Job 4:2 BSB — MannaFest

Job 4:2

“If one ventures a word with you, will you be wearied? Yet who can keep from speaking?

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

If one assay to commune with thee, wilt thou be grieved? But who can withhold himself from speaking?

KJV

If we assay to commune with thee, wilt thou be grieved? but who can withhold himself from speaking?

⋯

Commentary

1 voice

Albert Barnes

1798–1870

Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)

If we assay to commune with thee - Margin, A word. Hebrew - הנסה דבר dâbâr hanı̂câh. “May we attempt a word with thee?” This is a gentle and polite apology at the beginning of his speech - an inquiry whether he would take it as unkind if one should adventure on a remark in the way of argument. Jahn, in characterizing the part which Job’s three friends respectively take in the controversy, says: “Eliphaz is superior to the others in discernment and delicacy. He begins by addressing Job mildly; and it is not until irritated by opposition that he reckons him among the wicked.” Wilt thou be grieved? - That is, Wilt thou take it ill? Will it be offensive to you, or weary you, or tire your patience? The word used here (לאה lâ'âh) means to labor, to strive, to weary, to exhaust; and hence, to be weary, to try one’s patience, to take anything ill. Here it is the language of courtesy, and is designed to introduce the subsequent remarks in the kindest manner. Eliphaz knew that he was about to make observations which might implicate Job, and he introduced them in as kind a manner as possible. There is nothing abrupt or harsh in his beginning. All is courteous in the highest degree, and is a model for debaters. But who can withhold himself from speaking? - Margin, “Refrain from words.” That is, “the subject is so important, the sentiments advanced by Job are so extraordinary, and the principles involved are so momentous, that it is impossible to refrain.” There is much delicacy in this. He did not begin to speak merely to make a speech. He professes that be would not have spoken, if he had not been pressed by the importance of the subject, and had not been full of matter. To a great extent, this is a good rule to adopt: not to make a speech unless there are sentiments which weigh upon the mind, and convictions of duty which cannot be repressed.

Voices on this verse

loading…

Original language & word study

8 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
הֲנִסָּ֬ה	ha.ni.Sah	¿ did someone attempt	H5254 →
דָבָ֣ר	da.Var	a word	H1697 →
אֵלֶ֣יךָ	'e.Lei.kha	to you	H413 →
תִּלְאֶ֑ה	til.'Eh	will you be impatient?	H3811 →
וַעְצֹ֥ר	va'.Tzor	and to restrain	H6113 →
בְּ֝מִלִּ֗ין	be.mi.Lin	<in> words	H4405 →
מִ֣י	mi	who?	H4310 →
יוּכָֽל׃	yu.Khal	is he able	H3201 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Acts 4:20
For we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”
leads to
- Jeremiah 20:9
  If I say, “I will not mention Him or speak any more in His name,” His message becomes a fire burning in my heart, shut up in my bones, and I become weary of…
  Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
- Acts 22:15
  You will be His witness to everyone of what you have seen and heard.
- 1 Corinthians 9:16–17
  Yet when I preach the gospel, I have no reason to boast, because I am obligated to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!
- 1 John 1:1–3
  That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our own eyes, which we have gazed upon and touched with our own hands—this is the Word of life.
- Acts 5:32
  We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him.”
Through
Jeremiah 6:11
But I am full of the LORD’s wrath; I am tired of holding it back. “Pour it out on the children in the street, and on the young men gathered together. For both husband…
leads to
- Jeremiah 9:21
  For death has climbed in through our windows; it has entered our fortresses to cut off the children from the streets, the young men from the town squares.
- Micah 3:8
  As for me, however, I am filled with power by the Spirit of the LORD, with justice and courage, to declare to Jacob his transgression and to Israel his sin.
- Job 32:18–19
  For I am full of words, and my spirit within me compels me.

About Job

Job Hears of His Misfortunes — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

Job: the study guide →Read chapter 4 →The featured study →

Continue: Job 4 →

01Commentary

Voices on this verse

02Original language & word study

03The walk

Where the connections lead

04Related verses

06About Job

Where the connections lead

Commentary

Original language & word study

The walk

Related verses

About Job