BibleVerse research

Questions people ask God

From Cain's “Am I my brother’s keeper?” to the psalmist's “How long, O LORD?”, people in the Bible put hard questions to God. This page gathers every one, who asked it, and how they begin.

An empty stone courtyard under a wide evening sky, with a single low wall and an open gate

The short answer

235questions people put to God in the Bible, counting every telling

226distinct questions, when a question told twice is counted once

45distinct questions that begin with “why”, more than with any other question word

People put 235 questions to God in the Bible, in 179 verses. A few are told twice, in Samuel and again in Chronicles, or in two psalms, and counted once each there are 226 distinct questions. God asks more than he is asked: 401 questions, gathered on Questions God asks.

The first question anyone puts to God is Cain's, and it answers God's question with another: “Am I my brother’s keeper?” (Genesis 4:9). The last is sung in heaven: “Who will not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name?” (Revelation 15:4). All but two are in the Old Testament.

Some of the best known

Am I my brother’s keeper? Genesis 4:9 Cain
Will not the Judge of all the earth do what is right? Genesis 18:25 Abraham
Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt? Exodus 3:11 Moses
Please, my Lord, if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? Judges 6:13 Gideon, put to the angel of the LORD, who speaks as the LORD
Why then did You bring me from the womb? Job 10:18 Job
What is man that You are mindful of him, or the son of man that You care for him? Psalm 8:4 a psalmist
How long will You hide Your face from me? Psalm 13:1 a psalmist
My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Psalm 22:1 a psalmist
Where can I flee from Your presence? Psalm 139:7 a psalmist
How long, O Lord? Isaiah 6:11 Isaiah
Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Jeremiah 12:1 Jeremiah
How long, O LORD, must I call for help but You do not hear, or cry out to You, “Violence!” but You do not save? Habakkuk 1:2 Habakkuk
O LORD, is this not what I said while I was still in my own country? Jonah 4:2 Jonah
Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity and passes over the transgression of the remnant of His inheritance— who does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in loving devotion? Micah 7:18 Micah
How do we rob You? Malachi 3:8 the people of Judah, as God reports it
How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge those who dwell upon the earth and avenge our blood? Revelation 6:10 the souls of the martyrs

Who asks

The stories from Genesis to Ezra hold the most, 81 distinct questions, and many are practical: David asks “Should I go up?” before a battle, and the Israelites ask who should lead the attack. The Psalms and Lamentations hold 74, most of them laments. Job asks 22 and the prophets 39. Eight are the people's questions as God himself reports them, six of them in Malachi: “How have we despised Your name?” Only two are in the New Testament.

Where the questions to God are, counting each distinct question once

1In the stories
2Job
3In the Psalms and Lamentations
4The prophets
5The people, as God reports them
6In the New Testament

Of people named in the Bible, Job asks the most, 22, then Moses, 20, and David, 16. Many of Moses's are objections, from “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh?” at the burning bush to “Why have You brought this trouble on Your servant?” in the wilderness. Most of David's ask for direction, before a battle or a move. Abraham asks 11, nine of them in one bargain over Sodom.

Who asks God the most, counting each distinct question once

1A psalmist
2Job
3Moses
4David
5Jeremiah
6Abraham
7Habakkuk
8Isaiah
9The Israelites
10The people of Judah
11Joshua
12The poet of Lamentations
13Jehoshaphat
14Manoah
15Saul

Why and how long

After questions that can be answered yes or no, the commonest opening is “why”: 45 distinct questions, about one in five, such as “My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?” and “Why does the way of the wicked prosper?” Another 16 ask “how long”, most of them in the Psalms. Many occur in laments. Rather than asking only for information, they ask God for an explanation or for action.

Every “how long” put to God

How long, O LORD, how long? Psalm 6:3 a psalmist
How long, O LORD? Psalm 13:1 a psalmist
How long will You hide Your face from me? Psalm 13:1 a psalmist
How long must I wrestle in my soul, with sorrow in my heart each day? Psalm 13:2 a psalmist
How long will my enemy dominate me? Psalm 13:2 a psalmist
How long, O Lord, will You look on? Psalm 35:17 a psalmist
How long, O God, will the enemy taunt You? Psalm 74:10 a psalmist
How long, O LORD? Psalm 79:5 a psalmist
O LORD God of Hosts, how long will Your anger smolder against the prayers of Your people? Psalm 80:4 a psalmist
How long, O LORD? Psalm 89:46 a psalmist
How long will it be? Psalm 90:13 a psalmist
How long will the wicked, O LORD, how long will the wicked exult? Psalm 94:3 a psalmist
How long, O Lord? Isaiah 6:11 Isaiah
How long will the land mourn and the grass of every field be withered? Jeremiah 12:4 Jeremiah
How long, O LORD, must I call for help but You do not hear, or cry out to You, “Violence!” but You do not save? Habakkuk 1:2 Habakkuk
How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge those who dwell upon the earth and avenge our blood? Revelation 6:10 the souls of the martyrs

In each book

The Psalms hold the most, 71, then Job with 22. Genesis, Exodus and Jeremiah have 14 each. Questions to God appear in 25 of the 66 books.

