Job 38:2 kjv
Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?
Job 38:2 nkjv
"Who is this who darkens counsel By words without knowledge?
Job 38:2 niv
"Who is this that obscures my plans with words without knowledge?
Job 38:2 esv
"Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
Job 38:2 nlt
"Who is this that questions my wisdom
with such ignorant words?
Job 38 2 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Pro 1:7 | The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge… | Knowledge requires reverent submission to God. |
| Psa 147:5 | Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; His understanding is infinite. | God's knowledge is beyond human comprehension. |
| Isa 40:13 | Who has measured the Spirit of the Lord, or what His counselor taught Him? | Challenges anyone claiming to understand God's ways. |
| Isa 40:14 | From whom did He take counsel, and who instructed Him…? | God needs no human instructor or advice. |
| Isa 55:8-9 | "For My thoughts are not your thoughts… so are My ways higher than your ways" | God's thoughts and ways are vastly superior to ours. |
| Rom 11:33-34 | Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments… Who has known the mind of the Lord? | God's wisdom and judgments are inscrutable. |
| 1 Cor 1:20 | Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? | Human wisdom is foolishness before God. |
| 1 Cor 1:25 | For the foolishness of God is wiser than men… | God's seeming foolishness is superior to human wisdom. |
| 1 Cor 2:11 | For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man…? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. | Only the Spirit comprehends God's depths. |
| Col 2:3 | In whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. | Christ embodies all divine wisdom and knowledge. |
| Jer 10:10-12 | But the Lord is the true God… He is the living God and the everlasting King… He established the world by His wisdom. | God's wisdom evident in creation and governance. |
| Job 11:7-9 | Can you search out the deep things of God? Can you find out the limits of the Almighty? | Highlights the impossibility of comprehending God. |
| Job 26:14 | Indeed these are the mere edges of His ways, and how small a whisper we hear of Him! | God's full power and wisdom are only dimly perceived by humans. |
| Job 37:23 | The Almighty we cannot find Him; He is excellent in power, in judgment and abundant justice; He does not oppress. | God's inscrutability and just character affirmed. |
| Psa 94:10-11 | He who teaches man knowledge, does He not know? The Lord knows the thoughts of man, that they are futile. | God is the source of knowledge and knows human futility. |
| Isa 45:9 | Woe to him who strives with his Maker! | Warnings against disputing God's authority. |
| Rom 9:20 | But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? | Human beings lack standing to question God. |
| Psa 73:2-3 | But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled… when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. | Personal confession of limited understanding and questioning God's ways. |
| Gen 18:25 | Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? | Asserts God's inherent justice despite appearance. |
| Psa 89:6-7 | For who in the heavens can be compared to the Lord…? God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints. | God's unparalleled nature demands awe and reverence. |
Job 38 verses
Job 38 2 Meaning
Job 38:2 marks the dramatic entrance of God, speaking directly to Job out of a whirlwind. The verse reveals God’s initial indictment of Job, questioning who is presumptuous enough to obscure or challenge divine wisdom and purpose through ignorant words. It highlights the vast chasm between human understanding and divine omnipotence and omniscience, immediately establishing God's authority and humbling Job by implying his words have lacked true knowledge concerning God's actions and plans.
Job 38 2 Context
Job 38:2 serves as the divine answer to Job’s profound anguish and insistent pleas for an audience with God. For 37 chapters, Job and his friends have debated the cause of Job’s suffering within the traditional "retribution theology"—that suffering is directly proportional to sin. While Job rejects their simplistic cause-and-effect argument as it applies to him, he equally struggles to reconcile his suffering with God's justice, even demanding that God appear and explain Himself (Job 31:35). Job’s speeches express his conviction of his own righteousness, his desire for vindication, and his daring, albeit respectful, questioning of God's governance.
