Job 13:9
in Job 13Would it be well when He examined you? Could you deceive Him like a man?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Is it good that he should search you out? Or as one deceiveth a man, will ye deceive him?
KJV
Is it good that he should search you out? or as one man mocketh another, do ye so mock him?
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This verse in Job 13
Commentary
9 notes on this verseIt is good to an upright man who means honestly that God should search him; therefore he prays for it: Search me, O God! and know my heart. God's omniscience is a witness of his sincerity.
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
Could you deceive Him like a man?
Job asks how the friends would appear if God examined them. Clarke and Barnes read it as a warning: God would see their hearts and their partiality, and no man can deceive Him. An upright man welcomes being examined, Matthew Henry notes.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"If he follows your traces," Job says. Therefore you, who speak so now would have not spoken so, if you were directly involved in the case that is judged. That is, if you were in my place and God were judging your matters with severity, you would have not judged my words as you do now. Or, to say things in a different manner, you, who speak so, would have not been judges of my words. In fact, Job says, even if you speak more, and you do everything to speak in God's favor, he will not confound you any less and will ask you for explanations.
The Medieval Church2 voices
Sometimes one person in fraudulently defending another's cause pleases him despite the fact that he is a just man. This can happen in two ways: in one way because he is ignorant that his cause is unjust, and so he is pleased that he is …
Or shall it please Him, from Whom nothing can be concealed? Or like as a man will He be deceived by your deceits. Heretics shew God deceit in that they fabricate such things as cannot be pleasing to the very Being, in Whose behalf they say them. And whilst they set themselves as if to defend, they only offend Him, in that they are brought to the ground in fighting against Him, Whom they appear by preaching to be serving. Hence it is said by the Psalmist, That Thou mightest still the enemy and the defender. For every heretic is to Almighty God an 'enemy and defender,' for wherein he strives in his way to defend Him, therein he fights against His truth. But because nothing can escape God's sight, He judges according to that in them, which they think within their heart, but not by their appearing without to be doing Him service.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Is it good that he should search you out?....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Is it good that he should search you out? - Would it be to your credit if God should try your hearts, and uncover the motives of your conduct? Were you tried as I am, how would you appear? Do ye so mock him? - Do ye think that you can deceive him; and by flattering speeches bring him to your terms, as you would bring an undiscerning, empty mortal, like yourselves?
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
Is it good that he should search you out? - Would it be well for you if he should go into an investigation of your character, and of the arguments which you adduce? The idea is, that if God should make such an investigation, the result would be highly unfavorable to them.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
He will surely reprove you Will He not let you know your speech?
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הֲ֭טוֹב | hatov | ¿ [will it be] good | H2896 → | 538 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | if | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| יַחְקֹ֣ר | yachkor | he will examine | H2713 → | 27 times |
| אֶתְכֶ֑ם | ʾetkhem | <obj.> you | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אִם־ | ʾim- | or? | H518 → | 1069 times |
| כְּהָתֵ֥ל | kehatel | as deceives | H2048 → | |
| בֶּ֝אֱנ֗וֹשׁ | beenoosh | <in> a person | H582 → | 566 times |
| תְּהָתֵ֥לּוּ | tehatelu | will you deceive | H2048 → | |
| בֽוֹ׃ | vo | <in> him |
הֲ֭טוֹב¿ [will it be] good
hatovH2896 →538 times
כִּֽי־if
ki-H3588 →4482 times
יַחְקֹ֣רhe will examine
yachkorH2713 →27 times
אֶתְכֶ֑ם<obj.> you
ʾetkhemH853 →10935 times
אִם־or?
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
כְּהָתֵ֥לas deceives
kehatelH2048 →
בֶּ֝אֱנ֗וֹשׁ<in> a person
beenooshH582 →566 times
תְּהָתֵ֥לּוּwill you deceive
tehateluH2048 →
בֽוֹ׃<in> him
vo
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
Jeremiah 17:10I, the LORD, search the heart; I examine the mind to reward a man according to his way, by what his deeds deserve.
it leads to
- Hebrews 4:12–13
For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it pierces even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Samuel 16:7
But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or height, for I have rejected him; the LORD does not see as man does. For man sees the outward appearance, but the…
- Romans 8:27
And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
- Jeremiah 11:20
O LORD of Hosts, who judges righteously, who examines the heart and mind, let me see Your vengeance upon them, for to You I have committed my cause.
- Revelation 2:23
Then I will strike her children dead, and all the churches will know that I am the One who searches minds and hearts, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.
- Hebrews 4:12–13
Through
Psalms 44:21would not God have discovered, since He knows the secrets of the heart?
it leads to
- Jeremiah 17:10
I, the LORD, search the heart; I examine the mind to reward a man according to his way, by what his deeds deserve.
- Jeremiah 23:24
“Can a man hide in secret places where I cannot see him?” declares the LORD. “Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” declares the LORD.
- Ecclesiastes 12:14
For God will bring every deed into judgment, along with every hidden thing, whether good or evil.
- Jeremiah 17:10
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Job
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Job; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XI; John Chrysostom, COMMENTARY ON JOB 13:8-10A; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.