Verse Lens · Context pointer
Job 40:3 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 3. 3Then Job answered the LORD, and said,
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Role in This Section
Job 40:3 opens the thought unit with the words “Then Job answered the LORD, and said.” Job develops the next stated step through “Then Job answered the LORD, and said” as part of Job Places His Hand over His Mouth.
Read It With
- Job 40:3–40:5
Read Job 40:3 with 40:3–40:5. Read alone, “Then Job answered the LORD, and said” could lose its speaker, the question or claim it develops, and the unit's outcome. The complete movement establishes: Job calls himself slight or of small account, says he has no answer, and chooses not to continue after speaking.
Why It Needs Context
Job 40:3 depends on 40:3–40:5; isolating “Then Job answered the LORD, and said” would detach a poetic premise, image, response, or transition from Job and “Job Places His Hand over His Mouth.”
Read Job 40:3–5 together
Why these verses belong together: Job 40:3–40:5 follows the pinned KJV paragraphing and holds together one sustained speech movement: “Job Places His Hand over His Mouth.” The next unit begins with a new stanza, question sequence, scene, speaker response, or rhetorical turn.
Verse 3. 3 Then Job answered the LORD, and said,
Verse 4. 4 Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth.
Verse 5. 5 Once have I spoken; but I will not answer: yea, twice; but I will proceed no further.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Job 40:3–40:5 — Job Places His Hand over His MouthSources used for this context pointer
How certain is this explanation? probable
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 40:3–40:5, 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 40:3–40:5
Open the fixed Hebrew Job file ↗