Job 42:7–42:9, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Job 42:7–42:9
God Rebukes the Friends and Accepts Job's Prayer
The LORD turns to Eliphaz and judges the three
After the LORD had spoken these words to Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against you, and against your two friends, for you have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job has.
The verdict is public and uneven. The three are named. Elihu is not. Job is called servant again, the title of the prologue. 'Right' here cannot mean that every sentence Job uttered was a finished doctrine. It does mean that the friends' confident case against him is rejected. Their defense of God was not a defense God would own.
Job must pray for the men who condemned him
They are to take seven bulls and seven rams, go to Job, and offer up a burnt offering for themselves. Job the servant will pray for them. God will accept him, lest God deal with them after their folly, in that they have not spoken of God the thing that is right, like Job.
Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar go and do as the LORD spoke. The LORD accepts Job. Intercession is the opposite of Eliphaz's promise that Job would save the not-innocent once Job got rich again. The friends are not executed. They are made to seek the prayer of the man they had called wicked. Folly is the LORD's word for their theology of blame.
How this should shape us
Do not protect a theology God will not accept, even if it was meant to defend God. If you have blamed a sufferer, the path back is costly worship and the courage to ask that person's prayer, not a quieter version of the same accusation.
Teach it back
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Job 42:7–42:9, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a complete apparatus or interpretation.
Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Job.xml, OSIS 42:7–42:9
Supports: Verse-level controls for Job's difficult Hebrew, syntax, older KJV language, textual issues, speech boundaries, and alternatives in Job 42:7–42:9.
Official NET Job PDF, exact translator, study, and textual notes attached to Job 42:7–42:9
Supports: Book-level and passage-level literary, historical, theological, and pastoral synthesis with speaker distinctions and visible uncertainty.
Enter the Bible Job course, Summary, Theological Themes, and passage studies: Job's response and epilogue; applied to Job 42:7–42:9
Supports: Polyphony, retribution critique, justice, Job's response, divine verdict, and the book's interpretive openness.
Ausloos, 'A Matter of Justice,' OTE 36.1 (2023), pp. 151-165, Job 42:1-8 and open ending; applied to Job 42:7–42:9
Supports: A fully inspected critical alternative on the framework, litigation, human condition, divine speeches, and moral evaluation.
Harvey, 'Questions on the Book of Job,' Religious Studies 59.S1 (2023), pp. S7-S16, God Questions Job Further, A God of Love?, and Conclusion; applied to Job 42:7–42:9
Sources for This Section
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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 42:7–42:9, 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 42:7–42:9
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 42:7–42:9.
Exact location: Official NET Job PDF, exact translator, study, and textual notes attached to Job 42:7–42:9
Open the official NET Job PDF ↗modern scholarly book course
Job course: summary, outline, background, introductory issues, theological themes, and Bible in the world
Daniel J. Simundson and Kathryn Schifferdecker
Enter the Bible, Luther Seminary, current online edition inspected 2026
Supports: Book-level and passage-level literary, historical, theological, and pastoral synthesis with speaker distinctions and visible uncertainty.
Exact location: Enter the Bible Job course, Summary, Theological Themes, and passage studies: Job's response and epilogue; applied to Job 42:7–42:9
Open the Enter the Bible Job course ↗peer reviewed open access literary and theological article
A Matter of Justice: The Openness of the Book of Job
Hans Ausloos
Old Testament Essays 36.1, 2023
Supports: Polyphony, retribution critique, justice, Job's response, divine verdict, and the book's interpretive openness.
Exact location: Ausloos, 'A Matter of Justice,' OTE 36.1 (2023), pp. 151-165, Job 42:1-8 and open ending; applied to Job 42:7–42:9
Open Ausloos on Job and justice ↗open access philosophical and literary article
Questions on the Book of Job
Warren Zev Harvey
Religious Studies 59, Special Issue S1, 2023
Supports: A fully inspected critical alternative on the framework, litigation, human condition, divine speeches, and moral evaluation.
Exact location: Harvey, 'Questions on the Book of Job,' Religious Studies 59.S1 (2023), pp. S7-S16, God Questions Job Further, A God of Love?, and Conclusion; applied to Job 42:7–42:9
Open the Cambridge Job article ↗