Job 22:13
New International Version
Yet you say, ‘What does God know? Does he judge through such darkness?

New Living Translation
But you reply, ‘That’s why God can’t see what I am doing! How can he judge through the thick darkness?

English Standard Version
But you say, ‘What does God know? Can he judge through the deep darkness?

Berean Standard Bible
Yet you say: ‘What does God know? Does He judge through thick darkness?

King James Bible
And thou sayest, How doth God know? can he judge through the dark cloud?

New King James Version
And you say, ‘What does God know? Can He judge through the deep darkness?

New American Standard Bible
“But you say, ‘What does God know? Can He judge through the thick darkness?

NASB 1995
“You say, ‘What does God know? Can He judge through the thick darkness?

NASB 1977
“And you say, ‘What does God know? Can He judge through the thick darkness?

Legacy Standard Bible
You say, ‘What does God know? Can He judge through the dense gloom?

Amplified Bible
“You say, ‘What does God know [about me]? Can He judge through the thick darkness?

Christian Standard Bible
Yet you say, “What does God know? Can he judge through total darkness?

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Yet you say: “What does God know? Can He judge through thick darkness?

American Standard Version
And thou sayest, What doth God know? Can he judge through the thick darkness?

Contemporary English Version
Do you think the deep darkness hides you from God?

English Revised Version
And thou sayest, What doth God know? can he judge through the thick darkness?

GOD'S WORD® Translation
You ask, 'What does God know? Can he judge [anything] from behind a dark cloud?

Good News Translation
And yet you ask, "What does God know? He is hidden by clouds--how can he judge us?"

International Standard Version
You've asked, 'What does God know? Can he sort through pitch black darkness?'

Majority Standard Bible
Yet you say: ‘What does God know? Does He judge through thick darkness?

NET Bible
But you have said, 'What does God know? Does he judge through such deep darkness?

New Heart English Bible
You say, 'What does God know? Can he judge through the thick darkness?

Webster's Bible Translation
And thou sayest, How doth God know? can he judge through the dark cloud?

World English Bible
You say, ‘What does God know? Can he judge through the thick darkness?
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
And you have said, How has God known? Does He judge through thickness?

Young's Literal Translation
And thou hast said, 'What -- hath God known? Through thickness doth He judge?

Smith's Literal Translation
And thou saidst How shall God know? Shall he judge in the cloud of darkness?
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
And thou sayst: What doth God know? and he judgeth as it were through a mist.

Catholic Public Domain Version
And you say: “Well, what does God know?” and, “He judges, as if through a fog,”

New American Bible
Yet you say, “What does God know? Can he judge through the thick darkness?

New Revised Standard Version
Therefore you say, ‘What does God know? Can he judge through the deep darkness?
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
And yet you say, How does God know? Can he judge through the thick darkness?

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
And you said: ‘What does God know? Will he judge within the thick darkness?’
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
And thou sayest: 'What doth God know? Can He judge through the dark cloud?

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And thou has said, What does the Mighty One know? does he judge in the dark?

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Eliphaz Exhorts Job
12Is not God as high as the heavens? Look at the highest stars, how lofty they are! 13Yet you say: ‘What does God know? Does He judge through thick darkness? 14Thick clouds veil Him so He does not see us as He traverses the vault of heaven.’…

Cross References
Psalm 73:11
The wicked say, “How can God know? Does the Most High have knowledge?”

Psalm 10:11
He says to himself, “God has forgotten; He hides His face and never sees.”

Psalm 94:7
They say, “The LORD does not see; the God of Jacob pays no heed.”

Isaiah 29:15
Woe to those who dig deep to hide their plans from the LORD. In darkness they do their works and say, “Who sees us, and who will know?”

Ezekiel 8:12
“Son of man,” He said to me, “do you see what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the darkness, each at the shrine of his own idol? For they are saying, ‘The LORD does not see us; the LORD has forsaken the land.’”

Jeremiah 23:23-24
“Am I only a God nearby,” declares the LORD, “and not a God far away?” / “Can a man hide in secret places where I cannot see him?” declares the LORD. “Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” declares the LORD.

Psalm 139:7-12
Where can I go to escape Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence? / If I ascend to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, You are there. / If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle by the farthest sea, ...

Proverbs 15:3
The eyes of the LORD are in every place, observing the evil and the good.

Isaiah 47:10
You were secure in your wickedness; you said, ‘No one sees me.’ Your wisdom and knowledge led you astray; you told yourself, ‘I am, and there is none besides me.’

Psalm 14:1
For the choirmaster. Of David. The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt; their acts are vile. There is no one who does good.

