Why do you strive against him, because he doesn’t give account of any of his matters?
Parallel Translations
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Why do you strive against him, because he doesn’t give account of any of his matters?
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Why dost thou strive against him? for he giveth not account of any of his matters.
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Why hast thou striven against Him? seeing that He will not answer any of his words.
Cross-references (16)
Passages linked to Job 33:13 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Job 40:2 “Shall he who argues contend with the Almighty? He who argues with God, let him answer it.”
- Isaiah 45:9 Woe to him who strives with his Maker— a clay pot among the clay pots of the earth! Shall the clay ask him who fashions it, ‘What are you making?’ or your work, ‘He has no hands?’
- Daniel 4:35 All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; and he does according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth; and no one can stop his hand, or ask him, “What are you doing?”
- Romans 11:34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?”
- Deuteronomy 29:29 The secret things belong to Yahweh our God; but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.
- Job 9:14 How much less will I answer him, And choose my words to argue with him?
- Job 15:25-26 Because he has stretched out his hand against God, and behaves himself proudly against the Almighty, he runs at him with a stiff neck, with the thick shields of his bucklers,
- Psalms 62:11 God has spoken once; twice I have heard this, that power belongs to God.
- Isaiah 46:10 I declare the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done. I say: My counsel will stand, and I will do all that I please.
- Jeremiah 50:24 I have laid a snare for you, and you are also taken, Babylon, and you weren’t aware. You are found, and also caught, because you have fought against Yahweh.
- Ezekiel 22:14 Can your heart endure, or can your hands be strong, in the days that I will deal with you? I, Yahweh, have spoken it, and will do it.
- Matthew 20:15 Isn’t it lawful for me to do what I want to with what I own? Or is your eye evil, because I am good?’
- Acts 1:7 He said to them, “It isn’t for you to know times or seasons which the Father has set within his own authority.
- Acts 5:39 But if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow it, and you would be found even to be fighting against God!”
- Acts 9:4-5 He fell on the earth, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” He said, “Who are you, Lord?” The Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.
- 1 Corinthians 10:22 Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (16 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain The cause of his judgments is not always declared…
The cause of his judgments is not always declared to man.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Job 33:13 Why dost thou strive against him? for…
Job 33:13 Why dost thou strive against him? for he giveth not account of any of his matters.
Ver. 13. Why dost thou strive against him?] Why dost thou wrangle and reason it thus irreverently with God, whose will alone is the supreme reason, nec recta solum, sed et ipsa regula; and not only right, but the very rule of right? He may better say, than any Constantine, that Arian emperor, Quod ego volo, pro Canone sit, Let my will be your sovereign rule; since things are therefore right because I will them; I will them not, because they are right. Who then art thou, O man, that repliest against God? saith St Paul; that chattest and wordest it with him, that answereth again, and thinkest to hold him to it, and be hard enough for him? Rom 9:20. "Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth," Isa 45:9. Let men learn to meddle with their match, and not to contend with God, who is much mightier than they, Ecc 6:10, and hath assured them that with the froward he will wrestle, Psa 18:26. Jeremiah, who in his distemper would needs reason the cause with God concerning his judgments (which are sometimes secret, but always just), did well and wisely to preface thus: "Righteous art thou, O Lord, when I plead with thee," Jer 12:1.
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For he giveth not account of any of his matters] Heb. of all his matters; for he is ανυπευθυνος, the most highest; and therefore not to be reckoned with by any for aught he doth. If he so far abase himself as to give account of any of his proceedings for our satisfaction, it is dignatio stupenda, a wonderful condescension. Vatablus rendereth the text thus, Non enim omnia verba sua loquitur; for he uttereth not all his words; that is, he revealeth not all his secrets, q.d. he doth all for our good, though we for present understand it not. He oft answereth us as the echo doth the voice, cutting off the one half of it; but stand a while and see the salvation of the Lord, he is usually better to his people than their conceits, and delighteth to help those that are forsaken in their hopes.
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 Why? upon what grounds and for what ends? What…
Why? upon what grounds and for what ends? What advantage dost thou expect from it?
Dost thou strive against him, to wit, in a judicial way? See Job 8:6.
