Job 36:23
in Job 36Who has appointed His way for Him, or told Him, ‘You have done wrong’?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Who hath enjoined him his way? Or who can say, Thou hast wrought unrighteousness?
KJV
Who hath enjoined him his way? or who can say, Thou hast wrought iniquity?
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This verse in Job 36
Commentary
11 notes on this verseWho will be able to search out His ways? Or who dareth to say to Him, Thou hast wrought iniquity? As if he said; 'How can He be blamed, Whose doing cannot be searched into? For no one judges properly of that, which he knows not. We ought, therefore, to rest the more silent under His judgments, the more we see that we perceive not the reason of His judgments.
This site's exposition
God is exalted in His power
on Job 36:22-26
Elihu turns to praise, and asks who is “a teacher like Him”. Henry reads “Who has appointed His way for Him” as Elihu anticipating the whirlwind's appeal to God's unaccountable greatness. Delitzsch notes the next verses' clouds and light moving the speech toward the whirlwind's weather.
This site's exposition
Who has appointed His way for Him
Albert Barnes hears a reproof of one who seemed to tell God His way. Gregory the Dialogist draws the lesson. No one judges well what he cannot search out, so a man should be the more silent under the judgment of God.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
And you certainly, he says, were tested so far in the furnace of correction. But God will indeed restore you and will bring you back to your former wealth and dignity.
The Medieval Church1 voice
Third, he proposes the incomprehensibility of his works when he says, "Who will be able to examine his ways," that is, sufficiently search the nature of his works? From this he concludes that he cannot be convicted of injustice, and so he says, "Or who …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
): " Behold, God exalteth by his power, " that is, "He does, may, and can set up and pull down whom he pleases, and therefore it is not for thee nor me to contend with him." The more we magnify God the more do we humble and abase ourselves. Now consider, (1.) That God is an absolute sovereign: He exalts by his own power, and not by strength derived from any other.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
1 Elihu also proceeded, and said, 2 Suffer me a little, and I will show thee that I have yet to speak on God's behalf. 3 I will fetch my knowledge from afar, and will ascribe righteousness to my Maker. 4 For truly my words shall not be false: he that is perfect in knowledge is with thee.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:89%@v2-4
Who hath enjoined him his way?.... He teaches men his own ways, the methods of his grace and mercy towards them; and he prescribes to them the ways in which they should walk; but none can lead or prescribe to him; as the way of governing the world, in what manner he should act in it; who has "taught him in the path of judgment?" or "showed to him the way of understanding?"
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Who hath enjoined him his way? - Who hath prescribed to him what he ought to do? Who is superior to him, and has marked out for him the plan which he ought to pursue? The idea is, that God is supreme and independent; no one has advised him, and no one has a right to counsel him. Perhaps, also, Elihu designs this as a reproof to Job for having complained so much of the government of God, and for being disposed, as he thought, to “prescribe” to God what he should do.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
He alone can teach; yet, because He, as a sovereign, explains not all His dealings, forsooth Job must presume to teach Him (Isa 40:13, 14; So the transition to Job 36:23 is natural. UMBREIT with the Septuagint translates, "Who is Lord," wrongly, as this meaning belongs to later Hebrew.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Who hath enjoined him his way - Has God taken instructions from any man how he shall govern the world? Thou hast wrought iniquity? - Who can prove, in the whole compass of the creation, that there is one thing imperfect, superabundant, or out of its place? Who can show that there is, in the course of the Divine providence, one unrighteous, cruel, or unwise act? All the cunning and wickedness of man have never been able to find out the smallest flaw in the work of God.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מִֽי־ | mi- | who? | H4310 → | 423 times |
| פָקַ֣ד | fakad | has he assigned | H6485 → | 303 times |
| עָלָ֣יו | ʾalav | on him | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| דַּרְכּ֑וֹ | darko | way his | H1870 → | 707 times |
| וּמִֽי־ | umi- | and who? | H4310 → | 423 times |
| אָ֝מַ֗ר | ʾamar | has he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| פָּעַ֥לְתָּ | paalta | you have done | H6466 → | 57 times |
| עַוְלָֽה׃ | ʾavlah | unrighteousness | H5766 → | 54 times |
מִֽי־who?
mi-H4310 →423 times
פָקַ֣דhas he assigned
fakadH6485 →303 times
עָלָ֣יוon him
ʾalavH5921 →5755 times
דַּרְכּ֑וֹway his
darkoH1870 →707 times
וּמִֽי־and who?
umi-H4310 →423 times
אָ֝מַ֗רhas he said
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
פָּעַ֥לְתָּyou have done
paaltaH6466 →57 times
עַוְלָֽה׃unrighteousness
ʾavlahH5766 →54 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
Ephesians 1:11In Him we were also chosen as God’s own, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything by the counsel of His will,
it leads to
- Romans 8:28
And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose.
- 1 Peter 1:4
and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, reserved in heaven for you,
- Isaiah 46:10–11
I declare the end from the beginning, and ancient times from what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and all My good pleasure I will accomplish.’
- Ephesians 1:14
who is the pledge of our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession, to the praise of His glory.
- Romans 8:28
Through
1 Corinthians 2:16“For who has known the mind of the Lord, so as to instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
it leads to
- Isaiah 40:13–14
Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD, or informed Him as His counselor?
- Romans 11:34
“Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been His counselor?”
- John 16:13–16
However, when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. For He will not speak on His own, but He will speak what He hears, and He will declare to…
- John 15:15
No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not understand what his master is doing. But I have called you friends, because everything I have learned from My Father I have…
- Isaiah 40:13–14
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); Ephrem the Syrian, COMMENTARY ON JOB 36:22; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Book of Job; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XXVII; Jamieson, Fausset & 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.