Job 9:2

“Truly, ¹  I know that this is so. But how ²  can a human ³  be just before ⁴  God? ⁵ 

"Indeed, I know that this is true. But how can a mortal be righteous before God?

"In truth I know that this is so; But how can a man be in the right before God?

"Yes, I know this is all true in principle. But how can a person be declared innocent in the eyes of God?

"So what's new? I know all this. The question is, 'How can mere mortals get right with God?'

Truly, I see that it is so: and how is it possible for a man to get his right before God?

"Indeed I know that this is so; but how can a mortal be just before God?

"Truly I know it is so, But how can a man be righteous before God?

“Truly, ¹  I know that this is so. But how ²  can a human ³  be just before ⁴  God? ⁵ 

¹ tn The adverb אָמְנָם (’omnam, “in truth”) is characteristic of the Book of Job (12:2; 19:4; 34:12; 36:4). The friends make commonplace statements, general truths, and Job responds with “truly I know this is so.” Job knows as much about these themes as his friends do.

² sn The interrogative is used to express what is an impossibility.

³ tn The attempt to define אֱנוֹשׁ (’enosh) as “weak” or “mortal” man is not compelling. Such interpretations are based on etymological links without the clear support of usage (an issue discussed by J. Barr, Comparative Philology and the Text of the Old Testament). This seems to be a poetic word for “human” (the only nonpoetic use is in 2 Chr 14:10).

⁴ tn The preposition is אִם (’im, “with, before, in the presence of”). This is more specific than מִן (min) in 4:17.

⁵ sn The point of Job’s rhetorical question is that man cannot be justified as against God, because God is too powerful and too clever – he controls the universe. He is discussing now the question that Eliphaz raised in 4:17. Peake observes that Job is raising the question of whether something is right because God says it is right, or that God declares it right because it is right.