Job 9:3-4

9:3 If someone wishes ¹  to contend ²  with him,

he cannot answer ³  him one time in a thousand.

9:4 He is wise in heart ⁴  and mighty ⁵  in strength ⁶  –

who has resisted ⁷  him and remained safe? ⁸ 

Job 9:32

9:32 For he ⁹  is not a human being like I am,

that ¹⁰  I might answer him,

that we might come ¹¹  together in judgment.

Job 33:13

33:13 Why do you contend against him,

that he does not answer all a person’s ¹²  words?

Job 40:2

40:2 “Will the one who contends ¹³  with the Almighty correct him? ¹⁴ 

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

Isaiah 45:9-10

The Lord Gives a Warning

45:9 One who argues with his creator is in grave danger, ¹⁵ 

one who is like a mere ¹⁶  shard among the other shards on the ground!

The clay should not say to the potter, ¹⁷ 

“What in the world ¹⁸  are you doing?

Your work lacks skill!” ¹⁹ 

45:10 Danger awaits one who says ²⁰  to his father,

“What in the world ²¹  are you fathering?”

and to his mother,

“What in the world are you bringing forth?” ²² 

Jeremiah 49:19

49:19 “A lion coming up from the thick undergrowth along the Jordan ²³ 

scatters the sheep in the pastureland around it. ²⁴ 

So too I will chase the Edomites off their land. ²⁵ 

Then I will appoint over it whomever I choose. ²⁶ 

For there is no one like me, and there is no one who can call me to account. ²⁷ 

There is no ²⁸  ruler ²⁹  who can stand up against me.

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 ³⁰  – to talk back to God? ³¹  Does what is molded say to the molder, “Why have you made me like this?” ³² 

[9:3]  ¹ tn Some commentators take God to be the subject of this verb, but it is more likely that it refers to the mortal who tries to challenge God in a controversy. The verb is used of Job in 13:3.

[9:3]  ² tn The verb רִיב (riv) is a common one; it has the idea of “contention; dispute; legal dispute or controversy; go to law.” With the preposition אִם (’im) the idea must be “to contend with” or “to dispute with.” The preposition reflects the prepositional phrase “with God” in v. 2, supporting the view that man is the subject.

[9:3]  ³ tn This use of the imperfect as potential imperfect assumes that the human is the subject, that in a dispute with God he could not answer one of God’s questions (for which see the conclusion of the book when God questions Job). On the other hand, if the interpretation were that God does not answer the demands of mortals, then a simple progressive imperfect would be required. In support of this is the frustration of Job that God does not answer him.

[9:4]  ⁴ tn The genitive phrase translated “in heart” would be a genitive of specification, specifying that the wisdom of God is in his intelligent decisions.

[9:4]  ⁵ sn The words אַמִּיץ (’ammits) and כֹּחַ (koakh) are synonyms, the first meaning “sturdy; mighty; robust,” and the second “strength.” It too can be interpreted as a genitive of specification – God is mighty with respect to his power. But that comes close to expressing a superlative idea (like “song of songs” or “anger of his wrath”).

[9:4]  ⁶ tn The first half of the verse simply has “wise of heart and mighty of strength.” The entire line is a casus pendens that will refer to the suffix on אֵלָיו (’elayv) in the second colon. So the question is “Who has resisted the one who is wise of heart and mighty of strength?” Again, the rhetorical question is affirming that no one has done this.

[9:4]  ⁷ tn The verb is the Hiphil of the verb קָשָׁה (qashah, “to be hard”). It frequently is found with the word for “neck,” describing people as “stiff-necked,” i.e., stubborn, unbending. So the idea of resisting God fits well. The fact that this word occurs in Exodus with the idea of hardening the heart against God may indicate that there is an allusion to Pharaoh here.

[9:4]  ⁸ tn The use of שָׁלֵם (shalem) in the Qal is rare. It has been translated “remain safe” by E. Dhorme, “survived” by the NEB, “remained unscathed” by the NAB and NIV, or “succeeded” by KJV, G. R. Driver.

[9:32]  ⁹ tn The personal pronoun that would be expected as the subject of a noun clause is sometimes omitted (see GKC 360 §116.s). Here it has been supplied.

[9:32]  ¹⁰ tn The consecutive clause is here attached without the use of the ו (vav), but only by simple juxtaposition (see GKC 504-5 §166.a).

[9:32]  ¹¹ tn The sense of the verb “come” with “together in judgment” means “to confront one another in court.” See Ps 143:2.

[33:13]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “Woe [to] the one who argues with the one who formed him.”

[45:9]  ¹⁶ tn The words “one who is like a mere” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons and clarification.

[45:9]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “Should the clay say to the one who forms it?” The rhetorical question anticipates a reply, “Of course not!”

[45:9]  ¹⁸ tn The words “in the world” are supplied in the translation to approximate in English idiom the force of the sarcastic question.

[45:9]  ¹⁹ 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]  ²⁰ tn Heb “Woe [to] one who says” (NASB and NIV both similar); NCV “How terrible it will be.”

[45:10]  ²¹ tn See the note at v. 9. This phrase occurs a second time later in this verse.

[45:10]  ²² sn Verses 9-10 may allude to the exiles’ criticism that the Lord does not appear to know what he is doing.

[49:19]  ²³ tn See the study note on Jer 12:5 for the rendering of this term.

[49:19]  ²⁴ tn “The pasture-ground on the everflowing river” according to KBL 42 s.v. I אֵיתָן 1. The “everflowing river” refers to the Jordan.

[49:19]  ²⁵ tn Heb “Behold, like a lion comes up from the thicket of the Jordan into the pastureland of everflowing water so [reading כֵּן (ken) for כִּי (ki); or “indeed” (reading כִּי as an asseverative particle with J. A. Thompson, Jeremiah [NICOT], 719, n. 6)] I will suddenly chase him [Edom] from upon it [the land].” The sentence has been restructured to better conform with contemporary English style and the significance of the simile drawn from the comparison has been spelled out for the sake of clarity. The form אַרְגִּיעָה (’argi’ah) is functioning here as an adverbial modifier in a verbal hendiadys (cf. GKC 386 §120.g).

[49:19]  ²⁶ tn For the use of the interrogative מִי (mi) in the sense of “whoever” and functioning like an adjective see BDB 567 s.v. מִי g and compare the usage in Prov 9:4, 16.

[49:19]  ²⁷ tn For the meaning of this verb in the sense of “arraign” or “call before the bar of justice” compare Job 9:19 and see BDB 417 s.v. יָעַד Hiph.

[49:19]  ²⁸ tn The interrogative מִי (mi) is rendered “there is no one” in each of the last three occurrences in this verse because it is used in a rhetorical question that expects the answer “no one” or “none” and is according to BDB 566 s.v. מִי f(c) equivalent to a rhetorical negative.

[49:19]  ²⁹ tn The word “shepherd” (רֹעֶה, ro’eh) has been used often in the book of Jeremiah to refer metaphorically to the ruler or leader (cf. BDB 945 s.v. I רָעָה Qal.1.d(2) and compare usage, e.g., in Jer 2:8; 23:1).

[9:20]  ³⁰ tn Grk “O man.”

[9:20]  ³¹ tn Grk “On the contrary, O man, who are you to talk back to God?”

[9:20]  ³² sn A quotation from Isa 29:16; 45:9.