Logos Bible Study

Job 35:2–8

The NET BibleOther versions

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35:2“Do you think this to be1 just:

when2 you say, ‘My right before God.’3

35:3But you say, ‘What will it profit you,’4

and, ‘What do I gain by not sinning?’5

35:4I6 will reply to you,7

and to your friends with you.

35:5Gaze at the heavens and see;

consider the clouds, which are higher than you!8

35:6If you sin, how does it affect God?9

If your transgressions are many,

what does it do to him?10

35:7If you are righteous, what do you give to God,

or what does he receive from your hand?

35:8Your wickedness affects only11 a person like yourself,

and your righteousness only other people.12

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Footnotes

  1. 1 The line could be read as “do you reckon this for justice? Here “to be” is understood.
  2. 2 The word “when” is not in the Hebrew text, but is implied.
  3. 3 The brief line could be interpreted in a number of ways. The simply has “my right from God.” It could be “I am right before God,” “I am more just/right than God” (identifying the preposition as a comparative min (מִן); cf. J. E. Hartley, Job [], ), “I will be right before God,” or “My just cause against God.”
  4. 4 The referent of “you” is usually understood to be God.
  5. 5 The Hebrew text merely says, “What do I gain from my sin?” But Job has claimed that he has not sinned, and so this has to be elliptical: “more than if I had sinned” (H. H. Rowley, Job [], 224). It could also be, “What do I gain without sin?”
  6. 6 The emphatic pronoun calls attention to Elihu who will answer these questions.
  7. 7 The Hebrew text adds, “with words,” but since this is obvious, for stylistic reasons it has not been included in the translation.
  8. 8 The preposition is taken here as a comparative min (מִן). The line could also read “that are high above you.” This idea has appeared in the speech of Eliphaz (22:12), Zophar (11:7ff.), and even Job (9:8ff.).
  9. 9 Heb “him” (also in v. 7); the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  10. 11 The phrase “affects only” is supplied in the translation of this nominal sentence. According to Strahan, “Elihu exalts God’s greatness at the cost of His grace, His transcendence at the expense of His immanence. He sets up a material instead of a spiritual stand of profit and loss. He does not realize that God does gain what He desires most by the goodness of men, and loses what He most loves by their evil.”
  11. 12 Heb “and to [or for] a son of man, your righteousness.”

Cross references

  1. 10 See Job 7:20.

The NET Bible First Edition, Copyright 1996-2005 by Biblical Studies Press

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

“Do you think this to be just?

Do you say, ‘It is my right before God,’

that you ask, ‘What advantage have I?

How am I better off than if I had sinned?’

I will answer you

and your friends with you.

Look at the heavens, and see;

and behold the clouds, which are higher than you.

If you have sinned, what do you accomplish against him?

And if your transgressions are multiplied, what do you do to him?

If you are righteous, what do you give to him?

Or what does he receive from your hand?

Your wickedness concerns a man like yourself,

and your righteousness a son of man.

Copyright 2001 Crossway Bibles

NIVNew International Version (2011)

“Do you think this is just?

You say, ‘I am in the right, not God.’

Yet you ask him, ‘What profit is it to me,

and what do I gain by not sinning?’

“I would like to reply to you

and to your friends with you.

Look up at the heavens and see;

gaze at the clouds so high above you.

If you sin, how does that affect him?

If your sins are many, what does that do to him?

If you are righteous, what do you give to him,

or what does he receive from your hand?

Your wickedness only affects humans like yourself,

and your righteousness only other people.

Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 Biblica, Inc.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

Do you think it is just when you say,

“I am righteous before God”?

For you ask, “What does it profit you,

and what benefit comes to me, if I do not sin?”

I will answer you

and your friends with you.

Look at the heavens and see;

gaze at the clouds high above you.

If you sin, how does it affect God?

If you multiply your transgressions, what does it do to him?

If you are righteous, what do you give him,

or what does he receive from your hand?

Your wickedness affects a person like yourself,

and your righteousness, a son of man.

Copyright 2017 Holman Bible Publishers

NLTNew Living Translation

“Do you think it is right for you to claim,

‘I am righteous before God’?

For you also ask, ‘What’s in it for me?

What’s the use of living a righteous life?’

“I will answer you

and all your friends, too.

Look up into the sky,

and see the clouds high above you.

If you sin, how does that affect God?

Even if you sin again and again,

what effect will it have on him?

If you are good, is this some great gift to him?

What could you possibly give him?

No, your sins affect only people like yourself,

and your good deeds also affect only humans.

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

“Do you think this is justice when you say,

‘I am right before God’?

If you ask what it profits you:

‘How do I benefit by refraining from my sin?’

I myself will give answer to you

and to your friends with you.

“Look at the heavens, and see;

and observe the clouds that are higher than you.

If you have sinned, what do you accomplish against him?

And if your transgressions are multiplied, what do you do to him?

If you are righteous, what do you give to him,

or what does he receive from your hand?

Your wickedness affects a person like yourself,

and your righteousness affects humans.

Copyright 2012 Lexham Press

KJV 1900King James Version

Thinkest thou this to be right,

That thou saidst, My righteousness is more than God’s?

For thou saidst, What advantage will it be unto thee?

And, What profit shall I have, if I be cleansed from my sin?

I will answer thee,

And thy companions with thee.

Look unto the heavens, and see;

And behold the clouds which are higher than thou.

If thou sinnest, what doest thou against him?

Or if thy transgressions be multiplied, what doest thou unto him?

If thou be righteous, what givest thou him?

Or what receiveth he of thine hand?

Thy wickedness may hurt a man as thou art;

And thy righteousness may profit the son of man.

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