Job 40:8
in Job 40Would you really annul My justice? Would you condemn Me to justify yourself?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Wilt thou even annul my judgment? Wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be justified?
KJV
Wilt thou also disannul my judgment? wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous?
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This verse in Job 40
Commentary
11 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Wilt thou not only contend with, but set aside My judgment or justice in the government of the world? condemn--declare Me unrighteous, in order that thou mayest be accounted righteous (innocent; undeservingly afflicted).
This site's exposition
out of the whirlwind
on Job 40:6-9
The second speech opens as the first did, “out of the whirlwind”. It repeats “brace yourself like a man” before its sharpest question at verse 8, “Would you condemn Me to justify yourself”. Henry sees the danger of Job's defense, that clearing himself means putting God in the wrong.
This site's exposition
Would you really annul My justice
Wesley reads annul as repeal, as if the justice of God were unjust. Aquinas held that Job never meant to condemn God. Chrysostom heard God, even in rebuke, bent on showing Job righteous.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Either he speaks here about his present intervention, as if to say, "I do not speak so in order to condemn you but to show that you are righteous"; or he wants to speak about his trial by calling intervention his approval. This means, "Do not think that I managed things in this manner for any other reason." He did not say, "In order that you might be righteous" but "that you might appear to be righteous," as you actually were, so that you might teach others. Finally, he may want to speak about his present intervention, as if to say, "If I said it, it is in order that you might appear to be righteous after the words that I had expressed, not in order to condemn you." Then he places again before him his power and his hatred for the wicked, because I am not only powerful, he says, but I act and use my power against the wicked.
The Medieval Church2 voices
Consider that Job in appealing to his own justice, did not intend to impute evil to the divine judgment as his three friends and Eliud wrongly understood. But he intended to show that he had not been punished in revenge for his sins as they …
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistMorals on the Book of Job, Book XXXII · Written before 604.
proposed
Wilt thou disannul My judgment, and condemn Me, that thou mayest be justified? 5. Whoever strives to defend himself against the scourges of God, endeavours to set aside the judgment of Him Who inflicts them. For when he says that he is not smitten for his own fault, what else does he but accuse the injustice of the Smiter?
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Wilt thou - Every word is emphatical, wilt (art thou resolved upon it) thou (thou Job, whom I took to be one of a better mind) also (not only vindicate thyself, but also accuse me) disannul (not only question, but even repeal and make void, as if it were unjust) my judgment?
God's judgment cannot, must not, be disannulled, for we are sure it is according to truth, and therefore it is a great piece of impudence and iniquity in us to call in question. " Wilt thou, " says God, " condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous?
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Wilt thou also disannul my judgment?....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Wilt thou condemn me - Rather than submit to be thought in the wrong, wilt thou condemn My conduct, in order to justify thyself? Some men will never acknowledge themselves in the wrong. “God may err, but we cannot,” seems to be their impious maxim. Unwillingness to acknowledge a fault frequently leads men, directly or indirectly, to this sort of blasphemy. There are three words most difficult to be pronounced in all languages, - I Am Wrong.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Wilt thou disannul my judgment? - Wilt thou “reverse” the judgment which I have formed, and show that it should have been different from what it is? This was implied in what Job had undertaken. He had complained of the dealings of God, and this was the same as saying that he could show that those dealings should have been different from what they were. When a man complains against God, it is always implied that he supposes he could show why his dealings should be different from what they are, and that they should be reversed. Wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous? - Or, rather, probably, “Wilt thou show that I am wrong because thou art superior in justice?” Job had allowed himself to use language which strongly implied that God was improperly severe. He had regarded himself as punished far beyond what he deserved, and as suffering in a manner which justice did not demand. All this implied that “he” was more righteous in the case than God, for when a man allows himself to vent such complaints, it indicates that he esteems himself to be more just than his Maker. God now calls upon Job to maintain this proposition, since he had advanced it, and to urge the arguments which would prove that “he” was more righteous in the case than God. It was proper to demand this. It was a charge of such a nature that it could not be passed over in silence, and God asks, therefore, with emphasis, whether Job now supposed that he could institute such an argument as to show that he was right and his Maker wrong.
The words behind it
6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הַ֭אַף | haaf | ¿ even | H637 → | 134 times |
| תָּפֵ֣ר | tafer | will you annul | H6565 → | 50 times |
| מִשְׁפָּטִ֑י | mishpati | justice my | H4941 → | 422 times |
| תַּ֝רְשִׁיעֵ֗נִי | tarshieni | will you condemn as guilty? me | H7561 → | 34 times |
| לְמַ֣עַן | lemaan | so that | H4616 → | 272 times |
| תִּצְדָּֽק׃ | titzdak | you may be justified | H6663 → | 41 times |
הַ֭אַף¿ even
haafH637 →134 times
תָּפֵ֣רwill you annul
taferH6565 →50 times
מִשְׁפָּטִ֑יjustice my
mishpatiH4941 →422 times
תַּ֝רְשִׁיעֵ֗נִיwill you condemn as guilty? me
tarshieniH7561 →34 times
לְמַ֣עַןso that
lemaanH4616 →272 times
תִּצְדָּֽק׃you may be justified
titzdakH6663 →41 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
Romans 3:4Certainly not! Let God be true and every man a liar. As it is written: “So that You may be proved right when You speak and victorious when You judge.”
it leads to
- Psalms 51:4
Against You, You only, have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You may be proved right when You speak and blameless when You judge.
- Psalms 116:11
In my alarm I said, “All men are liars!”
- Galatians 2:17
But if, while we seek to be justified in Christ, we ourselves are found to be sinners, does that make Christ a minister of sin? Certainly not!
- Psalms 51:4
Through
Isaiah 14:27The LORD of Hosts has purposed, and who can thwart Him? His hand is outstretched, so who can turn it back?
it leads to
- Isaiah 43:13
Even from eternity I am He, and none can deliver out of My hand. When I act, who can reverse it?”
- Job 23:13
But He is unchangeable, and who can oppose Him? He does what He desires.
- 2 Chronicles 20:6
and said, “O LORD, God of our fathers, are You not the God who is in heaven, and do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations? Power and might are in…
- Proverbs 21:30
There is no wisdom, no understanding, no counsel that can prevail against the LORD.
- Job 9:12
If He takes away, who can stop Him? Who dares to ask Him, ‘What are You doing?’
- Isaiah 43:13
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Job
This page draws on 10 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); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Book of Job; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XXXII; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, COMMENTARY ON JOB 40:8; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.