Bible Strands
Job 13:9
Would it be well when He examined you? Could you deceive Him as you would deceive a man?
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Job addresses his friends during his trial, questioning whether their accusations would stand before divine scrutiny.
The words — The root תֵּל (tel) appears twice in כְּהָתֵל בֶּאֱנוֹשׁ תְּהָתֵלּוּ (ke-hāṯēl be-ʾĕnōš təhāṯēlū), literally rendering as "deceive" or "mock."
The thread — The text's assertion that God searches the heart and cannot be deceived runs through Jeremiah 17:10, Psalms 44:21, and Galatians 6:7.
Why it lands — The verse states that human examination cannot replicate divine inspection and that deception of the Almighty is impossible. It requires readers to abandon any pretense of concealing their motives from God.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Is it good that he should search you out? or as one man mocketh another, do ye so mock him?
Cross-references
- Galatians 6:7 Do not be deceived: God is not to be mocked. Whatever a man sows, he will reap in return.
- Jeremiah 17:10 I, the LORD, search the heart; I examine the mind to reward a man according to his way, by what his deeds deserve.
- Psalms 44:21 would not God have discovered, since He knows the secrets of the heart?
- Job 12:16 True wisdom and power belong to Him. The deceived and the deceiver are His.
- Job 17:2 Surely mockers surround me, and my eyes must gaze at their rebellion.
- Job 34:36 If only Job were tried to the utmost for answering like a wicked man.
- Psalms 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns.
- Isaiah 28:22 So now, do not mock, or your shackles will become heavier. Indeed, I have heard from the Lord GOD of Hosts a decree of destruction against the whole land.