Job 9:32
in Job 9For He is not a man like me, that I can answer Him, that we can take each other to court.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him, That we should come together in judgment.
KJV
For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him, and we should come together in judgment.
⋯
This verse in Job 9
Commentary
8 notes on this verseFor He is not a man, such as I am, that I should answer Him, or that He can be heard with me in Judgment on an equal footing. When we 'contend with another in judgment on an equal footing,' we both learn what is urged against us, and in all we allege we are heard, and in proportion as we apprehend the points openly objected, we reply with boldness to the points propounded. In this way forasmuch as the invisible Judge sees all that we do, it is as if He hears things that we say.
This site's exposition
For He is not a man like me
on Job 9:32-35
"For He is not a man like me, that I can answer Him" states the imbalance, an opponent Job cannot meet at law. "Nor is there a mediator between us" is the first rung of a ladder the book climbs again at 16:19 and 19:25.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
This is what he means, if he who punishes were a man, his punishment would not have entirely condemned the one in affliction. I could have been judged before him and proved that he too is unjust. But since you are God, that is impossible. It is sufficient to be punished and to suffer the greatest condemnation.
The Medieval Church1 voice
He shows next why no matter how pure he is he cannot defend himself for being convicted as impure by God because of two things in which God excels man. These are the purity of his justice and the authority of his majesty. As to …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
): " He is not a man, as I am. I could venture to dispute with a man like myself (the potsherds may strive with the potsherds of the earth), but he is infinitely above me, and therefore I dare not enter the lists with him; I shall certainly be cast if I contend with him." Note, First, God is not a man as we are.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
For he is not a man, as I am,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
For he is not a man as I am - I cannot contend with him as with one of my fellows in a court of justice.
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
For he is not a man as I am - He is infinitely superior to me in majesty and power. The idea is, that the contest would be unequal, and that he might as well surrender without bringing the matter to an issue.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| אִ֣ישׁ | ʾish | [he is] a human | H376 → | 1663 times |
| כָּמֹ֣נִי | kamoni | like me | H3644 → | 143 times |
| אֶֽעֱנֶ֑נּוּ | ʾeenenu | I will answer him | H6030 → | 331 times |
| נָב֥וֹא | navo' | we will come | H935 → | 2568 times |
| יַ֝חְדָּ֗ו | yachdav | together | H3162 → | 141 times |
| בַּמִּשְׁפָּֽט׃ | bamishpat | in <the> judgment | H4941 → | 422 times |
כִּי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
אִ֣ישׁ[he is] a human
ʾishH376 →1663 times
כָּמֹ֣נִיlike me
kamoniH3644 →143 times
אֶֽעֱנֶ֑נּוּI will answer him
ʾeenenuH6030 →331 times
נָב֥וֹאwe will come
navo'H935 →2568 times
יַ֝חְדָּ֗וtogether
yachdavH3162 →141 times
בַּמִּשְׁפָּֽט׃in <the> judgment
bamishpatH4941 →422 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
Numbers 23:19God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 15:29
Moreover, the Glory of Israel does not lie or change His mind, for He is not a man, that He should change His mind.”
- James 1:17
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, with whom there is no change or shifting shadow.
- Malachi 3:6
“Because I, the LORD, do not change, you descendants of Jacob have not been destroyed.
- Hebrews 6:18
Thus by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be strongly encouraged.
- Titus 1:2
in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began.
- 1 Samuel 15:29
Through
Romans 9:20But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to Him who formed it, “Why did You make me like this?”
it leads to
- Isaiah 29:16
You have turned things upside down, as if the potter were regarded as clay. Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, “He did not make me”? Can the pottery say of…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 64:8
But now, O LORD, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You are the potter; we are all the work of Your hand.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 45:9–11
Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker—one clay pot among many. Does the clay ask the potter, ‘What are you making?’ Does your work say, ‘He has no hands’?
- Isaiah 29:16
Where this verse is studied
On this page
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); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Book of Job; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book IX; Gregory the Great, Morals on the Book of Job; John Chrysostom, COMMENTARY ON JOB 9:32A; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.