Job 9:14
New International Version
“How then can I dispute with him? How can I find words to argue with him?

New Living Translation
“So who am I, that I should try to answer God or even reason with him?

English Standard Version
How then can I answer him, choosing my words with him?

Berean Standard Bible
How then can I answer Him or choose my arguments against Him?

King James Bible
How much less shall I answer him, and choose out my words to reason with him?

New King James Version
“How then can I answer Him, And choose my words to reason with Him?

New American Standard Bible
“How then can I answer Him, And choose my words before Him?

NASB 1995
“How then can I answer Him, And choose my words before Him?

NASB 1977
“How then can I answer Him, And choose my words before Him?

Legacy Standard Bible
How then can I answer Him, And choose my words before Him?

Amplified Bible
“How can I answer Him [and plead my case], Choosing my words [to reason] with Him?

Christian Standard Bible
How then can I answer him or choose my arguments against him?

Holman Christian Standard Bible
How then can I answer Him or choose my arguments against Him?

American Standard Version
How much less shall I answer him, And choose out my words to reason with him?

Contemporary English Version
How, then, could I possibly argue my case with God?

English Revised Version
How much less shall I answer him, and choose out my words to reason with him?

GOD'S WORD® Translation
"How can I possibly answer God? How can I find the right words [to speak] with him?

Good News Translation
So how can I find words to answer God?

International Standard Version
So how am I to answer him, choosing what I am to say to him?

Majority Standard Bible
How then can I answer Him or choose my arguments against Him?

NET Bible
"How much less, then, can I answer him and choose my words to argue with him!

New Heart English Bible
How much less shall I answer him, And choose my words to argue with him?

Webster's Bible Translation
How much less shall I answer him, and choose out my words to reason with him?

World English Bible
How much less will I answer him, and choose my words to argue with him?
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
How much less do I answer Him? Choose out my words with Him?

Young's Literal Translation
How much less do I -- I answer Him? Choose out my words with Him?

Smith's Literal Translation
How much less shall I answer him, shall I choose my words with him?
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
What am I then, that I should answer him, and have words with him?

Catholic Public Domain Version
what am I then, that I should answer him and exchange words with him?

New American Bible
How then could I give him any answer, or choose out arguments against him!

New Revised Standard Version
How then can I answer him, choosing my words with him?
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
I will answer him also, and choose out my words in his presence.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
Also I shall answer him and I shall set my words in order before him
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
How much less shall I answer Him, And choose out my arguments with Him?

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Oh then that he would hearken to me, or judge my cause.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Job: How Can I Argue with God?
13God does not restrain His anger; the helpers of Rahab cower beneath Him. 14How then can I answer Him or choose my arguments against Him? 15For even if I were right, I could not answer. I could only beg my Judge for mercy.…

Cross References
Isaiah 40:17-18
All the nations are as nothing before Him; He regards them as nothingness and emptiness. / To whom will you liken God? To what image will you compare Him?

Romans 9:20
But 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?”

Isaiah 45:9
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’?

Psalm 8:4
what is man that You are mindful of him, or the son of man that You care for him?

Ecclesiastes 6:10
Whatever exists was named long ago, and it is known what man is; but he cannot contend with one stronger than he.

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.

Romans 11:33-34
O, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and untraceable His ways! / “Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been His counselor?”

Psalm 144:3-4
O LORD, what is man, that You regard him, the son of man that You think of him? / Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow.

1 Corinthians 1:25
For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.

Isaiah 55:8-9
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD. / “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so My ways are higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.

Psalm 39:5
You, indeed, have made my days as handbreadths, and my lifetime as nothing before You. Truly each man at his best exists as but a breath. Selah

1 Corinthians 2:14
The natural man does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.

Psalm 143:2
Do not bring Your servant into judgment, for no one alive is righteous before You.

1 Peter 1:24
For, “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall,

Psalm 90:3-4
You return man to dust, saying, “Return, O sons of mortals.” / For in Your sight a thousand years are but a day that passes, or a watch of the night.


Treasury of Scripture

How much less shall I answer him, and choose out my words to reason with him?

How much

Job 4:19
How much less in them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, which are crushed before the moth?

Job 25:6
How much less man, that is a worm? and the son of man, which is a worm?

1 Kings 8:27
But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?

shall I

Job 11:4,5
For thou hast said, My doctrine is pure, and I am clean in thine eyes…

choose

Job 23:4,7
I would order my cause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments…

Job 33:5
If thou canst answer me, set thy words in order before me, stand up.

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Job 9
1. Job acknowledges God's justice
22. Man's innocence is not to be condemned by afflictions














How then
This phrase introduces a rhetorical question, emphasizing Job's sense of inadequacy and humility before God. The Hebrew word "אֵיךְ" (eikh) conveys a sense of wonder and perplexity. Job is reflecting on the vast difference between human and divine wisdom. In the context of the ancient Near Eastern culture, where wisdom literature often explored the limits of human understanding, Job's question underscores the futility of human attempts to fully grasp God's ways.

can I answer Him
The word "answer" in Hebrew is "עָנָה" (anah), which means to respond or reply. Job acknowledges his inability to respond to God adequately. This reflects a deep awareness of God's omnipotence and omniscience. In the broader scriptural context, this humility is echoed in other biblical figures who recognize their limitations before God, such as Isaiah's vision in Isaiah 6:5. Job's rhetorical question is a confession of his own limitations and a recognition of God's supreme authority.

or choose my arguments
The phrase "choose my arguments" involves the Hebrew word "בָּחַר" (bachar), meaning to select or decide. Job is contemplating the impossibility of selecting arguments to present before God. This reflects the legal imagery often found in the Book of Job, where Job imagines a courtroom setting. Historically, this mirrors the ancient practice of presenting one's case before a judge. Job's struggle is not just with his suffering but with the challenge of understanding and justifying his plight before an all-knowing God.

against Him
The preposition "against" in Hebrew is "לְפָנָיו" (lefanav), which can also mean "before Him" or "in His presence." This highlights the relational aspect of Job's struggle. It is not merely a legal battle but a deeply personal and spiritual one. Job is acutely aware of the divine presence and the impossibility of standing against God in judgment. This reflects the broader biblical theme of God's sovereignty and the human need for humility and submission before Him.

Verse 14. - How much less shall I answer him? If he be the Lord of earth and heaven, if he rule the sun and the stars, if he tread down the sea, if he be impalpable and irresistible, if he hold the evil power and his helpers under restraint, how should I dare to answer him? How should any mere man do so? And choose out my words to reason with him? Job feels that he would be too much overwhelmed to choose his terms carefully, and yet a careless word might be an unpardonable offence.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
How
אַ֭ף (’ap̄)
Conjunction
Strong's 637: Meaning accession, yea, adversatively though

then
כִּֽי־ (kî-)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

can I
אָנֹכִ֣י (’ā·nō·ḵî)
Pronoun - first person common singular
Strong's 595: I

answer Him
אֶֽעֱנֶ֑נּוּ (’e·‘ĕ·nen·nū)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - first person common singular | third person masculine singular
Strong's 6030: To answer, respond

or choose
אֶבְחֲרָ֖ה (’eḇ·ḥă·rāh)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect Cohortative - first person common singular
Strong's 977: To try, select

my arguments
דְבָרַ֣י (ḏə·ḇā·ray)
Noun - masculine plural construct | first person common singular
Strong's 1697: A word, a matter, thing, a cause

against Him?
עִמּֽוֹ׃ (‘im·mōw)
Preposition | third person masculine singular
Strong's 5973: With, equally with


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OT Poetry: Job 9:14 How much less shall I answer him (Jb)
Job 9:13
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