Job 35:4-8
World English Bible
4 I will answer you,
and your companions with you.
5 Look to the skies, and see.
See the skies, which are higher than you.
6 If you have sinned, what effect do you have against him?
If your transgressions are multiplied, what do you do to him?
7 If you are righteous, what do you give him?
Or what does he receive from your hand?
8 Your wickedness may hurt a man as you are,
and your righteousness may profit a son of man.
Job 35:4-8
New English Translation
4 I[a] will reply to you,[b]
and to your friends with you.
5 Gaze at the heavens and see;
consider the clouds, which are higher than you.[c]
6 If you sin, how does it affect God?[d]
If your transgressions are many,
what does it do to him?[e]
7 If you are righteous, what do you give to God,
or what does he receive from your hand?
8 Your wickedness affects only[f] a person like yourself,
and your righteousness only other people.[g]
Footnotes
- Job 35:4 tn The emphatic pronoun calls attention to Elihu who will answer these questions.
- Job 35:4 tn The Hebrew text adds, “with words,” but since this is obvious, for stylistic reasons it has not been included in the translation.
- Job 35:5 tn 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 (11:7-8), and even Job (9:8-11).
- Job 35:6 tn Heb “him” (also in v. 7); the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Job 35:6 tn See Job 7:20.
- Job 35:8 tn The phrase “affects only” is supplied in the translation of this nominal sentence.sn 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.”
- Job 35:8 tn Heb “and to [or for] a son of man, your righteousness.”
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