Job 42:5

The NET Bible®

I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye has seen you.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
I had heard reports about you,but now my eyes have seen you.

Hebrew Names Version
I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, But now my eye sees you.

King James Version
I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee.

English Standard Version
I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you;

New Century Version
My ears had heard of you before, but now my eyes have seen you.

Amplified Bible
"I had heard of You [only] by the hearing of the ear, But now my [spiritual] eye sees You.

New American Standard Bible
"I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; But now my eye sees You;

World English Bible
I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, But now my eye sees you.

Geneva Bible (1587)
I haue heard of thee by the hearing of the eare, but now mine eye seeth thee.

Legacy Standard Bible
I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear;But now my eye sees You;

Berean Standard Bible
My ears had heard of You, but now my eyes have seen You.

Contemporary English Version
I heard about you from others; now I have seen you with my own eyes.

Complete Jewish Bible
I had heard about you with my ears, but now my eye sees you;

Darby Translation
I had heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee:

Easy-to-Read Version
In the past I heard about you, but now I have seen you with my own eyes.

George Lamsa Translation
I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees thee.

Good News Translation
In the past I knew only what others had told me, but now I have seen you with my own eyes.

Lexham English Bible
By the ear's hearing I heard of you, but now my eye has seen you.

Literal Translation
I have heard of You by hearing of the ear, but now my eye has seen You;

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
I haue geuen diligent eare vnto the, and now I se ye with myne eyes.

American Standard Version
I had heard of thee by the hearing of the ear; But now mine eye seeth thee:

Bible in Basic English
Word of you had come to my ears, but now my eye has seen you.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
I had heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear; but now mine eye seeth Thee;

King James Version (1611)
I haue heard of thee by the hearing of the eare: but now mine eye seeth thee.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
I haue heard of thee by the hearing of the eare, but nowe myne eye seeth thee.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
I have heard the report of thee by the ear before; but now mine eye has seen thee.

English Revised Version
I had heard of thee by the hearing of the ear; but now mine eye seeth thee,

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Bi heryng of eere Y herde thee, but now myn iye seeth thee.

Update Bible Version
I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear; But now my eye sees you:

Webster's Bible Translation
I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now my eye seeth thee.

New King James Version
"I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, But now my eye sees You.

New Living Translation
I had only heard about you before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes.

New Life Bible
I had heard of You only by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You.

New Revised Standard
I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you;

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
By the hearing of the ear, had I heard thee, but, now, mine own eye, hath seen thee.

Douay-Rheims Bible
With the hearing of the ear, I have heard thee, but now my eye seeth thee.

Revised Standard Version
I had heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees thee;

Young's Literal Translation
By the hearing of the ear I heard Thee, And now mine eye hath seen Thee.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Praise Him with loud cymbals; Praise Him with resounding cymbals.

Contextual Overview

¹ Then Job answered the Lord : ² "I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted; ³ you asked, ‘Who is this who darkens counsel without knowledge?' But I have declared without understanding things too wonderful for me to know. ⁴ You said, ‘Pay attention, and I will speak; I will question you, and you will answer me.' ⁵ I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye has seen you. ⁶ Therefore I despise myself, and I repent in dust and ashes! After the Lord had spoken these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, "My anger is stirred up against you and your two friends, because you have not spoken about me what is right, as my servant Job has. So now take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer a burnt offering for yourselves. And my servant Job will intercede for you, and I will respect him, so that I do not deal with you according to your folly, because you have not spoken about me what is right, as my servant Job has." So they went, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite, and did just as the Lord had told them; and the Lord had respect for Job. So the Lord restored what Job had lost after he prayed for his friends, and the Lord doubled all that had belonged to Job. So they came to him, all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and they dined with him in his house. They comforted him and consoled him for all the trouble the Lord had brought on him, and each one gave him a piece of silver and a gold ring. So the Lord blessed the second part of Job's life more than the first. He had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys. And he also had seven sons and three daughters. The first daughter he named Jemimah, the second Keziah, and the third Keren-Happuch. Nowhere in all the land could women be found who were as beautiful as Job's daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance alongside their brothers. After this Job lived 140 years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. And so Job died, old and full of days.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

heard: Job 4:12, Job 28:22, Job 33:16, Romans 10:17

mine: Job 23:8, Job 23:9, Numbers 12:6-8, Isaiah 6:1, John 1:18, John 12:41, John 12:45, Acts 7:55, Acts 7:56

