Job 13:3
in Job 13Yet I desire to speak to the Almighty and argue my case before God.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Surely I would speak to the Almighty, And I desire to reason with God.
KJV
Surely I would speak to the Almighty, and I desire to reason with God.
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This verse in Job 13
Commentary
12 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Surely I would speak to the Almighty - I would desire to carry my cause directly up to God, and spread out my reasons before him. This Job often professed to desire; see Job 9:34-35. He felt that God would appreciate the arguments which he would urge, and would do justice to them. His friends he felt were censorious and severe. They neither did justice to his feelings, nor to his motives. They perverted his words and arguments; and instead of consoling him, they only aggravated his trials, and caused him to sink into deeper sorrows.
This site's exposition
my eyes have seen all this
on Job 13:1-3
Job answers the friends' claim to superior wisdom by matching point for point: "What you know, I also know; I am not inferior to you". His desire turns toward God, "I desire to speak to the Almighty and argue my case before God", the wish the whirlwind speeches answer.
This site's exposition
argue my case before God
Job turns from the friends to the Almighty. Barnes notes Job often voiced this desire, as at Job 9:34-35, and Wesley hears him say he would rather argue with God than with them. Clarke reads the words as the language of a court of justice.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
This means, "I know the tremendous greatness of God, the endless wisdom of the Creator and his prodigious power; but even though I know that, 'I will speak to the Lord,' because if I know his power, I also know his justice. For he is …
The Medieval Church2 voices
But as Sophar had proposed the divine excellence (11:6) as an argument against Job for undertaking to dispute with God, he continues, "Yet let me speak to the Almighty," as if to say: Although I understand from his diverse effects the excellence of divine wisdom …
Yet still I would speak to the Almighty, and I desire to reason with God. We 'speak with the Almighty,' when we beseech His pity; but we 'reason with Him,' when uniting ourselves to His righteousness, we sift our actions with minute investigation. Or otherwise, to 'reason with God,' is for him who obeyed His commandments here, to come with Him hereafter as Judge to judge the people.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
): Surely I would speak to the Almighty; as if he had said, "I can promise myself no satisfaction in talking to you. O that I might have liberty to reason with God! He would not be so hard upon me as you are." The prince himself will perhaps give audience to a poor petitioner with more mildness, patience, and condescension, than the servants will.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
Surely - I had rather debate the matter with God than with you. I am not afraid of presenting my person and cause before him, who is a witness of my integrity.
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Surely I would speak to the Almighty,....
He is very bold with his God. In some expressions his faith is very bold, yet that is not more bold than welcome,
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Job wishes to plead his cause before God (Job 9:34, 35), as he is more and more convinced of the valueless character of his would-be "physicians" (Job 16:2).
Surely I would speak to the Almighty - אולם ulam, O that: - I wish I could speak to the Almighty! I desire to reason with God - He speaks here to reference to the proceedings in a court of justice. Ye pretend to be advocates for God, but ye are forgers of lies: O that God himself would appear! Before him I could soon prove my innocence of the evils with which ye charge me.
The words behind it
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אוּלָ֗ם | ʾulam | but | H199 → | 19 times |
| אֲ֭נִי | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| שַׁדַּ֣י | shadai | [the] Almighty | H7706 → | 48 times |
| אֲדַבֵּ֑ר | ʾadaber | I will speak | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| וְהוֹכֵ֖חַ | vehokheach | and to argue | H3198 → | 59 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| אֵ֣ל | ʾel | God | H410 → | 241 times |
| אֶחְפָּֽץ׃ | ʾechpatz | I desire | H2654 → | 74 times |
אוּלָ֗םbut
ʾulamH199 →19 times
אֲ֭נִיI
ʾaniH589 →874 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
שַׁדַּ֣י[the] Almighty
shadaiH7706 →48 times
אֲדַבֵּ֑רI will speak
ʾadaberH1696 →1141 times
וְהוֹכֵ֖חַand to argue
vehokheachH3198 →59 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
אֵ֣לGod
ʾelH410 →241 times
אֶחְפָּֽץ׃I desire
ʾechpatzH2654 →74 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
Job 31:35(Oh, that I had one to hear me! Here is my signature. Let the Almighty answer me; let my accuser compose an indictment.
it leads to
- Job 40:4–5
“Behold, I am insignificant. How can I reply to You? I place my hand over my mouth.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Job 13:21–22
Withdraw Your hand from me, and do not let Your terror frighten me.
- Job 38:1–3
Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:
- Job 40:4–5
Through
Isaiah 41:21“Present your case,” says the LORD. “Submit your arguments,” says the King of Jacob.
it leads to
- Job 23:3–4
If only I knew where to find Him, so that I could go to His seat.
- Job 38:3
Now brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall inform Me.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Job 23:3–4
Through
Job 9:3If one wished to contend with God, he could not answer Him one time out of a thousand.
it leads to
Through
Job 13:22Then call me, and I will answer, or let me speak, and You can reply.
it leads to
- Job 14:15
You will call, and I will answer; You will desire the work of Your hands.
- Job 14:15
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Job
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XI; Hesychius of Jerusalem, HOMILIES ON JOB 15.13.3; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.