What Does Job 13:3 Mean in the King James?
Surely I would speak to the Almighty, and I desire to reason with God.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
Here, “reason” means bringing a case for examination, so Job’s argument becomes a form of direct nearness to God.
THE MEANING
Your desire to speak plainly to God can include a case you want examined. The verse holds reverence and argument together: God is addressed as Almighty, yet Job still wants to reason with him.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that honoring God means suppressing the case you want to bring before God.
THE ROOT
וְהוֹכֵחַ
wəhôkēaḥ
GROWS FROM
יכח
y-k-ḥ
To prove, decide, argue a case, or reprove.
English “reason” can sound like calm explanation, but יכח carries the force of a case being argued, tested, or brought to judgment. Job wants what troubles him examined in direct encounter with God.
ALSO GROWS
tôkēḥāh: Reproof, correction, or argument.
תּוֹכֵחָה
This branch shows that the root can name a matter being challenged and examined, not merely explained.
môkîaḥ: One who argues, proves, or reproves.
מוֹכִיחַ
The root can describe the one bringing a case forward, matching Job’s active posture before God.
אֲדַבֵּר
ʾădabbēr
GROWS FROM
דבר
d-b-r
To speak; its noun branch can mean a word, matter, or affair.
“speak” in this verse is ʾădabbēr. The verse begins with speech, then turns to argument: Job gives voice to the matter he wants examined. Hebrew דבר connects speaking with the matter spoken, so his words carry the issue itself into God’s presence.
ALSO GROWS
dābār: A word, matter, or affair.
דָּבָר
This branch links speech with the matter Job wants to bring before God.
dibbēr: Spoke or uttered.
דִּבֵּר
This verb branch keeps the focus on giving the matter voice rather than leaving it unspoken.
THE PATTERN
Direct speech with God can carry an openly stated case or question.
I would order my cause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments.Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?THE THREAD
Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.Job’s “reason” and Isaiah’s “reason together” use forms of יכח (y-k-ḥ), the root of arguing, proving, or bringing a case for examination. Isaiah shows that this direct exchange can open into the removal of a stain, with what is scarlet becoming white.
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