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Job 33:5

in Job 33

Refute me if you can; prepare your case and confront me.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

If thou canst, answer thou me; Set thy words in order before me, stand forth.

KJV

If thou canst answer me, set thy words in order before me, stand up.

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This verse in Job 33

Commentary

5 notes on this verse
If thou canst answer me - The meaning of this verse is this: “The controversy between you and me, if you choose to reply, shall be conducted in the most equitable manner, and on the most equal terms. I will not attempt, as your three friends have done, to overwhelm you with reproaches; nor will I attempt to overawe you as God would do, so that you could not reply.

This site's exposition

Refute me if you can

on Job 33:5-7

“Refute me if you can; prepare your case and confront me” invites the reply Job could never draw from God. Barnes reads the offer as Elihu posing as the arbiter Job wished for at 9:33, a claim the speech does not fully sustain.

The record, by era

The Medieval Church2 voices

A commentator

Thomas Aquinas

Commentary on Job · Written before 1274.

proposed

Lest he seem to have said this as a prejudice to discourage Job from answering one speaking from divine inspiration he says, "If you can, answer me," what I will say against you, "and hold your ground before my face," so that you also can …

A commentator

Gregory the Dialogist

Morals on the Book of Job, Book XXIII · Written before 604.

proposed

If thou canst, answer me, and stand before my face. Behold how in relating the true order of his creation, he suddenly bursts forth into the pride of haughty arrogance, and, in other words, repeats the same statement.

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

If thou canst answer me,....

The words behind it

6 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.

  • אִם־if

    ʾim-H518 →1069 times

  • תּוּכַ֥לyou will be able

    tukhalH3201 →194 times

  • הֲשִׁיבֵ֑נִיrespond to me

    hashiveniH7725 →1056 times

  • עֶרְכָ֥הarrange !

    ʾerkhahH6186 →74 times

  • לְ֝פָנַ֗י<to> before me

    lefanaiH6440 →2123 times

  • הִתְיַצָּֽבָה׃take your stand !

    hityatzavahH3320 →48 times

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

Related verses

10 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Job 33:32–33But if you have something to say, answer me; speak up, for I would like to vindicate you.3 worksJob 32:12I paid you full attention. But no one proved Job wrong; not one of you rebutted his arguments.2 worksJob 32:1So these three men stopped answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.2 worksJob 23:4–5I would plead my case before Him and fill my mouth with arguments.2 worksActs 10:26But Peter helped him up. “Stand up,” he said, “I am only a man myself.”2 worksPsalms 50:21You have done these things, and I kept silent; you thought I was just like you. But now I rebuke you and accuse you to your face.2 works
The other 4 cross-references, with their words ▾
Job 13:18Behold, now that I have prepared my case, I know that I will be vindicated.2 worksJob 32:14But Job has not directed his words against me, and I will not answer him with your arguments.2 worksJob 34:33Should God repay you on your own terms when you have disavowed His? You must choose, not I; so tell me what you know.2 worksJob 9:14How then can I answer Him or choose my arguments against Him?2 works

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

    Acts 10:26

    But Peter helped him up. “Stand up,” he said, “I am only a man myself.”

    it leads to

    • Revelation 19:10

      So I fell at his feet to worship him. But he told me, “Do not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who rely on the testimony of Jesus.…

    • Revelation 22:8–9

      And I am John, who heard and saw these things. And when I had heard and seen them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had shown me these…

    • Matthew 4:10

      “Away from Me, Satan!” Jesus declared. “For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’”

    • Acts 14:14–15

      But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul found out about this, they tore their clothes and rushed into the crowd, shouting,

    • Isaiah 42:8

      I am the LORD; that is My name! I will not yield My glory to another or My praise to idols.

  • Through

    Job 32:1

    So these three men stopped answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.

    it leads to

    • Job 33:9

      ‘I am pure, without transgression; I am clean, with no iniquity in me.

    • Job 10:7

      though You know that I am not guilty, and there is no deliverance from Your hand?

    • Job 10:2

      I will say to God: Do not condemn me! Let me know why You prosecute me.

Where this verse is studied

On this page

Studies1

About Job

Job Hears of His Misfortunes, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Job Hears of His Misfortunes, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Job: the study guide →Read Job 33 →

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Job; 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) and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.

Read on in Job 33 →