Job 9:12

9:12 If he snatches away, ¹  who can turn him back? ² 

Who dares to say to him, ‘What are you doing?’

Job 33:12-13

33:12 Now in this, you are not right – I answer you, ³ 

for God is greater than a human being. ⁴ 

33:13 Why do you contend against him,

that he does not answer all a person’s ⁵  words?

Job 40:2

40:2 “Will the one who contends ⁶  with the Almighty correct him? ⁷ 

Let the person who accuses God give him an answer!”

Isaiah 45:9-11

The Lord Gives a Warning

45:9 One who argues with his creator is in grave danger, ⁸ 

one who is like a mere ⁹  shard among the other shards on the ground!

The clay should not say to the potter, ¹⁰ 

“What in the world ¹¹  are you doing?

Your work lacks skill!” ¹² 

45:10 Danger awaits one who says ¹³  to his father,

“What in the world ¹⁴  are you fathering?”

and to his mother,

“What in the world are you bringing forth?” ¹⁵ 

45:11 This is what the Lord says,

the Holy One of Israel, ¹⁶  the one who formed him,

concerning things to come: ¹⁷ 

“How dare you question me ¹⁸  about my children!

How dare you tell me what to do with ¹⁹  the work of my own hands!

Romans 9:19-20

9:19 You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who has ever resisted his will?” 9:20 But who indeed are you – a mere human being ²⁰  – to talk back to God? ²¹  Does what is molded say to the molder, “Why have you made me like this?” ²² 

Romans 11:33-36

11:33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how fathomless his ways!

11:34 For who has known the mind of the Lord,

or who has been his counselor? ²³ 

11:35 Or who has first given to God, ²⁴ 

that God ²⁵  needs to repay him? ²⁶ 

11:36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever! Amen.

Romans 11:1

Israel’s Rejection not Complete nor Final

11:1 So I ask, God has not rejected his people, has he? Absolutely not! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.

Colossians 2:16

2:16 Therefore do not let anyone judge you with respect to food or drink, or in the matter of a feast, new moon, or Sabbath days –

[9:12]  ¹ tn E. Dhorme (Job, 133) surveys the usages and concludes that the verb חָתַף (khataf) normally describes the wicked actions of a man, especially by treachery or trickery against another. But a verb חָתַף (khataf) is found nowhere else; a noun “robber” is found in Prov 23:28. Dhorme sees no reason to emend the text, because he concludes that the two verbs are synonymous. Job is saying that if God acts like a plunderer, there is no one who can challenge what he does.

[9:12]  ² tn The verb is the Hiphil imperfect (potential again) from שׁוּב (shuv). In this stem it can mean “turn back, refute, repel” (BDB 999 s.v. Hiph.5).

[33:12]  ³ tn The meaning of this verb is “this is my answer to you.”

[33:12]  ⁴ tc The LXX has “he that is above men is eternal.” Elihu is saying that God is far above Job’s petty problems.

[33:13]  ⁵ tc The MT has “all his words.” This must refer to “man” in the previous verse. But many wish to change it to “my words,” since it would be summarizing Job’s complaint to God.

[40:2]  ⁶ tn The form רֹב (rov) is the infinitive absolute from the verb רִיב (riv, “contend”). Dhorme wishes to repoint it to make it the active participle, the “one who argues with the Almighty.”

[40:2]  ⁷ tn The verb יִסּוֹר (yissor) is found only here, but comes from a common root meaning “to correct; to reprove.” Several suggestions have been made to improve on the MT. Dhorme read it יָסוּר (yasur) in the sense of “to turn aside; to yield.” Ehrlich read this emendation as “to come to an end.” But the MT could be read as “to correct; to instruct.”

[45:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “Woe [to] the one who argues with the one who formed him.”

[45:9]  ⁹ tn The words “one who is like a mere” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons and clarification.

[45:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Should the clay say to the one who forms it?” The rhetorical question anticipates a reply, “Of course not!”

[45:9]  ¹¹ tn The words “in the world” are supplied in the translation to approximate in English idiom the force of the sarcastic question.

[45:9]  ¹² tn Heb “your work, there are no hands for it,” i.e., “your work looks like something made by a person who has no hands.”

[45:10]  ¹³ tn Heb “Woe [to] one who says” (NASB and NIV both similar); NCV “How terrible it will be.”

[45:10]  ¹⁴ tn See the note at v. 9. This phrase occurs a second time later in this verse.

[45:10]  ¹⁵ sn Verses 9-10 may allude to the exiles’ criticism that the Lord does not appear to know what he is doing.

[45:11]  ¹⁶ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[45:11]  ¹⁷ tc The Hebrew text reads “the one who formed him, the coming things.” Among various suggestions, some have proposed an emendation of יֹצְרוֹ (yotsÿro, “the one who formed him”) to יֹצֵר (yotser, “the one who forms”; the suffixed form in the Hebrew text may be influenced by vv. 9-10, where the same form appears twice) and takes “coming things” as the object of the participle (either objective genitive or accusative): “the one who brings the future into being.”

[45:11]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “Ask me” The rhetorical command sarcastically expresses the Lord’s disgust with those who question his ways.

[45:11]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “Do you command me about…?” The rhetorical question sarcastically expresses the Lord’s disgust with those who question his ways.

[9:20]  ²⁰ tn Grk “O man.”

[9:20]  ²¹ tn Grk “On the contrary, O man, who are you to talk back to God?”

[9:20]  ²² sn A quotation from Isa 29:16; 45:9.

[11:34]  ²³ sn A quotation from Isa 40:13.

[11:35]  ²⁴ tn Grk “him”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:35]  ²⁵ tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:35]  ²⁶ sn A quotation from Job 41:11.