Questions put to God in each book, counting every telling

1Genesis
2Exodus
3Numbers
4Deuteronomy
5Joshua
6Judges
71 Samuel
82 Samuel
91 Kings
101 Chronicles
112 Chronicles
12Ezra
13Job
14Psalms
15Isaiah
16Jeremiah
17Lamentations
18Ezekiel
19Hosea
20Amos
21Jonah
22Micah
23Habakkuk
24Malachi
25Revelation

How the questions begin

37.2% of the distinct questions can be answered yes or no, though few are asking for a fact: “Will You forget me forever?” asks for an answer in action. Of the question words, “why” comes first and “who” second, and many of the “who” questions are praise: “Who is like You, O LORD?”

How the questions begin, counting each distinct question once

1A yes-or-no question
2Why
3Who, whom or whose
4What
5How long
6How
7Other openings (if, for, as for, and the like)
8Where
9When

Every question

All 235, in the order of the books, with who asked each and the same question elsewhere noted. Choose a book or a part of the Bible, or search the words.

All 235 questions

Every question people put to God in the Bible, in the words of the Berean Standard Bible, in Bible order, with the same question in other books noted
Where	Question	Asked by	Group
Genesis 4:9	Am I my brother’s keeper?	Cain	In the stories
Genesis 15:2	O Lord GOD, what can You give me, since I remain childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?	Abraham	In the stories
Genesis 15:8	Lord GOD, how can I know that I will possess it?	Abraham	In the stories
Genesis 18:23	Will You really sweep away the righteous with the wicked?	Abraham	In the stories
Genesis 18:24	What if there are fifty righteous ones in the city?	Abraham	In the stories
Genesis 18:24	Will You really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous ones who are there?	Abraham	In the stories
Genesis 18:25	Will not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?	Abraham	In the stories
Genesis 18:28	Will You destroy the whole city for the lack of five?	Abraham	In the stories
Genesis 18:29	Suppose forty are found there?	Abraham	In the stories
Genesis 18:30	Suppose thirty are found there?	Abraham	In the stories
Genesis 18:31	Now that I have ventured to speak to the Lord, suppose twenty are found there?	Abraham	In the stories
Genesis 18:32	Suppose ten are found there?	Abraham	In the stories
Genesis 20:4	Lord, would You destroy a nation even though it is innocent?	Abimelech, in a dream	In the stories
Genesis 20:5	Didn’t Abraham tell me, ‘She is my sister’?	Abimelech, in a dream	In the stories
Exodus 3:11	Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?	Moses	In the stories
Exodus 3:13	What should I tell them?	Moses	In the stories
Exodus 4:1	What if they do not believe me or listen to my voice?	Moses	In the stories
Exodus 5:22	Lord, why have You brought trouble upon this people?	Moses	In the stories
Exodus 5:22	Is this why You sent me?	Moses	In the stories
Exodus 6:12	If the Israelites will not listen to me, then why would Pharaoh listen to me, since I am unskilled in speech?	Moses	In the stories
Exodus 6:30	Since I am unskilled in speech, why would Pharaoh listen to me?	Moses	In the stories
Exodus 15:11	Who among the gods is like You, O LORD?	Moses and the Israelites, in their song at the sea	In the stories
Exodus 15:11	Who is like You—majestic in holiness, revered with praises, performing wonders?	Moses and the Israelites, in their song at the sea	In the stories
Exodus 17:4	What should I do with these people?	Moses	In the stories
Exodus 32:11	O LORD, why does Your anger burn against Your people, whom You brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand?	Moses	In the stories
Exodus 32:12	Why should the Egyptians declare, ‘He brought them out with evil intent, to kill them in the mountains and wipe them from the face of the earth’?	Moses	In the stories
Exodus 33:16	For how then can it be known that Your people and I have found favor in Your sight, unless You go with us?	Moses	In the stories
Exodus 33:16	How else will we be distinguished from all the other people on the face of the earth?	Moses	In the stories
Numbers 11:11	Why have You brought this trouble on Your servant?	Moses	In the stories
Numbers 11:11	Why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You have laid upon me the burden of all these people?	Moses	In the stories
Numbers 11:12	Did I give them birth, so that You should tell me, ‘Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries an infant,’ to the land that You swore to give their fathers?	Moses	In the stories
Numbers 11:12	Did I conceive all these people?	Moses	In the stories
Numbers 11:13	Where can I get meat for all these people?	Moses	In the stories
Numbers 11:22	If all our flocks and herds were slaughtered for them, would they have enough?	Moses	In the stories
Numbers 11:22	Or if all the fish in the sea were caught for them, would they have enough?	Moses	In the stories
Numbers 16:22	O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, when one man sins, will You be angry with the whole congregation?	Moses and Aaron	In the stories
Deuteronomy 3:24	For what god in heaven or on earth can perform such works and mighty acts as Yours?	Moses	In the stories
Joshua 5:13	Are You for us or for our enemies?	Joshua, to the commander of the LORD's army	In the stories
Joshua 5:14	What does my Lord have to say to His servant?	Joshua, to the commander of the LORD's army	In the stories
Joshua 7:7	O, Lord GOD, why did You ever bring this people across the Jordan to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites to be destroyed?	Joshua	In the stories
