Job 31:35

(Oh, that I had one to hear me! Here is my signature. Let the Almighty answer me; let my accuser compose an indictment.

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — Job speaks this vow during his final defense of personal integrity, following a confession of silent fear before human crowds and preceding a promise to wear a legal indictment like a crown. He addresses both himself and God at the climax of his chapter-long oath of innocence.

The words — שַׁדַּי (sha.Dai) literally means the Almighty, and סֵפֶר (Se.fer) denotes a written document or indictment. Job explicitly requests a listener to hear him and commands the Almighty to answer his plea directly.

The thread — The demand for direct divine response appears in Job 13:3, while the legal framing anticipates his eventual silence in Job 40:4. The covenant lawsuit imagery recurs in prophetic texts that track God's formal charges against Israel.

Why it lands — The text requires a reader to face the demand for unmediated accountability before God rather than human appeasement. It asks the reader to weigh the cost of speaking truth against the terror of earthly judgment.

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

מִ֤יmiwho?יִתֶּן־yi.ten-will he giveלִ֨י׀l/i[will belong] to/ meשֹׁ֘מֵ֤עַֽsho.Me.a'[one who] listensלִ֗יL/ito/ meהֶן־hen-here!תָּ֭וִיTa.v/imark/ my שַׁדַּ֣יsha.Dai[the] Almighty יַעֲנֵ֑נִיya.'a.Ne./nilet him answer/ me וְסֵ֥פֶרve./Se.ferand/ a document כָּ֝תַ֗בka.Tav[which] he had written אִ֣ישׁ'ish[the] person of רִיבִֽי׃ri.V/icase/ my

King James Version

Oh that one would hear me! behold, my desire is, that the Almighty would answer me, and that mine adversary had written a book.

Cross-references

Job 13:21 Withdraw Your hand from me, and do not let Your terror frighten me.
Job 40:4 “Behold, I am insignificant. How can I reply to You? I place my hand over my mouth.
Job 13:3 Yet I desire to speak to the Almighty and argue my case before God.
Job 13:24 Why do You hide Your face and consider me as Your enemy?
Job 17:3 Give me, I pray, the pledge You demand. Who else will be my guarantor?
Job 19:7 Though I cry out, ‘Violence!’ I get no response; though I call for help, there is no justice.
Job 19:23 I wish that my words were recorded and inscribed in a book,
Job 23:3 If only I knew where to find Him, so that I could go to His seat.
Job 33:6 I am just like you before God; I was also formed from clay.
Job 35:14 How much less, then, when you say that you do not see Him, that your case is before Him and you must wait for Him,