Job 37:20
New International Version
Should he be told that I want to speak? Would anyone ask to be swallowed up?

New Living Translation
Should God be notified that I want to speak? Can people even speak when they are confused?

English Standard Version
Shall it be told him that I would speak? Did a man ever wish that he would be swallowed up?

Berean Standard Bible
Should He be told that I want to speak? Would a man ask to be swallowed up?

King James Bible
Shall it be told him that I speak? if a man speak, surely he shall be swallowed up.

New King James Version
Should He be told that I wish to speak? If a man were to speak, surely he would be swallowed up.

New American Standard Bible
“Shall it be told Him that I would speak? Or should a man say that he would be swallowed up?

NASB 1995
“Shall it be told Him that I would speak? Or should a man say that he would be swallowed up?

NASB 1977
“Shall it be told Him that I would speak? Or should a man say that he would be swallowed up?

Legacy Standard Bible
Shall it be recounted to Him that I would speak? If a man says a word, will He indeed be swallowed up?

Amplified Bible
“So shall it be told Him that I wish to speak? Or should a man say that he would be swallowed up [and destroyed by God]?

Christian Standard Bible
Should he be told that I want to speak? Can a man speak when he is confused?

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Should He be told that I want to speak? Can a man speak when he is confused?

American Standard Version
Shall it be told him that I would speak? Or should a man wish that he were swallowed up?

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And I shall tell him what I shall say, and if a man will speak, he would be swallowed up

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Have I a book or a scribe my me, that I may stand and put man to silence?

Contemporary English Version
Should I risk my life by telling God that I want to speak?

Douay-Rheims Bible
Who shall tell him the things I speak? even if a man shall speak, he shall be swallowed up.

English Revised Version
Shall it be told him that I would speak? or should a man wish that he were swallowed up?

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Should he be told that I want to speak? Can a person speak when he is confused?

Good News Translation
I won't ask to speak with God; why should I give him a chance to destroy me?

International Standard Version
Has it been relayed to God that I want to talk? Can a person speak when he is confused?"

JPS Tanakh 1917
Shall it be told Him that I would speak? Or should a man wish that he were swallowed up?

Literal Standard Version
Is it declared to Him that I speak? If a man has spoken, surely he is swallowed up.

Majority Standard Bible
Should He be told that I want to speak? Would a man ask to be swallowed up?

New American Bible
Will he be told about it when I speak? Can anyone talk when he is being destroyed?

NET Bible
Should he be informed that I want to speak? If a man speaks, surely he would be swallowed up!

New Revised Standard Version
Should he be told that I want to speak? Did anyone ever wish to be swallowed up?

New Heart English Bible
Shall it be told him that I would speak? Or should a man wish that he were swallowed up?

Webster's Bible Translation
Shall it be told him that I speak? If a man shall speak, surely he will be swallowed up.

World English Bible
Will it be told him that I would speak? Or should a man wish that he were swallowed up?

Young's Literal Translation
Is it declared to Him that I speak? If a man hath spoken, surely he is swallowed up.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Elihu Proclaims God's Majesty
19Teach us what we should say to Him; we cannot draw up our case when our faces are in darkness. 20Should He be told that I want to speak? Would a man ask to be swallowed up? 21Now no one can gaze at the sun when it is bright in the skies after the wind has swept them clean.…

Cross References
Job 37:19
Teach us what we should say to Him; we cannot draw up our case when our faces are in darkness.

Job 37:21
Now no one can gaze at the sun when it is bright in the skies after the wind has swept them clean.


Treasury of Scripture

Shall it be told him that I speak? if a man speak, surely he shall be swallowed up.

Shall it

Psalm 139:4
For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether.

Matthew 12:36,37
But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment…

surely

Job 6:3
For now it would be heavier than the sand of the sea: therefore my words are swallowed up.

Job 11:7,8
Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? …

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Declared Desire Destruction Speak Surely Swallowed Talk Want Wish
Job 37
1. God is to be feared because of his great works
15. His wisdom is unsearchable in them














(20) Be swallowed up.--The sense will vary, according as we understand this of God or of the sun. In the first case, it is a simple expression of awe at God's majesty: "Shall it be told Him that I would speak? If a man speak, surely he shall be swallowed up;" but unquestionably the sense is clearer if we understand it of the sun: "Shall it be told of him? Shall I, indeed, speak it? or hath any man ever ventured to say, in such a case, that the sun is swallowed up, extinguished?"

Verse 20. - Shall it be told him that I speak? rather, that I would speak (comp. Job 31:35). Job had expressed the wish that God would "hear him, and answer him." Elihu, intending to rebuke this presumption, yet shrinking from doing so directly, puts himself in Job's place, and asks, "Would it be fitting that I should demand to speak with God?" If not, it cannot be fitting that Job should do so. If a man speak, surely he shall be swallowed up. This is probably the true meaning, though another has been suggested by some commentators, who prefer to render, "Or should a man wish that he were destroyed?" (So Ewald, Dillmann, Canon Cook, and our Revisers.) If we adopt this rendering, we must understand Elihu as appending to his first rebuke a second, levelled against Job's desire to have his life ended.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Should He be told
הַֽיְסֻפַּר־ (hay·sup·par-)
Verb - Pual - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 5608: To count, recount, relate

that
כִּ֣י (kî)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

I want to speak?
אֲדַבֵּ֑ר (’ă·ḏab·bêr)
Verb - Piel - Imperfect - first person common singular
Strong's 1696: To arrange, to speak, to subdue

Would a man
אִ֝֗ישׁ (’îš)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 376: A man as an individual, a male person

ask
אָ֥מַר (’ā·mar)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 559: To utter, say

to be swallowed up?
יְבֻלָּֽע׃ (yə·ḇul·lā‘)
Verb - Pual - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1104: To swallow down, swallow up, engulf


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OT Poetry: Job 37:20 Shall it be told him that (Jb)
Job 37:19
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