Job 23:4 (GNV)

Passage

I would pleade the cause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments.

Nearby Context

Job 23:2 Though my talke be this day in bitternes, and my plague greater then my groning,

Job 23:3 Would God yet I knew how to finde him, I would enter vnto his place.

Job 23:4 I would pleade the cause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments.

Job 23:5 I would knowe the wordes, that he would answere me, and would vnderstand what he would say vnto me.

Job 23:6 Would he plead against me with his great power? No, but he would put strength in me.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "pleade", "cause", "before", "fill", "mouth", and "arguments". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "pleade" and "cause", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 3's "Would God yet I knew how to..." into verse 5's "I would knowe the wordes that he...", so "pleade" and "cause" belong inside that flow. In Job context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "pleade" and "cause" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.