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New King James Version
Job 23:8
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- InternationalParallel Translations
If I go east, he is not there,and if I go west, I cannot perceive him.
"If I go east, he is not there; If west, I can't find him;
Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him:
"Behold, I go forward, but he is not there, and backward, but I do not perceive him;
"If I go to the east, God is not there; if I go to the west, I do not see him.
"If I go to the east, he is not there, and to the west, yet I do not perceive him.
"Behold, I go forward (to the east), but He is not there; I go backward (to the west), but I cannot perceive Him;
"Behold, I go forward but He is not there, And backward, but I cannot perceive Him;
"If I go east, he is not there; If west, I can't find him;
Behold, if I go to the East, he is not there: if to the West, yet I can not perceiue him:
"Behold, I go forward but He is not there,And backward, but I cannot discern Him;
If I go east, He is not there, and if I go west, I cannot find Him.
I cannot find God anywhere— in front or back of me,
"If I head east, he isn't there; if I head west, I don't detect him,
Lo, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I do not perceive him;
"If I go to the east, God is not there. If I go to the west, I still don't see him.
Behold, if he goes before me, I know not; or behind, I cannot perceive him.
I have searched in the East, but God is not there; I have not found him when I searched in the West.
"When I go forward, he is not there, or backward, I cannot see him.
Behold, I go forward, but He is not there ; and backward, but I do not see Him;
For though I go before, I fynde him not: yf I come behynde, I ca get no knowlege of him:
Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; And backward, but I cannot perceive him;
See, I go forward, but he is not there; and back, but I do not see him;
Behold, I go forward, but He is not there, and backward, but I cannot perceive Him;
Behold, I goe forward, but he is not there, and backward, but I cannot perceiue him:
Behold, though I go forwarde I find him not: If I go backwarde, I can get no knowledge of hym:
For if I shall go first, and exist no longer, still what do I know concerning the latter end?
Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him:
If Y go to the eest, God apperith not; if Y go to the west, Y schal not vndurstonde hym; if Y go to the left side,
Look, I go forward, but he is not [there]; And backward, but I can't perceive him;
Behold, I go forward, but he [is] not [there]; and backward, but I cannot perceive him:
I go east, but he is not there. I go west, but I cannot find him.
"See, I go east, but He is not there. I go west, but I cannot see Him.
"If I go forward, he is not there; or backward, I cannot perceive him;
Behold! eastward, I go, but he is not there, and, westward, but I perceive him not;
But if I go to the east, he appeareth not; if to the west, I shall not understand him.
"Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him;
Lo, forward I go -- and He is not, And backward -- and I perceive him not.
"I travel East looking for him—I find no one; then West, but not a trace; I go North, but he's hidden his tracks; then South, but not even a glimpse.
"Behold, I go forward but He is not there, And backward, but I cannot perceive Him;
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
Job 9:11, Psalms 10:1, Psalms 13:1-3, Isaiah 45:15, 1 Timothy 6:16
Reciprocal: Job 29:5 - the Almighty Job 34:29 - when he hideth Job 35:14 - thou sayest Job 42:5 - mine Psalms 13:2 - take Psalms 139:5 - beset me Song of Solomon 3:1 - but Isaiah 50:10 - let
Cross-References
Sarah lived one hundred and twenty-seven years; these were the years of the life of Sarah.
So Sarah died in Kirjath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her.
Then Abraham stood up from before his dead, and spoke to the sons of Heth, saying,
"I am a foreigner and a visitor among you. Give me property for a burial place among you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight."
And his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite,
Then he said, "Please speak to King Solomon, for he will not refuse you, that he may give me Abishag the Shunammite as wife."