Joshua 7:8	O Lord, what can I say, now that Israel has turned its back and run from its enemies?	Joshua	In the stories
Joshua 7:9	Then what will You do for Your great name?	Joshua	In the stories
Judges 1:1	Who will be the first to go up and fight for us against the Canaanites?	The Israelites	In the stories
Judges 6:13	Please, my Lord, if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us?	Gideon, put to the angel of the LORD, who speaks as the LORD	In the stories
Judges 6:15	Please, my Lord, how can I save Israel?	Gideon, put to the angel of the LORD, who speaks as the LORD	In the stories
Judges 13:11	Are you the man who spoke to my wife?	Manoah, to the angel of the LORD, whom Manoah took for a man	In the stories
Judges 13:12	When your words come to pass, what will be the boy’s rule of life and mission?	Manoah, to the angel of the LORD, whom Manoah took for a man	In the stories
Judges 13:17	What is your name, so that we may honor you when your word comes to pass?	Manoah, to the angel of the LORD, whom Manoah took for a man	In the stories
Judges 15:18	Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?	Samson	In the stories
Judges 20:18	Who of us shall go up first to fight against the Benjamites?	The Israelites	In the stories
Judges 20:23	Should we again draw near for battle against our brothers the Benjamites?	The Israelites	In the stories
Judges 20:28	Should we again go out to battle against our brothers the Benjamites, or should we stop?	The Israelites	In the stories
Judges 21:3	Why, O LORD God of Israel, has this happened in Israel?	The Israelites	In the stories
1 Samuel 10:22	Has the man come here yet?	The Israelites	In the stories
1 Samuel 14:37	Will You give them into the hand of Israel?	Saul	In the stories
1 Samuel 14:37	Shall I go down after the Philistines?	Saul	In the stories
1 Samuel 14:41	Why have You not answered Your servant this day?	Saul	In the stories
1 Samuel 16:2	How can I go?	Samuel	In the stories
1 Samuel 23:2	Should I go and attack these Philistines?	David	In the stories
1 Samuel 23:11	Will the citizens of Keilah surrender me into his hand?	David	In the stories
1 Samuel 23:11	Will Saul come down, as Your servant has heard?	David	In the stories
1 Samuel 23:12	Will the citizens of Keilah surrender me and my men into the hand of Saul?	David	In the stories
1 Samuel 30:8	Should I pursue these raiders?	David	In the stories
1 Samuel 30:8	Will I overtake them?	David	In the stories
2 Samuel 2:1	Should I go up to one of the towns of Judah?	David	In the stories
2 Samuel 2:1	Where should I go?	David	In the stories
2 Samuel 5:19	Should I go up against the Philistines? (also 1 Chronicles 14:10)	David	In the stories
2 Samuel 5:19	Will You deliver them into my hand? (also 1 Chronicles 14:10)	David	In the stories
2 Samuel 7:18	Who am I, O Lord GOD, and what is my house, that You have brought me this far? (also 1 Chronicles 17:16)	David	In the stories
2 Samuel 7:19	Is this Your custom with man, O Lord GOD?	David	In the stories
2 Samuel 7:20	What more can David say to You? (also 1 Chronicles 17:18)	David	In the stories
2 Samuel 7:23	And who is like Your people Israel—the one nation on earth whom God went out to redeem as a people for Himself and to make a name for Himself? (also 1 Chronicles 17:21)	David	In the stories
2 Samuel 24:17	But these sheep, what have they done? (also 1 Chronicles 21:17)	David	In the stories
1 Kings 3:9	For who is able to govern this great people of Yours? (also 2 Chronicles 1:10)	Solomon	In the stories
1 Kings 17:20	O LORD my God, have You also brought tragedy on this widow who has opened her home to me, by causing her son to die?	Elijah	In the stories
1 Chronicles 14:10	Should I go up against the Philistines? (also 2 Samuel 5:19)	David	In the stories
1 Chronicles 14:10	Will You deliver them into my hand? (also 2 Samuel 5:19)	David	In the stories
1 Chronicles 17:16	Who am I, O LORD God, and what is my house, that You have brought me this far? (also 2 Samuel 7:18)	David	In the stories
1 Chronicles 17:18	What more can David say to You for honoring Your servant? (also 2 Samuel 7:20)	David	In the stories
1 Chronicles 17:21	And who is like Your people Israel—the one nation on earth whom God went out to redeem as a people for Himself? (also 2 Samuel 7:23)	David	In the stories
1 Chronicles 21:17	Was it not I who gave the order to count the people?	David	In the stories
1 Chronicles 21:17	But these sheep, what have they done? (also 2 Samuel 24:17)	David	In the stories
2 Chronicles 1:10	For who is able to govern this great people of Yours? (also 1 Kings 3:9)	Solomon	In the stories
2 Chronicles 20:6	O LORD, God of our fathers, are You not the God who is in heaven, and do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations?	Jehoshaphat	In the stories
2 Chronicles 20:7	Our God, did You not drive out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham Your friend?	Jehoshaphat	In the stories
2 Chronicles 20:12	Our God, will You not judge them?	Jehoshaphat	In the stories
Ezra 9:13–14	After all that has come upon us because of our evil deeds and our great guilt (though You, our God, have punished us less than our iniquities deserve and have given us such a remnant as this), shall we again break Your commandments and intermarry with the peoples who commit these abominations?	Ezra	In the stories
