Show Bible Commentary For A Bible Verse

Click here to show/hide instructions.

Selected Verse: Job 11:7 - Strong Concordance

Verse	Translation	Text
Job 11:7	Strong Concordance	Canst thou by searching [02714] find out [04672] God [0433]? canst thou find [04672] out the Almighty [07706] unto perfection [08503]?
	King James	Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection?

Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse

Open All | Close All Open All | Close All

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
Rather, "Penetrate to the perfections of the Almighty" (Job 9:10; Psa 139:6).

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

Rather, "Penetrate to the perfections of the Almighty" (Job 9:10; Psa 139:6).

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
Canst then, by searching, find out God? - In order to illustrate the sentiment which he had just expressed, that the secrets of divine wisdom must be far above our comprehension, Zophar introduces here this sublime description of God - a description which seems to have the form and force of a proverb. It seems to have been a settled opinion that man could not find out the Almighty to perfection by his own powers - a sentiment, which is as true now, as it was then, and which is of the utmost importance in all our inquiries about the Creator. The sentiment is expressed in a most beautiful manner; and the language itself is not unworthy of the theme. The word "searching," חקר chêqer, is from חקר châqar to search, to search out, to examine; and the primary sense, according to Gesenius, lies in searching in the earth by boring or digging - as for metals. Then it means to search with diligence and care. Here it means that by the utmost attention in examining the works of God, it would be impossible for man to find out the Almighty to perfection. All the investigations which have been made of God, have fallen short of the object; and at the present time it is as true as it was in the days of Job, that we cannot, by searching, find him out. Of much that pertains to him and his plans we must be content to remain in ignorance, until we are admitted to the revelations of a higher world - happy and thankful now that we are permitted to know so much of him as we do, and that we are apprized of the existence of one infinite and perfect mind. It is an inexpressible privilege to know "anything" of God; and it is proof of the exalted nature of man, that he is now capable of becoming in any degree acquainted with the divine nature.

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]

Canst then, by searching, find out God? - In order to illustrate the sentiment which he had just expressed, that the secrets of divine wisdom must be far above our comprehension, Zophar introduces here this sublime description of God - a description which seems to have the form and force of a proverb. It seems to have been a settled opinion that man could not find out the Almighty to perfection by his own powers - a sentiment, which is as true now, as it was then, and which is of the utmost importance in all our inquiries about the Creator. The sentiment is expressed in a most beautiful manner; and the language itself is not unworthy of the theme. The word "searching," חקר chêqer, is from חקר châqar to search, to search out, to examine; and the primary sense, according to Gesenius, lies in searching in the earth by boring or digging - as for metals. Then it means to search with diligence and care. Here it means that by the utmost attention in examining the works of God, it would be impossible for man to find out the Almighty to perfection. All the investigations which have been made of God, have fallen short of the object; and at the present time it is as true as it was in the days of Job, that we cannot, by searching, find him out. Of much that pertains to him and his plans we must be content to remain in ignorance, until we are admitted to the revelations of a higher world - happy and thankful now that we are permitted to know so much of him as we do, and that we are apprized of the existence of one infinite and perfect mind. It is an inexpressible privilege to know "anything" of God; and it is proof of the exalted nature of man, that he is now capable of becoming in any degree acquainted with the divine nature.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]
7 Canst thou find out the nature of Eloah, And penetrate to the foundation of the existence of the Almighty? 8 It is as the heights of heaven-what wilt thou do? Deeper than Hades-what canst thou know? 9 The measure thereof is longer than the earth, And broader than the sea. The majority of modern commentators erroneously translate חקר searching = comprehension, and תּכלית perfection, a meaning which this word never has. The former, indeed, signifies first in an active sense: finding out by search; and then also objectively: the object sought after: "the hidden ground" (Ewald), the depth (here and Job 38:16; also, according to Ew., Job 8:8, of the deep innermost thought). The latter denotes penetrating to the extreme, and then the extreme, πέρας, itself (Job 26:10; Job 28:3). In other words: the nature that underlies that which is visible as an object of search is called חקר; and the extreme of a thing, i.e., the end, without which the beginning and middle cannot be understood, is called תכלית. The nature of God may be sought after, but cannot be found out; and the end of God is unattainable, for He is both: the Perfect One, absolutus; and the Endless One, infinitus. Job 11:8-9 The feminine form of expression has reference to the divine wisdom (Chokma, Job 11:6), and amplifies what is there said of its transcendent reality. Its absoluteness is described by four dimensions, like the absoluteness of the love which devised the plan for man's redemption (Eph 3:18). The pronoun היא, with reference to this subject of the sentence, must be supplied. She is as "the heights of heaven" (comp. on subst. pro adj. Job 22:12); what wilt or canst thou do in order to scale that which is high as heaven? In Job 11:9 we have translated according to the reading מדּה with He mappic. This feminine construction is a contraction for מדּתהּ, as Job 5:13, ערמם for ערמתם; Zac 4:2, גלה for גלתה, and more syncopated forms of a like kind (vid., Comm. ber den Psalter, i. 225, ii. 172). The reading recorded by the Masora is, however, מדּה with He raph., according to which the word seems to be the accusative used adverbially; nevertheless the separation of this acc. relativus from its regens by the insertion of a word between them (comp. Job 15:10) would make a difficulty here where היא is wanting, and consequently מדה seems to signify mensura ejus whichever way it may be written (since ah raphe is also sometimes a softened form of the suffix, Job 31:22; Ewald, 94, b). The wisdom of God is in its height altogether inaccessible, in its depth fathomless and beyond research, in its length unbounded, in its breadth incomprehensible, stretching out far beyond all human thought.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]

