Pour out the overflowings of your anger, and look on everyone who is proud and abase him. Look on everyone who is proud and bring him low and tread down the wicked where they stand.
English Standard Version (ESV)
God isn't just asking Job to be angry; He's challenging Job to channel that anger like a powerful, overflowing flood to bring down the proud. It's a test, asking if Job can wield such divine-level power against arrogance, a power that belongs solely to God.
Pour out the overflowings of your anger, and look on everyone who is proud and abase him. Look on everyone who is proud and bring him low and tread down the wicked where they stand.
English Standard Version (ESV)
After God has presented Job with His awe-inspiring power through descriptions of the behemoth and leviathan, He challenges Job to act as God would. This means Job should try to unleash his own anger and bring down any proud person he sees, demonstrating a power he clearly doesn't possess. This rhetorical challenge is meant to highlight the vast difference between Job's limited understanding and God's sovereign authority.
God uses powerful imagery to describe his anger. What does it mean for God's wrath to 'overflow'?
When God speaks of pouring out the "overflowings of your wrath," he uses the metaphor of a flood.
A Destructive Force
This isn't just a little anger; it's a powerful, overwhelming surge. Think of a dam breaking or a river overflowing its banks. God's righteous anger against sin and pride is a force that cannot be contained and has devastating consequences for those who oppose Him.
God's Sovereign Control
Yet, even this immense power is under God's control. He directs it, He unleashes it, and He knows exactly what He is doing. This imagery highlights the sheer magnitude of His power and the terrifying reality of facing His judgment.
God challenges Job to 'look' and 'abase' the proud. What does this 'look' actually accomplish?
God isn't just asking Job to observe pride; He's issuing a challenge. The command to 'look on everyone who is proud and abase him' implies that God's gaze itself is powerful enough to humble.
The Power of God's Scrutiny
When God 'looks' at the proud, it's not a casual glance. It's an all-seeing, penetrating scrutiny that exposes sin and reveals true worthlessness. It’s a look that brings immediate consequence.
The Ultimate Humiliation
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To 'abase' someone means to bring them down low, to humble them thoroughly. God's challenge suggests that His very awareness and judgment of the proud are sufficient to utterly crush their arrogance and bring them to ruin.
Understand the original words
‘ebrâh · Hebrew Noun
Refers to the manifestation of intense divine or human indignation against evil or rebellion; in this context, it is God challenging Job to exercise the divine prerogative of righteous judgment.
gē’eh · Hebrew Adjective
Refers to those who are arrogant, haughty, or morally defiant against God; it describes an attitude of self-exaltation that places one in opposition to the divine will.
šāp̄al · Hebrew Verb
To bring low, humble, or demote someone; it represents the action of stripping away someone’s status, power, or arrogance, often in divine judgment.
rāšā‘ · Hebrew Adjective
Those who depart from the path of righteousness; the term denotes individuals who live in active violation of God’s law or are morally guilty before Him.
This psalm echoes Job's struggle, describing the psalmist's envy of the proud and wicked who seem to prosper, highlighting the profound difficulty in understanding God's justice when faced with arrogance.
Proverbs 16:18This proverb directly states, 'Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall,' reinforcing the biblical theme that God actively opposes pride and ultimately brings it down.
Isaiah 2:12This prophetic passage describes a future day of judgment where the Lord of hosts will abase all pride, directly paralleling the divine power to humble the arrogant that God is demonstrating to Job.
Luke 1:52Mary's Magnificat echoes this divine principle, proclaiming, 'He has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate,' showing God's consistent action of abasing the proud.
cambridgeJob 40:11: "Cast abroad the rage of thy wrath: and behold every one that is proud, and abase him."
11 . cast abroad the rage of thy wrath ] Or, send forth the floods of thy wrath ; the figure is that of a raging, overflowing stream.
pooleJob 40:11: "Cast abroad the rage of thy wrath: and behold every one that is proud, and abase him."
Inflict heavy judgements upon thine enemies, the Chaldeans and Sabeans, and others who have injured or provoked thee. Destroy him with an angry look, as I can do and delight to do with such persons.
God isn't just asking Job to be angry; He's challenging Job to channel that anger like a powerful, overflowing flood to bring down the proud. It's a test, asking if Job can wield such divine-level power against arrogance, a power that belongs solely to God.
After God has presented Job with His awe-inspiring power through descriptions of the behemoth and leviathan, He challenges Job to act as God would. This means Job should try to unleash his own anger and bring down any proud person he sees, demonstrating a power he clearly doesn't possess. This rhetorical challenge is meant to highlight the vast difference between Job's limited understanding and God's sovereign authority.
After God has presented Job with His awe-inspiring power through descriptions of the behemoth and leviathan, He challenges Job to act as God would. This means Job should try to unleash his own anger and bring down any proud person he sees, demonstrating a power he clearly doesn't possess. This rhetorical challenge is meant to highlight the vast difference between Job's limited understanding and God's sovereign authority.
"Pour out the overflowings of your anger, and look on everyone who is proud and abase him. Look on everyone who is proud and bring him low and tread down the wicked where they stand." — God isn't just asking Job to be angry; He's challenging Job to channel that anger like a powerful, overflowing flood to bring down the proud. It's a test, asking if Job can wield such divine-level…
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Last reviewed October 2026