Ezra 9:14	Would You not become so angry with us as to wipe us out, leaving no remnant or survivor?	Ezra	In the stories
Job 7:12	Am I the sea, or the monster of the deep, that You must keep me under guard?	Job	Job
Job 7:17–18	What is man that You should exalt him, that You should set Your heart upon him, that You attend to him every morning, and test him every moment?	Job	Job
Job 7:19	Will You never look away from me, or leave me alone to swallow my spittle?	Job	Job
Job 7:20	If I have sinned, what have I done to You, O watcher of mankind?	Job	Job
Job 7:20	Why have You made me Your target, so that I am a burden to You?	Job	Job
Job 7:21	Why do You not pardon my transgression and take away my iniquity?	Job	Job
Job 10:3	Does it please You to oppress me, to reject the work of Your hands and favor the schemes of the wicked?	Job	Job
Job 10:4	Do You have eyes of flesh?	Job	Job
Job 10:4	Do You see as man sees?	Job	Job
Job 10:5–7	Are Your days like those of a mortal, or Your years like those of a man, that You should seek my iniquity and search out my sin— though You know that I am not guilty, and there is no deliverance from Your hand?	Job	Job
Job 10:8	Would You now turn and destroy me?	Job	Job
Job 10:9	Would You now return me to dust?	Job	Job
Job 10:10	Did You not pour me out like milk, and curdle me like cheese?	Job	Job
Job 10:18	Why then did You bring me from the womb?	Job	Job
Job 13:23	How many are my iniquities and sins?	Job	Job
Job 13:24	Why do You hide Your face and consider me as Your enemy?	Job	Job
Job 13:25	Would You frighten a windblown leaf?	Job	Job
Job 13:25	Would You chase after dry chaff?	Job	Job
Job 14:3	Do You open Your eyes to one like this?	Job	Job
Job 14:3	Will You bring him into judgment before You?	Job	Job
Job 17:3	Who else will be my guarantor?	Job	Job
Job 40:4	How can I reply to You?	Job	Job
Psalm 6:3	How long, O LORD, how long?	A psalmist	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Psalm 6:5	For there is no mention of You in death; who can praise You from Sheol?	A psalmist	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Psalm 8:4	What is man that You are mindful of him, or the son of man that You care for him?	A psalmist	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Psalm 10:1	Why, O LORD, do You stand far off?	A psalmist	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Psalm 10:1	Why do You hide in times of trouble?	A psalmist	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Psalm 13:1	How long, O LORD?	A psalmist	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Psalm 13:1	Will You forget me forever?	A psalmist	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Psalm 13:1	How long will You hide Your face from me?	A psalmist	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Psalm 13:2	How long must I wrestle in my soul, with sorrow in my heart each day?	A psalmist	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Psalm 13:2	How long will my enemy dominate me?	A psalmist	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Psalm 15:1	O LORD, who may abide in Your tent?	A psalmist	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Psalm 15:1	Who may dwell on Your holy mountain?	A psalmist	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Psalm 22:1	My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?	A psalmist	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Psalm 22:1	Why are You so far from saving me, so far from my words of groaning?	A psalmist	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Psalm 30:9	Will the dust praise You?	A psalmist	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Psalm 30:9	Will it proclaim Your faithfulness?	A psalmist	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Psalm 30:9	What gain is there in my bloodshed, in my descent to the Pit?	A psalmist	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Psalm 35:10	Who is like You, O LORD, who delivers the afflicted from the aggressor, the poor and needy from the robber?	A psalmist	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Psalm 35:17	How long, O Lord, will You look on?	A psalmist	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Psalm 39:7	And now, O Lord, for what do I wait?	A psalmist	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Psalm 42:9	Why have You forgotten me?	The sons of Korah	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Psalm 42:9	Why must I walk in sorrow because of the enemy’s oppression?	The sons of Korah	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Psalm 43:2	Why have You rejected me?	A psalmist	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Psalm 43:2	Why must I walk in sorrow because of the enemy’s oppression?	A psalmist	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Psalm 44:23	Why are You sleeping?	A psalmist	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Psalm 44:24	Why do You hide Your face and forget our affliction and oppression?	A psalmist	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Psalm 56:8	Put my tears in Your bottle— are they not in Your book?	A psalmist	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Psalm 60:10	Have You not rejected us, O God? (also Psalm 108:11)	A psalmist	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Psalm 60:10	Will You no longer march out, O God, with our armies? (also Psalm 108:11)	A psalmist	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Psalm 71:19	Who, O God, is like You?	