Bible Strands
Job 36:3
I get my knowledge from afar, and I will ascribe justice to my Maker.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Elihu addresses Job and the surrounding council, continuing his speech immediately after requesting patience in Job 36:2. He speaks before detailing his argument in verse 4, positioning himself as a speaker with transcendent insight.
The words — אֶשָּׂא ('e.Sa) literally means "I will bear" or "I will extend," and צֶֽדֶק (Tze.dek) means "righteousness" or "justice." The verse structurally pairs the acquisition of distant knowledge with the deliberate attribution of justice to the Creator.
The thread — The connection between divine wisdom and justice runs to Deuteronomy 32:4, which declares God’s work perfect and his ways just. James 1:17 and James 3:17 later trace pure wisdom and perfect gifts to their origin above.
Why it lands — The text requires readers to acknowledge that God’s knowledge operates beyond immediate human sight. It demands the attribution of justice to God rather than the demand for instant explanation.
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
I will fetch my knowledge from afar, and will ascribe righteousness to my Maker.
Cross-references
- James 3:17 But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peace-loving, gentle, accommodating, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and sincere.
- James 1:17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, with whom there is no change or shifting shadow.
- Deuteronomy 32:4 He is the Rock, His work is perfect; all His ways are just. A God of faithfulness without injustice, righteous and upright is He.
- Job 8:3 Does God pervert justice? Does the Almighty pervert what is right?
- Job 32:8 But there is a spirit in a man, the breath of the Almighty, that gives him understanding.
- Psalms 11:7 For the LORD is righteous; He loves justice. The upright will see His face.
- Psalms 145:17 The LORD is righteous in all His ways and kind in all His deeds.
- Daniel 9:7 To You, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but this day we are covered with shame—the men of Judah, the people of Jerusalem, and all Israel near and far, in all the countries to which You have driven us because of our unfaithfulness to You.
- Daniel 9:14 Therefore the LORD has kept the calamity in store and brought it upon us. For the LORD our God is righteous in all He does; yet we have not obeyed His voice.
- Revelation 15:3 and they sang the song of God’s servant Moses and of the Lamb: “Great and wonderful are Your works, O Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of the nations!