Job 26:3
in Job 26How you have counseled the unwise and provided fully sound insight!
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
How hast thou counselled him that hath no wisdom, And plentifully declared sound knowledge!
KJV
How hast thou counselled him that hath no wisdom? and how hast thou plentifully declared the thing as it is?
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This verse in Job 26
Commentary
9 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
How hast thou counselled him that hath no wisdom? - As he had undertaken to give counsel to another, and to suggest views that might be adapted to elevate his mind in his depression, and to console him in his sorrows, he had a right to expect more than he had found in his speech. And how hast thou plentifully declared the thing as it is? - The word rendered “the thing as it is” (תשׁיה tûshı̂yâh) denotes properly a setting upright, uprightness - from ישׁה yāshah; then help, deliverance, Job 6:13; purpose, undertaking, enterprise, Job 5:12; then counsel, wisdom, understanding, Job 11:6; Job 12:
This site's exposition
Then Job answered
on Job 26:1-4
With open sarcasm Job tells Bildad, "How you have helped the powerless". The four questions make one charge, that Bildad brought no counsel and no strength to a man who needed both. Job then answers with a longer account of God's power than any of the three friends has given.
This site's exposition
How you have counseled the unwise
The irony of verse 2 runs on. Henry hears Job mocking Bildad's own opinion that he had provided sound insight and set the matter out fully. Barnes adds that a man who counseled the unwise in grief owed him more than these words.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistMorals on the Book of Job, Book XVII · Written before 604.
proposed
To whom hast thou given counsel? perchance to him that hath not wisdom?
Then, as for the favor which is shown to someone because of the defect of wisdom, we should consider that this favor is twofold. On the one hand, in that one gives counsel to someone about things to be done, and he speaks to this …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
That he had done God no service by it, nor made him in the least beholden to him. It is indeed our duty, and will be our honour, to speak on God's behalf; but we must not think that he needs our service, or is indebted to us for it, nor will he accept it if it come from a spirit of contention and contradiction, and not from a sincere regard to God's glory.
): How hast thou plentifully declared the thing as it is? This is spoken ironically, upbraiding Bildad with the good conceit he himself had of what he had said. He thought he had spoken very clearly, had declared the thing as it is.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
That it was needless to the person he was discoursing with; for he knew it, and believed it, and could speak of it as well as he and better, and could add to the proofs which he had produced of God's power and greatness, which he does in the rest of his discourse (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
1 more voice on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
How hast thou counselled him that hath no wisdom?....
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מַה־ | mah- | how! | H4100 → | 752 times |
| יָּ֭עַצְתָּ | yaatzta | you have counseled | H3289 → | 79 times |
| לְלֹ֣א | lelo' | <to> not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| חָכְמָ֑ה | chokhmah | wisdom | H2451 → | 153 times |
| וְ֝תוּשִׁיָּ֗ה | vetushiyah | and sound wisdom | H8454 → | 12 times |
| לָרֹ֥ב | laro | for abundance | H7230 → | 149 times |
| הוֹדָֽעְתָּ׃ | hodaeta | you have made known | H3045 → | 945 times |
מַה־how!
mah-H4100 →752 times
יָּ֭עַצְתָּyou have counseled
yaatztaH3289 →79 times
לְלֹ֣א<to> not
lelo'H3808 →5168 times
חָכְמָ֑הwisdom
chokhmahH2451 →153 times
וְ֝תוּשִׁיָּ֗הand sound wisdom
vetushiyahH8454 →12 times
לָרֹ֥בfor abundance
laroH7230 →149 times
הוֹדָֽעְתָּ׃you have made known
hodaetaH3045 →945 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 13:5If only you would remain silent; for that would be your wisdom!
it leads to
- Proverbs 17:28
Even a fool is considered wise if he keeps silent, and discerning when he holds his tongue.
- James 1:19
My beloved brothers, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger,
- Job 13:13
Be silent, and I will speak. Then let come to me what may.
- Ecclesiastes 5:3
As a dream comes through many cares, so the speech of a fool comes with many words.
- Proverbs 17:28
Through
Job 33:33But if not, then listen to me; be quiet, and I will teach you wisdom.”
it leads to
- Psalms 34:11
Come, children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
- Psalms 49:3
My mouth will impart wisdom, and the meditation of my heart will bring understanding.
- Psalms 34:11
Through
Job 17:10But come back and try again, all of you. For I will not find a wise man among you.
it leads to
About Job
This page draws on 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 XVII; Jamieson, Fausset and 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 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.