For he performs that which is appointed for me. Many such things are with him.
Parallel Translations
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For he performs that which is appointed for me. Many such things are with him.
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For he performeth the thing that is appointed for me: and many such things are with him.
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For He will perform that which is appointed for me; and many such things are with Him.
Cross-references (9)
Passages linked to Job 23:14 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 1 Thessalonians 3:3 that no one would be moved by these afflictions. For you know that we are appointed to this task.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:9 For God didn’t appoint us to wrath, but to the obtaining of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
- Psalms 77:19 Your way was through the sea; your paths through the great waters. Your footsteps were not known.
- Psalms 97:2 Clouds and darkness are around him. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
- Isaiah 40:27-28 Why do you say, Jacob, and speak, Israel, “My way is hidden from Yahweh, and the justice due me is disregarded by my God?” Haven’t you known? Haven’t you heard? The everlasting God, Yahweh, the Creator of the ends of the earth, doesn’t faint. He isn’t weary. His understanding is unsearchable.
- Romans 11:33 Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past tracing out!
- Job 7:3 so am I made to possess months of misery, wearisome nights are appointed to me.
- Micah 6:9 Yahweh’s voice calls to the city, and wisdom sees your name: “Listen to the rod, and he who appointed it.
- 1 Peter 2:8 and, “a stumbling stone and a rock of offense.” For they stumble at the word, being disobedient, to which also they were appointed.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (14 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain In many points man is not able to attain…
In many points man is not able to attain to God’s judgments.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Job 23:14 For he performeth [the thing that is]…
Job 23:14 For he performeth [the thing that is] appointed for me: and many such [things are] with him.
Ver. 14. For he performeth the thing that is appointed for me] He hath performed all my necessaries; so Vatablus rendereth it. It is the word that was used for appointed or necessary food, Job 23:12. Voluntas Dei, necessitas rei, God hath decreed thus to deal with me, and therein I must rest satisfied.
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And many such things are with me] I know not but that there may be many more sufferings yet decreed to come upon me in his secret counsel. Fiat voluntas Domini. Godly people, though they know not many times what the Lord will do and how he will deal with them; yet they always know that he is a merciful Father to them, and will order all for the best. This should content them, and keep them from chatting against God; and from nourishing hard conceits of him, or heavy conceits of themselves, as if wicked because afflicted.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Or, he will perfect or finish my appointed portion,…
Or, he will perfect or finish my appointed portion, i.e. those calamities which he hath allotted to me for my portion, which as he hath begun to lay on me, so he is resolved to make a full end of them.
And many such things are with him; there are many such examples of God’s proceeding with men in way of absolute sovereignty and severity, and his counsels and providences, though always just, yet are oft secret, and we cannot discern the reasonableness or equity of them, which is my case.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Therefore am I troubled at his presence,.... Not at…
Therefore am I troubled at his presence,.... Not at his gracious presence, which he wanted, and every good man desires; but at his appearance as an enemy, as he apprehended him, laying and continuing his afflictive hand upon him, and indeed at his appearance as a Judge to try his cause; for though he had most earnestly desired it, yet when he thought of the sovereignty of God, and the immutability of his counsels, and of his perfect knowledge of all things; and he not knowing what he had with him, and to bring out against him, when he came to the point, might be troubled and shrink back, see Psa 77:3;
when I consider, I am afraid of him: when he considered his terrible majesty, his sovereign will, his unalterable purposes, his infinite wisdom, and almighty power, his strict justice, and spotless purity; he was afraid to appear before him, or afraid that since many such things were with him he had already experienced, there were more to be brought forth, which might be greater and heavier still.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Performeth - Those calamities which he hath allotted to…
Performeth - Those calamities which he hath allotted to me. And - There are many such examples of God's proceeding with men.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 14. For he performeth the thing that is…
