What Does Job 37:23 Mean?
The Almighty, we cannot find him; great in power, in judgment, and in abundance of alignment, he will not afflict.
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
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.THE KEY
The Almighty remains beyond your grasp, yet the verse makes his power’s character plain: abundant alignment that does not crush.
THE MEANING
You cannot take the measure of the Almighty; still, the verse names what marks his power: judgment joined to abundant alignment. His power does not express itself by bending you under oppression; the closing claim is that he will not afflict.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that God’s unsearchability means you must expect arbitrary harm from him. The verse holds mystery and a definite boundary together: he does not afflict.
THE ROOT
צְדָקָה
tsedaqah
GROWS FROM
צדק
ṣ-d-q
To be right, just, or aligned.
“abundance of alignment” in this verse is tsedaqah. The word rendered “justice” shares its root with tsaddiq, a just or aligned person. The verse describes the Almighty’s power as accompanied by abundant alignment: might and justice belong together here.
ALSO GROWS
tsedeq: Justice, rightness
צֶדֶק
It names the quality that accompanies the Almighty’s power in this verse.
tsaddiq: A just or aligned person
צַדִּיק
It shows the same root describing not only justice as a quality, but a person characterized by it.
יְעַנֶּה
yeʿannēh
GROWS FROM
ענה
ʿ-n-h
To humble, press down, or afflict.
“afflict” in this verse is yeʿannēh. This root appears in words for both affliction and the afflicted person. The closing phrase thus makes a concrete claim about the Almighty’s power: it does not press the reader down with affliction.
ALSO GROWS
ʿoni: Affliction or misery
עֳנִי
It names the condition that the verse says the Almighty will not impose.
ʿani: Afflicted or poor person
עָנִי
It shows the root describing the person who bears affliction, bringing the verse’s claim close to the one who feels pressed down.
THE PATTERN
Divine might is joined to just alignment and does not become oppression.
He is the Rock; whole is his work, for all his ways are judgment. A God of steadiness, without crookedness, aligned and straight is he.The LORD is aligned in all his ways, and full of faithful love in all his works.For there is no partiality with God.THE THREAD
He is the Rock; whole is his work, for all his ways are judgment. A God of steadiness, without crookedness, aligned and straight is he.The word translated “just” comes from the same צדק root as Job’s “justice.” Deuteronomy makes the pairing even clearer: judgment and rightness mark all God’s ways, so Job’s abundant justice is part of the nature of his power.
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