· Translation: KJV

Job 5:9who does great things that can't be fathomed, marvelous things without number;

The setting

Ancient Uz (likely Jordan/Saudi Arabia border). Eliphaz the Temanite speaks to devastated Job, trying to comfort him with theology about God's mysterious works.

The emotion here: confident in his theology but actually misunderstanding Job's situation

The original word

chēqer (חֵקֶר) — investigation, searching out; what cannot be tracked down or solved

Why it matters

The Temanites were famous for wisdom literature and were descendants of Esau

Read with care

What most readers miss in Job 5:9

This is Eliphaz speaking, not Job — and later God will say Eliphaz spoke wrongly

Common misconceptionPeople quote this as if it's God's voice, but it's Eliphaz giving bad advice. God later rebukes Eliphaz for not speaking rightly about Him.

Bible Genome reading

Job 5:9 — Bible Genome reading

SpeakerEliphaz
EraPatriarchal
Primary emotionworship
Literary typepoetry

Emotional genome

Comfort power70%
Quotability80%
Memorability70%
Crisis relevance60%
Standalone80%
Themes:God's powerGod's mystery

In context

No verse stands alone.

Read the conversation around it.

Open Job 5

Job 5:9 comes from the book of Job, written during the Patriarchal period. These words are attributed to Eliphaz. The dominant emotion in this verse is worship, with a comfort power of 70% and a tone that is reverent. It belongs to the poetry genre of biblical literature. Key themes include God's power, God's mystery. Notable phrases: great things that can't be fathomed; marvelous things without number.

Your reflection

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