Job 34:9
in Job 34For he has said, ‘It profits a man nothing that he should delight in God.’
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For he hath said, It profiteth a man nothing That he should delight himself with God.
KJV
For he hath said, It profiteth a man nothing that he should delight himself with God.
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This verse in Job 34
Commentary
8 notes on this verseFor he hath said, A man will not please God, even though he run with Him. But that he never said so, every one acknowledges who reads the words of blessed Job. But yet what wonder, that he who speaks for the sole purpose of proudly setting himself off, invents something to find fault with in another person? For how can he adhere to 'truth in his words of reproof, whom pride of mind within removes far away from the same truth? It follows, Therefore hearken unto me, Ye men of understanding.
This site's exposition
I am righteous
on Job 34:5-9
Elihu tightens Job's complaints into one claim, “I am righteous, yet God has deprived me of justice”. Barnes notes that the man who “drinks up derision like water”, and the saying of verse 9, go further than anything Job said. Clarke calls verses 8 and 9 Elihu's weakest move.
This site's exposition
It profits a man nothing
Albert Barnes finds the nearest words at Job 9:22. Gregory the Dialogist and Thomas Aquinas charge Elihu with inventing the claim that it profits a man nothing to delight in God. Matthew Henry grants that delight in God is a present good.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
He show why he asserts that he consents with them saying, "For he said: A man will not please God even if he has run with him," even if he had follows him in the way of justice. Job did not say this, but Eliud …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
It is granted that there is a present pleasure in religion; for what is it but to delight ourselves with God, in communion with him, in concurrence with him, in walking with him as Enoch did? this is a true notion of religion, and bespeaks its ways to be pleasantness.
10 Therefore hearken unto me, ye men of understanding: far be it from God, that he should do wickedness; and from the Almighty, that he should commit iniquity. 11 For the work of a man shall he render unto him, and cause every man to find according to his ways. 12 Yea, surely God will not do wickedly, neither will the Almighty pervert judgment.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture
For he hath said,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
For he hath said, It profiteth a man nothing that he should delight himself in God - That is, there is no advantage in piety, and in endeavoring to serve God. It will make no difference in the divine dealings with him. He will be treated just as well if he lives a life of sin, as if he undertakes to live after the severest rules of piety. Job had not used precisely this language, but in Job 9:22, he had expressed nearly the same sentiment.
The words behind it
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אָ֭מַר | ʾamar | he has said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יִסְכָּן־ | yiskon- | it profits | H5532 → | 12 times |
| גָּ֑בֶר | gaver | a man | H1397 → | 65 times |
| בִּ֝רְצֹת֗וֹ | birtzoto | when is pleased he | H7521 → | 56 times |
| עִם־ | ʾim- | with | H5973 → | 1050 times |
| אֱלֹהִֽים׃ | ʾelohim | God | H430 → | 2601 times |
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
אָ֭מַרhe has said
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
יִסְכָּן־it profits
yiskon-H5532 →12 times
גָּ֑בֶרa man
gaverH1397 →65 times
בִּ֝רְצֹת֗וֹwhen is pleased he
birtzotoH7521 →56 times
עִם־with
ʾim-H5973 →1050 times
אֱלֹהִֽים׃God
ʾelohimH430 →2601 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
Malachi 3:14You have said, ‘It is futile to serve God. What have we gained by keeping His requirements and walking mournfully before the LORD of Hosts?
it leads to
- Isaiah 58:3
“Why have we fasted, and You have not seen? Why have we humbled ourselves, and You have not noticed?” “Behold, on the day of your fast, you do as you please, and you oppress…
- Psalms 73:8–13
They mock and speak with malice; with arrogance they threaten oppression.
- Zephaniah 1:12
And at that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps and punish the men settled in complacency, who say to themselves, ‘The LORD will do nothing, either good or bad.’
- Job 35:3
For you ask, ‘What does it profit me, and what benefit do I gain apart from sin?’
- Zechariah 7:3–6
by asking the priests of the house of the LORD of Hosts, as well as the prophets, “Should I weep and fast in the fifth month, as I have done these many years?”
- Isaiah 58:3
Through
Job 35:3For you ask, ‘What does it profit me, and what benefit do I gain apart from sin?’
it leads to
- Malachi 3:14
You have said, ‘It is futile to serve God. What have we gained by keeping His requirements and walking mournfully before the LORD of Hosts?
- Job 21:15
Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him, and what would we gain if we pray to Him?’
- Job 10:15
If 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.
- Malachi 3:14
About Job
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 (1832-1869); Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XXIV; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.