Job 13:7
in Job 13Will you speak wickedly on God’s behalf or speak deceitfully for Him?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Will ye speak unrighteously for God, And talk deceitfully for him?
KJV
Will ye speak wickedly for God? and talk deceitfully for him?
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This verse in Job 13
Commentary
10 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Will ye speak wickedly for God? - That is, will you maintain unjust principles with a view to honor or to vindicate God? Job refers doubtless to the positions which they had defended in regard to the divine administration - principles which he regarded as unjust, though they had employed them professedly in vindicating God. The sense is, that unjust principles ought not to be advanced to vindicate God.
This site's exposition
Hear now my argument
on Job 13:6-9
Job turns the friends' defense of God into a charge, since false doctrine spoken for God is itself sin against Him. The question "Would you show Him partiality" carries the language of a corrupt judge favoring one party. Job's words plant the ground of God's ruling at 42:7.
This site's exposition
speak wickedly on God’s behalf
Job charges the friends with speaking lies on God's behalf. Barnes explains they argued unjust principles in order to defend God, and Gregory answers that the truth of God has no need of a lie. At Job 42:7 the LORD rebukes the friends for how they spoke of Him.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"Consider now the words which I am about to say in order to correct you, and then judge whether I pronounce them thoughtfully." "Do you not speak before the Lord and utter deceit before him?" "Do you not realize that God hears your speeches? How …
The Medieval Church2 voices
Doth God need your lie, that ye should talk deceitfully for Him? God doth not 'stand in need of a lie,' in that Truth does not seek to be stayed up by the aid of falsehood. But because Heretics are unable to defend on principles of truth the things which they erroneously conceive about God, it is as if they sought for the shadow of falsehood, to shew the ray of light. And they 'speak deceitfully for Him,' in that weak minds, by being senselessly seduced, they deceive in the understanding of Him.
First he intends to correct their unfitting process of reasoning, for since they had posited that rewards and punishments of good and evil works are repaid in this present life, it was necessary for them to use lies in defending the justice of God. Because …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Your principles are false and your arguings fallacious, and will it excuse you to say, It is for God? " No, for a good intention will not justify, much less will it sanctify, a bad word or action. God's truth needs not our lie, nor God's cause either our sinful policies or our sinful passions.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
Will you speak wickedly for God?....
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
deceitfully--use fallacies to vindicate God in His dealings; as if the end justified the means. Their "deceitfulness" for God, against Job, was that they asserted he was a sinner, because he was a sufferer.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
Will ye speak wickedly for God? - In order to support your own cause, in contradiction to the evidence which the whole of my life bears to the uprightness of my heart, will ye continue to assert that God could not thus afflict me, unless flagrant iniquity were found in my ways; for it is on this ground alone that ye pretend to vindicate the providence of God. Thus ye tell lies for God’s sake, and thus ye wickedly contend for your Maker.
The words behind it
6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הַ֭לְאֵל | halel | ¿ <the> for God | H410 → | 241 times |
| תְּדַבְּר֣וּ | tedaberu | will you speak | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| עַוְלָ֑ה | ʾavlah | unrighteousness | H5766 → | 54 times |
| וְ֝ל֗וֹ | velo | and for him | ||
| תְּֽדַבְּר֥וּ | tedaberu | will you speak? | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| רְמִיָּֽה׃ | remiyah | deceit | H7423 → |
הַ֭לְאֵל¿ <the> for God
halelH410 →241 times
תְּדַבְּר֣וּwill you speak
tedaberuH1696 →1141 times
עַוְלָ֑הunrighteousness
ʾavlahH5766 →54 times
וְ֝ל֗וֹand for him
velo
תְּֽדַבְּר֥וּwill you speak?
tedaberuH1696 →1141 times
רְמִיָּֽה׃deceit
remiyahH7423 →
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
2 Corinthians 4:2Instead, we have renounced secret and shameful ways. We do not practice deceit, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by open proclamation of the truth, we commend ourselves to…
it leads to
- 2 Corinthians 2:17
For we are not like so many others, who peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, as men sent from God.
- 1 Thessalonians 2:3–5
For our appeal does not arise from deceit or ulterior motives or trickery.
- 2 Corinthians 5:11
Therefore, since we know what it means to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men. What we are is clear to God, and I hope it is clear to your conscience as well.
- 2 Corinthians 11:13–15
For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ.
- 2 Corinthians 6:4–7
Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships, and calamities;
- 2 Corinthians 2:17
Through
Job 27:4my lips will not speak wickedness, and my tongue will not utter deceit.
it leads to
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 on the Book of Job; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XI; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Olympiodorus of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON JOB 13:6-7 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.
