consequence or blame. Job is asking about the total accumulation of such moral perversions.
- and sins? (וְחַטֹּאתַי֙ - vechattotai): This plural noun, chattot, comes from chattath (חַטָּאָה). Chattath broadly means sin, an offense, an error, or "missing the mark." It can be intentional or unintentional. It covers any deviation from God's standard. Here, Job bundles the broad categories of his wrongdoings together.
- Make me know (הוֹדִיעֵ֤נִי - hodi'enî): This is a Hiphil imperative form of the verb yada' (יָדַע), meaning "to know." The Hiphil stem is causative, meaning "cause to know," "inform me," "make known to me." This is a forceful command or plea for direct divine revelation, not a gentle request. Job wants explicit information.
- my transgression (פִּשְׁעִי֙ - pish'i): This singular noun, pesha', signifies a rebellion, revolt, or willful trespass. It denotes a more severe, deliberate breaking of a covenant or relationship, an open act of defiance against authority. By asking for "my transgression" in the singular, Job could be demanding knowledge of the specific, grave offense that God perceives him to have committed.
- and my sin. (וְחַטָּאתִ֑י - vechattati): This is the singular form of chattath. Following pesha', the singular form emphasizes a concrete, specific "sin" rather than the collective plural "sins." Job seeks not only to know his defiant rebellion but also any particular "missing of the mark" that stands against him.
Words-group analysis:
- "How many are my iniquities and sins?": This phrase encompasses Job's challenge regarding his general state of sinfulness. He seems to imply that if his suffering is due to sin, then his accumulated misdeeds must be immeasurable—a concept he doubts—or he insists on a literal tally. The choice of plural forms suggests an awareness of general human failings but a denial of exceptional guilt.
- "Make me know my transgression and my sin.": This shifts the plea from the general, immeasurable plural to specific, concrete singular accusations. Job escalates his demand for precision, challenging God to lay forth an itemized charge sheet: What specific rebellion (pesha') have I committed? What specific act of "missing the mark" (chattath) is the cause? This reflects his deep conviction of his righteousness and his bewilderment at God's severe treatment. It is a demand for clarity and a basis for defense.
Job 13 23 Bonus section
The intensity of Job's plea in this verse hints at a deep human desire for fairness and understanding from the divine. While his words seem confrontational, they also stem from a foundational trust that God is just, and therefore, an explanation for his seemingly unjust suffering must exist. The legalistic language, typical of ancient Near Eastern covenant treaties and judicial processes, illustrates Job's expectation of due process even from God. This request for a formal charge anticipates not an immediate answer, but God's eventual appearance and powerful demonstration of His sovereignty and wisdom in Job chapters 38-41, where God does not detail Job's sins, but rather establishes His own unchallengeable authority and wisdom, causing Job to humble himself and ultimately retract his accusations.
Job 13 23 Commentary
Job 13:23 encapsulates Job's profound spiritual crisis and intellectual defiance. Unable to reconcile his perceived blamelessness with his intense suffering, he appeals directly to God, demanding to see the exact indictment against him. This verse reveals his deeply personal struggle to understand divine justice, particularly within a cultural framework that directly linked suffering to sin. Job is effectively challenging God, requesting a divine "bill of particulars" so that he might defend himself or understand his culpability. This is not a humble confession seeking forgiveness, but an assertion of innocence coupled with a demand for transparent accountability from the divine judge. His language moves from broad categories of wrongdoing to specific acts of transgression, highlighting his conviction that no such severe or specific charge truly exists to warrant his affliction. This profound plea underscores a central theme of the Book of Job: the mystery of righteous suffering and the limitations of human theology in comprehending God's ultimate ways.