When God finally speaks, it is not with an explanation for Job's suffering, but with a challenge to Job’s limited perspective. God speaks from a dramatic theophany—a whirlwind—symbolizing overwhelming power and mystery, directly confronting Job’s audacity to judge divine wisdom from a human vantage point. This challenges the prevalent ancient Near Eastern view, particularly among Wisdom Literature proponents, that human reason and observation could fully grasp the workings of the universe and the justice of the gods. God's interrogation indirectly critiques both Job's presumptions and the inadequate human "counsel" offered by Job's friends, which has merely "darkened" the true counsel of God concerning His omniscient governance.
Job 38 2 Word analysis
- Who: (Hebrew: Mī - מִי). This is not a request for identification but a rhetorical question conveying profound rebuke and incredulity. It highlights God's astonishment and condemnation of anyone who dares to challenge His perfect wisdom or obstruct His purpose. It demands immediate attention and humble self-reflection from the recipient.
- is this: (Hebrew: zeh - זֶה). Refers directly to Job. The pronoun makes the challenge personal and pointed, signifying that Job himself is the one being addressed and admonished for his prior statements and complaints.
- that darkens: (Hebrew: maḥšik - מַחֲשִׁ֣יךְ, from root ḥāšak - חָשַׁךְ). This verb means "to make dark, obscure, diminish, confound." It suggests an active attempt to cloud or hide clarity, wisdom, or understanding. God implies that Job's words, instead of shedding light or understanding, have obscured the truth of God’s nature and operations, rendering them unclear or confusing.
- counsel: (Hebrew: ‘ēṣâ - עֵצָה). Refers to divine plan, wisdom, or purpose. This is God’s sovereign design and governance of the world, often involving inscrutable motives and methods. Job's words, by expressing doubt, demanding explanations, and implying injustice, have, from God's perspective, served to obfuscate or even oppose this divine ‘ēṣâ.
- by words: (Hebrew: bəmillîm - בְּמִלִּים). The prefix bə- indicates the means or instrument. Job used words—his long arguments, lamentations, and questions—to express his confused and critical perspective. This specifies the medium through which the "darkening" occurred, emphasizing the specific utterances of Job.
- without: (Hebrew: bəlî - בְּלִי). Signifies a lack, absence, or deficit. It underscores the profound inadequacy of Job's perspective.
- knowledge: (Hebrew: da‘at - דַּֽעַת). This is not mere factual information but comprehensive understanding, wisdom, insight, often implying experiential knowledge or moral discernment rooted in the fear of God. God implies Job's previous discourse utterly lacked genuine insight into divine reality and operation. It critiques the basis of Job's argumentation as uninformed by true wisdom of God’s ways.
Job 38 2 Bonus section
The rhetorical question form (Mī zeh - "Who is this?") employed by God is common in prophetic literature and wisdom texts for delivering powerful rebuke or highlighting absolute sovereignty. It carries the weight of a divine accusation against human presumption. This verse fundamentally shifts the direction of the entire book from Job’s laments and friends’ debates to a direct confrontation with the ultimate authority, God Himself, setting the stage for a grand theological exposition of creation, governance, and divine power beyond human grasp. The phrase "without knowledge" (bə-lî da‘at) isn't just about missing information; it implies a lack of proper reverence and true insight into the divine character that is essential for right thinking about God.
Job 38 2 Commentary
Job 38:2 opens God's thunderous monologue by directly challenging Job's prior pronouncements. God does not offer an immediate explanation for suffering, but rather exposes the fundamental flaw in Job's argumentation: a severe deficiency in knowledge and perspective regarding the divine. Job had assumed he could assess God's justice based on his limited human understanding, yet his words, stemming from ignorance, merely "darkened" God's incomprehensible, yet perfect, counsel. This verse establishes the thematic core of God's discourse: the immeasurable gap between infinite divine wisdom and finite human comprehension, emphasizing human intellectual and moral inadequacy when attempting to scrutinize God's purposes. It is a call to humility and a surrender to God's unquestionable sovereignty.