Bible Strands
Job 40:8
Would you really annul My justice? Would you condemn Me to justify yourself?
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — God speaks to Job immediately after commanding him to brace himself and answer in Job 40:7. This occurs during a direct divine confrontation where God challenges Job’s prior accusations of unfair treatment.
The words — תָּפֵ֣ר (ta.Fer) translates literally to "will you annul," and מִשְׁפָּטִ֑י (mish.pa.Ti) means "My justice." These terms form the core of God’s rhetorical question about the validity of His own judgments.
The thread — The tension between human condemnation and divine righteousness runs through Romans 3:4, which declares God true and every man a liar, and aligns with Elihu’s recorded anger against Job’s self-justification in Job 32:2.
Why it lands — The text explicitly asks whether a person can override God’s justice to declare themselves righteous. It requires the reader to abandon the attempt to condemn God for personal vindication and accept the boundary of human judgment.
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
Wilt thou also disannul my judgment? wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous?
Cross-references
- Romans 3:4 Certainly not! Let God be true and every man a liar. As it is written: “So that You may be proved right when You speak and victorious when You judge.”
- Job 32:2 This kindled the anger of Elihu son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram. He burned with anger against Job for justifying himself rather than God,
- Isaiah 28:18 Your covenant with death will be dissolved, and your agreement with Sheol will not stand. When the overwhelming scourge passes through, you will be trampled by it.
- Job 10:3 Does it please You to oppress me, to reject the work of Your hands and favor the schemes of the wicked?
- Job 34:5 For Job has declared, ‘I am righteous, yet God has deprived me of justice.
- Psalms 51:4 Against You, You only, have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You may be proved right when You speak and blameless when You judge.
- Isaiah 14:27 The LORD of Hosts has purposed, and who can thwart Him? His hand is outstretched, so who can turn it back?
- Job 27:2 “As surely as God lives, who has deprived me of justice—the Almighty, who has embittered my soul—
- Job 35:2 “Do you think this is just? You say, ‘I am more righteous than God.’
- Galatians 3:15 Brothers, let me put this in human terms. Even a human covenant, once it is ratified, cannot be canceled or amended.