The Meaning of Job 26:3 Explained

Job 26:3

KJV: How hast thou counselled him that hath no wisdom? and how hast thou plentifully declared the thing as it is?

YLT: What -- thou hast given counsel to the unwise, And wise plans in abundance made known.

Darby: How hast thou counselled him that hath no wisdom, and abundantly declared the thing as it is!

ASV: How hast thou counselled him that hath no wisdom, And plentifully declared sound knowledge!

KJV Reverse Interlinear

How hast thou counselled  [him that hath] no  wisdom?  and [how] hast thou plentifully  declared  the thing as it is? 

What does Job 26:3 Mean?

Context Summary

Job 26:1-14 - "the Outskirts Of His Ways"
Job taunts Bildad with his reply as having imparted no help or thought. He then proceeds, Job 26:5-14, to give a description of God's power as manifested in Hades, in space, in the clouds, in the ocean, and throughout the universe. The spirits of the dead tremble before Him; the grave and destruction that veil themselves in night are stripped before His gaze; the world itself is suspended in space by invisible threads (a wonderful foreshadowing of the true theory of the earth); the waters are held in the clouds, which do not burst under their weight but act as the veil of God's throne; the sea owns His authority, hushing under His word or rising in its might; His breath brings the dawn; His hand strangles the dragon, as representing a well-known constellation, Draco. But these are only the outskirts of His ways. Great as is their acclaim as they circle His throne in thunder and splendor, they are but as a whisper compared with His divine power and Godhead. All that the scientist has known of God is, when compared with His essential nature, what the quiver of a leaf in the breeze is to the crash of the thunder-peal. This, O child of God, is thy Father, and His power is for thy defense. [source]

Chapter Summary: Job 26

1  Job, reproving the uncharitable spirit of Bildad
5  acknowledges the power of God to be infinite and unsearchable

What do the individual words in Job 26:3 mean?

how have you counseled no [one who has] wisdom and sound advice to many [how] have you declared
מַה־ יָּ֭עַצְתָּ לְלֹ֣א ؟ חָכְמָ֑ה וְ֝תוּשִׁיָּ֗ה לָרֹ֥ב הוֹדָֽעְתָּ

מַה־  how 
Parse: Interrogative
Root: לָמָּה 
Sense: what, how, of what kind.
יָּ֭עַצְתָּ  have  you  counseled 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, second person masculine singular
Root: יׄועֵץ 
Sense: to advise, consult, give counsel, counsel, purpose, devise, plan.
לְלֹ֣א  no 
Parse: Preposition-l, Adverb, Negative particle
Root: הֲלֹא 
Sense: not, no.
؟ חָכְמָ֑ה  [one  who  has]  wisdom 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: חָכְמָה  
Sense: wisdom.
וְ֝תוּשִׁיָּ֗ה  and  sound  advice 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, feminine singular
Root: תּוּשִׁיָּה  
Sense: wisdom, sound knowledge, success, sound or efficient wisdom, abiding success.
לָרֹ֥ב  to  many 
Parse: Preposition-l, Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: רֹב  
Sense: multitude, abundance, greatness.
הוֹדָֽעְתָּ  [how]  have  you  declared 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Perfect, second person masculine singular
Root: דָּעָה 
Sense: to know.