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He giveth not account of any of his matters; he neither useth, nor is by any law obliged, to give an account to any of his creatures of the grounds and reasons of his judgments or dispensations, as being the supreme and absolute Governor of all persons and things, in whose will and pleasure it becometh all men to acquiesce. And therefore, O Job, thou exceedest all bounds of modesty, and humility, and reverence, and submission, which thou owest to thy Maker, in that thou presumest to demand a reason for his dealings with thee, and to quarrel with him for not giving it to thee at thy desire. Or, he answereth not all his words, i.e. he doth not say, or hath not said, all that he can to justify his actions, which he can do many more ways than we can imagine; but hath revealed so much of his will and ways to mankind as he hath thought meet, and as their narrow capacity can comprehend; as he declareth in the following verses.
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 Why dost thou strive against him?.... A creature against…
Why dost thou strive against him?.... A creature against the Creator, a man against his Maker, the clay against the potter; how absurd and stupid is this! and a piece of weakness and folly it was in him to desire to litigate the point with God, and dispute with him, as he often did, when men cannot answer him one of a thousand, as he himself owned, Job 9:3; and very sinful and criminal it is to chide with God, or complain of him, on account of any of his dealings with the sons of men, as well as it is vain and fruitless:
for he giveth not account of any of his matters; he is a sovereign Being, and does what he pleases in nature, providence, and grace, and is not accountable to any for what he does; in things temporal, he does all after the counsel of his will; he bestows riches and honours, wealth and health, gifts of natural wisdom and knowledge on some, and withholds them from others; and each of these are his own, and he may do with them as he pleases: so likewise in things spiritual, he loves, chooses, redeems, regenerates, calls by his grace, and brings to glory whom he thinks fit; the blessings of grace and glory are his own, and he disposes of them as seems good in his sight; and in all respects he acts according to his will in heaven and in earth; none can stay his hand, or hinder him from doing his pleasure; and none ought to say to him, what dost thou? or why dost thou thus? or, if they do, he is not obliged to give any reasons for his so doing. Some take this to be the thing Job strove and contended with God about, that he did not, and because he did not give an account of all his matters, or answer all his words; and particularly he did not show to him wherefore he contended with him; and others think the meaning is, that God does not reveal all his secrets to men, but only as much as he thinks fit to acquaint them with; secret things belong to him, and things revealed to men; the secrets of his own nature, and the modes of subsistence of the divine Persons in the Godhead, the secret reasons of divine predestination of men to life or death, and of his dealings with men in a providential way, afflicting the righteous, and suffering the wicked to prosper.
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 He - Useth not to give an account to…
He - Useth not to give an account to his creatures of the grounds and reasons of his judgments or dispensations as being the supreme governor of all persons and things, in whose will it becometh all men to acquiesce.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 13. Why dost thou strive against him?] Is…
Verse 13. Why dost thou strive against him?] Is it not useless to contend with God? Can he do any thing that is not right? As to his giving thee any account of the reasons why he deals thus and thus with thee, or any one else, thou needest not expect it; he is sovereign, and is not to be called to the bar of his creatures. It is sufficient for thee to know that "he is too wise to err, and too good to be unkind."
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 33:13. Why dost thou strive against him? —…
Job 33:13. Why dost thou strive against him? — Upon what grounds, and for what ends? What advantage dost thou expect from it? Why dost thou presume to dispute with him, and call him to an account for his actions? for he giveth not account of any of his matters — He revealeth not to us the secrets of his providence. He neither useth, nor is, by any law, obliged to give an account to any of his creatures, of the reasons of his judgments and dispensations, as being the supreme and absolute Governor of all persons and things, in whose will it becomes all men to acquiesce.
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 Why dost thou strive against him? - By refusing…
Why dost thou strive against him? - By refusing to submit to him, and by calling in question his wisdom and goodness.
For he giveth not account of any of his matters - Margin, as in Hebrew “answereth not.” The idea is, that it is as useless as it is improper to contend with God. He does his own pleasure, and deals with man as he deems best and right. The reason of his doings he does not state, nor has man any power to extort from him a statement of the causes why he afflicts us. This is still true. The reason of his doings he does not often make known to the afflicted, and it is impossible to know now the causes why he has brought on us the calamity with which we are visited. The general reasons why men are afflicted may be better known now than they were in the time of Elihu, for successive revelations have thrown much light on that subject. But when he comes and afflicts us as individuals; when he takes away a beloved child; when he cuts down the young, the vigorous, the useful, and the pious, it is often impossible to understand why he has done it.
