Verse Lens · Concise explanation
Job 34:9 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 9. 9For he hath said, It profiteth a man nothing that he should delight himself with God.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Job 34:9 closes the thought unit with the words “For he hath said, It profiteth a man nothing that he should delight himself with God.” Elihu supplies a reason through “For he hath said, It profiteth a man nothing that he should delight himself with God” in support of Elihu Calls the Wise to Judge Job's Words.
Read It With
- Job 34:1–34:9
Read Job 34:9 with 34:1–34:9. Read alone, “For he hath said, It profiteth a man nothing that he should delight himself with God” could lose its speaker, the question or claim it develops, and the unit's outcome. The complete movement establishes: Elihu addresses the wise, repeats Job's integrity claim and complaint of a false judgment, then charges Job with scorning and associating with wicked speech.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Elihu continues from Job 33:29–33:33: Elihu says God works repeatedly to bring a soul back from the pit and invites Job either to answer or to listen. Job 34:1–34:9 now develops the next distinct movement: Elihu addresses the wise, repeats Job's integrity claim and complaint of a false judgment, then charges Job with scorning and associating with wicked speech. Within that relationship, Job 34:9 closes the thought unit through “For he hath said, It profiteth a man nothing that he should delight himself with God.”
Read Job 34:1–9 together
Why these verses belong together: Job 34:1–34:9 follows the pinned KJV paragraphing and holds together one sustained speech movement: “Elihu Calls the Wise to Judge Job's Words.” The next unit begins with a new stanza, question sequence, scene, speaker response, or rhetorical turn.
Verse 1. 1 Furthermore Elihu answered and said,
Verse 2. 2 Hear my words, O ye wise men; and give ear unto me, ye that have knowledge.
Verse 3. 3 For the ear trieth words, as the mouth tasteth meat.
Verse 4. 4 Let us choose to us judgment: let us know among ourselves what is good.
Verse 5. 5 For Job hath said, I am righteous: and God hath taken away my judgment.
Verse 6. 6 Should I lie against my right? my wound is incurable without transgression.
Verse 7. 7 What man is like Job, who drinketh up scorning like water?
Verse 8. 8 Which goeth in company with the workers of iniquity, and walketh with wicked men.
Verse 9. 9 For he hath said, It profiteth a man nothing that he should delight himself with God.
What Remains True
Elihu addresses the wise, repeats Job's integrity claim and complaint of a false judgment, then charges Job with scorning and associating with wicked speech. 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 34:9 carries that bounded truth through “For he hath said, It profiteth a man nothing that he should delight himself with God.”
How It Can Shape Life
- Evaluate Elihu's proposal in Job 34:1–34:9 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: Elihu moves from quotation to character judgment; that inference is not narrator-approved and must not substitute for evidence. The verse-specific evidence to retain is “For he hath said, It profiteth a man nothing that he should delight himself with God.”
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Job 34:1–34:9 — Elihu Calls the Wise to Judge Job's WordsSources 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 34:1–34:9, 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 34:1–34:9
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 34:1–34:9.
Exact location: Official NET Job PDF, exact translator, study, and textual notes attached to Job 34:1–34:9
Open the official NET Job PDF ↗