A psalmist	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Psalm 73:25	Whom have I in heaven but You?	A psalmist	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Psalm 74:1	Why have You rejected us forever, O God?	A psalmist	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Psalm 74:1	Why does Your anger smolder against the sheep of Your pasture?	A psalmist	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Psalm 74:10	How long, O God, will the enemy taunt You?	A psalmist	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Psalm 74:10	Will the foe revile Your name forever?	A psalmist	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Psalm 74:11	Why do You withdraw Your strong right hand?	A psalmist	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Psalm 76:7	When You are angry, who can stand before You?	A psalmist	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Psalm 79:5	How long, O LORD?	A psalmist	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Psalm 79:5	Will You be angry forever?	A psalmist	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Psalm 79:5	Will Your jealousy burn like fire?	A psalmist	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Psalm 80:4	O LORD God of Hosts, how long will Your anger smolder against the prayers of Your people?	A psalmist	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Psalm 80:12	Why have You broken down its walls, so that all who pass by pick its fruit?	A psalmist	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Psalm 85:5	Will You be angry with us forever?	A psalmist	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Psalm 85:5	Will You draw out Your anger to all generations?	A psalmist	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Psalm 85:6	Will You not revive us again, that Your people may rejoice in You?	A psalmist	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Psalm 88:10	Do You work wonders for the dead?	A psalmist	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Psalm 88:10	Do departed spirits rise up to praise You?	A psalmist	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Psalm 88:11	Can Your loving devotion be proclaimed in the grave, Your faithfulness in Abaddon?	A psalmist	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Psalm 88:12	Will Your wonders be known in the darkness, or Your righteousness in the land of oblivion?	A psalmist	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Psalm 88:14	Why, O LORD, do You reject me?	A psalmist	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Psalm 88:14	Why do You hide Your face from me?	A psalmist	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Psalm 89:8	O LORD God of Hosts, who is like You?	A psalmist	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Psalm 89:46	How long, O LORD?	A psalmist	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Psalm 89:46	Will You hide Yourself forever?	A psalmist	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Psalm 89:46	Will Your wrath keep burning like fire?	A psalmist	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Psalm 89:49	Where, O Lord, is Your loving devotion of old, which You faithfully swore to David?	A psalmist	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Psalm 90:11	Who knows the power of Your anger?	A psalmist	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Psalm 90:13	How long will it be?	A psalmist	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Psalm 94:3	How long will the wicked, O LORD, how long will the wicked exult?	A psalmist	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Psalm 94:20	Can a corrupt throne be Your ally— one devising mischief by decree?	A psalmist	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Psalm 101:2	I will ponder the way that is blameless— when will You come to me?	A psalmist	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Psalm 108:11	Have You not rejected us, O God? (also Psalm 60:10)	A psalmist	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Psalm 108:11	Will You no longer march out, O God, with our armies? (also Psalm 60:10)	A psalmist	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Psalm 119:82	When will You comfort me?	A psalmist	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Psalm 119:84	How many days must Your servant wait?	A psalmist	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Psalm 119:84	When will You execute judgment on my persecutors?	A psalmist	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Psalm 130:3	If You, O LORD, kept track of iniquities, then who, O Lord, could stand?	A psalmist	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Psalm 139:7	Where can I go to escape Your Spirit?	A psalmist	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Psalm 139:7	Where can I flee from Your presence?	A psalmist	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Psalm 139:21	Do I not hate those who hate You, O LORD, and detest those who rise against You?	A psalmist	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Psalm 144:3	O LORD, what is man, that You regard him, the son of man that You think of him?	A psalmist	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Isaiah 6:11	How long, O Lord?	Isaiah	The prophets
Isaiah 51:9	Was it not You who cut Rahab to pieces, who pierced through the dragon?	Isaiah	The prophets
Isaiah 51:10	Was it not You who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep, who made a road in the depths of the sea for the redeemed to cross over?	Isaiah	The prophets
