Verse Lens · Concise explanation
Job 33:13 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 13. 13Why dost thou strive against him? for he giveth not account of any of his matters.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Job 33:13 closes the thought unit with the words “Why dost thou strive against him? for he giveth not account of any of his matters.” Elihu states “Why dost thou strive against him? for he giveth not account of any of his matters” as one poetic claim in Elihu Restates Job's Complaint and Challenges It.
Read It With
- Job 33:8–33:13
Read Job 33:13 with 33:8–33:13. Read alone, “Why dost thou strive against him? for he giveth not account of any of his matters” could lose its speaker, the question or claim it develops, and the unit's outcome. The complete movement establishes: Elihu summarizes Job as claiming purity while God finds occasions against him, then says God is greater and need not account for every matter.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Elihu continues from Job 33:1–33:7: Elihu addresses Job directly, claims sincerity and shared creatureliness, and says his presence need not frighten or crush Job. Job 33:8–33:13 now develops the next distinct movement: Elihu summarizes Job as claiming purity while God finds occasions against him, then says God is greater and need not account for every matter. Within that relationship, Job 33:13 closes the thought unit through “Why dost thou strive against him? for he giveth not account of any of his matters.”
Read Job 33:8–13 together
Why these verses belong together: Job 33:8–33:13 follows the pinned KJV paragraphing and holds together one sustained speech movement: “Elihu Restates Job's Complaint and Challenges It.” The next unit begins with a new stanza, question sequence, scene, speaker response, or rhetorical turn.
Verse 8. 8 Surely thou hast spoken in mine hearing, and I have heard the voice of thy words, saying,
Verse 9. 9 I am clean without transgression, I am innocent; neither is there iniquity in me.
Verse 10. 10 Behold, he findeth occasions against me, he counteth me for his enemy,
Verse 11. 11 He putteth my feet in the stocks, he marketh all my paths.
Verse 12. 12 Behold, in this thou art not just: I will answer thee, that God is greater than man.
Verse 13. 13 Why dost thou strive against him? for he giveth not account of any of his matters.
What Remains True
Elihu summarizes Job as claiming purity while God finds occasions against him, then says God is greater and need not account for every matter. Elihu's confident proposal must be tested by its evidence, its account of Job, and its place in the received book rather than accepted because he claims insight. Job 33:13 carries that bounded truth through “Why dost thou strive against him? for he giveth not account of any of his matters.”
How It Can Shape Life
- Evaluate Elihu's proposal in Job 33:8–33:13 by its accuracy, evidence, and effect on the sufferer; do not let claimed insight, urgency, age, or eloquence substitute for careful listening and bounded counsel. Preserve this unit-specific boundary in the action: The summary compresses Job's complex case and can overstate his claim to sinlessness; divine transcendence does not make every pastoral question improper. The verse-specific evidence to retain is “Why dost thou strive against him? for he giveth not account of any of his matters.”
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Job 33:8–33:13 — Elihu Restates Job's Complaint and Challenges ItSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Exact location: Job 33:8–33:13, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Job
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a complete apparatus or interpretation.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Job.xml, OSIS 33:8–33:13
Open the fixed Hebrew Job file ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible First Edition Notes: Job
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006; current official PDF
Supports: Verse-level controls for Job's difficult Hebrew, syntax, older KJV language, textual issues, speech boundaries, and alternatives in Job 33:8–33:13.
Exact location: Official NET Job PDF, exact translator, study, and textual notes attached to Job 33:8–33:13
Open the official NET Job PDF ↗