Reciprocal: Genesis 32:10 - not worthy of the least of all Exodus 3:6 - hid Deuteronomy 8:2 - to humble Job 23:10 - I shall Job 31:23 - by Isaiah 6:5 - said I Isaiah 64:6 - are all Lamentations 3:29 - putteth Ezekiel 16:61 - remember Luke 5:8 - I am Acts 7:32 - Then Philippians 3:9 - not

Cross-References

Genesis 12:10
There was a famine in the land, so Abram went down to Egypt to stay for a while because the famine was severe.

Genesis 26:1
There was a famine in the land, subsequent to the earlier famine that occurred in the days of Abraham. Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines at Gerar.

Genesis 41:57
People from every country came to Joseph in Egypt to buy grain because the famine was severe throughout the earth.

Acts 7:11
Then a famine occurred throughout Egypt and Canaan, causing great suffering, and our ancestors could not find food.

Acts 11:28
One of them, named Agabus, got up and predicted by the Spirit that a severe famine was about to come over the whole inhabited world. (This took place during the reign of Claudius.)

Gill's Notes on the Bible

I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear,.... From his ancestors, who in a traditionary way had handed down from one to another what they knew of God, his will and worship, his works and ways; and from those who had the care of his education, parents and tutors, who had instilled the principles of religion, and the knowledge of divine things, into him very early; and from such as might instruct in matters of religion in a public manner; and both by ordinary and extraordinary revelation made unto him, as was sometimes granted to men in that age in which Job lived; see Job 4:16. Though he had heard more of God through his speaking to him out of the whirlwind than ever he did before, to which he had attentively listened; and the phrase, hearing by or with the hearing of the ear, denotes close attention; see Ezekiel 44:5;

but now mine eye seeth thee; thy Shechinah, as Jarchi; thy divine glory and Majesty; the Logos, the Word or Son of God, who now appeared in an human form, and spake to Job out of the whirlwind; and whom he saw with the eyes of his body, as several of the patriarchs had seen him, and which is the sense of an ancient writer n; though no doubt he saw him also with the eyes of his understanding, and had a clearer sight of his living Redeemer, the Messiah, than ever he had before; and saw more of God in Christ, of his nature, perfections, and glory, than ever he had as yet seen; and what he had heard of him came greatly short of what he now saw; particularly he had a more clear and distinct view of the sovereignty, wisdom, goodness, and justice of God in the dealings of his providence with the children of men, and with himself, to which now he humbly submitted.

n Euseb. Demonstr. Evangel. l. 1. c. 5. p. 11.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear - Referring to the indistinct views which we have of anything by merely hearing of it, compared with the clear apprehension which is furnished by sight. Job had had such views of God as one may obtain by being told of him; he now had such views as are furnished by the sight. The meaning is, that his views of God before were dark and obscure.

But now mine eye seeth thee - We are not to suppose that Job means to say that he actually “saw” God, but that his apprehensions of him were clear and bright “as if” he did. There is no evidence that God appeared to Job in any visible form. He is said, indeed, to have spoken from the whirlwind, but no visible manifestation of Yahweh is mentioned.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Job 42:5. I have heard of thee — I have now such a discovery of thee as I have never had before. I have only heard of thee by tradition, or from imperfect information; now the eye of my mind clearly perceives thee, and in seeing thee, I see myself; for the light that discovers thy glory and excellence, discovers my meanness and vileness.