For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens;
Gill's Notes on the Bible
Behold, I go forward, but he [is] not [there],.... Job here returns to what he had said before, Job 23:3; as Jarchi observes, where he expresses his earnest desire after God, that he might know where he was, and come up to his seat; here he relates the various ways he took to find him, and his fruitless search of him. Cocceius thinks, by these phrases "forward" and "backward", are meant times future and past; and that the sense is, that Job looked into the future times of the Messiah, and the grace promised him, his living Redeemer, that should stand on the earth in the latter day; and that he looked back to the ages before him, and to the first promise made to Adam; but could not understand by either the reason why good men were afflicted; and by the "right" hand and "left", the different dispensations of God to men, granting protection with his right hand, and distributing the blessings of his goodness by it; and with his left hand laying afflictions and evils upon them; and yet, neither from the one nor the other could he learn the mind and will of God concerning men, since love and hatred are not to be known by these things: but rather, with the Jewish commentators in general, we are to understand places by these various expressions; even each of the parts of the world, east, west, north, and south; which Job went through, and surveyed in his mind, to find God in, but to no purpose; for, when a man stands with his face to the rising sun, the east is before him, and, if he goes forward, he goes eastward; and behind him is the west, and, if he goes that way, he goes backward; so the eastern sea is called the former sea, and the western, or Mediterranean sea, the hinder sea, Zechariah 14:8; and a man, in this position, will have the north on his left hand, and the south on his right; see Genesis 13:9; now Job says that he went "forward", that is, eastward; but, says he of God, "he [is] not [there]", or "is not" g; meaning not that he was not in being, did not exist; for he most firmly believed the existence of God, or that he was, but, as we rightly supply, he was not there, that is, eastward; and yet the greatest, the most glorious, and most gracious appearances of him were in the east; man was made in the east; the garden of Eden was planted eastward; here God appeared to Adam, both before and after his fall; and it was in the east, Christ, the second Adam, was born; his star appeared in it, and his Gospel was first preached in the eastern parts; in the east Job now lived, and had been the greatest man in it; but now God did not appear to him, as the Vulgate Latin version, not in a kind and gracious manner; nor could he find him at his throne of justice here, as he wished for; he was there, though Job saw him not; for he is everywhere; indeed he is not confined or limited to any place; for, as the heaven of heavens cannot contain him, so much less any part or corner of the earth:
and backward, but I cannot perceive him; or understand where he is, or get intelligence of him, and of the reason of his dispensations, especially concerning himself.
g ואיננו "et non ipse", Montanus, Drusius, Bolducius.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
Behold, I go forward - The meaning of these verses is, I go in all directions, but I cannot find God. I am excluded from the trial which I seek, and I cannot bring my cause to his throne. Job expresses his earnest desire to see some visible manifestation of the Deity, and to be permitted to argue his cause in his presence. But he says he sought this in vain. He looked to all points of the compass where he might rationally expect to find God, but all in vain. The terms here used refer to the points of the compass, and should have been so rendered. The Oriental geographers considered themselves as facing the East, instead of the North, as we do. Of course, the West was behind them, the South on the right hand, and on the left the North. This was a more natural position than ours, as day begins in the East, and it is natural to turn the face in that direction. There is no reason why our maps should be made so as to require us to face the “North,” except that such is the custom.
The Hebrew custom, in this respect, is found also in the notices of geography in other nations. The same thing prevails among the Hindoos. Among them, Para, or Purra, signifying “before,” denotes the East; Apara and Paschima, meaning “behind,” the West; Dacshina, or “the right hand,” the South; and Bama, or “the left hand,” the North; see Wilford’s Inquiry respecting the Holy Isles in the West, Asiatic Researches, vol. viii. p. 275. The same thing occurred among the ancient Irish; see an Essay on the Antiquity of the Irish language, by an unknown author, Dublin, 1772; compare on this subject, Rosenmuller’s Alterthumskunde i. s. 136-144. The same custom prevailed among the Mongols. “Gesenius.” On the notices of the science of geography exhibited in the book of Job, compare Introduction, Section 8. The phrase, therefore, “Behold, I go forward,” means, “I go to the East. I look toward the rising of the sun. I see there the most wonderful of the works of the Creator in the glories of the sun, and I go toward it in hopes of finding there some manifestation of God. But I find him not, and, disappointed, I turn to other directions.” Most of the ancient versions render this the East. Thus, the Vulgate, “Si ad Orientem iero.” The Chaldee למדינא, “to the sun-rising.”
But he is not there - There is no manifestation of God, no coming forth to meet me, and to hear my cause.
And backward - (ואחור ve'âchôr). To the West - for this was “behind” the individual when he stood looking to the East. Sometimes the West is denoted by this term “behind” (אחור 'âchôr), and sometimes by “the sea” (ים yâm), because the Mediterranean was at the West of Palestine and Arabia; see the notes at Isaiah 9:12; compare Exodus 10:19; Exodus 27:13; Exodus 38:12; Genesis 28:14.
But I cannot perceive him - The meaning is, “Disappointed in the East, the region of the rising sun, I turn with longing to the West, the region of his setting, and hope, as his last beams fade from the view, that I shall be permitted to behold some ray that shall reveal God to my soul. Before the night settles down upon the world, emblem of the darkness in my soul, I would look upon the last lingering ray, and hope that in that I may see God. In that vast region of the West, illuminated by the setting sun, I would hope somewhere to find him; but I am disappointed there. The sun withdraws his beams, and darkness steals on, and the world, like my soul, is enveloped in gloom. I can see no indications of the presence of God coming forth to give me an opportunity to argue my cause before him.”
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Job 23:8. Behold, I go forward — These two verses paint in vivid colours the distress and anxiety of a soul in search of the favour of God. No means are left untried, no place unexplored, in order to find the object of his research. This is a true description of the conduct of a genuine penitent.
