FocusSuffering questioned and explained
Connection to the wholeJob's lament leads into the first cycle of speeches, in which the friends' explanations are challenged by Job's experience.
interpretation Job 9:8
KJVWhich alone spreadeth out the heavens, and treadeth upon the waves of the sea.
Read it in context
Job: How Can I Contend with God?
Start reading at Job 9:1 (Job 9:1 to Job 9:35).
An editorial reading unit, not a claim that the surrounding context stops here. Book background below applies to the shared passage; individual verses may need more specific explanation.
Job's lament leads into the first cycle of speeches, in which the friends' explanations are challenged by Job's experience.
- 9:1 Then Job answered and said,
- 9:2 I know it is so of a truth: but how should man be just with God?
- 9:3 If he will contend with him, he cannot answer him one of a thousand.
- 9:4 He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength: who hath hardened himself against him, and hath prospered?
- 9:5 Which removeth the mountains, and they know not: which overturneth them in his anger.
- 9:6 Which shaketh the earth out of her place, and the pillars thereof tremble.
- 9:7 Which commandeth the sun, and it riseth not; and sealeth up the stars.
- 9:8 Which alone spreadeth out the heavens, and treadeth upon the waves of the sea.
- 9:9 Which maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers of the south.
- 9:10 Which doeth great things past finding out; yea, and wonders without number.
- 9:11 Lo, he goeth by me, and I see him not: he passeth on also, but I perceive him not.
- 9:12 Behold, he taketh away, who can hinder him? who will say unto him, What doest thou?
- 9:13 If God will not withdraw his anger, the proud helpers do stoop under him.
- 9:14 How much less shall I answer him, and choose out my words to reason with him?
- 9:15 Whom, though I were righteous, yet would I not answer, but I would make supplication to my judge.
- 9:16 If I had called, and he had answered me; yet would I not believe that he had hearkened unto my voice.
- 9:17 For he breaketh me with a tempest, and multiplieth my wounds without cause.
- 9:18 He will not suffer me to take my breath, but filleth me with bitterness.
- 9:19 If I speak of strength, lo, he is strong: and if of judgment, who shall set me a time to plead?
- 9:20 If I justify myself, mine own mouth shall condemn me: if I say, I am perfect, it shall also prove me perverse.
- 9:21 Though I were perfect, yet would I not know my soul: I would despise my life.
- 9:22 This is one thing, therefore I said it, He destroyeth the perfect and the wicked.
- 9:23 If the scourge slay suddenly, he will laugh at the trial of the innocent.
- 9:24 The earth is given into the hand of the wicked: he covereth the faces of the judges thereof; if not, where, and who is he?
- 9:25 Now my days are swifter than a post: they flee away, they see no good.
- 9:26 They are passed away as the swift ships: as the eagle that hasteth to the prey.
- 9:27 If I say, I will forget my complaint, I will leave off my heaviness, and comfort myself:
- 9:28 I am afraid of all my sorrows, I know that thou wilt not hold me innocent.
- 9:29 If I be wicked, why then labour I in vain?
- 9:30 If I wash myself with snow water, and make my hands never so clean;
- 9:31 Yet shalt thou plunge me in the ditch, and mine own clothes shall abhor me.
- 9:32 For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him, and we should come together in judgment.
- 9:33 Neither is there any daysman betwixt us, that might lay his hand upon us both.
- 9:34 Let him take his rod away from me, and let not his fear terrify me:
- 9:35 Then would I speak, and not fear him; but it is not so with me.
Who
- Who wrote the book? The author is unknown. Moses is one ancient traditional proposal, but neither that proposal nor another named author can be established with confidence. Historical source: Babylonian Talmud, Bava Batra 14b–15a (record of Jewish attribution, not contemporary proof). book background
- Who was present or being addressed in this passage? In the surrounding chapter context (Job 9:1–10:22): Job replies and directs his complaint toward God. stated in the text
- Who was the book written to? Readers within Israel's wisdom tradition, wrestling with innocent suffering, justice, and the limits of human judgment. No named individual or first community is identified. Biblical references: Job 28:28; Job 42:7. book background
What
- What is the topic of this reading unit? Job: How Can I Contend with God?. Read Job 9:1 through Job 9:35 as a connected unit. interpretation
- How does it contribute to the book? Job's lament leads into the first cycle of speeches, in which the friends' explanations are challenged by Job's experience. interpretation
When
- When are the events or message set? The book supplies no royal date or exact historical year for Job's experiences. Proposed patriarchal-era settings are historical inferences, not a date explicitly stated by the narrative. book background
Where
- What is the book’s geographic setting? Job is introduced as a man in the land of Uz. The poetic speeches range through imagined and remembered scenes that should not all be treated as the speakers' physical locations. book background
- Where does the context start? This passage sits in Job: How Can I Contend with God? (Job 9:1 to Job 9:35). Start reading at Job 9:1. An editorial reading unit, not a claim that the surrounding context stops here. Book background below applies to the shared passage; individual verses may need more specific explanation.
