Job 33:5

5 Refute me if you can. Prepare your case^[a] against me; take your stand.^[b]

Job 33:5 Meaning and Commentary

Job 33:5

If thou canst answer me
That is, when he had done speaking, after he had heard him out; if he thought he could make a reply to him, he gave him full liberty so to do, and tacitly suggests that he should give him an attentive and candid hearing, as he had requested of him:

set [thy words] in order before me;
put them into the best form and order thou canst for thy self-defence, and level them at me; set them, as it were, in battle array against me; give them all the poignancy, strength, and three thou art capable of:

stand up;
not out of veneration to him, but to denote freedom and boldness in himself; a presentation of himself with boldness, and standing and keeping his ground: the expressions are military; Mr. Broughton renders it, "stand to it".

Job 33:5 In-Context

3 My words [come from] my upright heart, and my lips speak what they know with sincerity.

4 The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.

5 Refute me if you can. Prepare your case against me; take your stand.

6 I am just like you before God; I was also pinched off from [a piece of] clay.

7 Fear of me should not terrify you; the pressure I exert against you will be light.

Footnotes

• [a] Jb 13:18; 23:4; 32:14
• [b] Jb 33:32; Ps 2:2