Bible Strands
Job 34:35
‘Job speaks without knowledge; his words lack insight.’
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Elihu addresses the gathered wise men and men of understanding, delivering this verdict after they have agreed to judge the case and just before he wishes Job were tested to the utmost. He speaks this moment to conclude the human assessment of Job’s recent arguments.
The words — The Hebrew term בְּדַ֣עַת (bə·da·at) translates literally as "with knowledge," while בְּהַשְׂכֵּֽיל (bə·has·ke·il) means "with insight." The text directly asserts that Job’s speech and his words lack both of these qualities.
The thread — The same critique of empty speech appears in Job 35:16, where Job multiplies words without knowledge, and in Job 38:2, where God asks who obscures counsel with words without knowledge. The motif consistently marks human presumption as speech that fails to grasp divine reality.
Why it lands — The verse demands that readers verify whether their arguments are grounded in discernment rather than personal conviction. It requires a reader to abandon speech that lacks factual understanding and to align words with verifiable insight.
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
Job hath spoken without knowledge, and his words were without wisdom.
Cross-references
- Job 35:16 So Job opens his mouth in vain and multiplies words without knowledge.”
- Job 38:2 “Who is this who obscures My counsel by words without knowledge?
- Job 13:2 What you know, I also know; I am not inferior to you.
- Job 15:2 “Does a wise man answer with empty counsel or fill his belly with the hot east wind?
- Job 42:3 You asked, ‘Who is this who conceals My counsel without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know.