How
- How does this book connect with Jesus Christ? James refers to Job's endurance and the Lord's compassion. Connections between Job's suffering and Christ may be considered as comparisons; Job's speeches should not all be treated as direct predictions of Jesus. See Job 1:1, James 5:11, Hebrews 4:15. interpretation
- How should this book guide our response? Do not assume that a sufferer's losses prove a hidden sin. Listen carefully, distinguish the speakers, and read their claims alongside the LORD's concluding rebuke of the friends. interpretation
Cited: Job 9:1, Job 9:35, Job 1:1, James 5:11, Hebrews 4:15
Who wrote it, and how we know
Uncertain; among the oldest books of Scripture
Not known
What Scripture saysThe book does not name its author.
Early traditionJewish tradition (Baba Bathra 14b) suggested Moses, but ancient opinion varied widely.
What is debatedThe author is unknown and the date is uncertain. The setting appears patriarchal, but the book could have been written far later.
Related passages
- Which Job 37:18 Gen 1:6-7 Ps 33:6 Ps 104:2-3 Isa 40:22 Isa 42:5 Isa 44:24 Jer 10:11
- treadeth Job 38:11 Ps 93:3-4 Matt 14:25-30 John 6:19
Cross references from CrossReferences-org (CC BY 4.0).
Macro-Structure
See how this passage fits the chapter and the book.
Macro-Structure of Job 9
Job contains narrative, lament, and extended disputation. The speakers must be identified before treating an assertion as the book's teaching: the LORD explicitly rebukes Job's friends near the end. Neither the author nor an exact historical date is stated. Local headings and stanza divisions are editorial reading aids adapted from public-domain BSB headings; verse boundaries and Scripture links use the KJV. Connections describe the surrounding book movement.
Suggested literary divisions. Headings summarize the passage; they are not part of the biblical text.
Macro-Structure of Job
Job contains narrative, lament, and extended disputation. The speakers must be identified before treating an assertion as the book's teaching: the LORD explicitly rebukes Job's friends near the end. Neither the author nor an exact historical date is stated.
Job's losses and the friends' arrival
Job 1:1–2:13FocusSuffering and the opening test
Connection to the wholeThe narrative establishes Job's losses and integrity before the speeches begin, giving readers information the disputing friends do not possess.
interpretation FocusSuffering questioned and explained
Connection to the wholeJob's lament leads into the first cycle of speeches, in which the friends' explanations are challenged by Job's experience.
interpretation The second exchange
Job 15:1–21:34FocusAccusation and protest intensify
Connection to the wholeThe argument sharpens as the friends connect suffering with wickedness and Job challenges their account of the wicked's fortunes.
interpretation The final exchange and Job's defense
Job 22:1–31:40FocusWisdom and the demand for an answer
Connection to the wholeThe later speeches, poem on wisdom, and Job's final defense bring the dispute to the point of his appeal for an answer.
interpretation Elihu speaks
Job 32:1–37:24FocusClaims about God's justice and instruction
Connection to the wholeA new speaker responds to Job and the friends before the LORD's speeches begin; his speech must be distinguished from the divine answer.
interpretation The LORD answers
Job 38:1–41:34FocusCreation and the limits of human knowledge
Connection to the wholeThe LORD questions Job concerning the created order, confronting the limits of his knowledge and his attempt to contend with God.
interpretation Job's response and the conclusion
Job 42:1–17FocusRepentance, rebuke, and restoration
Connection to the wholeJob responds, the friends are rebuked, and the narrative closes with intercession and restoration without turning every speech into endorsed doctrine.
interpretation Suggested literary divisions. Headings summarize the passage; they are not part of the biblical text.