Job 42 · Verse 4

Job 42:4

Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.

Job 42:4, King James Version

Job 42:4 in other translations

BSB	You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak. I will question you, and you shall inform Me.’
WEB	You said, ‘Listen, now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you will answer me.’
ASV	Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak; I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.
YLT	‘Hear, I pray thee, and I--I do speak, I ask thee, and cause thou me to know.'
DARBY	Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak: I will demand of thee, and inform me.
BBE	Give ear to me, and I will say what is in my mind; I will put questions to you, and you will give me the answers.
Webster	Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak: I will ask of thee, and declare thou to me.

What does Job 42:4 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

4. When I said, "Hear," &c., Job's demand (Job 13:22) convicted him of being "without knowledge." God alone could speak thus to Job, not Job to God: therefore he quotes again God's words as the groundwork of retracting his own foolish words.

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

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Job 42:1-6

Job was now sensible of his guilt; he would no longer speak in his own excuse; he abhorred himself as a sinner in heart and life, especially for murmuring against God, and took shame to himself. When the understanding is enlightened by the Spirit of grace, our knowledge of Divine things as far exceeds what we had before, as the sight of the eyes excels report and common fame. By the teachings of men, God reveals his…

Read the full comment on Job 42:1-6 →

Job 42:4 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.

שְֽׁמַֽע\־she.ma'-listenH8085

נָ֭אna'pleaseH4994

וְאָנֹכִ֣יve.'a.no.Khiand IH595

אֲדַבֵּ֑ר'a.da.BerI will speakH1696

אֶ֝שְׁאָלְךָ֗'esh.'al.khaI will ask youH7592

וְהוֹדִיעֵֽנִי\׃ve.ho.di.'E.niand make known to meH3045

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

Cross references for Job 42:4

Job 40:7
Gird up thy loins now like a man: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.
Job 38:3
Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me.
Genesis 18:30-32
And he said unto him, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: Peradventure there shall thirty be found there. And he said, I will not do it, if I find thirty there. And he said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord: Peradventure there shall be twenty found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for twenty’s sake. And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten’s sake.
Genesis 18:27
And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes:

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Hear.
Ge 18:27,30-32
I will.
38:3; 40:7

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

Context

Job 42:3
Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? therefore have I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not.
Job 42:4
Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.
Job 42:5
I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee.

Read all of Job 42

Job 42:4 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Oye, te ruego, y hablaré: te preguntaré, y tú me enseñarás.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	Écoute, je te prie, et je parlerai; je t’interrogerai, et toi, instruis-moi.
German Elberfelder 1871	Höre doch, und ich will reden; ich will dich fragen, und du belehre mich!
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Audi, et ego loquar: interrogabo te, et responde mihi.