Lectionary Calendar
Monday, December 29th, 2025
the Monday after Christmas
Attention!
For 10¢ a day you can enjoy StudyLight.org ads
free while helping to build churches and support pastors in Uganda.
Click here to learn more!

Read the Bible

New Century Version

Job 9:11

When he passes me, I cannot see him; when he goes by me, I do not recognize him.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - God;   God Continued...;   Thompson Chain Reference - Invisibility of God;   Mysteries-Revelations;   Unseen God;  

Dictionaries:

- Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Greatness of God;   Hypocrisy;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
If he passed by me, I wouldn’t see him;if he went by, I wouldn’t recognize him.
Hebrew Names Version
Behold, he goes by me, and I don't see him. He passes on also, but I don't perceive him.
King James Version
Lo, he goeth by me, and I see him not: he passeth on also, but I perceive him not.
English Standard Version
Behold, he passes by me, and I see him not; he moves on, but I do not perceive him.
New English Translation
If he passes by me, I cannot see him, if he goes by, I cannot perceive him.
Amplified Bible
"Behold, He passes by me, and I do not see Him; He moves past me, but I do not perceive Him.
New American Standard Bible
"If He were to pass by me, I would not see Him; Were He to move past me, I would not perceive Him.
World English Bible
Behold, he goes by me, and I don't see him. He passes on also, but I don't perceive him.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Lo, when he goeth by me, I see him not: and when he passeth by, I perceiue him not.
Legacy Standard Bible
Were He to sweep by me, I would not see Him;Were He to move past me, I would not perceive Him.
Berean Standard Bible
Were He to pass by me, I would not see Him; were He to move, I would not recognize Him.
Contemporary English Version
God walks right past me, without making a sound.
Complete Jewish Bible
He can go right by me, and I don't see him; he moves past without my being aware of him.
Darby Translation
Lo, he goeth by me, and I see [him] not; and he passeth along, and I perceive him not.
Easy-to-Read Version
When he passes by, I cannot see him. He goes right past me, and I don't notice.
George Lamsa Translation
Lo, if he will pass by me, I will see him not; and if he will circle around me, I will not perceive him.
Good News Translation
God passes by, but I cannot see him.
Lexham English Bible
"If he passes by me, I would not see him; and if he should move on, I would not recognize him.
Literal Translation
Behold, He goes by me, and I do not see Him ; and He passes on, but I do not perceive Him.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Yf he came by me, I might not loke vpo him: yf he wente his waye, I shulde not perceaue it.
American Standard Version
Lo, he goeth by me, and I see him not: He passeth on also, but I perceive him not.
Bible in Basic English
See, he goes past me and I see him not: he goes on before, but I have no knowledge of him.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
Lo, He goeth by me, and I see Him not. He passeth on also, but I perceive Him not.
King James Version (1611)
Loe, hee goeth by me, and I see him not: he passeth on also, but I perceiue him not.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Lo, when he goeth by me, I shal not see hym, and when he passeth, I shall not perceaue hym.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
If ever he should go beyond me, I shall not see him: if he should pass by me, neither thus have I known it.
English Revised Version
Lo, he goeth by me, and I see him not: he passeth on also, but I perceive him not.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
If he cometh to me, `that is, bi his grace, Y schal not se hym; if he goith awey, `that is, in withdrawynge his grace, Y schal not vndurstonde.
Update Bible Version
Look, he goes by me, and I don't see him: He passes on also, but I don't perceive him.
Webster's Bible Translation
Lo, he goeth by me, and I see [him] not: he passeth on also, but I perceive him not.
New King James Version
If He goes by me, I do not see Him; If He moves past, I do not perceive Him;
New Living Translation
"Yet when he comes near, I cannot see him. When he moves by, I do not see him go.
New Life Bible
When He passes by me, I do not see Him. When He goes by me, I do not know Him.
New Revised Standard
Look, he passes by me, and I do not see him; he moves on, but I do not perceive him.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Lo! he cometh upon me, yet can I not see him, Yea he passeth on, yet can I not discern him.
Douay-Rheims Bible
If he come to me, I shall not see him: if he depart, I shall not understand.
Revised Standard Version
Lo, he passes by me, and I see him not; he moves on, but I do not perceive him.
Young's Literal Translation
Lo, He goeth over by me, and I see not, And He passeth on, and I attend not to it.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Were He to pass by me, I would not see Him; Were He to move past me, I would not perceive Him.

