How many are my iniquities and my sins? Make me know my transgression and my sin.
English Standard Version (ESV)
Job isn't just confessing he's a sinner, he's boldly asking God to show him the specific sins that warrant such immense suffering. He's essentially asking for the "bill of indictment," wanting to know precisely what, if anything, he's done to deserve this agony, rather than just accepting his friends' vague accusations.
How many are my iniquities and my sins? Make me know my transgression and my sin.
English Standard Version (ESV)
Job is pleading directly with God, moving beyond the arguments with his friends. He’s not denying he’s a sinner, but he's desperate for God to reveal the specific transgressions that warrant such immense suffering. Job wants God to lay out the charges so he can understand and respond, feeling that his calamities far outweigh any known sins.
Job is suffering immensely, and his friends are convinced it's due to hidden sins. But Job isn't just blindly defending himself. He's actually asking for specifics!
Job's cry, 'How many are my iniquities and my sins?' isn't a denial of sin altogether. Instead, it reveals a profound honesty about his own heart.
Acknowledging Sin vs. Knowing Specifics
Job is appealing directly to God, not just his friends. He wants the ultimate authority to lay out the case against him. What does this tell us about God?
Job's bold request to God highlights a crucial aspect of their relationship and God's sovereignty.
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The Divine Indictment
Understand the original words
avon · Hebrew Noun
Moral failure, perversity, or guilt resulting from a violation of God’s law. It denotes a twisting of the right way and carries the weight of accountability before a holy Judge.
chatta'ah · Hebrew Noun
To miss the mark of God's standard of holiness; a failure to fulfill one's duty to God or neighbor. It describes falling short of the moral perfection required by a righteous God.
pesha · Hebrew Noun
A willful rebellion or revolt against authority, specifically against the commands or covenant of God. It implies a breach of trust and a conscious turning away from God's revealed will.
This verse echoes Job's plea by asking God to search his heart and reveal any hidden sin, showing a universal human desire for complete self-awareness under God's gaze.
1 Corinthians 11:28Paul's instruction to 'examine yourselves' before partaking in communion parallels Job's desperate need to know his specific transgressions, highlighting the importance of self-reflection and accountability before God.
Hebrews 4:12This passage describes God's Word as a sharp sword that penetrates and discerns the thoughts and intentions of the heart, underscoring Job's request for God to make his hidden sins known.
Romans 3:20The declaration that no one will be declared righteous in God's sight by observing the law, because the law brings awareness of sin, directly speaks to Job's situation where suffering seems to point to unknown transgressions.
clarkeJob 13:23: "How many are mine iniquities and sins? make me to know my transgression and my sin."
How many are mine iniquities - Job being permitted to begin first, enters immediately upon the subject; and as it was a fact that he was grievously afflicted, and this his friends asserted was in consequence of grievous iniquities, he first desires to have them specified. What are the specific charges in this indictment? To say I must be a sinner to be thus afflicted, is saying nothing; tell me what…
ellicottJob 13:23: "How many are mine iniquities and sins? make me to know my transgression and my sin."
(23) How many are mine iniquities? —We must be careful to note that alongside with Job’s claim to be righteous there is ever as deep a confession of personal sin, thus showing that the only way in which we can understand his declarations is in the light of His teaching who convicts of sin before He convinces of righteousness.
Job isn't just confessing he's a sinner, he's boldly asking God to show him the specific sins that warrant such immense suffering. He's essentially asking for the "bill of indictment," wanting to know precisely what, if anything, he's done to deserve this agony, rather than just accepting his friends' vague accusations.
Job is pleading directly with God, moving beyond the arguments with his friends. He’s not denying he’s a sinner, but he's desperate for God to reveal the specific transgressions that warrant such immense suffering. Job wants God to lay out the charges so he can understand and respond, feeling that his calamities far outweigh any known sins.
Job is pleading directly with God, moving beyond the arguments with his friends. He’s not denying he’s a sinner, but he's desperate for God to reveal the specific transgressions that warrant such immense suffering. Job wants God to lay out the charges so he can understand and respond, feeling that his calamities far outweigh any known sins.
"How many are my iniquities and my sins? Make me know my transgression and my sin." — Job isn't just confessing he's a sinner, he's boldly asking God to show him the specific sins that warrant such immense suffering. He's essentially asking for the "bill of indictment," wanting to k…
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Last reviewed October 2026