Isaiah 58:3	Why have we fasted, and You have not seen?	The people of Judah, as God reports it	The people, as God reports them
Isaiah 58:3	Why have we humbled ourselves, and You have not noticed?	The people of Judah, as God reports it	The people, as God reports them
Isaiah 63:2	Why are Your clothes red, and Your garments like one who treads the winepress?	Isaiah, to the warrior coming from Edom, who answers as the LORD	The prophets
Isaiah 63:15	Where are Your zeal and might?	Isaiah	The prophets
Isaiah 63:17	Why, O LORD, do You make us stray from Your ways and harden our hearts from fearing You?	Isaiah	The prophets
Isaiah 64:5	How can we be saved if we remain in our sins?	Isaiah	The prophets
Isaiah 64:12	After all this, O LORD, will You restrain Yourself?	Isaiah	The prophets
Isaiah 64:12	Will You keep silent and afflict us beyond measure?	Isaiah	The prophets
Jeremiah 5:3	O LORD, do not Your eyes look for truth?	Jeremiah	The prophets
Jeremiah 10:7	Who would not fear You, O King of nations?	Jeremiah	The prophets
Jeremiah 12:1	Why does the way of the wicked prosper?	Jeremiah	The prophets
Jeremiah 12:1	Why do all the faithless live at ease?	Jeremiah	The prophets
Jeremiah 12:4	How long will the land mourn and the grass of every field be withered?	Jeremiah	The prophets
Jeremiah 14:8	O Hope of Israel, its Savior in times of distress, why are You like a stranger in the land, like a traveler who stays but a night?	Jeremiah	The prophets
Jeremiah 14:9	Why are You like a man taken by surprise, like a warrior powerless to save?	Jeremiah	The prophets
Jeremiah 14:19	Have You rejected Judah completely?	Jeremiah	The prophets
Jeremiah 14:19	Do You despise Zion?	Jeremiah	The prophets
Jeremiah 14:19	Why have You stricken us so that we are beyond healing?	Jeremiah	The prophets
Jeremiah 14:22	Is this not by You, O LORD our God?	Jeremiah	The prophets
Jeremiah 14:22	Can the worthless idols of the nations bring rain?	Jeremiah	The prophets
Jeremiah 14:22	Do the skies alone send showers?	Jeremiah	The prophets
Jeremiah 15:18	Why is my pain unending, and my wound incurable, refusing to be healed?	Jeremiah	The prophets
Lamentations 2:20	Whom have You ever treated like this?	The poet of Lamentations	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Lamentations 2:20	Should women eat their offspring, the infants they have nurtured?	The poet of Lamentations	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Lamentations 2:20	Should priests and prophets be killed in the sanctuary of the Lord?	The poet of Lamentations	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Lamentations 5:20	Why have You forgotten us forever?	The poet of Lamentations	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Lamentations 5:20	Why have You forsaken us for so long?	The poet of Lamentations	In the Psalms and Lamentations
Ezekiel 9:8	Oh, Lord GOD, when You pour out Your wrath on Jerusalem, will You destroy the entire remnant of Israel?	Ezekiel	The prophets
Ezekiel 11:13	Oh, Lord GOD, will You bring the remnant of Israel to a complete end?	Ezekiel	The prophets
Hosea 9:14	Give them, O LORD— what will You give?	Hosea	The prophets
Amos 7:2	How will Jacob survive, since he is so small?	Amos	The prophets
Amos 7:5	How will Jacob survive, since he is so small?	Amos	The prophets
Jonah 4:2	O LORD, is this not what I said while I was still in my own country?	Jonah	The prophets
Micah 7:18	Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity and passes over the transgression of the remnant of His inheritance— who does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in loving devotion?	Micah	The prophets
Habakkuk 1:2	How long, O LORD, must I call for help but You do not hear, or cry out to You, “Violence!” but You do not save?	Habakkuk	The prophets
Habakkuk 1:3	Why do You make me see iniquity?	Habakkuk	The prophets
Habakkuk 1:3	Why do You tolerate wrongdoing?	Habakkuk	The prophets
Habakkuk 1:12	Are You not from everlasting, O LORD, my God, my Holy One?	Habakkuk	The prophets
Habakkuk 1:13	So why do You tolerate the faithless?	Habakkuk	The prophets
Habakkuk 1:13	Why are You silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?	Habakkuk	The prophets
Habakkuk 3:8	Were You angry at the rivers, O LORD?	Habakkuk	The prophets
Habakkuk 3:8	Was Your wrath against the streams?	Habakkuk	The prophets
Habakkuk 3:8	Did You rage against the sea when You rode on Your horses, on Your chariots of salvation?	Habakkuk	The prophets
Malachi 1:2	How have You loved us?	The people of Judah, as God reports it	The people, as God reports them
Malachi 1:6	How have we despised Your name?	The priests, as God reports it	The people, as God reports them
Malachi 1:7	How have we defiled You?	The priests, as God reports it	The people, as God reports them
Malachi 3:7	How can we return?	The people of Judah, as God reports it	The people, as God reports them
Malachi 3:8	How do we rob You?	The people of Judah, as God reports it	The people, as God reports them
Malachi 3:13	What have we spoken against You?	The people of Judah, as God reports it	The people, as God reports them
Revelation 6:10	How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge those who dwell upon the earth and avenge our blood?	The souls of the martyrs	In the New Testament
Revelation 15:4	Who will not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name?	Those who had conquered the beast, in the song of Moses and of the Lamb	In the New Testament

