the Fourth Sunday after Easter
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Biblia Karoli Gaspar
Jób 9:19
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Concordances:
- Nave'sDictionaries:
- CharlesBible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
he is strong: Job 9:4, Job 36:17-19, Job 40:9, Job 40:10, Psalms 62:11, Matthew 6:13, 1 Corinthians 1:25, 1 Corinthians 10:22
who shall: Job 9:32, Job 9:33, Job 31:35, Job 33:5-7
Reciprocal: 1 Chronicles 29:12 - power Job 14:3 - bringest Job 22:4 - will he enter Job 23:6 - plead Job 35:14 - yet Job 36:5 - mighty Job 37:23 - excellent Psalms 13:2 - take Psalms 21:13 - Be thou Psalms 89:8 - a strong Isaiah 26:4 - in the Jeremiah 49:19 - appoint me the time Romans 9:19 - Why doth Revelation 18:8 - for
Gill's Notes on the Bible
If [I speak] of strength, lo, [he is] strong,.... Or think of it, or betake myself to that, and propose to carry my point by mere force, as some men do by dint of power and authority they are possessed of; alas! there is nothing to be done this way; I am a poor, weak, feeble creature in body, mind, and estate; I am not able to contend with so powerful an antagonist on any account, in any way: God is strong, he is the "most strong" w, as some render it; he is mighty, is the Almighty; the weakness of God is stronger than men; there is no disputing with God upon the foot of strength:
and if of judgment, who shall set me a time [to plead]? If I think and propose to put things upon the foot of justice, to have the cause between us issued in that way, I cannot expect to succeed by right, any more than by might; he is so strictly just and holy, that no righteousness and holiness of, mine can stand before him; he is God, and I a man, and therefore not fit to come together in judgment; and he a pure and holy Being, just and true, and without iniquity, and I a sinful polluted creature; and besides, there is none superior to him, that I can appeal unto, none that can appoint a place, or fix a time, for the hearing of the cause between us, or that can preside in judgment and determine the matter in controversy; nay, there is not one among the creatures that can be a daysman, an arbiter or umpire; yea not one that can be so much as employed as council, that can take the cause in hand, and plead it, and be a patron for me, and defender of me; so that, let me take what course I will, I am sure to be nonsuited and worsted, see Jeremiah 49:19.
w אמיץ "robustissimus est", V. L.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
If I speak of strength, lo, he is strong - There has been a considerable variety in the interpretation of this passage. The meaning seems to be this. It refers to a judicial contest, and Job is speaking of the effect if he and God were to come to a trial, and the cause were to be settled before judges. He is urging reasons why he would have no hope of success in such a case. He says, therefore, “If the matter pertained only to strength, or if it were to be determined by strength, lo, he is more mighty than I am, and I could have no hope of success in such a controversy: and if the controversy was one of judgment, that is, of justice or right, I have no one to manage my cause - no one that could cope with him in the pleadings - no one who could equal him in setting forth my arguments, or presenting my side of the case. It would, therefore, be wholly an unequal contest, where I could have no hope of success; and I am unwilling to engage in such a controversy or trial with God. My interest, my duty, and the necessity of the case, require me to submit the case without argument, and I will not attempt to plead with my Maker.” That there was a lack of right feeling in this, must be apparent to all.
There was evidently the secret belief that God had dealt with him severely; that he had gone beyond his deserts in indicting pain on him, and that he was under a necessity of submitting not so much to justice and right as to mere power and sovereignty. But who has not had something of this feeling when deeply afflicted? And yet who, when he has had it, has not felt that it was far from being what it should be? Our feeling should be, “we deserve all that we suffer, and more than we have yet endured. God is a sovereign; but He is right. Though he afflicts us much, and others little, yet it is not because he is unjust, but because he sees that there is some good reason why we should suffer. That reason may be seen yet by us, but if not, we should never doubt that it exists.”
Who shall set me a time to plead? - Noyes renders this, “Who shall summon me to trial?” Dr. Good, “Who should become a witness for me?” The sense is, “Who would summon witnesses for me? If it was a mere trial of strength, God is too mighty for me; if it were a question of justice, who would compel witnesses to come on my side? Who could make them willing to appear against God, and to bear testimony for me in a controversy with the Almighty?”
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Job 9:19. If I speak of strength, lo, he is strong — Human wisdom, power, and influence avail nothing before him.
Who shall set me a time — מי יועידני mi yoideni, "Who would be a witness for me?" or, Who would dare to appear in my behalf? Almost all the terms in this part of the speech of Job, Job 9:11-24, are forensic or juridical, and are taken from legal processes and pleadings in their gates or courts of justice.