Bible Strands
Job 36:23
Who has appointed His way for Him, or told Him, ‘You have done wrong’?
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Elihu addresses Job and the surrounding listeners, continuing his discourse on God’s exalted power and unteachable nature.
The words — The Hebrew verb פָקַד (paqad) literally means “to assign” or “appoint,” while the noun עַוְלָה (avlah) translates directly to “unrighteousness.”
The thread — This rhetorical challenge echoes Isaiah 40:13, which asks who directed the Spirit of the LORD, and aligns with 1 Corinthians 2:16’s declaration that no one instructs the mind of the Lord.
Why it lands — The text explicitly asks who could dictate God’s path or accuse Him of wrongdoing, establishing that no human authority governs or corrects the Divine.
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
Who hath enjoined him his way? or who can say, Thou hast wrought iniquity?
Cross-references
- 1 Corinthians 2:16 “For who has known the mind of the Lord, so as to instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
- Job 8:3 Does God pervert justice? Does the Almighty pervert what is right?
- Isaiah 40:13 Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD, or informed Him as His counselor?
- Job 34:10 Therefore listen to me, O men of understanding. Far be it from God to do wrong, and from the Almighty to act unjustly.
- Job 34:13 Who gave Him charge over the earth? Who appointed Him over the whole world?
- Romans 2:5 But because of your hard and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.
- Romans 11:34 “Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been His counselor?”
- Ephesians 1:11 In Him we were also chosen as God’s own, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything by the counsel of His will,
- Job 40:8 Would you really annul My justice? Would you condemn Me to justify yourself?
- Romans 3:5 But if our unrighteousness highlights the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unjust to inflict His wrath on us? I am speaking in human terms.