Job 23:15
in Job 23Therefore I am terrified in His presence; when I consider this, I fear Him.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Therefore am I terrified at his presence; When I consider, I am afraid of him.
KJV
Therefore am I troubled at his presence: when I consider, I am afraid of him.
⋯
This verse in Job 23
Commentary
9 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Therefore am I troubled at his presence - The doctrine of divine purposes and decrees “is fitted to impress the mind with awe.” So vast are the plans of God; so uncertain to us is it what will be developed next; so impossible is it to resist God when he comes forth to execute his plans, that they fill the mind with reverence and fear. And this is one of the objects for which the doctrine is revealed.
This site's exposition
Therefore I am terrified in His presence
on Job 23:15-17
The confidence of verse 10 gives way. Dread returns: "Therefore I am terrified in His presence; when I consider this, I fear Him", and "the Almighty has terrified me". Gill notes the shape of the chapter, a peak of confidence, closing in the same fear it opened with.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church3 voices
A commentator
BonaventureCollationes de Septem Donis, Collation 2 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
The fear of the Lord arises in us from the consideration of the perspicacity of divine wisdom. "And therefore I am troubled at his presence, and when I consider him, I am made fearful with dread." If God is the cause of all things, there …
"On that account," because I consider that he can do more and I cannot tell whether he does will to do more, "I am disturbed," with the anguish of fear. So he then says, "when I consider him," his power, "I am more overcome with …
Therefore am I troubled at His presence; when I consider I am afraid of Him. He is rightly 'troubled at the presence of the Lord,' who sets before the view of his eyes the terribleness of His Majesty, and is throughly shaken by dread of His Righteousness, whilst he sees that he is not fit to render his accounts if he be judged with severity.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Those are indeed of troubled spirits who are troubled at the presence of God, as the psalmist, who remembered God and was troubled, Ps. lxxvii. See what confusion poor Job was now in, for he contradicted himself: just now he was troubled for God's absence (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Therefore am I troubled at his presence,....
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
God's decrees, impossible to be resisted, and leaving us in the dark as to what may come next, are calculated to fill the mind with holy awe [BARNES].
Therefore am I troubled - I do not as yet see an end to my afflictions: he has not exhausted his means of trial; therefore, when I consider this, I am afraid of him.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
For He will complete my sentence I know that He will not draw back His hand until He completes the sentence of His decrees, the retribution that He has decreed against me.
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. 5 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
7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| עַל־ | ʾal- | there- | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| כֵּ֭ן | ken | -fore | H3651 → | 771 times |
| מִפָּנָ֣יו | mipanav | of <before> him | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| אֶבָּהֵ֑ל | ʾebahel | I am terrified | H926 → | 39 times |
| אֶ֝תְבּוֹנֵ֗ן | ʾetbonen | I consider | H995 → | 170 times |
| וְאֶפְחַ֥ד | veefchad | and I may be in dread | H6342 → | 25 times |
| מִמֶּֽנּוּ׃ | mimenu | from him | H4480 → | 1188 times |
עַל־there-
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
כֵּ֭ן-fore
kenH3651 →771 times
מִפָּנָ֣יוof <before> him
mipanavH6440 →2123 times
אֶבָּהֵ֑לI am terrified
ʾebahelH926 →39 times
אֶ֝תְבּוֹנֵ֗ןI consider
ʾetbonenH995 →170 times
וְאֶפְחַ֥דand I may be in dread
veefchadH6342 →25 times
מִמֶּֽנּוּ׃from him
mimenuH4480 →1188 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
Psalms 119:120My flesh trembles in awe of You; I stand in fear of Your judgments.
it leads to
- Habakkuk 3:16
I heard and trembled within; my lips quivered at the sound. Decay entered my bones; I trembled where I stood. Yet I must wait patiently for the day of distress to come upon the…
- Daniel 10:8–11
So I was left alone, gazing at this great vision. No strength remained in me; my face grew deathly pale, and I was powerless.
- Hebrews 12:21
The sight was so terrifying that even Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.”
- Hebrews 12:28–29
Therefore, since we are receiving an unshakable kingdom, let us be filled with gratitude, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe.
- Isaiah 66:2
Has not My hand made all these things? And so they came into being,” declares the LORD. “This is the one I will esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, who trembles…
- Habakkuk 3:16
Through
Job 10:15If I am guilty, woe to me! And even if I am righteous, I cannot lift my head. I am full of shame and aware of my affliction.
it leads to
- Isaiah 3:11
Woe to the wicked; disaster is upon them! For they will be repaid with what their hands have done.
- Job 9:15
For even if I were right, I could not answer. I could only beg my Judge for mercy.
- Isaiah 3:11
Through
Job 31:23For calamity from God terrifies me, and His splendor I cannot overpower.
it leads to
- Job 13:11
Would His majesty not terrify you? Would the dread of Him not fall upon you?
- Job 13:11
Where this verse is studied
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, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bonaventure, Collationes de Septem Donis, Collation 2; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XVI; 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); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.