Bible Strands
Job 9:32
For He is not a man like me, that I can answer Him, that we can take each other to court.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Job addresses God in a monologue describing his inability to seek justice, positioned between his fear of being plunged into a pit and his lament over the absence of a mediator.
The words — אִישׁ (ish, "human man") and בַּמִשְׁפָּט (bamishpat, "in judgment") anchor the verse by stating God lacks human nature, making a mutual legal contest impossible.
The thread — The motif of human limitation before divine power runs through Ecclesiastes 6:10, which notes man cannot contend with one stronger, and Numbers 23:19, which contrasts God’s consistency with human changeability.
Why it lands — It requires the reader to abandon self-justification through legal argument and acknowledge the necessity of an external mediator to bridge the gap between humanity and God.
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
For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him, and we should come together in judgment.
Cross-references
- Romans 9:20 But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to Him who formed it, “Why did You make me like this?”
- Ecclesiastes 6:10 Whatever exists was named long ago, and it is known what man is; but he cannot contend with one stronger than he.
- Numbers 23:19 God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?
- Psalms 143:2 Do not bring Your servant into judgment, for no one alive is righteous before You.
- Isaiah 45:9 Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker—one clay pot among many. Does the clay ask the potter, ‘What are you making?’ Does your work say, ‘He has no hands’?
- 1 Samuel 16:7 But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or height, for I have rejected him; the LORD does not see as man does. For man sees the outward appearance, but the LORD sees the heart.”
- Job 13:18 See now, I have prepared my case; I know that I will be vindicated.
- Job 23:3 If only I knew where to find Him, so that I could go to His seat.
- Job 33:12 Behold, you are not right in this matter. I will answer you, for God is greater than man.
- Job 35:5 Look to the heavens and see; gaze at the clouds high above you.