The Meaning of Job 42:2 Explained

Job 42:2

KJV: I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee.

YLT: Thou hast known that for all things Thou art able, And not withheld from Thee is any device:

Darby: I know that thou canst do everything, and that thou canst be hindered in no thought of thine.

ASV: I know that thou canst do all things, And that no purpose of thine can be restrained.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

I know  that thou canst do  every [thing], and [that] no thought  can be withholden  from thee. 

What does Job 42:2 Mean?

Context Summary

Job 42:1-17 - Restored To Right Relations With God
In complete surrender Job bowed before God, confessing his ignorance and owning that he had spoken glibly of things which he understood not. He had retorted to his friends that he was as good as they, but now he confessed, as did the Apostle after him, that he was of sinners the chief. It is one thing to hear of God, another to see and know Him close at hand. Well may we loathe our proud words and repent in dust and ashes, Job 42:6, r.v., margin.
When Job was right with God, the Almighty took his side against his accusers and silenced them. It was through Job's intercessions that they were forgiven. He himself was not fully forgiven till he could pray for them with loving forgiveness. But immediately he had done so God turned "the shadow of death into the morning" and gave him the double portion of the first-born. Thus men, when forgiven and restored, are heirs of riches greater than they had forfeited. [source]

Chapter Summary: Job 42

1  Job submits himself unto God
7  God, preferring Job's cause, makes his friends submit themselves, and accepts him
10  He magnifies and blesses Job
16  Job's age and death

What do the individual words in Job 42:2 mean?

- I know that everything You can do that no can be withheld from You purpose [of Yours]
[ידעת] (יָ֭דַעְתִּי) כִּי־ כֹ֣ל תּוּכָ֑ל וְלֹא־ יִבָּצֵ֖ר מִמְּךָ֣ מְזִמָּֽה

[ידעת]  - 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, second person masculine singular
Root: אַב  
Sense: father.
(יָ֭דַעְתִּי)  I  know 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, first person common singular
Root: דָּעָה 
Sense: to know.
כִּי־  that 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: כִּי 
Sense: that, for, because, when, as though, as, because that, but, then, certainly, except, surely, since.
כֹ֣ל  everything 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: כֹּל  
Sense: all, the whole.
תּוּכָ֑ל  You  can  do 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, second person masculine singular
Root: יָכֹל  
Sense: to prevail, overcome, endure, have power, be able.
וְלֹא־  that  no 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Adverb, Negative particle
Root: הֲלֹא 
Sense: not, no.
יִבָּצֵ֖ר  can  be  withheld 
Parse: Verb, Nifal, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: בָּצַר 
Sense: to gather, restrain, fence, fortify, make inaccessible, enclose.
מִמְּךָ֣  from  You 
Parse: Preposition, second person masculine singular
Root: מִן 
Sense: from, out of, on account of, off, on the side of, since, above, than, so that not, more than.
מְזִמָּֽה  purpose  [of  Yours] 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: מְזִמָּה  
Sense: purpose, discretion, device, plot.