For Job has said, ‘I am righteous, God has taken away my right:
Parallel Translations
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For Job has said, ‘I am righteous, God has taken away my right:
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For Job hath said, I am righteous: and God hath taken away my judgment.
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For Job hath said: 'I am righteous, and God hath taken away my right;
Cross-references (8)
Passages linked to Job 34:5 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Job 27:2 “As God lives, who has taken away my right, the Almighty, who has made my soul bitter
- Job 33:9 ‘I am clean, without disobedience. I am innocent, neither is there iniquity in me.
- Job 16:17 Although there is no violence in my hands, and my prayer is pure.
- Job 32:1 So these three men ceased to answer Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.
- Job 9:17 For he breaks me with a storm, and multiplies my wounds without cause.
- Job 10:7 Although you know that I am not wicked, there is no one who can deliver out of your hand.
- Job 11:4 For you say, ‘My doctrine is pure. I am clean in your eyes.’
- Job 29:14 I put on righteousness, and it clothed me. My justice was as a robe and a diadem.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (15 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain That is, hath afflicted me without measure.
That is, hath afflicted me without measure.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Job 34:5 For Job hath said, I am righteous:…
Job 34:5 For Job hath said, I am righteous: and God hath taken away my judgment.
Ver. 5. For Job hath said, I am righteous] So he was with a twofold righteousness: imputed, or the righteousness of justification; and imparted, or the righteousness of sanctification. But Elihu understood him as if he had said, I am sinless. This Job never said; only he cleared himself of foul offences wherewith his friends falsely charged him; and asserted his own integrity, whereof he seemed to be more solicitous than of giving God the glory of his justice; and therein he was to be blamed, as here he is to some purpose.
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And God hath taken away my judgment] sc. By handling me like a wicked man, and not showing me why. See Job 27:3, where Job had used these very words; but not in the sense that Elihu urgeth them against him.
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 I am righteous; either,
I am righteous; either,
1. I am perfectly righteous. But this Job did not say, but the contrary, Job 9:2,3; 14:4. Or,
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2. I am a sincere person, no hypocrite, as my friends made me. But this Elihu doth not deny. Or,
3. I am so far righteous, and have been so holy and blameless in my life, that I have not deserved, nor had any reason to expect, such hard usage from God. And this Job had oft intimated, and Elihu doth justly blame him for it, that he blazoned his own righteousness with tacit reflections upon God for dealing so severely with him.
God hath taken away my judgment; for so Job had said, Job 27:2; i.e. he denies me that which is but just and equal, to give me a fair hearing, to suffer me to plead my cause with or before him, to show me the reasons of his contending with me, and what sins besides common infirmities I have been guilty of, whereby I have deserved such extraordinary judgments; which Elihu justly taxeth him with as a very irreverent and presumptuous expression.
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 Should I lie against my right?.... No; I ought…
Should I lie against my right?.... No; I ought not: this though Job had not said in so many words, yet this seems to be his sense in Job 27:4; that should he own and say that he was a wicked man, a hypocrite, and destitute of the grace of God, he should not only speak against himself, but, contrary to his conscience, say an untruth, and not do justice to his character. Some read the words without an interrogation, as Mr. Broughton,
"for my right I must be a liar;''
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that is, for vindicating my right, seeking and endeavouring to do myself justice, and clear myself from false imputations, I am reckoned a liar. And to this purpose is the paraphrase of Aben Ezra,
"because I seek judgment, they say that I lie.''
Others render them, "there is a lie in judging me", so the Vulgate Latin version; that is,
"I am falsely accused, I am judged wrongfully:''
things I know not are laid to my charge, which has often been the case of good men: or, "I have lied in judgment"; that is, "failed", as the word is sometimes used, Isa 58:11; failed in his expectation of judgment or of justice being done him; he looked for it, but was disappointed; but the first sense seems best;
my wound is incurable without transgression; not that he thought himself without transgression, but that his wound or stroke inflicted on him, or the afflictions he was exercised with, were without cause; were not for any injustice in his hands, or wickedness that he had committed; and that he utterly despaired of being rid of them, or restored to his former health and prosperity; and to this sense he had expressed himself, Job 9:17. In the Hebrew text it is, "my arrow" (y), that is, the arrow that was in him, the arrows of the Lord that stuck fast in him; these were thrown at him and fastened in him without cause; and there was no hope of their being drawn out, or of the wounds made by them being healed; see Job 6:4. Now what Elihu was offended at in these expressions was, that Job should so rigidly insist on his innocence, and not own himself faulty in any respect; nor allow there was any cause for his afflictions, nor entertain any hope of the removal of them: whereas it became him to acknowledge his sins, which no man is free from, and that he was dealt with less than his iniquities deserved; and that, instead of indulging despair, he should rather say, "I will return" to the Lord; he hath "torn" and he will "heal", he hath "smitten" and he will "bind up", Hos 6:1.
