The Meaning of Job 9:5 Explained

Job 9:5

KJV: Which removeth the mountains, and they know not: which overturneth them in his anger.

YLT: Who is removing mountains, And they have not known, Who hath overturned them in His anger.

Darby: Who removeth mountains, and they know it not, when he overturneth them in his anger;

ASV: Him that removeth the mountains, and they know it not, When he overturneth them in his anger;

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Which removeth  the mountains,  and they know  not: which overturneth  them in his anger. 

What does Job 9:5 Mean?

Context Summary

Job 9:1-35 - "the Daysman"
Ponder the sublimity of the conceptions of God given in this magnificent passage. To God are attributed the earthquake that rocks the pillars on which the world rests, Job 9:6; the eclipse which hides the heavenly bodies, Job 9:7; the storm in which he bows the heavens and treads majestically on the waves, Job 9:8; and the creation of the constellations, Job 9:9. Who can dare to argue with or call to account so great a God as this? Job 9:10-19. Even if a man be outwardly and inwardly righteous (that is, so far as the measure of his light), yet in such a Presence the heart of the most perfect must condemn him. "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves"¦. God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all." We cannot but feel that this old-world thinker had a truer view of that conscious imperfection and sin which must be experienced by every mortal who has a right appreciation of the holiness of God, than have those who refuse to say the Lord's Prayer because it contains a petition for forgiveness!
Truly we need that Daysman! But we have Him in Jesus our Mediator, who can lay His hand on God and us, Job 9:33; 1 Timothy 2:5. [source]

Chapter Summary: Job 9

1  Job acknowledges God's justice
22  Man's innocence is not to be condemned by afflictions

What do the individual words in Job 9:5 mean?

He removes the mountains and not they do know when He overturns them in His anger
הַמַּעְתִּ֣יק הָ֭רִים וְלֹ֣א יָדָ֑עוּ אֲשֶׁ֖ר הֲפָכָ֣ם בְּאַפּֽוֹ

הַמַּעְתִּ֣יק  He  removes 
Parse: Article, Verb, Hifil, Participle, masculine singular
Root: עָתַק  
Sense: to move, proceed, advance, move on, become old, be removed.
הָ֭רִים  the  mountains 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: הַר  
Sense: hill, mountain, hill country, mount.
וְלֹ֣א  and  not 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Adverb, Negative particle
Root: הֲלֹא 
Sense: not, no.
יָדָ֑עוּ  they  do  know 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: דָּעָה 
Sense: to know.
הֲפָכָ֣ם  He  overturns  them 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person masculine singular, third person masculine plural
Root: הָפַךְ  
Sense: to turn, overthrow, overturn.
בְּאַפּֽוֹ  in  His  anger 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine singular
Root: אַף 
Sense: nostril, nose, face.