Bible Strands
Job 34:11
For according to a man’s deeds He repays him; according to a man’s ways He brings consequences.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Elihu addresses a gathered audience of "men of understanding" in his third speech to Job, immediately following his declaration that God never acts unjustly. He uses this moment to establish divine retribution as the foundation of his argument.
The words — פֹּעַל (Fo.'al) denotes "work" or "deeds," while יַמְצִיאֶֽנּוּ (yam.tzi.'E./nu) literally means "he will make find him," indicating the discovery or delivery of a corresponding outcome. These terms frame God's response as a direct measurement of human action.
The thread — The principle of measured repayment appears in Romans 2:6, 2 Corinthians 5:10, and Revelation 22:12, where each text ties divine assessment to individual conduct. These passages consistently apply the same retributive framework across testaments.
Why it lands — The text demands acknowledgment that human conduct generates inevitable outcomes rather than arbitrary divine whims. A reader must confront the reality that actions produce corresponding results and cannot be separated from the moral order they inhabit.
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
For the work of a man shall he render unto him, and cause every man to find according to his ways.
Cross-references
- 2 Corinthians 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive his due for the things done in the body, whether good or bad.
- Romans 2:6 God “will repay each one according to his deeds.”
- Revelation 22:12 “Behold, I am coming soon, and My reward is with Me, to give to each one according to what he has done.
- Psalms 62:12 and loving devotion to You, O Lord. For You will repay each man according to his deeds.
- Matthew 16:27 For the Son of Man will come in His Father’s glory with His angels, and then He will repay each one according to what he has done.
- Jeremiah 32:19 the One great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose eyes are on all the ways of the sons of men, to reward each one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds.
- Galatians 6:7 Do not be deceived: God is not to be mocked. Whatever a man sows, he will reap in return.
- Proverbs 24:12 If you say, “Behold, we did not know about this,” does not He who weighs hearts consider it? Does not the One who guards your life know? Will He not repay a man according to his deeds?
- 1 Peter 1:17 Since you call on a Father who judges each one’s work impartially, conduct yourselves in reverent fear during your stay as foreigners.
- Proverbs 1:31 So they will eat the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.