Job 37:19
in Job 37Teach us what we should say to Him; we cannot draw up our case when our faces are in darkness.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Teach us what we shall say unto him; For we cannot set our speech in order by reason of darkness.
KJV
Teach us what we shall say unto him; for we cannot order our speech by reason of darkness.
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This verse in Job 37
Commentary
3 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Teach us what we shall say unto him - This seems to be addressed to Job. It is the language of Elihu, implying that he was overawed with a sense of the majesty and glory of such a God. He knew not in what manner, or with what words to approach such a Being, and he asks Job to inform him, if he knew. We cannot order our speech by reason of darkness - Job had repeatedly professed a desire to bring his cause directly before God, and to argue it in his presence.
This site's exposition
Teach us what we shall say unto him
on Job 37:19-22
Elihu confesses his own speech has failed, teach us what we shall say unto him, for we cannot order our speech by reason of darkness, before the sky itself begins to clear. Fair weather cometh out of the north at verse 22 carries readings that divide: some of the bench read golden brightness in the northern sky as the storm breaks, and others read it as the approach of God's own glory, with God is terrible majesty following either way. Delitzsch and JFB both note the verse sits just before the Lord answers Job out of the whirlwind, brightness gathering as the speaker changes.
The record, by era
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Men cannot explain God's wonders; we ought, therefore, to be dumb and not contend with God. If Job thinks we ought, "let him teach us, what we shall say." order--frame. darkness--of mind; ignorance. "The eyes are bewilderingly blinded, when turned in bold controversy with God towards the sunny heavens" (Job 37:18) [UMBREIT].
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ה֭וֹדִיעֵנוּ | hodienu | make known to us | H3045 → | 945 times |
| מַה־ | mah- | what? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| נֹּ֣אמַר | nomar | will we say | H559 → | 5305 times |
| ל֑וֹ | lo | to him | ||
| לֹ֥א־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| נַ֝עֲרֹ֗ךְ | naarokh | we will set in order | H6186 → | 74 times |
| מִפְּנֵי־ | mipenei- | <from> because of | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| חֹֽשֶׁךְ׃ | choshekh | darkness | H2822 → | 80 times |
ה֭וֹדִיעֵנוּmake known to us
hodienuH3045 →945 times
מַה־what?
mah-H4100 →752 times
נֹּ֣אמַרwill we say
nomarH559 →5305 times
ל֑וֹto him
lo
לֹ֥א־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
נַ֝עֲרֹ֗ךְwe will set in order
naarokhH6186 →74 times
מִפְּנֵי־<from> because of
mipenei-H6440 →2123 times
חֹֽשֶׁךְ׃darkness
choshekhH2822 →80 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 38:2“Who is this who obscures My counsel by words without knowledge?
it leads to
- Job 42:3
You asked, ‘Who is this who conceals My counsel without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know.
- Job 35:16
So Job opens his mouth in vain and multiplies words without knowledge.”
- 1 Timothy 1:7
They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not understand what they are saying or that which they so confidently assert.
- Job 42:3
Through
Psalms 73:22I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before You.
it leads to
- Ecclesiastes 3:18
I said to myself, “As for the sons of men, God tests them so that they may see for themselves that they are but beasts.”
- Psalms 92:6
A senseless man does not know, and a fool does not understand,
- Ecclesiastes 3:18
Through
Job 26:14Indeed, these are but the fringes of His ways; how faint is the whisper we hear of Him! Who then can understand the thunder of His power?”
it leads to
- Isaiah 40:26–29
Lift up your eyes on high: Who created all these? He leads forth the starry host by number; He calls each one by name. Because of His great power and mighty strength, not one…
- Psalms 139:6
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.
- Isaiah 40:26–29
Through
Job 13:3Yet I desire to speak to the Almighty and argue my case before God.
it leads to
- Isaiah 41:21
“Present your case,” says the LORD. “Submit your arguments,” says the King of Jacob.
- Isaiah 41:21
About Job
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Book of Job; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible and Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible.