Bible Strands
Job 34:33
Should God repay you on your own terms when you have disavowed Him? You must choose, not I; so tell me what you know.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Elihu addresses Job at the close of his speech, responding directly to Job’s request for instruction in Job 34:32. The speaker shifts the burden of response back to Job, insisting that divine correction cannot be negotiated.
The words — מָאַסְתָּ (ma’as-ta) translates literally as “you have rejected,” and תִבְחַר (tiv-char) means “you will choose.” The text states that God will not accept terms dictated by one who has disowned Him, and explicitly assigns the choice to Job rather than to God.
The thread — The demand to answer appears in Job 33:32, where the listener is told to speak so vindication may occur. The principle of divine repayment according to human conduct is stated in Job 34:11, and the broader theme of God acting solely by His own will appears in Psalms 135:6.
Why it lands — The verse requires the reader to stop imposing human conditions on divine justice. It demands direct accountability to God’s established order rather than negotiation over its application.
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
Should it be according to thy mind? he will recompense it, whether thou refuse, or whether thou choose; and not I: therefore speak what thou knowest.
Cross-references
- Job 33:32 But if you have something to say, answer me; speak up, for I would like to vindicate you.
- Job 34:11 For according to a man’s deeds He repays him; according to a man’s ways He brings consequences.
- Psalms 135:6 The LORD does all that pleases Him in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and in all their depths.
- Proverbs 11:31 If the righteous receive their due on earth, how much more the ungodly and the sinner!
- Isaiah 45:9 Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker—one clay pot among many. Does the clay ask the potter, ‘What are you making?’ Does your work say, ‘He has no hands’?
- Job 9:12 If He takes away, who can stop Him? Who dares to ask Him, ‘What are You doing?’
- Job 15:31 Let him not deceive himself with trust in emptiness, for emptiness will be his reward.
- Job 18:4 You who tear yourself in anger—should the earth be forsaken on your account, or the rocks be moved from their place?
- Job 33:5 Refute me if you can; prepare your case and confront me.
- Job 41:11 Who has given to Me that I should repay him? Everything under heaven is Mine.