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All that we can do then is to submit to his sovereign will, and to believe that though we cannot see the reasons why he has done it, yet that does not prove that there are no reasons, or that we may never be permitted to understand them. We are required to submit to his will, not to our own reason; to acquiesce because he does it, not because we see it to be right. If we always understood the reasons why he afflicts us, our resignation would be not to the will of God, but to our own knowledge of what is right; and God, therefore, often passes before us in clouds and thick darkness to see whether we have sufficient confidence in him to believe that he does right, even when we cannot see or understand the reason of his doings. So a child reposes the highest confidence in a parent, when he believes that the parent will do right, though he cannot understand why he does it, and the parent does not choose to let him know. May not a father see reasons for what he does which a child could not understand, or which it might be proper for him to withhold from him?
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 Because. Septuagint, "Thou hast said, Why has not He…
Because. Septuagint, "Thou hast said, Why has not He heard every word of my pleading or judgment." Aquila and Theodotion, "for all his words are unanswerable." Protestants, "He giveth not account of any of his matters." (Haydock)
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 (Isa 45:9).
(Isa 45:9).
his matters--ways. Our part is, not to "strive" with God, but to submit. To believe it is right because He does it, not because we see all the reasons for His doing it.
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 13. For he giveth not account, etc. — God…
13. For he giveth not account, etc. — God is not accountable for his doings, least of all to man; yet he condescends to communicate with man, as is seen in the following verses.
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 13–28. When Elihu gives the general answer to Job’s…
13–28. When Elihu gives the general answer to Job’s charges against God that “God is greater than man” he means that the moral loftiness of God’s nature made it impossible that He should act in the arbitrary, hostile manner charged against Him by Job (comp. ch. Job_36:5). It was but another form of the same charge of arbitrary hostility to man when Job affirmed that God was deaf to all appeal and refused to speak to man; comp. ch. Job_19:7, Job_30:20, and often. To this general form of the charge Elihu directs his attention and replies that God speaks to man in many ways, though He may not answer when challenged as Job had challenged Him; comp. ch. Job_35:14. He speaks to man in ways becoming His greatness, ways that shew that His goodness is over all His works. Job_33:13 probably reads
Why dost thou contend against him
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That he giveth not account of any of his matters?
that is, Job’s contention or plea against God is that He deals arbitrarily and refuses all account of His dealing.
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 (13) Why dost thou strive against him?—Job had not…
(13) Why dost thou strive against him?—Job had not striven against God, he had only expressed his longing to come into judgment with Him (Job_23:3, &c.). Job was striving with and against the darkness that was round about His throne, not with the justice of God, which he entirely trusted. Some render the last clause of the verse, “For none can answer any of His words,” but the Authorised Version seems preferable.
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 Why dost thou strive against him? Why dost thou…
Why dost thou strive against him? Why dost thou insist on taking the attitude of one who contends with God, who would fain enter into a controversy with him, and force him to plead in his own defence? It is not alone his omnipotence that makes such conduct folly, but his remoteness, his inaccessibility. He cannot be forced to make answer; it is not his wont to do so; he giveth not account of any of his matters. It is presumptuous to suppose that God will condescend to reveal himself from heaven and make answer to thy overbold challenges.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
Elihu continues speaking to Job.
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Why do you struggle against him?
Elihu uses this question to emphasize that Job should not struggle against God. This question can be written as a statement. AT: "You should not struggle against God." or "You should not try to argue with God." (See: Rhetorical Question)
He does not account for any of his doings
"He does not have to explain to us anything he does"
God speaks once—yes, twice
This is an idiom. AT: "God speaks again and again in different ways" (See: Idiom)
a dream ... a vision of the night
These phrases have the same meaning. (See: Parallelism)
when deep sleep falls upon men, in slumber on the bed
This speaks of people being in a deep sleep as if the sleep fell upon them or overcame them. AT: "when people are fully asleep on their bed" (See: Metaphor)
translationWords
dream
vision
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 33:13 Job’s central complaint was that God does not…
33:13 Job’s central complaint was that God does not respond (9:16; 19:7; 23:2-7).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.