What Does Job 24:25 Mean in the King James?
And if it be not so now, who will make me a liar, and make my speech nothing worth?
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
“Make me a liar” and “fail” grow from the same Hebrew root: the question is whether the claim can be shown false, not merely called false.
THE MEANING
Your words are not made worthless just because someone contests them; what matters is whether they can be shown false. The verse holds a claim open to examination rather than letting accusation settle its truth.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It dissolves the belief that an accusation alone can erase the worth of a claim.
THE ROOT
יַכְזִיבֵנִי
yakhziveni
GROWS FROM
כ־ז־ב
k-z-b
To be false, lie, or fail.
“make me a liar” in this verse is yakhziveni. English separates making someone a liar from speech that comes to nothing. Hebrew ties the challenge to one root that can mean lying or failing, so the question reaches beyond reputation: does the claim actually fail under scrutiny?
ALSO GROWS
kāzāḇ: A lie, falsehood, or unreliable thing.
כָּזָב
The noun shows that the root names not only the act of lying but also what proves unreliable.
yekhazzevu: “Fail,” as in waters that do not fail.
יְכַזֵּבוּ
In Isaiah 58:11 the same root describes a spring’s waters; the English “fail” reveals the root’s connection between falsehood and something that does not hold.
THE PATTERN
Claims are weighed by examination, not settled by the force or order in which they are spoken.
He that is first in his own cause seemeth just; but his neighbour cometh and searcheth him.Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.THE THREAD
For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.Job asks who can make him false; Habakkuk says the vision will not “lie,” using the same root. The shared word joins falsehood with failure: what is true holds, while what is false fails.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us