The Meaning of Job 36:3 Explained

Job 36:3

KJV: I will fetch my knowledge from afar, and will ascribe righteousness to my Maker.

YLT: I lift up my knowledge from afar, And to my Maker I ascribe righteousness.

Darby: I will fetch my knowledge from afar, and will ascribe righteousness to my Creator.

ASV: I will fetch my knowledge from afar, And will ascribe righteousness to my Maker.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

I will fetch  my knowledge  from afar,  and will ascribe  righteousness  to my Maker. 

What does Job 36:3 Mean?

Context Summary

Job 36:1-33 - He Despiseth Not Any
God is mighty, but He does not despise thee, though thou be the least of saints. His eyes are upon thee for good, and He will set thee before His throne forever. He will stoop to thy low dungeon, whispering instruction to thine ear and commanding thee to return. There are broad places before thee in which there shall be no straitness; tables await thee full of fatness. Thy path leads from thy present prison-house into liberty and light.
Remember the unsearchable numbers of His years. Behold the wonderful machinery by which He collects from ocean, lake, and stream the clouds which, like floating cisterns, carry the waters to be bleached in the snow of the hills, and oxidized in the torrent beds! There is more love than terror in creation. Nature's myriad voices proclaim with Scripture, "God is love." He cannot, therefore, be indifferent to the righteous man or neglect him. He may discipline him to make him hate sin; but, when this end is attained, He will assuredly withdraw His rod, Job 36:10-11. [source]

Chapter Summary: Job 36

1  Elihu shows how God is just in his ways
16  How Job's sins hinder God's blessings
24  God's works are to be magnified

What do the individual words in Job 36:3 mean?

I will fetch my knowledge from afar and to my Maker I will ascribe righteousness
אֶשָּׂ֣א דֵ֭עִי לְמֵרָח֑וֹק וּ֝לְפֹעֲלִ֗י אֶֽתֵּֽן־ צֶֽדֶק

אֶשָּׂ֣א  I  will  fetch 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, first person common singular
Root: נָשָׂא  
Sense: to lift, bear up, carry, take.
דֵ֭עִי  my  knowledge 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, first person common singular
Root: דֵּעַ  
Sense: knowledge, opinion.
לְמֵרָח֑וֹק  from  afar 
Parse: Preposition-l, Preposition-m, Adjective, masculine singular
Root: רָחֹוק  
Sense: remote, far, distant, distant lands, distant ones.
וּ֝לְפֹעֲלִ֗י  and  to  my  Maker 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Preposition-l, Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine singular construct, first person common singular
Root: פָּעַל  
Sense: to do, make.
אֶֽתֵּֽן־  I  will  ascribe 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, first person common singular
Root: יָתַן 
Sense: to give, put, set.
צֶֽדֶק  righteousness 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: צֶדֶק  
Sense: justice, rightness, righteousness.