Contextual Overview

1 Then Job answered: 2 "Yes, I know that this is true, but how can anyone be right in the presence of God? 3 Someone might want to argue with God, but no one could answer God, not one time out of a thousand. 4 God's wisdom is deep, and his power is great; no one can fight him without getting hurt. 5 God moves mountains without anyone knowing it and turns them over when he is angry. 6 He shakes the earth out of its place and makes its foundations tremble. 7 He commands the sun not to shine and shuts off the light of the stars. 8 He alone stretches out the skies and walks on the waves of the sea. 9 It is God who made the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades and the groups of stars in the southern sky. 10 He does wonders that cannot be understood; he does so many miracles they cannot be counted.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

he goeth: Job 23:8, Job 23:9, Job 35:14, Psalms 77:19, 1 Timothy 6:16

Reciprocal: Genesis 28:16 - and I

Cross-References

Genesis 9:21
When he drank wine made from his grapes, he became drunk and lay naked in his tent.
Genesis 9:22
Ham, the father of Canaan, looked at his naked father and told his brothers outside.
Genesis 9:23
Then Shem and Japheth got a coat and, carrying it on both their shoulders, they walked backwards into the tent and covered their father. They turned their faces away so that they did not see their father's nakedness.
Isaiah 54:9
The Lord says, "This day is like the time of Noah to me. I promised then that I would never flood the world again. In the same way, I promise I will not be angry with you or punish you again.
2 Peter 3:7
And that same word of God is keeping heaven and earth that we now have in order to be destroyed by fire. They are being kept for the Judgment Day and the destruction of all who are against God.
2 Peter 3:11
In that way everything will be destroyed. So what kind of people should you be? You should live holy lives and serve God,

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Lo, he goeth by me, and I see [him] not,.... This is expressive of the invisibility of God; for though the angels in heaven always behold his face, and men, in the works of creation, may see his eternal power and Godhead, and other perfections of it displayed therein; and saints by faith have a comfortable and delightful view of him, of his countenance, his love, grace and mercy in his word and ordinances, and especially in the face and person of Christ, the image of the invisible God, and will in heaven most clearly see him as he is, in the greater display of his glory and his grace; yet his essence is invisible, not only not to be seen with corporeal eyes, but not to be comprehended in the mind:

he passeth on also, but I perceive him not; this "going [and] passing on", as, ascribed to God, must be understood in consistence with his omnipresence; he cannot be thought to move from place to place who is everywhere, who fills heaven and earth with his presence, and there is no going from it: local motion cannot be said of him; but this respects the operations of his providence; he is continually working all around us, by supporting us in being, and supplying us with what we want, and so is near us, and yet we see him not: Job experienced the bounties of his providence, as well as the blessings of his grace, in the time of his prosperity, and now he felt the weight of his afflicting hand upon him; but yet, as to his essence, he could not see him; he was sensible that he was nigh him, and find a concern in all that befell him, but he could neither see nor comprehend him, nor account for his dealings with him: he had "passed by" him in his state of nature, and had looked graciously on him, and had said unto him, Live; he had "passed on" from him, and hid his face so that he could not see him, nor find him backward nor forward, on the right hand, nor on the left, where he used to work, see Job 23:3.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Lo, he goeth by me - That is, he passes along - as in the silent movements of the heavenly bodies. “I see the evidence of his existence. I can see that God must be there - moving along by me in the orbs of night and in the march of the constellations, but I cannot see God himself. He passes by, or rather he passes over me (עלי ālay), as in the majestic movement of the heavenly bodies over my head.” This is, I think, the idea, and the image is exceedingly poetic and beautiful. The heavens are seen to move in silent grandeur. The northern constellation rolls around the pole. The others move on as a marshalled army. They go in silent and solemn order, and God must be there. But, says Job, I cannot see him. I can feel that he must be there, and I look out on the heavens to see him, but my eyes fail, and I cannot behold him. He passes on, and I see him not. Who has ever looked upon the heavens in the still night, and seen the silent grandeur of such movements of the heavenly host, without some such feeling - some emotion of inexpressible awe - as if he, if I may so express it, COULD ALMOST SEE GOD?

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Job 9:11. Lo, he goeth by me, and I see him not — He is incomprehensible in all his ways, and in all his works; and he must be so it he be GOD, and work as GOD; for his own nature and his operations are past finding out.


 
adsfree-icon
Ads FreeProfile