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Job 32:22

in Job 32

For I do not know how to flatter, or my Maker would remove me in an instant.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

For I know not to give flattering titles; Else would my Maker soon take me away.

KJV

For I know not to give flattering titles; in so doing my maker would soon take me away.

This verse in Job 32

Commentary

10 notes on this verse
I will not accept the person of man, I will not equal God to man; for I know not how long I shall continue, or whether after a while my Maker may take me away. Most judiciously he does not make God equal to man, since he knows not how long he may continue, or when in the judgment of God be taken away. And he well says, After a while my Maker may take me away; for however long is the period of the present life, it is short, from the very fact, that it is not enduring.

This site's exposition

For I am full of words

on Job 32:18-22

“For I am full of words, and my spirit within me compels me” explains why Elihu must speak. He pledges, “I will be partial to no one, nor will I flatter any man”. Gill reads it as a promise to speak plainly, and Clarke notes that it anticipates Elihu's directness.

This site's exposition

my Maker would remove me

Barnes notes that older versions add the words in so doing, which the Hebrew lacks and which spoil the sense. Wesley draws the lesson. The more a man fears his Maker, the less danger he stands in of flattering men.

The record, by era

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Thomas Aquinas

Commentary on Job · Written before 1274.

proposed

He shows the reason he fears to do this saying, "Truly I do not know for how long I will live," in this mortal life, to be able to promise myself a long periods of time to do penance, "and if my maker will take …

The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

I know not - The more closely we eye the majesty of God as our maker, the more we dread his wrath and justice, the less danger shall we be in of a sinful fearing or flattering of men.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

1 So these three men ceased to answer Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes. 2 Then was kindled the wrath of Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the kindred of Ram: against Job was his wrath kindled, because he justified himself rather than God.

quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture

For I know not to give flattering titles,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

It is a good resolution he has taken up--" I know not to give flattering titles to men; I never used myself to flattering language;" and it is a good reason he gives for that resolution-- in so doing my Maker would soon take my away. It is good to keep ourselves in awe with a holy fear of God's judgments.
2 more voices on this verse

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

My Maker would soon take me away - Were I to copy this conduct while under the influence which I now feel, God might justly consume me as in a moment. He is my Maker; he made me to know truth, to tell truth, and to live according to truth; for he is the God of truth: I shall, therefore through his help, speak the Truth, the Whole Truth, and Nothing but the Truth.
For I know not to give flattering titles - I do not know how to flatter. It is not in my character; it has not been my habit. “In so doing.” These words are not in the Hebrew, and they greatly mar the sense, and give a different idea from that which was intended by the speaker. My Maker would soon take me away - Or, rather, “My Maker will soon take me away.” That is, “I know that I must soon be removed, and must stand before my Maker. I must give an account for all that I say. Knowing that I am to go to the realities of another state of being, I cannot flatter people. I must tell them the exact and simple truth.” There could be no better preventive of flattery than this. The conviction that we are soon to appear before God, where all are on a level, and where every mask will be stripped off, and everything appear as it is, would prevent us from ascribing to others qualities which we know they do not possess, and from giving them titles which will only exalt them in their own estimation, and hide the truth from their minds. Titles which properly belong to men, and which pertain to office, religion does not forbid us to confer - for the welfare of the community is promoted by a proper respect for the names and offices of those who rule. But no good end is answered in ascribing to men titles as mere matters of distinction, which serve to keep before them the idea of their own talents or importance; or which lead them to forget that they like others are soon to be “taken away,” and called to give up their account in another world. The deep conviction that we are all soon to try the realities of a bed of death and of the grave, and that we are to go to a world where there is no delusion, and where the ascription of qualities to us here which do not belong to us will be of no avail, would prompt to a wish to state always the simple truth. […]

The words behind it

7 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • כִּ֤יfor

    kiH3588 →4482 times

  • לֹ֣אnot

    lo'H3808 →5168 times

  • יָדַ֣עְתִּיI know

    yada'tiH3045 →945 times

  • אֲכַנֶּ֑הI will use flattery

    ʾakhanehH3655 →

  • כִּ֝מְעַ֗טlike a little

    kimatH4592 →101 times

  • יִשָּׂאֵ֥נִיhe will carry away me

    yisaeniH5375 →656 times

  • עֹשֵֽׂנִי׃[the one who] made me

    ʾoseniH6213 →2628 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Galatians 1:10

    Am I now seeking the approval of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.

    it leads to

    • 1 Thessalonians 2:4

      Instead, we speak as those approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, not in order to please men but God, who examines our hearts.

    • Acts 5:29

      But Peter and the other apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than men.

    • Ephesians 6:6

      And do this not only to please them while they are watching, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart.

    • James 4:4

      You adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever chooses to be a friend of the world renders himself an enemy of God.

    • Matthew 22:16

      They sent their disciples to Him along with the Herodians. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that You are honest and that You teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You seek…

  • Through

    1 Thessalonians 2:5

    As you know, we never used words of flattery or any pretext for greed. God is our witness!

    it leads to

    • Romans 1:9

      God, whom I serve with my spirit in preaching the gospel of His Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you

    • 2 Corinthians 12:17

      Did I exploit you by anyone I sent you?

    • Acts 20:33

      I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing.

About Job

Job Hears of His Misfortunes, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Job Hears of His Misfortunes, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XXIII; 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.