What is not counted

Questions about God. “Is the LORD among us or not?” (Exodus 17:7) and “Where is the God of justice?” (Malachi 2:17) are asked about him, not of him.
Questions God puts in other mouths. God often quotes people. The questions he reports them putting to him are counted, as in Malachi. What no one can say to him, in Job's words “Who can say to Him, ‘What are You doing?’”, is not.
Spirits. Satan's “Does Job fear God for nothing?” and “Have You not placed a hedge on every side around him?” are put to God, but this page counts the questions of people.
Angels. Questions put to the angel of the LORD, who speaks as the LORD, are counted: Gideon's and Manoah's. Questions put to other angels, as in Zechariah's visions, are not.
Jesus's cry from the cross. “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” is on Questions Jesus asks.

The 17 questions considered and not counted

Questions that were considered and are not counted, with the reason for each
Where	Question	Why not
Exodus 3:13	What is His name?	the people's question, as Moses imagines it
Judges 6:13	Has not the LORD brought us up out of Egypt?	the fathers' words, quoted by Gideon
Job 1:10	Have You not placed a hedge on every side around him and his household and all that he owns?	a spirit's question, not a person's
Job 9:12	What are You doing?	what no one can say to God, in Job's words
Daniel 4:35	What have You done?	what no one can say to God, in Nebuchadnezzar's words
Malachi 2:14	Why?	asked of the prophet, not put to God
Malachi 2:17	How have we wearied Him?	asked of the prophet, about God
Matthew 27:46	My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?	Jesus's own question, on the page of his questions
Mark 15:34	My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?	Jesus's own question, on the page of his questions
John 12:38	Lord, who has believed our message?	Isaiah's words, quoted
Acts 10:4	What is it, Lord?	put to an angel
Romans 9:20	Why did You make me like this?	the clay's question, in Paul's figure
Romans 10:16	Lord, who has believed our message?	Isaiah's words, quoted
Romans 11:3	“Lord, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars. I am the only one left, and they are seeking my life as well”?	Elijah's words, quoted, and not a question
Hebrews 1:5	For to which of the angels did God ever say: “You are My Son; today I have become Your Father”?	a question about God, not to him
Hebrews 1:13	Yet to which of the angels did God ever say: “Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet”?	a question about God, not to him
Hebrews 2:6	What is man that You are mindful of him, or the son of man that You care for him?	a psalm, quoted

Does the translation change the count?

The questions on this page are counted in the Berean Standard Bible. Ancient Hebrew and Greek manuscripts did not consistently use modern question punctuation, so translators sometimes differ over whether a sentence asks or states. The same verses were read in five more translations in the public domain: the King James Version, the World English Bible, Young’s Literal Translation, the Bible in Basic English and, in Spanish, the Reina-Valera 1909.

Of the 179 verses where someone asks God a question in the Berean Standard Bible, the other five translations put a question mark in between 91.1% and 97.2% of those they number the same way: the fewest in Young’s Literal Translation, the most in the World English Bible.

