Job 11:7
in Job 11Can you fathom the deep things of God or discover the limits of the Almighty?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Canst thou by searching find out God? Canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection?
KJV
Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection?
⋯
This verse in Job 11
Commentary
8 notes on this verseHis judgments are a great deep. Paul attributes such immeasurable dimensions to the divine love as Zophar here attributes to the divine wisdom, and yet recommends it to our acquaintance. 18, 19 , That you may know the breadth, and length, and depth, and height, of the love of Christ.
This site's exposition
the deep things of God
on Job 11:7-9
Zophar asks, "Can you fathom the deep things of God or discover the limits of the Almighty?", a true doctrine of God's greatness. The whirlwind speeches later ask harder questions of the same kind to open Job up, so the difference lies in Zophar's use of the truth.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
These words mean, "Do you know what the Almighty will do at the end of his works?" I certainly grant that we have experience of things that are otherwise evident and manifest, but they only disclose to us the loftiness of heaven and all divine …
The Medieval Church2 voices
Because he thought there was some hidden secret in God's wisdom which had not yet been revealed to Job, he strengthens this opinion in what follows trying to make it so sure that Job cannot deny it saying, "You will not perhaps understand the footprints …
Canst thou find out the footsteps of God? Canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? What does he call 'the footsteps of God,' saving the lovingkindness of His visitation? by which same we are stimulated to advance forward to things above, when we are influenced by the inspiration of His Spirit, and being carried without the narrow compass of the flesh, by love we see and own the likeness of our Maker presented to our contemplation that we may follow it.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Canst thou by searching find out God?....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Canst thou by searching find out God? - What is God? A Being self-existent, eternal, infinite, immense, without bounds, incomprehensible either by mind, or time, or space. Who then can find this Being out? Who can fathom his depths, ascend to his heights, extend to his breadths, and comprehend the infinitude of his perfections?
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Canst then, by searching, find out God? - In order to illustrate the sentiment which he had just expressed, that the secrets of divine wisdom must be far above our comprehension, Zophar introduces here this sublime description of God - a description which seems to have the form and force of a proverb.
The words behind it
8 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הַחֵ֣קֶר | hacheker | ¿ [the] searching of | H2714 → | 12 times |
| אֱל֣וֹהַ | ʾeloha | God | H433 → | 57 times |
| תִּמְצָ֑א | timtza' | will you find | H4672 → | 455 times |
| אִ֤ם | ʾim | or? | H518 → | 1069 times |
| עַד־ | ʾad- | to | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| תַּכְלִ֖ית | takhlit | [the] end of | H8503 → | 5 times |
| שַׁדַּ֣י | shadai | [the] Almighty | H7706 → | 48 times |
| תִּמְצָֽא׃ | timtza' | will you find | H4672 → | 455 times |
הַחֵ֣קֶר¿ [the] searching of
hachekerH2714 →12 times
אֱל֣וֹהַGod
ʾelohaH433 →57 times
תִּמְצָ֑אwill you find
timtza'H4672 →455 times
אִ֤םor?
ʾimH518 →1069 times
עַד־to
ʾad-H5704 →1261 times
תַּכְלִ֖ית[the] end of
takhlitH8503 →5 times
שַׁדַּ֣י[the] Almighty
shadaiH7706 →48 times
תִּמְצָֽא׃will you find
timtza'H4672 →455 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Romans 11:33O, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and untraceable His ways!
it leads to
- Job 5:9
the One who does great and unsearchable things, wonders without number.
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Job 11:7–9
Can you fathom the deep things of God or discover the limits of the Almighty?
- Job 5:9
Through
Ecclesiastes 3:11He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men, yet they cannot fathom the work that God has done from beginning to end.
it leads to
- Romans 11:33
O, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and untraceable His ways!
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Romans 1:19–20
For what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.
- Romans 11:33
Through
Isaiah 40:28Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary; His understanding is beyond searching…
it leads to
- Psalms 147:5
Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; His understanding has no limit.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Romans 11:33–34
O, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and untraceable His ways!
- 1 Timothy 1:17
Now to the King eternal, immortal, and invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
- Isaiah 55:8–9
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD.
- Psalms 147:5
About Job
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ephrem the Syrian, COMMENTARY ON JOB 11:7; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Book of Job; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book X; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.