Job 9:3

Modern

If one wished to contend with God, he could not answer Him one time out of a thousand.

Traditional

If he will contend with him, he cannot answer him one of a thousand.

Literal

If one was delighted to contend with Him, he could not answer Him one time out of a thousand.

Latin

Si voluerit contendere cum eo, non poterit ei respondere unum pro mille.

Hebrew

English

If one wished to contend with God, he could not answer Him one time out of a thousand.

If one wished to contend with God: Job later wished to meet God in court (13:3, 15, 23; 23:4).

Job answered Bildad by describing God's universal and legal power. His speech resembles a complex legal case.

It includes:

A summons and response (9:3, 14–16, 19b, 32).
The risk of proving himself guilty (9:20).
A "mediator" (9:33–34).
A question of accusation (9:12).
A legal sentence (9:22).
A declaration of guilt (9:28–30).

Job 10:2
I will say to God: Do not condemn me! Let me know why You prosecute me.
Job 40:2
“Will the faultfinder contend with the Almighty? Let him who argues with God give an answer.”
Job 31:35–37
(Oh, that I had one to hear me! Here is my signature. Let the Almighty answer me; let my accuser compose an indictment.
Psalm 40:12
For evils without number surround me; my sins have overtaken me, so that I cannot see. They are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart has failed within me.
1 John 1:8
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
1 John 3:20
Even if our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts, and He knows all things.
Psalm 19:12
Who can discern his own errors? Cleanse me from my hidden faults.
Romans 9:20
But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to Him who formed it, “Why did You make me like this?”
Isaiah 57:15–16
For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in a high and holy place, and with the oppressed and humble in spirit, to restore the spirit of the lowly and revive the heart of the contrite.
Job 9:20
Even if I were righteous, my mouth would condemn me; if I were blameless, it would declare me guilty.
Job 33:13
Why do you complain to Him that He answers nothing a man asks?
Job 23:3–7
If only I knew where to find Him, so that I could go to His seat.