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Thursday, July 17th, 2025
the Week of Proper 10 / Ordinary 15
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Good News Translation

Job 21:4

My quarrel is not with mortals; I have good reason to be impatient.

Bible Study Resources

Dictionaries:

- Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Greatness of God;   Hypocrisy;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Job, the Book of;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Wealth;   Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types - Hid;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Patience;   Psychology;  

Devotionals:

- Every Day Light - Devotion for January 25;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
As for me, is my complaint against a human being?Then why shouldn’t I be impatient?
Hebrew Names Version
As for me, is my complaint to man? Why shouldn't I be impatient?
King James Version
As for me, is my complaint to man? and if it were so, why should not my spirit be troubled?
English Standard Version
As for me, is my complaint against man? Why should I not be impatient?
New Century Version
"My complaint is not just against people; I have reason to be impatient.
New English Translation
Is my complaint against a man? If so, why should I not be impatient?
Amplified Bible
"As for me, is my complaint to man or about him? And why should I not be impatient and my spirit troubled?
New American Standard Bible
"As for me, is my complaint to a mortal? Or why should I not be impatient?
World English Bible
As for me, is my complaint to man? Why shouldn't I be impatient?
Geneva Bible (1587)
Doe I direct my talke to man? If it were so, how should not my spirit be troubled?
Legacy Standard Bible
As for me, is my musing to man?And why should I not be impatient?
Berean Standard Bible
Is my complaint against a man? Then why should I not be impatient?
Contemporary English Version
My complaint is against God; that's why I am impatient.
Complete Jewish Bible
"As for me, is my complaint merely to other people? Don't I have grounds for being short-tempered?
Darby Translation
As for me, is my complaint to a man? or wherefore should not my spirit be impatient?
Easy-to-Read Version
"My complaint is not against people. There is a good reason why I am not patient.
George Lamsa Translation
I will utter my complaint to men, why my spirit is distressed.
Lexham English Bible
As for me, is my complaint for human beings? And if so, why cannot I be impatient?
Literal Translation
As for me, is my complaint to man? And why should not my spirit be short?
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Is it with a man, that I make this disputacio? Which yf it were so, shulde not my sprete be the in sore trouble?
American Standard Version
As for me, is my complaint to man? And why should I not be impatient?
Bible in Basic English
As for me, is my outcry against man? is it then to be wondered at if my spirit is troubled?
JPS Old Testament (1917)
As for me, is my complaint to man? Or why should I not be impatient?
King James Version (1611)
As for mee, is my complaint to man? and if it were so, why should not my spirit be troubled?
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Is it for mans sake that I make this disputation? Which if it were so, shoulde not my spirite then be in sore trouble?
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
What! is my reproof of man? and why should I not be angry?
English Revised Version
As for me, is my complaint to man? and why should I not be impatient?
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Whether my disputyng is ayens man, that skilfuli Y owe not to be sori?
Update Bible Version
As for me, is my complaint to man? And why should I not be impatient?
Webster's Bible Translation
As for me, [is] my complaint to man? and if [it were so], why should not my spirit be troubled?
New King James Version
"As for me, is my complaint against man? And if it were, why should I not be impatient?
New Living Translation
"My complaint is with God, not with people. I have good reason to be so impatient.
New Life Bible
As for me, am I complaining against man? Why should my spirit not be troubled?
New Revised Standard
As for me, is my complaint addressed to mortals? Why should I not be impatient?
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Did, I, unto man, make my complaint? Wherefore, then, should my spirit not be impatient?
Douay-Rheims Bible
Is my debate against man, that I should not have just reason to be troubled?
Revised Standard Version
As for me, is my complaint against man? Why should I not be impatient?
Young's Literal Translation
I -- to man [is] my complaint? and if [so], wherefore May not my temper become short?
THE MESSAGE
"It's not you I'm complaining to—it's God. Is it any wonder I'm getting fed up with his silence? Take a good look at me. Aren't you appalled by what's happened? No! Don't say anything. I can do without your comments. When I look back, I go into shock, my body is racked with spasms. Why do the wicked have it so good, live to a ripe old age and get rich? They get to see their children succeed, get to watch and enjoy their grandchildren. Their homes are peaceful and free from fear; they never experience God's disciplining rod. Their bulls breed with great vigor and their cows calve without fail. They send their children out to play and watch them frolic like spring lambs. They make music with fiddles and flutes, have good times singing and dancing. They have a long life on easy street, and die painlessly in their sleep. They say to God, ‘Get lost! We've no interest in you or your ways. Why should we have dealings with God Almighty? What's there in it for us?' But they're wrong, dead wrong—they're not gods. It's beyond me how they can carry on like this!
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"As for me, is my complaint to man? And why should I not be impatient?