Verse 14. For he performeth the thing that is appointed for me] Coverdale translates: - He rewardeth me into my bosome, and many other thinges mo doth he, as he maye by his power. חקי chukki may as well be translated bosom here as in the 12th verse; Job 23:12; but probably it may mean a portion, lot, sufficiency: For he hath appointed me my lot; and like these there are multitudes with him. He diversifies human affairs: scarcely any two men have the same lot; nor has the same person the same portion at all times. He has multitudes of resources, expedients, means, &c., which he employs in governing human affairs.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Job 23:14-15. He performeth, &c. — Hebrew, ישׁלום חקי,…
Job 23:14-15. He performeth, &c. — Hebrew, ישׁלום חקי, jashlim chukki, he will perfect, or finish, my appointed portion, that is, those calamities which he hath allotted to me for my portion. And many such things are with him. There are many such examples of God’s proceeding with men; and his counsels and providences, though always just, yet are often secret; and we cannot discern the reasonableness or equity of them. Therefore am I troubled at his presence, &c. — When I set this great and holy God before me, and reflect that I am in his presence, I am troubled at the consideration of his glorious majesty, and sovereign, irresistible power, by which he can do whatsoever pleaseth him, without giving any account of his matters. There is, indeed, that in God which, if we consider, we shall see cause to be afraid of him: his infinite justice and purity, compared with our sinfulness and vileness; but if, withal, we consider his grace in a Redeemer, and are conscious of our compliance with that grace, the fears will vanish, and we shall see cause to hope in him.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain For he performeth the thing that is appointed for…
For he performeth the thing that is appointed for me - “I am now meeting only what has been determined by his eternal plan. I know not what is the “reason” why it was appointed; but I see that God had resolved to do it, and that it is vain to resist him.” So when we suffer, we may say the same thing. It is not by chance or hap-hazard that we are afflicted; it is because “God” has “appointed” that it should be so. It is not by passion or caprice on his part; not by sudden anger or wrath; but it is because he had determined to do it as a part of his eternal plan. It is much, when we are afflicted, to be able to make this reflection. I had rather be afflicted, feeling that it is “the appointment of God,” than feeling that it is “by chance” or “hap-hazard.” I had rather think that it is a part of a plan calmly and deliberately formed by God, than that it is the result of some unexpected and uncontrollable cause. In the one case, I see that mind and thought and plan have been employed, and I infer that there is a “reason” for it, though I cannot see it; in the other, I can see no proof of reason or of wisdom, and my mind finds no rest. The doctrine of divine purposes or decrees, therefore, is eminently adapted to give consolation to a sufferer. I had infinitely rather be under the operation of a plan or decree where there “may” be a reason for all that is done, though I cannot see it, than to feel that I am subject to the tossings of blind chance, where there can possibly be no reason.
And many such things are with him - The purpose does not pertain to me alone. It is a part of a great plan which extends to others - to all things. He is executing his plans around me, and I should not complain that in the development of his vast purposes I am included, and that I suffer. The idea seems to be this, that Job found consolation in the belief that he was not alone in these circumstances; that he had not been marked out and selected as a special object of divine displeasure. Others had suffered in like manner. There were “many” cases just like his own, and why should he complain? If I felt that there was special displeasure against “me;” that no others wcre treated in the same way, it would make afflictions much more difficult to bear. But when I feel that there is an eternal plan which embraces all, and that I only come in for my share, in common with others, of the calamities which are judged necessary for the world, I can bear them with much more ease and patience.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain With him, to punish me afresh. Hebrew, "when he…
With him, to punish me afresh. Hebrew, "when he shall have appointed me my portion, he shall still have many such." He may treat me as a slave, allowing me only a certain portion of meat, Proverbs xxx. 8., and xxxi. 15. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain many such--He has yet many more such ills in…
many such--He has yet many more such ills in store for me, though hidden in His breast (Job 10:13).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain Fourth strophe — The thought that he should be…
Fourth strophe — The thought that he should be the helpless victim of the impenetrable purposes of an unchangeable God fills Job with unspeakable terror, Job_23:14-17.
14. The thing that is appointed for me — חקי. Same word as in Job_23:12; here meaning lot or destiny. Yes, He will accomplish my destiny. (Dillmann, Zockler.)
