Job 11 · Verse 4

Job 11:4

For thou hast said, My doctrine is pure, and I am clean in thine eyes.
Job 11:4, King James Version

Job 11:4 in other translations

BSBYou have said, ‘My doctrine is sound, and I am pure in Your sight.’
WEBFor you say, ‘My doctrine is pure. I am clean in your eyes.’
ASVFor thou sayest, My doctrine is pure, And I am clean in thine eyes.
YLTAnd thou sayest, ‘Pure is my discourse, And clean I have been in Thine eyes.'
DARBYFor thou sayest, My doctrine is pure, and I am clean in thine eyes.
BBEYou may say, My way is clean, and I am free from sin in your eyes.
WebsterFor thou hast said, My doctrine is pure, and I am clean in thy eyes.

What does Job 11:4 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
4. doctrine--purposely used of Job's speeches, which sounded like lessons of doctrine (De 32:2; Pr 4:2). thine--addressed to God. Job had maintained his sincerity against his friends suspicions, not faultlessness.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 4 My doctrine is pure - לקחי likchi, "my assumptions." What I assume or take as right, and just, and true, are so; the precepts which I have formed, and the practice which I have founded on them, are all correct and perfect. Job had not exactly said, My doctrine and way of life are pure, and I am clean in thine eyes; but he had vindicated himself from their charges of secret sins and hypocrisy, and appealed to God for his general uprightness and sincerity: but Zophar here begs the question, in order that he may have something to say, and room to give vent to his invective.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Job 11:1-6

Zophar attacked Job with great vehemence. He represented him as a man that loved to hear himself speak, though he could say nothing to the purpose, and as a man that maintained falsehoods. He desired God would show Job that less punishment was exacted than he deserved. We are ready, with much assurance, to call God to act in our quarrels, and to think that if he would but speak, he would take our part. We ought to…

Read the full comment on Job 11:1-6 →

Job 11:4 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וַ֭תֹּאמֶרVa.to.merand you have saidH559
זַ֣ךְzakh[is] pureH2134
לִקְחִ֑יlik.Chiteaching myH3948
וּ֝בַ֗רu.Varand cleanH1249
הָיִ֥יתִיha.Yi.tiI amH1961
בְעֵינֶֽיךָ\׃ve.'ei.Nei.khain view yourH5869

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Job 11:4

  • Job 10:7

    Thou knowest that I am not wicked; and there is none that can deliver out of thine hand.

  • Job 6:10

    Then should I yet have comfort; yea, I would harden myself in sorrow: let him not spare; for I have not concealed the words of the Holy One.

  • 1 Peter 3:15

    But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:

  • Job 34:5-6

    For Job hath said, I am righteous: and God hath taken away my judgment. Should I lie against my right? my wound is incurable without transgression.

  • Job 35:2

    Thinkest thou this to be right, that thou saidst, My righteousness is more than God’s?

  • Job 14:4

    Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one.

  • Job 7:20

    I have sinned; what shall I do unto thee, O thou preserver of men? why hast thou set me as a mark against thee, so that I am a burden to myself?

  • Job 6:29-30

    Return, I pray you, let it not be iniquity; yea, return again, my righteousness is in it. Is there iniquity in my tongue? cannot my taste discern perverse things?

  • Job 9:2-3

    I know it is so of a truth: but how should man be just with God? If he will contend with him, he cannot answer him one of a thousand.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
For thou.
6:10; 10:7; 1Pe 3:15
I am clean.
6:29,30; 7:20; 9:2,3; 14:4; 34:5,6; 35:2

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Job 11:3

    Should thy lies make men hold their peace? and when thou mockest, shall no man make thee ashamed?

  • Job 11:4

    For thou hast said, My doctrine is pure, and I am clean in thine eyes.

  • Job 11:5

    But oh that God would speak, and open his lips against thee;

Read all of Job 11

Job 11:4 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Tú dices: Mi conversar es puro, y yo soy limpio delante de tus ojos.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Car tu as dit: Ma doctrine est pure, et je suis sans tache à tes yeux!
German
Elberfelder 1871		daß du sagen solltest: Meine Lehre ist lauter, und ich bin rein in deinen Augen?
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Dixisti enim: Purus est sermo meus, et mundus sum in conspectu tuo.