Job 11:8 NIV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Job 11:7-12

Zophar here speaks very good things concerning God and his greatness and glory, concerning man and his vanity and folly: these two compared together, and duly considered, will have a powerful influence upon our submission to all the dispensations of the divine Providence. I. See here what God is, and let him be adored. 1. He is an incomprehensible Being, infinite and immense, whose nature and perfections our finite understandings cannot possibly form any adequate conceptions of, and whose... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 11:8

It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do ?.... Or, "is higher than the heavens" F9 גבהי שמים "altior est altissimis coelis", Junius & Tremellius. ; either the wisdom of God and the secrets of it; the perfection of his wisdom, by which he has made the heavens; or evangelical wisdom, hid in his heart, and which the highest of creatures, the angels, come at the knowledge of only by revelation; and therefore, what can man do to find it out, unless God reveals it? or wisdom... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 11:8

It is as high as heaven - High as the heavens, what canst thou work? Deep below sheol, (the invisible world), what canst thou know? Long beyond the earth, and broad beyond the sea, is its measure. These are instances in the immensity of created things, and all out of the reach of human power and knowledge; and if these things are so, how incomprehensible must he be, who designed, created, preserves, and governs the whole! We find the same thought in Milton: - "These are thy glorious... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 11:1-20

Zophar, the Naamathite, the third of Job's comforters ( Job 2:11 ), and probably the youngest of them, now at last takes the word, and delivers an angry and violent speech. He begins by accusing Job of having spoken at undue length, and at the same time, boastfully and mockingly (verses 2-4). He then expresses a wish that God would take Job at his word, and really answer him, since he is sure that the result would be to show that Job had been punished much less than he. deserved to be... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 11:1-20

Humble yourselves beneath the mighty hand of God. Zophar, the youngest of the friends, now comes forward once more to beat down the complaint of Job with the old arguments and commonplaces. To support his words, he does not appeal to a vision like Eliphaz, nor rely on the wisdom of the ancients like Bildad, but depends on his own understanding and zealous though narrow instinct for God. His whole speech is an example of the beauty and, at the same time, the defect of religious zeal. In... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 11:7-12

Zophar to Job: 2. God's wisdom and man's folly. I. THE PERFECTION OF DIVINE WISDOM . 1 . Unsearchable. Zophar's interrogations (verse 7) may signify either that man can never fully understand God, or that man's wisdom can never fully equal God's. Taken either way, they mean that the Divine wisdom, already described as "fold upon fold" (verse 6), transcends the comprehension of a finite mind. Whether the knowledge of God attainable by the speculative reason is a real and... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 11:7-12

Man humbled before God. Vain man reasons upon the ways of God, and presumes to penetrate to the depths of the Divine wisdom. A professed wisdom lands him in folly. To scale the heavens is as easy as to "find out the Almighty to perfection," to fathom the depths of the Divine designs. Job and his friends and hosts of others of us attempt to explain the name and ways of God, but our efforts are vain, and but expose a folly equal to our ignorance. I. THE DIVINE NATURE AND THE ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 11:8

It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? literally, heights of the heavens ; what canst thou do? But the meaning is probably that expressed in the Authorized Version. God's perfectness is unattainable by man's thought, as the heights of the heavens are by his feet. Deeper than hell ; literally, than Sheol , or the receptacle of the dead (see the comment on Job 10:21 ). St. Paul speaks of the "deep things," or rather, "the depths" ( τὰ βάθη ) of God (see 1 Corinthians... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Job 11:8

It is as high as heaven - That is, the knowledge of God; or the subject is as high as heaven. The idea is, that man is incompetent to examine, with accuracy, an object that is as far off as the heavens; and that as the knowledge of God must be of that character, it is vain for him to attempt to investigate it fully. There is an energy in the Hebrew which is lost in our common translation. The Hebrew is abrupt and very emphatic: “The heights of the heavens!” It is the language of one looking up... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Job 11:7-8

Job 11:7-8. Canst thou by searching find out God? That is, discover all the depths of his wisdom, and the reasons of all his actions. It is as high as heaven Thou canst not measure the heights of the visible heavens, much less of the divine perfections; what canst thou do? Namely, to find him out. Deeper than hell; what canst thou know? Concerning him and his ways, which are far out of thy sight and reach. God is unsearchable. The ages of his eternity cannot be numbered, nor the... read more

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Job 11:7-12

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 11:8

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 11:8

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 11:1-20

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 11:1-20

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 11:7-12

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 11:7-12

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 11:8

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Job 11:8

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Job 11:7-8

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