(y) "sagitta mea", Montanus, Schultens, Michaelis.
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 Said - I am so far righteous, that I…
Said - I am so far righteous, that I have not deserved, such hard usage from God. Had taken - So Job had said, chap. xxvii, 2, he denies me that which is just and equal, to give me a fair hearing.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 5. Job hath said, I am righteous] Job…
Verse 5. Job hath said, I am righteous] Job had certainly said the words attributed to him by Elihu, particularly in Job 27:2, c., but it was in vindication of his aspersed character that he had asserted his own righteousness, and in a different sense to that in which Elihu appears to take it up. He asserted that he was righteous quoad the charges his friends had brought against him. And he never intimated that he had at all times a pure heart, and had never transgressed the laws of his Maker. It is true also that he said, God hath taken away my judgment but he most obviously does not mean to charge God with injustice, but to show that he had dealt with him in a way wholly mysterious, and not according to the ordinary dispensations of his providence; and that he did not interpose in his behalf, while his friends were overwhelming him with obloquy and reproach.
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 34:5-6. Job hath said, I am righteous —…
Job 34:5-6. Job hath said, I am righteous — I am so far righteous that I have not deserved, nor had any reason to expect, such hard usage from God. God hath taken away my judgment — So Job had said, Job 27:2; that is, he denies me that which is just and equal, namely, to give me a fair hearing. Should I lie against my right — Thus Job had spoken in effect, Job 27:4-6. Should I falsely accuse myself of sins of which I am not guilty? Should I betray mine own cause, and deny that integrity which I am conscious I possess? My wound is incurable without transgression — Without any such crying sin as might reasonably bring down such terrible judgments upon my head.
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 Job hath said, I am righteous - see…
For Job hath said, I am righteous - see Job 13:18, “I know that I shall be justified;” compare Job 23:10-11, where he says, if he was tried he would come forth as gold. Elihu may have also referred to the general course of remark which he had pursued as vindicating himself.
And God hath taken away my judgment - This sentiment is found in Job 27:2; see the notes at that place.
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 Judgment. Chap. xxvii. 2. Job had used this expression,…
Judgment. Chap. xxvii. 2. Job had used this expression, but only to intimate that strict justice did not take place, as he thought his faults had not deserved so severe a chastisement. He did not pretend that God was unjust, or that he was quite blameless; and he had so explicitly declared his sentiments, that Eliu could not well be ignorant of them. (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 judgment--my right. Job's own words (Job 13:18; Job 27:2).
judgment--my right. Job's own words (Job 13:18; Job 27:2).
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 b. Elihu proceeds to cite Job’s objectionable sayings, which…
b. Elihu proceeds to cite Job’s objectionable sayings, which he thinks contain the most dangerous sentiments of the wicked, and which reasonably give rise to suspicions as to the company and associations of Job , vv5-9.
5. For Job hath said — See outline, page 202. Job has been guilty of a twofold error; first in asserting his own righteousness, and secondly in declaring that God had not treated him according to right. Job_10:7; Job_27:6; Job_27:2. The first of these citations is but preparatory to the second, which contains the theme he is about to treat, and which is taken verbally from Job_27:2.
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 5. I am righteous] Or, in the right, I…
5. I am righteous] Or, in the right, I have right on my side.
my judgment] As before means my right, what is rightly due to me—God has dealt with me unjustly; comp. Job_9:15; Job_9:20, Job_13:18, Job_27:2; Job_27:6.
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5–9. Elihu recites Job’s statement of his cause against God, expressing his abhorrence of Job’s sentiments.
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 (5) For Job hath said.—See Job_13:18-19; Job_27:2, especially.
(5) For Job hath said.—See Job_13:18-19; Job_27:2, especially.
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 Job hath said, I am righteous. Job had…
For Job hath said, I am righteous. Job had maintained his "righteousness" in a certain sense, i.e. his integrity, his honesty, his conviction that God would ultimately acquit him; but he had not maintained his sinlessness. (see the comment on Job_33:9) He had not even said, in so many words, "I am righteous." The nearest that he had come to saying it was when (in Job_13:18) he had exclaimed, "I know that I shall be held righteous," or "justified." And God hath taken away my judgment. Job had said this, (Job_27:2) but in the sense that God had withheld from him the judgment on his cause which he desired, not that he had perverted judgment, and wrongfully condemned him (see the "Speaker"s Commentary," vol. 4. p. 97).
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 34:5-6 Job had claimed to be innocent: See 9:20-21;…
34:5-6 Job had claimed to be innocent: See 9:20-21; 13:18; 27:6.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.