Job 15:9

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex)

English Translation

What do you know, that we don't know? What do you understand, which is not in us?

World English Bible · Public Domain

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תָּ֝בִ֗ין

bîyn

H995

“to understand”

Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 2nd Person, Masculine, Singular

Appears 171× in the Hebrew Bible
First appears at Genesis 41:33

Full BDB Definition

Origin: a primitive root

TWOT: 239

to discern, understand, consider - (Qal) - to perceive, discern - to understand, know (with the mind) - to observe, mark, give heed to, distinguish, consider - to have discernment, insight, understanding - (Niphal) to be discerning, intelligent, discreet, have understanding - (Hiphil) - to understand - to cause to understand, give understanding, teach - (Hithpolel) to show oneself discerning or attentive, consider diligently - (Polel) to teach, instruct - (TWOT) prudent, regard

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

8: words
6: distinct lemmas
Wisdom: section

Grammatical profile

3 verbs
1 pronoun
1 preposition
3 particles

Verb forms

יָּ֭דַעְתָּ Qal · Perfect
נֵדָ֑ע Qal · Imperfect
תָּ֝בִ֗ין Qal · Imperfect

Repetition

Words recur within this verse — often emphatic in Hebrew:

יָּ֭דַעְתָּ to know H3045 ×2
וְלֹ֣א not H3808 ×2

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 17 words from the Hebrew and 17 from the Septuagint (LXX English) — the same length.

A rough comparison of the two English renderings, which tokenize alike — not a word-level alignment.

Word counts can differ between the Hebrew and the Greek without any difference in meaning — e.g. the Hebrew direct-object marker אֵת has no separate Greek word, and Greek often adds the article ὁ.

In the original languages it is 8 Hebrew tokens and 13 Greek tokens — but the two are counted differently (Hebrew bundles its prefixes and suffixes into one token; the Greek is in lemma form), so that isn’t a like-for-like length.

Cross-references

Topical passages linked to Job 15:9 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

Job 13:2 What you know, I know also. I am not inferior to you.
2 Corinthians 11:5 For I reckon that I am not at all behind the very best apostles.
Job 12:3 But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you: Yes, who doesn't know such things as these?
Job 26:3–4 How have you counseled him who has no wisdom, And plentifully declared sound knowledge!
2 Corinthians 10:7 Do you look at things only as they appear in front of your face? If anyone trusts in himself that he is Christ's, let him consider this again with himself, that, even as he is Christ's, so also we are Christ's.
2 Corinthians 11:21–30 I speak by way of disparagement, as though we had been weak. Yet however any is bold (I speak in foolishness), I am bold also.

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Hebrew and Greek witnesses Masoretic Hebrew ↔ Greek Septuagint

The same verse in the two great witnesses to the Old Testament, shown verse-for-verse.

These are two independent witnesses, not word-aligned to each other, and the Septuagint is shown in lemma (dictionary) form.

Hebrew Job 15:9 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

מַה יָּ֭דַעְתָּ וְלֹ֣א נֵדָ֑ע תָּ֝בִ֗ין וְֽלֹא עִמָּ֥נוּ הֽוּא

What do you know, that we don't know? What do you understand, which is not in us?

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX Job 15:9 Septuagint · lemma form

τίς γάρ οἶδα ὅς οὐ οἶδα ἤ τίς συνἵημι ὅς οὐ καί ἐγώ

For what know you, that, we know not? or what understand you, which we do not also?

LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) · Public Domain

Hebrew: Westminster Leningrad Codex (CC BY 4.0). Greek: Septuagint (public domain); English from LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) (Public Domain). How the Septuagint differs from the Hebrew →

Commentary

Notes on Job 15:9 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

Trapp's Complete Commentary

John Trapp

Job 15:9 What knowest thou, that we know not? [what] understandest thou, which [is] not in us?

Ver. 9. What knowest thou, that we know not?] Here Eliphaz inveigheth against Job’s pride, sed maiori cam fastu, but with greater pride, else what meaneth this arrogant comparison? Did not a deceived heart turn him aside, as the prophet speaketh in another case? and might it not be said of him, as it was once of Antony, That he hated a tyrant, but not tyranny. {See Trapp on "Job 12:3"} {See Trapp on "Job 13:2"}

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Tyndale Open Study Notes

Tyndale Open Resources

15:9-10 Aged, gray-haired men claim a monopoly on wisdom (8:8-10; 12:20; see 12:2).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown

in us--or, "with us," Hebraism for "we are aware of."

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 9. What knowest thou] Is it likely that thy intellect is greater than ours; and that thou hast cultivated it better than we have done ours?

What understandest thou] Or, Dost thou understand any thing, and it is not with us? Show us any point of knowledge possessed by thyself, of which we are ignorant.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne

9. Abandoning irony Eliphaz comes to the facts, which hardly bear out Job’s pretensions. His words recall those of Job, ch. Job_12:3, Job_13:2.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John Gill's Exposition

What knowest thou that we know not?.... Which are pretty near the words of Job to his friends, Job 12:3; and to the same sense is what follows:

what understandest thou which is not in us? in our hearts, minds, and understanding; or among us, which one or other, or all of us, have not: yet all men have not knowledge alike; some that profess themselves to be wise, and to have a large share of knowledge, are fools; and such who think they know something extraordinary, and more than others, know nothing as they ought to know; and such who have gifts of real knowledge have them different one from another; even of the things known there is not a like degree of knowledge, and particularly in spiritual things; some are little children in understanding, some are young men and know more, and some are fathers, and know most of all; an equality in knowledge belongs to another state, to the latter day glory, when the watchmen shall see eye to eye, and all shall know the Lord, from the least to the greatest, and especially to the ultimate glory, when saints will know as they are known.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible

What knowest thou that we know not? - What pretensions or claims to wisdom have you which we have not? We have had, at least, equal advantages, and may be presumed to know as much as you.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations

He retorts upon Job his own expressions, Job 12:3; 13:2.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The Pulpit Commentary

What knowest thou, that we know not? So far as worldly wisdom went, this was probably quite true. Job was not more advanced in knowledge than Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar. But he had a keener spiritual insight. He was wiser in the "wisdom which is from above." Perplexed and confused as were his thoughts concerning the Divine government of the universe, they were nearer the truth, more worthy of the Divine nature, than those of his adversaries. In his reply, without claiming any special wisdom, he pours contempt on their pretensions to spiritual understanding. (Job_17:4, Job_17:10) What understandest thou, which is not in us? A mere repetition of the first member of the verse in different words.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

Job, in the Wisdom, opens this verse with 8 words (6 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is bîyn (“to understand”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

What does “to understand” (bîyn) contribute to the verse as a whole?
Job 13:2 shares this passage’s theme. How do the two illuminate each other?
“to know” occurs 2× in this one verse. What is the effect of the repetition?
These translations render this verse differently. What is at stake in choosing one wording over another?
The verb «יָּ֭דַעְתָּ» is Qal Perfect. How does its form color the action?
Reading how Trapp's Complete Commentary and Tyndale Open Study Notes read this verse, where do the two commentators agree and where do they part?

Things to notice

This verse counts 8 Hebrew ↔ 13 Greek words.
These translations choose different wording for 7 words in this verse.
“to know” occurs 2× in this single verse.
6 distinct Hebrew lemmas span 8 words in this verse.