Contextual Overview

1Listen to what I am saying; that is all the comfort I ask from you. < 3 Give me a chance to speak and then, when I am through, sneer if you like. 4 My quarrel is not with mortals; I have good reason to be impatient. 5 Look at me. Isn't that enough to make you stare in shocked silence? 6 When I think of what has happened to me, I am stunned, and I tremble and shake.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

is my complaint: Job 7:11-21, Job 10:1, Job 10:2, 1 Samuel 1:16, Psalms 22:1-3, Psalms 77:3-9, Psalms 102:1, *title Psalms 142:2, Psalms 142:3, Matthew 26:38

if it were: 2 Kings 6:26, 2 Kings 6:27, Psalms 42:11

troubled: Heb. shortened, Exodus 6:9, *marg.

Reciprocal: Judges 16:16 - vexed Psalms 73:2 - But John 14:1 - not

Cross-References

Genesis 21:10
Sarah saw them and said to Abraham, "Send this slave and her son away. The son of this woman must not get any part of your wealth, which my son Isaac should inherit."
Genesis 21:12
But God said to Abraham, "Don't be worried about the boy and your slave Hagar. Do whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that you will have the descendants I have promised.
Genesis 21:22
At that time Abimelech went with Phicol, the commander of his army, and said to Abraham, "God is with you in everything you do.
Genesis 21:23
So make a vow here in the presence of God that you will not deceive me, my children, or my descendants. I have been loyal to you, so promise that you will also be loyal to me and to this country in which you are living."
Exodus 12:48
but no uncircumcised man may eat it. If a foreigner has settled among you and wants to celebrate Passover to honor the Lord , you must first circumcise all the males of his household. He is then to be treated like a native-born Israelite and may join in the festival.
Leviticus 12:3
On the eighth day, the child shall be circumcised.
Deuteronomy 12:32
"Do everything that I have commanded you; do not add anything to it or take anything from it.
Luke 1:6
They both lived good lives in God's sight and obeyed fully all the Lord's laws and commands.
Luke 1:59
When the baby was a week old, they came to circumcise him, and they were going to name him Zechariah, after his father.
Luke 2:21
A week later, when the time came for the baby to be circumcised, he was named Jesus, the name which the angel had given him before he had been conceived.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

As for me, [is] my complaint to man?.... Job had been complaining, and still was, and continued to do so after this, but not to them, his friends, nor any other man; his complaint was made to God, and of him he thought he was hardly dealt with by him, he could not tell for what; he had desired to know the reason why he contended with him in such a manner, but could get no satisfaction; when his friends came first to visit him, they said nothing to him, nor he to them; and when he did speak, it was not to them, but to God, of whom he complains; and expostulates with him why he had ever been born, or had not died as soon as born, and not have lived to have seen such unhappy days, and endured so much affliction and trouble:

and if [it were so]; that he had made his complaint to man, since it would have been in vain, and to no purpose, he should have got no relief, nor obtained any satisfaction:

why should not my spirit be troubled? or "shortened" l; or, as the Targum, be straitened; for as comfort and joy enlarge the heart, trouble contracts and straitens it; or is "my prayer" or m "petition to men?" it was not, though he was reduced so low, and was in such a distressed condition; he had asked nothing of men, not of these his friends, neither to give him of their substance, nor to help him out of the hands of his enemies, Job 6:21; he had poured out his complaint before God, and had directed his prayer to the God of his life; he had desired to speak to none but the Almighty, and to reason only with him; he had petitioned him to take cognizance of his case, and to admit of a hearing of it before him, and to have it determined by him; he had complained of wrongs and injuries done him, and begged to be redressed and righted, but got no answer; God did not think fit to answer him, but hid himself from him, and continued so to do: "and if", if this be the case, as it really was, "why should not my spirit be troubled?" is there not reason for it? Some think Job's meaning is, is "my disputation", as the Vulgate Latin version, or is my discourse concerning human things, things within the compass of human knowledge and reasoning? or, to be attained to by the force of that, without divine revelation? no, it is concerning divine things; concerning the mysteries of Providence, with respect to good and bad men; concerning the living Redeemer, his incarnation, resurrection, c. and faith in him concerning the general resurrection, the final judgment, and a future state of happiness: or does my complaint, petition, or discourse, savour of that which is human, and is intermixed with human frailty? if it be so, it should be borne with, it should be considered I am but a man, and liable to err; and especially great allowances should be made in my present circumstances, being trader such sore afflictions; and it may be reasonably thought, that though the spirit may be willing to behave in a better manner, the flesh is weak, and much must be imputed unto that; and it will not seem so extravagant to indulge a troubled spirit so severely exercised; persons under afflictions generally think they do well to be troubled, and that there is reason enough for it, and ought to be borne with, and not to be reproached and rallied on that account.

l תקצר "abbreviabitur", Montanus, Vatablus, "abbreviaretur", Drusius, Cocceius, Michaelis. m שיחי "precatio mea", Drusius.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

As for me, is my complaint to man? - There is some difficulty in the interpretation of this verse, and considerable variety of explanation may be seen among expositors. The “object” of the verse is plain. It is to state a reason why they should hear him with patience and without interruption. The meaning of this part of the verse probably is, that his principal difficulty was not with his friends, but with God. It was not so much what they had said, that gave him trouble, as it was what God had done. Severe and cutting as were their rebukes, yet it was far more trying to him to be treated as he had been by God, “as if” he were a great sinner. That was what he could not understand. Perplexed and troubled, therefore, by the mysteriousness of the divine dealings, his friends ought to be willing to listen patiently to what he had to say; and in his anxiety to find out “why” God had treated him so, they ought not at once to infer that he was a wicked man, and to overwhelm him with increased anguish of spirit.

It will be recollected that Job repeatedly expressed the wish to be permitted to carry his cause at once up to God, and to have his adjudication on it. See Job 13:3, note; Job 13:18, notes. It is that to which he refers when he says here, that he wished to have the cause before God, and not before man. It was a matter which he wished to refer to the Almighty, and he ought to be allowed to express his sentiments with entire freedom. One of the difficulties in understanding this verse arises from the word “complaint.” We use it in the sense of “murmuring,” or “repining;” but this, I think, is not its meaning here. It is used rather in the sense of “cause, argument, reasoning, or reflections.” The Hebrew word שׂיח śı̂yı̂ch means, properly, that which is “brought out” - from שׂיח śı̂yach, “to bring out, to put forth, to produce” - as buds, leaves, flowers; and then it means “words” - as brought out, or spoken; and then, meditations, reflections, discourses, speeches; and then it “may” mean “complaint.” But there is no evidence that the word is used in that sense here. It means his reflections, or arguments. They were not to man. He wished to carry them at once before God, and he ought, therefore, to be allowed to speak freely. Jerome renders it, “disputatio mea.” The Septuagint, ἔλεγξις elengcis - used here, probably, in the sense of “an argument to produce conviction,” as it is often.

And if it were so, why should not my spirit be troubled? - Margin, “shortened,” meaning the same as troubled, afflicted, or impatient. A more literal translation will better express the idea which is now lost sight of, “And if so, why should not my spirit be distressed?” That is, since my cause is with God - since my difficulty is in understanding his dealings with me - since I have carried my cause up to him, and all now depends on him, why should I not be allowed to have solicitude in regard to the result? If I manifest anxiety, who can blame me? Who would not, when his all was at stake, and when the divine dealings toward him were so mysterious?

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Job 21:4. As for me — האנכי heanochi, "Alas for me!" Is it not with a man that I speak? And, if this be the case, why should not my spirit be troubled? I do not reply against my Maker: I suffer much from God and man; why then may I not have the privilege of complaining to creatures like myself?


 
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