7 Canst thou find out the nature of Eloah,

And penetrate to the foundation of the existence of the Almighty?

8 It is as the heights of heaven-what wilt thou do?

Deeper than Hades-what canst thou know?

9 The measure thereof is longer than the earth,

And broader than the sea.

The majority of modern commentators erroneously translate חקר searching = comprehension, and תּכלית perfection, a meaning which this word never has. The former, indeed, signifies first in an active sense: finding out by search; and then also objectively: the object sought after: "the hidden ground" (Ewald), the depth (here and Job 38:16; also, according to Ew., Job 8:8, of the deep innermost thought). The latter denotes penetrating to the extreme, and then the extreme, πέρας, itself (Job 26:10; Job 28:3). In other words: the nature that underlies that which is visible as an object of search is called חקר; and the extreme of a thing, i.e., the end, without which the beginning and middle cannot be understood, is called תכלית. The nature of God may be sought after, but cannot be found out; and the end of God is unattainable, for He is both: the Perfect One, absolutus; and the Endless One, infinitus.

Job 11:8-9

The feminine form of expression has reference to the divine wisdom (Chokma, Job 11:6), and amplifies what is there said of its transcendent reality. Its absoluteness is described by four dimensions, like the absoluteness of the love which devised the plan for man's redemption (Eph 3:18). The pronoun היא, with reference to this subject of the sentence, must be supplied. She is as "the heights of heaven" (comp. on subst. pro adj. Job 22:12); what wilt or canst thou do in order to scale that which is high as heaven? In Job 11:9 we have translated according to the reading מדּה with He mappic. This feminine construction is a contraction for מדּתהּ, as Job 5:13, ערמם for ערמתם; Zac 4:2, גלה for גלתה, and more syncopated forms of a like kind (vid., Comm. ber den Psalter, i. 225, ii. 172). The reading recorded by the Masora is, however, מדּה with He raph., according to which the word seems to be the accusative used adverbially; nevertheless the separation of this acc. relativus from its regens by the insertion of a word between them (comp. Job 15:10) would make a difficulty here where היא is wanting, and consequently מדה seems to signify mensura ejus whichever way it may be written (since ah raphe is also sometimes a softened form of the suffix, Job 31:22; Ewald, 94, b). The wisdom of God is in its height altogether inaccessible, in its depth fathomless and beyond research, in its length unbounded, in its breadth incomprehensible, stretching out far beyond all human thought.

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]
Find out - Discover all the depths of his wisdom, and the reasons of his actions?

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]

Find out - Discover all the depths of his wisdom, and the reasons of his actions?

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826
Canst thou by searching find out God? - What is God? A Being self-existent, eternal, infinite, immense, without bounds, incomprehensible either by mind, or time, or space. Who then can find this Being out? Who can fathom his depths, ascend to his heights, extend to his breadths, and comprehend the infinitude of his perfections?

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826

Canst thou by searching find out God? - What is God? A Being self-existent, eternal, infinite, immense, without bounds, incomprehensible either by mind, or time, or space. Who then can find this Being out? Who can fathom his depths, ascend to his heights, extend to his breadths, and comprehend the infinitude of his perfections?

Top