Psalm 64:5-6
They hold fast to their evil purpose; they speak of hiding their snares. “Who will see them?” they say. / They devise injustice and say, “We have perfected a secret plan.” For the inner man and the heart are mysterious.

Romans 1:28
Furthermore, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, He gave them up to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.

2 Peter 3:4
“Where is the promise of His coming?” they will ask. “Ever since our fathers fell asleep, everything continues as it has from the beginning of creation.”

Hebrews 4:13
Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight; everything is uncovered and exposed before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.

Matthew 6:4
so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.


Treasury of Scripture

And you say, How does God know? can he judge through the dark cloud?

How.

Psalm 10:11
He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten: he hideth his face; he will never see it.

Psalm 59:7
Behold, they belch out with their mouth: swords are in their lips: for who, say they, doth hear?

Psalm 73:11
And they say, How doth God know? and is there knowledge in the most High?

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Job 22
1. Eliphaz shows that man's goodness profits not God
5. He accuses Job of various sins
21. He exhorts him to repentance, with promises of mercy














Yet you say
This phrase introduces a direct accusation from Eliphaz towards Job. In the Hebrew text, the word "you" is emphasized, suggesting a personal and direct confrontation. Eliphaz is attributing a skeptical attitude to Job, implying that Job has questioned God's omniscience. This sets the stage for a deeper exploration of human doubt and divine knowledge, a theme that resonates throughout the Book of Job.

What does God know?
This rhetorical question challenges the extent of God's knowledge. The Hebrew root for "know" is "yada," which encompasses not just intellectual understanding but also experiential and relational knowledge. Eliphaz is accusing Job of doubting God's intimate awareness of human affairs. From a conservative Christian perspective, this question underscores the folly of underestimating God's omniscience, as God is portrayed throughout Scripture as all-knowing and intimately involved in His creation.

Can He judge
The concept of judgment here is central to the theological discourse in Job. The Hebrew word for "judge" is "shaphat," which implies not only legal judgment but also governance and discernment. Eliphaz is questioning whether God can execute justice if He is supposedly unaware of human actions. This reflects a misunderstanding of divine justice, which, according to conservative Christian theology, is perfect and unerring, transcending human limitations and perceptions.

through thick darkness?
The imagery of "thick darkness" suggests obscurity and hiddenness. In the ancient Near Eastern context, darkness often symbolized chaos and the unknown. The Hebrew word "araphel" is used here, which can denote a dense cloud or deep gloom. Eliphaz implies that God's vision might be obstructed by such darkness. However, from a biblical standpoint, darkness is no barrier to God. Passages like Psalm 139:12 affirm that "even the darkness is not dark to You." This highlights the belief in God's omnipresence and His ability to see and judge rightly, regardless of human perception of obscurity.

Verse 13. - And thou sayest, How doth God know? Job had not said this in so many words, but, by equalizing the godly and the wicked (Job 9:22; Job 21:23-26), he might be supposed to mean that God took no note of men's conduct, and therefore had not a perfect knowledge of all things. The psalmist implies that many men so thought (Psalm 10:11; Psalm 73:11; Psalm 94:7). Can he judge through the dark cloud? rather, through the thick darkness. God was supposed to dwell remote from man, in the highest heaven, and, according to many, "clouds and darkness were round about him" (Psalm 97:2) - he "dwelt in the thick darkness" (1 Kings 8:12) - he "made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him was waters, and thick clouds of the skies" (Psalm 18:11). The imagery was, no doubt, at first used in reference to man's inability to see and know God; but when men became familiar with it, they turned the metaphor round, and questioned God's ability to see and know anything about man. Job had not really ever shared in these doubts; but it suits Eliphaz's purpose to malign and misrepresent him.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Yet you say:
וְֽ֭אָמַרְתָּ (wə·’ā·mar·tā)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - second person masculine singular
Strong's 559: To utter, say

‘What
מַה־ (mah-)
Interrogative
Strong's 4100: What?, what!, indefinitely what

does God
אֵ֑ל (’êl)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 410: Strength -- as adjective, mighty, the Almighty

know?
יָּ֣דַֽע (yā·ḏa‘)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 3045: To know

Does He judge
יִשְׁפּֽוֹט׃ (yiš·pō·wṭ)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 8199: To judge, pronounce sentence, to vindicate, punish, to govern, to litigate

through
הַבְעַ֖ד (haḇ·‘aḏ)
Preposition
Strong's 1157: In up to, over against, at, beside, among, behind, for

thick darkness?
עֲרָפֶ֣ל (‘ă·rā·p̄el)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 6205: Cloud, heavy cloud


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OT Poetry: Job 22:13 You say 'What does God know? Can (Jb)
Job 22:12
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