Job 35 · Verse 5

Job 35:5

Look unto the heavens, and see; and behold the clouds which are higher than thou.
Job 35:5, King James Version

Job 35:5 in other translations

BSBLook to the heavens and see; gaze at the clouds high above you.
WEBLook to the skies, and see. See the skies, which are higher than you.
ASVLook unto the heavens, and see; And behold the skies, which are higher than thou.
YLTBehold attentively the heavens--and see, And behold the clouds, They have been higher than thou.
DARBYLook unto the heavens and see; and survey the skies: they are higher than thou.
BBELet your eyes be turned to the heavens, and lifted up to see the skies; they are higher than you.
WebsterLook to the heavens, and see; and behold the clouds which are higher than thou.

What does Job 35:5 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Job 35:5-8
5-8. Elihu like Eliphaz (Job 22:2, 3, 12) shows that God is too exalted in nature to be susceptible of benefit or hurt from the righteousness or sin of men respectively; it is themselves that they benefit by righteousness, or hurt by sin. behold the clouds, which are higher than thou--spoken with irony. Not only are they higher than thou, but thou canst not even reach them clearly with the eye. Yet these are not as high as God's seat. God is therefore too exalted to be dependent on man. Therefore He has no inducement to injustice in His dealings with man. When He afflicts, it must be from a different motive; namely, the good of the sufferer.

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 5 Look unto the heavens - These heavens, and their host, God has created: the bare sight of them is sufficient to show thee that God is infinitely beyond thee in wisdom and excellence. Behold the clouds - שחקים shechakim, the ethers, (Vulgate, aethera), from שחק shachak, to contend, fight together: the agitated or conflicting air and light; the strong agitation of these producing both light and heat. Look upon these, consider them deeply, and see and acknowledge the perfections of the Maker.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Job 35:1-8

Elihu reproves Job for justifying himself more than God, and called his attention to the heavens. They are far above us, and God is far above them; how much then is he out of the reach, either of our sins or of our services! We have no reason to complain if we have not what we expect, but should be thankful that we have better than we deserve.

Read the full comment on Job 35:1-8 →

Job 35:5 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.

הַבֵּ֣טha.Betlook atH5027
שָׁמַ֣יִםsha.Ma.yim[the] heavensH8064
וּרְאֵ֑הu.re.'Ehand seeH7200
וְשׁ֥וּרve.Shurand observeH7789
שְׁ֝חָקִ֗יםShe.cha.Kim[the] cloudsH7834
גָּבְה֥וּga.ve.Huthey are highH1361
מִמֶּֽךָּ\׃mi.Me.kamore than youH4480

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

Cross references for Job 35:5

  • Job 22:12

    Is not God in the height of heaven? and behold the height of the stars, how high they are!

  • Isaiah 55:9

    For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

  • Nahum 1:3

    The Lord is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the Lord hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.

  • Isaiah 40:22-23

    It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in: That bringeth the princes to nothing; he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity.

  • Job 37:16

    Dost thou know the balancings of the clouds, the wondrous works of him which is perfect in knowledge?

  • Job 37:22-23

    Fair weather cometh out of the north: with God is terrible majesty. Touching the Almighty, we cannot find him out: he is excellent in power, and in judgment, and in plenty of justice: he will not afflict.

  • Job 36:26-37:5

    Behold, God is great, and we know him not, neither can the number of his years be searched out. For he maketh small the drops of water: they pour down rain according to the vapour thereof: Which the clouds do drop and distil upon man abundantly. Also can any understand the spreadings of the clouds, or the noise of his tabernacle? …

  • Psalms 8:3-4

    When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?

  • Genesis 15:5

    And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.

  • Job 25:5-6

    Behold even to the moon, and it shineth not; yea, the stars are not pure in his sight. How much less man, that is a worm? and the son of man, which is a worm?

  • 1 Kings 8:27

    But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Look.
22:12; 25:5,6; 36:26-33; 37:1-5,22,23; 1Ki 8:27; Ps 8:3,4
Isa 40:22,23; 55:9
the clouds.
36:29; 37:16; Na 1:3

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

Context

  • Job 35:4

    I will answer thee, and thy companions with thee.

  • Job 35:5

    Look unto the heavens, and see; and behold the clouds which are higher than thou.

  • Job 35:6

    If thou sinnest, what doest thou against him? or if thy transgressions be multiplied, what doest thou unto him?

Read all of Job 35

Job 35:5 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Mira á los cielos, y ve, y considera que las nubes son más altas que tú.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Regarde les cieux et vois, et contemple les nuées: elles sont plus hautes que toi.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Blicke gen Himmel und sieh, und schaue die Wolken an, -sie sind höher als du.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Suspice cælum, et intuere: et contemplare æthera quod altior te sit.