Job 38:2
in Job 38“Who is this who obscures My counsel by words without knowledge?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Who is this that darkeneth counsel By words without knowledge?
KJV
Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?
⋯
This verse in Job 38
Commentary
9 notes on this verseWho is this that involves sentences in unskilful words? As we have said also in the former part, an interrogative of this kind, in which it is said, Who is this? is the beginning of a reproof. For Eliu had spoken arrogantly. And we say not, Who is this, excepting expressly of him whom we know not. But knowledge on God's part is approval; His not knowing is rejection.
This site's exposition
out of the whirlwind
on Job 38:1-3
The whirlwind speech opens with a question in place of an answer. “Now brace yourself like a man” calls up a wrestler or servant readying for work. Henry reads the commands as God granting Job's demand for a hearing on terms Job never expected: questions, where he wanted a verdict.
This site's exposition
Who is this who obscures
Gregory the Dialogist and Thomas Aquinas heard this question as a reproof of Elihu, who had just finished speaking. John Gill and Albert Barnes read it of Job, the man Job 38:1 names as the one the Lord answered. Gill notes that Job owns the words in chapter 42.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
Once a dispute has been determined by the opinion of the judge, nothing else remains to be said unless the statement of the determination is rejected. So the Lord first rejects the determination of the question which Eliud had made. He rejects it because Eliud …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Who is this,.... Meaning not Elihu the last speaker, as some think; and there are some who suppose not only that these words are directed to him, but all that is said in this and the following chapter: but it was Job the Lord spoke to and answered, as expressed in Job 38:1; and these words are taken by Job to himself, Job 42:
We confound and perplex ourselves and one another when we dispute of the order of God's decrees, and the designs, and reasons, and methods, of his operations of providence and grace. A humble faith and sincere obedience shall see further and better into the secret of the Lord than all the philosophy of the schools, and the searches of science, so called.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
this--Job. counsel--impugning My divine wisdom in the providential arrangements of the universe. Such "words" (including those of the friends) rather obscure, than throw light on My ways. God is about to be Job's Vindicator, but must first bring him to a right state of mind for receiving relief.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
Who is this that darkeneth counsel - As if he had said, Who art thou who pretendest to speak on the deep things of God, and the administration of his justice and providence, which thou canst not comprehend; and leavest my counsels and designs the darker for thy explanation?
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Who is this - Referring doubtless to Job, for he is specified in the previous verse. Some have understood it of Elihu (see Schultens), but the connection evidently demands that it should be understood as referring to Job. The object was, to reprove him for the presumptuous manner in which he had spoken of God and of his government. It was important before God manifested his approval of Job, that he should declare his sense of what he had said, and show him how improper it was to indulge in language such as he had used. That darkeneth counsel - That makes the subject darker. Instead of explaining the reason of the divine dealings, and vindicating God from the objections alleged against him and his government, the only tendency of what he had said had been to make his government appear dark, and severe, and unjust in the view of his friends. It might have been expected of Job, being a friend of God, that all that he said would have tended to inspire confidence in him, and to explain and vindicate the divine dealings; but, God had seen much that was the very reverse. Even the true friends of God, in the dark times of trial, may say much that will tend to make people doubt the wisdom and goodness of his government, and to prejudice the minds of the wicked against him. By words without knowledge - Words that did not contain a true explanation of the difficulty. They conveyed no light about his dealings; they did not tend to satisfy the mind, or to make the subject more clear than it was before. There is much of this kind of speaking in the world; much that is written, and much that fails from the lips in debate, in preaching, and in conversation, that explains nothing, and that even leaves the subject more perplexed than it was before. […]
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
from the tempest Heb. מן הסערה. Count your hairs and I will give you as many answers.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מִ֤י | mi | who? | H4310 → | 423 times |
| זֶ֨ה׀ | zeh | this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| מַחְשִׁ֖יךְ | machshikh | [is] making dark | H2821 → | 17 times |
| עֵצָ֥ה | ʾetzah | counsel | H6098 → | 89 times |
| בְמִלִּ֗ין | vemilin | by words | H4405 → | 38 times |
| בְּֽלִי־ | beli- | not | H1097 → | 58 times |
| דָֽעַת׃ | daat | knowledge | H1847 → | 92 times |
מִ֤יwho?
miH4310 →423 times
זֶ֨ה׀this
zehH2088 →1180 times
מַחְשִׁ֖יךְ[is] making dark
machshikhH2821 →17 times
עֵצָ֥הcounsel
ʾetzahH6098 →89 times
בְמִלִּ֗יןby words
vemilinH4405 →38 times
בְּֽלִי־not
beli-H1097 →58 times
דָֽעַת׃knowledge
daatH1847 →92 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
1 Timothy 1:7They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not understand what they are saying or that which they so confidently assert.
it leads to
- Romans 1:22
Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools,
- 2 Peter 2:12
These men are like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be captured and destroyed. They blaspheme in matters they do not understand, and like such creatures, they too will be destroyed.
- 1 Timothy 6:4
he is conceited and understands nothing. Instead, he has an unhealthy interest in controversies and semantics, out of which come envy, strife, abusive talk, evil suspicions,
- Romans 1:22
Through
Job 42:3You 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.
it leads to
- Psalms 131:1
My heart is not proud, O LORD, my eyes are not haughty. I do not aspire to great things or matters too lofty for me.
- Psalms 139:6
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.
- Psalms 40:5
Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders You have done, and the plans You have for us— none can compare to You— if I proclaim and declare them, they are more than I…
- Proverbs 30:2–4
Surely I am the most ignorant of men, and I lack the understanding of a man.
- Psalms 131:1
Through
Job 12:3But I also have a mind; I am not inferior to you. Who does not know such things as these?
it leads to
- Job 13:2–5
What you know, I also know; I am not inferior to you.
- Job 13:2–5
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies10
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 XXVIII; 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.