Job 8:3

8:3 Does God pervert ¹  justice? ² 

Or does the Almighty pervert ³  what is right?

Job 34:10

God is Not Unjust

34:10 “Therefore, listen to me, you men of understanding. ⁴ 

Far be it from ⁵  God to do wickedness,

from the Almighty to do evil.

Job 40:8

40:8 Would you indeed annul ⁶  my justice?

Would you declare me guilty so that you might be right?

Romans 2:5

2:5 But because of your stubbornness ⁷  and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourselves in the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment is revealed! ⁸ 

Romans 3:5

3:5 But if our unrighteousness demonstrates ⁹  the righteousness of God, what shall we say? The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is he? ¹⁰  (I am speaking in human terms.) ¹¹ 

Romans 9:14

9:14 What shall we say then? Is there injustice with God? Absolutely not!

[8:3]  ¹ tn The Piel verb יְעַוֵּת (yÿ’avvet) means “to bend; to cause to swerve from the norm; to deviate; to pervert.” The LXX renders the first colon as “will the Lord be unjust when he judges?”

[8:3]  ² tn The first word is מִשְׁפָּת (mishpat, “justice”). It can mean an act of judgment, place of judgment, or what is just, that is, the outcome of the decision. It basically describes an umpire’s decision. The parallel word is צֶדֶק (tsedeq, “righteousness,” or “what is right”). The basic idea here is that which conforms to the standard, what is right. See S. H. Scholnick, “The Meaning of Mishpat in the Book of Job,” JBL 101 (1982): 521-29.

[8:3]  ³ tn Some commentators think that the second verb should be changed in order to avoid the repetition of the same word and to reflect the different words in the versions. The suggestion is to read יְעַוֵּה (yÿ’avveh) instead; this would mean “to cause someone to deviate,” for the root means “to bend.” The change is completely unwarranted; the LXX probably chose different words for stylistic reasons (see D. J. A. Clines, Job [WBC], 198). The repetition in the Hebrew text is a common type; it strengthens the enormity of the charge Job seems to be making.

[34:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “men of heart.” The “heart” is used for the capacity to understand and make the proper choice. It is often translated “mind.”

[34:10]  ⁵ tn For this construction, see Job 27:5.

[40:8]  ⁶ tn The verb פָּרַר (parar) means “to annul; to break; to frustrate.” It was one thing for Job to claim his own integrity, but it was another matter altogether to nullify God’s righteousness in the process.

[2:5]  ⁷ tn Grk “hardness.” Concerning this imagery, see Jer 4:4; Ezek 3:7; 1 En. 16:3.

[2:5]  ⁸ tn Grk “in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.”

[3:5]  ⁹ tn Or “shows clearly.”

[3:5]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “That God is not unjust to inflict wrath, is he?”

[3:5]  ¹¹ sn The same expression occurs in Gal 3:15, and similar phrases in Rom 6:19 and 1 Cor 9:8.