Thou knowest that I am not wicked; and there is none that can deliver out of thine hand.

JOB 10:7KJV
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Job 10:7 (KJV)

What does Job 10:7 mean?

Job 10:7 is part of Job’s appeal to God during his suffering. Job says that God knows he is not wicked, yet God holds a power over him that no one else can overcome. Job is struggling to understand why God treats him as though he were guilty.

Job speaks directly to God, using “thou” and “thine.” The image of God’s “hand” pictures God’s power over Job: no other person can pull Job free from that grasp.

The Hebrew behind Job 10:7

  • “wicked” — רָשַׁע (rashaʿ): This word carries the sense of being guilty or acting wrongly. Job uses it as he protests being treated as a wrongdoer.
  • “deliver” — נָצַל (natsal): This word can mean to rescue or snatch away. It gives the picture of someone being pulled out of another’s grasp.

Why Job 10:7 matters

  • Job’s claim is a protest, not a statement that he has never done anything wrong. His words “I am not wicked” belong to his complaint that his suffering does not fit the accusation against him.
  • Job addresses the one he believes already knows the truth. In verse 6, he asks why God searches for his wrongdoing; in verse 7, he says God knows he is not wicked.

Where else these words appear

“wicked” Hebrew H7561 · used in 34 verses

  • Exodus 22:9 For all manner of trespass, whether it be for ox, for ass, for sheep, for raiment, or for any manner of lost thing, which another challengeth to be his, the cause of both parties shall come before the judges; and whom the judges shall condemn, he shall pay double unto his neighbour.
  • Job 9:29 If I be wicked, why then labour I in vain?
  • Psalms 94:21 They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous, and condemn the innocent blood.

“knowest” Hebrew H1847 · used in 91 verses

  • Genesis 2:9 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
  • Proverbs 2:10 When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul;
  • Proverbs 24:5 A wise man is strong; yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength.