Bible Strands
Job 38:2
“Who is this who obscures My counsel by words without knowledge?
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — God addresses Job directly from the whirlwind, interrupting Job's prior speeches to initiate a formal interrogation.
The words — מַחְשִׁיךְ (machshiach) literally means "making dark" or obscuring, applied to עֵצָה ('etzah), "counsel," to describe how speech can cloud divine wisdom. בְּלִי־דַעַת (be-li da'at), "without knowledge," functions as a negative qualifier for the words being spoken.
The thread — The identical question structure appears in Job 42:3, where God recalls the inquiry, while Job 35:16 applies "words without knowledge" to Job's own speech, and 1 Timothy 1:7 warns against claiming teaching authority without understanding.
Why it lands — The text explicitly identifies human presumption as the obstacle to understanding, requiring the reader to stop speculating and acknowledge divine authority.
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 is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?
Cross-references
- 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.
- Job 35:16 So Job opens his mouth in vain and multiplies words without knowledge.”
- 1 Timothy 1:7 They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not understand what they are saying or that which they so confidently assert.
- Job 34:35 ‘Job speaks without knowledge; his words lack insight.’
- Job 27:11 I will instruct you in the power of God. I will not conceal the ways of the Almighty.
- Job 12:3 But I also have a mind; I am not inferior to you. Who does not know such things as these?
- Job 23:4 I would plead my case before Him and fill my mouth with arguments.
- Job 24:25 If this is not so, then who can prove me a liar and reduce my words to nothing?”
- Job 26:3 How you have counseled the unwise and provided fully sound insight!