What Does Job 23:5 Mean?
I would perceive the words he would answer me, and discern what he would say to me.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
I would know the words which he would answer me, and understand what he would say unto me.THE KEY
The hidden hinge is that Job wants not merely a reply, but discernment of what the reply means.
THE MEANING
The desire in this verse is alive wherever the reader longs to hear God’s words and understand their meaning. It holds the answer as awaited, without pretending that longing is already comprehension.
THE ROOT
וְאָבִינָה
ve'avinah
GROWS FROM
בין
b-y-n
to discern or distinguish between
The word points to more than receiving speech: it is the hoped-for ability to discern what the words mean. English can make understanding sound like simply grasping a statement; this root brings out the act of recognizing its distinctions.
ALSO GROWS
bein: between, among
בֵּין
This branch makes the root’s link to distinction visible: understanding involves discerning between meanings.
tevunah: understanding, discernment
תְּבוּנָה
This related word appears in Proverbs 2:6, where understanding comes from the LORD’s mouth, the same source of speech Job longs to hear.
אֵדְעָה
ʾedʿah
GROWS FROM
ידע
y-d-ʿ
to know or perceive
“perceive” in this verse is ʾedʿah. This root carries knowing through perception and acquaintance, not just possession of information. Job longs to know the words spoken to him, joining the experience of hearing a reply with the personal act of knowing it.
ALSO GROWS
yada: to know, perceive
יָדַע
This verbal form shows knowing as active perception, fitting Job’s wish to receive and know the words addressed to him.
daʿat: knowledge, perception
דַּעַת
This related noun places Job’s desire within a wider family of knowing and perceiving, rather than mere collection of words.
THE PATTERN
Understanding takes shape as words are received and their meaning is discerned.
The opening of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the open ones.For the LORD gives wisdom; out of his mouth come knowledge and discernment.Then he threw open their minds, so that they might put the writings together.THE THREAD
For the LORD gives wisdom; out of his mouth come knowledge and discernment.Job asks to discern what God will say; Proverbs names understanding with the same Hebrew root, בין (b-y-n, discern or distinguish between). It locates that understanding in words from the LORD’s mouth, bringing Job’s hoped-for reply and hoped-for discernment together.
This reading is from Selah Verse.
You can read any verse this way in the app, keep it as a card, and send it on.
A Bible app where you send verses from your keyboard and in Messages, and every verse has a Deep Dive.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us