Bible Strands
Job 34:25
Therefore, He recognizes their deeds; He overthrows them in the night and they are crushed.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Elihu addresses Job and his companions, continuing his discourse on divine justice after describing how God shatters the mighty without inquiry (Job 34:24). He speaks to explain how God’s authority operates independently of human oversight.
The words — יַכִּיר (Ya.kir) translates literally as “he recognizes” or “is acquainted with,” while וְהָפַךְ (ve.Ha.fakh) means “and he overthrows.” These terms anchor the verse’s claim that divine knowledge precedes sudden judgment.
The thread — The motif of God’s sudden nighttime judgment of the powerful appears in Job 34:20, where the mighty are removed without human notice. The pattern of divine remembrance of human deeds runs through Hosea 7:2 and Psalms 33:15, where God actively considers human works.
Why it lands — The text asserts that God observes human actions and executes judgment without delay or human consultation. A reader must acknowledge that no authority operates beyond divine scrutiny and that sudden downfall is a factual outcome of recorded deeds.
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
Therefore he knoweth their works, and he overturneth them in the night, so that they are destroyed.
Cross-references
- Job 34:20 They die in an instant, in the middle of the night. The people convulse and pass away; the mighty are removed without human hand.
- Hosea 7:2 But they fail to consider in their hearts that I remember all their evil. Now their deeds are all around them; they are before My face.
- Psalms 33:15 He shapes the hearts of each; He considers all their works.
- Song of Solomon 3:8 All are skilled with the sword, experienced in warfare. Each has his sword at his side prepared for the terror of the night.
- Isaiah 15:1 This is the burden against Moab: Ar in Moab is ruined, destroyed in a night! Kir in Moab is devastated, destroyed in a night!
- Isaiah 66:18 “And I, knowing their deeds and thoughts, am coming to gather all nations and tongues, and they will come and see My glory.
- Amos 8:7 The LORD has sworn by the Pride of Jacob: “I will never forget any of their deeds.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:2 For you are fully aware that the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.
- Revelation 20:12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne. And books were opened, and one of them was the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their deeds, as recorded in the books.