Verse Lens · Context pointer
Job 37:19 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 19. 19Teach us what we shall say unto him; for we cannot order our speech by reason of darkness.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Role in This Section
Job 37:19 advances the thought unit with the words “Teach us what we shall say unto him; for we cannot order our speech by reason of darkness.” Elihu voices the appeal or command “Teach us what we shall say unto him” within Elihu Questions Job's Knowledge of the Sky.
Read It With
- Job 37:14–37:20
Read Job 37:19 with 37:14–37:20. Read alone, “Teach us what we shall say unto him; for we cannot order our speech by reason of darkness” could lose its speaker, the question or claim it develops, and the unit's outcome. The complete movement establishes: Elihu tells Job to stand and consider, asks about clouds, light, heat, and the firm sky, then admits human difficulty ordering speech before God.
Why It Needs Context
Job 37:19 depends on 37:14–37:20; isolating “Teach us what we shall say unto him; for we cannot order our speech by reason of darkness” would detach a poetic premise, image, response, or transition from Elihu and “Elihu Questions Job's Knowledge of the Sky.”
Read Job 37:14–20 together
Why these verses belong together: Job 37:14–37:20 follows the pinned KJV paragraphing and holds together one sustained speech movement: “Elihu Questions Job's Knowledge of the Sky.” The next unit begins with a new stanza, question sequence, scene, speaker response, or rhetorical turn.
Verse 14. 14 Hearken unto this, O Job: stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God.
Verse 15. 15 Dost thou know when God disposed them, and caused the light of his cloud to shine?
Verse 16. 16 Dost thou know the balancings of the clouds, the wondrous works of him which is perfect in knowledge?
Verse 17. 17 How thy garments are warm, when he quieteth the earth by the south wind?
Verse 18. 18 Hast thou with him spread out the sky, which is strong, and as a molten looking glass?
Verse 19. 19 Teach us what we shall say unto him; for we cannot order our speech by reason of darkness.
Verse 20. 20 Shall it be told him that I speak? if a man speak, surely he shall be swallowed up.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Job 37:14–37:20 — Elihu Questions Job's Knowledge of the SkySources used for this context pointer
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 37:14–37:20, 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 37:14–37:20
Open the fixed Hebrew Job file ↗