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And many such (lots) are with him — The lot of all human lives is planned by God. He determines after what pattern they shall be moulded, what afflictions shall befall, how oft the gold shall be subjected to the alembic of sorrow, and in what new combinations of beauty the graces shall expand in flower and ripen in fruit. The many millions of beings pliant beneath the hand and heart of the divine Moulder, in varied character and experience may vie with the starry heavens in showing forth the glory of God.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 14. For he performeth] Or, Yea He will perform,…
14. For he performeth] Or, Yea He will perform, or, accomplish. The “thing appointed” for Job is his death through his malady, which the Almighty has resolved upon. This is the profound enigma to Job; but it is far from being a solitary one: “many such things are with Him”—the instance is but one out of many similar ones that happen under God’s rule of the world of mankind; comp. ch. Job_21:23 seq.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (14) He performeth the thing that is appointed for…
(14) He performeth the thing that is appointed for me.—“He will accomplish my appointed lot; He will complete that which He has decreed for me; and like these things there are many (more) with Him” (Job_10:13). Job is disposed to take the full measure of the worst, like a pessimist, that being steeled against it, he may be prepared; and so steeled, he still trusts God. (Comp. Job_13:15, Authorised Version.)
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain For he performeth the thing that is appointed for…
For he performeth the thing that is appointed for me; i.e. he will assuredly accomplish whatever he has decreed for me. I cannot expect that he will blench or change. And many such things are with him. He has many other weapons in his armoury, many other woes with which he might afflict me.
Vers. 14-17. The humbled and overwhelmed sufferer.
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The position of Job is one of confusion and unexplained mystery. He is in the hands of the Almighty. His punishment, as some affirm it to be, is very heavy. It at times seems to be greater than he can bear. Yet he is uncondemned within. He holds fast to his integrity. Like his friends, he interprets sufferings into punishments for sin. Yet he is not conscious of sin, certainly not of sin to such a degree as to merit such heavy judgment. He is confounded. He can but yield. He believes in the Divine justice, although his faith in it is tried by the conflicting convictions of his mind and his inability to interpret the Divine ways. That his own righteousness will shine out ultimately he is persuaded. "When he hath tried me, "shall come forth as gold." In the mean while he is overpowered. The struggle is severe; the strain upon his faith is very great. It is the uninterpreted mystery, the apparent confliction of the Divine dealings, that bows Job to the earth. He is troubled at the Divine presence; when he thinks of God he is afraid, and his heart is dejected. This picture of the humbled, overwhelmed servant of God holding fast his faith in the consciousness of integrity, declares the true causes of the support which Job experienced in his overwhelming afflictions to be
(1) a consciousness of integrity;
(2) faith in the Divine Name;
(3) patient anticipation of final vindication.
I Without THE ASSURANCE OF PERSONAL INTEGRITY Job could not be free from the sorrows which come of condemnation. The testimony of conscience to the wrongness and disobedience of life is the keenest and most penetrative of afflictions. It reaches to the very core of the spirit. The utmost sensibility of the soul is aroused. No outward calm can allay this inner agitation. But if there is peace within; if the soul is not at war with itself; if there is the inestimable consciousness of personal freedom from condemnation, the soul may writhe in its pain, but it is upheld by the assurance that the affliction comes not weighted with the burden of retribution.
II It is through this freedom from self-reproach and self-condemnation alone that TRUE FAITH IN GOD can be sustained. Job may be overwhelmed at the thought of God, but he lacks not faith in him; and them is no sense of buried wrong weakening his trust, or impairing the comfort that comes from a belief in the deep, if hidden, Divine approval.
III And it is this which supports him in THE HOPE OF A FINAL VINDICATION The unjustly condemned may wait. Trouble may overshadow him, he may be heavily burdened, his heart may quake and fear, but he knows he shall at last rise superior to all aspersions of evildoing. Herein lies the secret of a sustaining peace in the midst of the severest of earth"s trials; this is the true ground of hope, this the encouragement to sustaining faith. R.G.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.