The Meaning of Job 35:3 Explained

Job 35:3

KJV: For thou saidst, What advantage will it be unto thee? and, What profit shall I have, if I be cleansed from my sin?

YLT: For thou sayest, 'What doth it profit Thee! What do I profit from my sin?'

Darby: For thou hast asked of what profit it is unto thee: what do I gain more than if I had sinned?

ASV: That thou sayest, What advantage will it be unto thee? And , What profit shall I have, more than if I had sinned?

KJV Reverse Interlinear

For thou saidst,  What advantage  will it be unto thee? [and], What profit  shall I have, [if I be cleansed] from my sin? 

What does Job 35:3 Mean?

Context Summary

Job 35:1-16 - Songs In The Night
God is so exalted above man in His nature that He is altogether independent of him. When men sin against Him, they hurt not Him but themselves. There is no motive, therefore, of retaliation or revenge in His chastisements. "Not for His pleasure," the Holy Ghost saith in another place, "but for our profit," Hebrews 12:10.
Instead of seeking after God our Maker, who can give songs in the darkest night that ever befell a human spirit, we are too apt to despair. Instead of crying to God, we cry against Him. We murmur and complain. We arraign God. There is our pride, Job 35:12. We regard iniquity in our heart, and God cannot answer us until we change our note for one of loving, trustful submission. God will not hear vanity, neither will the Almighty regard it.
Let us change our temper and our note. Have done with the proud self-will that chafes and argues and complains. This will not speed thy cause at God's bar. Humble thyself under His mighty hand, and He will exalt thee. "The meek He will teach His way." [source]

Chapter Summary: Job 35

1  Comparison is not to be made with God,
6  because our good or evil cannot extend unto him
9  Many cry in their afflictions, but are not heard for lack of faith

What do the individual words in Job 35:3 mean?

For you say what advantage will it be to You what profit shall I have more than [if] I had sinned
כִּֽי־ תֹ֭אמַר מַה־ יִּסְכָּן־ לָ֑ךְ מָֽה־ אֹ֝עִ֗יל מֵֽחַטָּאתִֽי

תֹ֭אמַר  you  say 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, second person masculine singular
Root: אָמַר 
Sense: to say, speak, utter.
יִּסְכָּן־  advantage 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: סָכַן 
Sense: to be of use or service or profit or benefit.
לָ֑ךְ  will  it  be  to  You 
Parse: Preposition, second person feminine singular
אֹ֝עִ֗יל  profit  shall  I  have 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Imperfect, first person common singular
Root: יָעַל  
Sense: (Hiphil) to gain, profit, benefit, avail.
מֵֽחַטָּאתִֽי  more  than  [if]  I  had  sinned 
Parse: Preposition-m, Noun, feminine singular construct, first person common singular
Root: חַטָּאָה 
Sense: sin, sinful.