The 179 verses where someone asks God a question in the Berean Standard Bible, read in six translations: how many are compared, how many carry a question mark, and the question marks in them
Translation	Verses compared	With a question mark	Share	Question marks
Berean Standard Bible	179	179	100.0%	242
King James Version	179	166	92.7%	236
World English Bible	179	174	97.2%	237
Young’s Literal Translation	179	163	91.1%	233
Bible in Basic English	179	172	96.1%	228
Reina-Valera 1909	175	161	92.0%	216

Genesis 18:29. Abraham bargaining for Sodom: a question in three translations, and in the other three a statement of what may be.

BSB: Once again Abraham spoke to the LORD, “Suppose forty are found there?” He answered, “On account of the forty, I will not do it.”
KJV: And he spake unto him yet again, and said, Peradventure there shall be forty found there. And he said, I will not do it for forty’s sake.
WEB: He spoke to him yet again, and said, “What if there are forty found there?” He said, “I will not do it for the forty’s sake.”
YLT: And he addeth again to speak unto Him and saith, 'Peradventure there are found there forty?' and He saith, 'I do [it] not, because of the forty.'
BBE: And again he said to him, By chance there may be forty there. And he said, I will not do it if there are forty.
RV 1909: Y volvió á hablarle, y dijo: Quizá se hallarán allí cuarenta. Y respondió: No lo haré por amor de los cuarenta.

Habakkuk 1:2. The King James Version ends Habakkuk’s complaint with exclamation marks. The other five ask how long.

BSB: How long, O LORD, must I call for help but You do not hear, or cry out to You, “Violence!” but You do not save?
KJV: O LORD, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! even cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save!
WEB: LORD, how long will I cry, and you will not hear? I cry out to you “Violence!” and will you not save?
YLT: Till when, O Jehovah, have I cried, And Thou dost not hear? I cry unto Thee — 'Violence,' and Thou dost not save.
BBE: How long, O Lord, will your ears be shut to my voice? I make an outcry to you about violent behaviour, but you do not send salvation.
RV 1909: ¿Hasta cuándo, oh Jehová, clamaré, y no oirás; y daré voces á ti á causa de la violencia, y no salvarás?

The share of verses with a question mark can only fall: these are the verses where the Berean Standard Bible has a question, so a verse where another translation asks and this one does not is not among them. The question marks in them can rise, where a translation divides one question into two.

How this was made

The signal. The Berean Standard Bible² capitalizes pronouns that refer to God. In the Old Testament, a question with a capitalized You or Your after its first word, or one that calls on God by name (“O LORD”), is put to God, and 162 questions carry that signal. Faith Comes By Hearing's verse-by-verse speaker data, published with SIL's Glyssen project under the MIT licence¹, says who is speaking, so that God's own questions are set aside.

Reading the rest. Many questions to God lack the signal: Moses at the burning bush asks “What should I tell them?”. Every question spoken by a person within two verses of God's speech, 257 of them, was read and decided by hand, and so were the questions God reports. 26 questions that no rule reaches, such as Jeremiah's “Why does the way of the wicked prosper?”, were added by hand, each checked word for word against its verse. Every hand decision carries its reason.

Told twice. Where Chronicles retells a scene from Samuel or Kings in the same words, or a psalm repeats another, the tellings were grouped by hand, 9 groups in all, and each group is one distinct question. This page was made with AI assistance and human review.

The data. Every counted question, with who asked it, and every question considered and not counted with the reason, is in questions-asked.json, shared with Questions people ask Jesus.

Corrections are welcome through the contact page, especially about who a question is put to.

Sources

Glyssen character data (CharacterVerse.txt), SIL and Faith Comes By Hearing, MIT licence, copyright 2014 to 2020 SIL LSDev and Faith Comes By Hearing.
The Berean Standard Bible, released into the public domain, read on this site at /bible/bsb/.

Questions people ask

How many questions do people ask God in the Bible?

235, counting every telling, or 226 once a question retold word for word, in Samuel and Chronicles or in two psalms, is counted once. 74 are in the Psalms and Lamentations, 81 in the stories from Genesis to Ezra, 22 in Job and 39 in the prophets.

What is the first question anyone asks God in the Bible?

Cain's: "Am I my brother's keeper?" (Genesis 4:9), his answer to God's question "Where is your brother Abel?". The first asked in prayer is Abram's: "O Lord GOD, what can You give me, since I remain childless?" (Genesis 15:2).

Who asks God the most questions?

The psalmists, with 69 distinct questions. Of people named in the Bible, Job asks the most, 22, then Moses, 20, and David, 16.

How often do people ask God "How long?"

16 times, counting each distinct question once: in Psalms 6, 13, 35, 74, 79, 80, 89, 90 and 94, and in Isaiah 6:11, Jeremiah 12:4, Habakkuk 1:2 and Revelation 6:10.

Are there questions to God in the New Testament?

Two, both in Revelation: the martyrs' "How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge those who dwell upon the earth and avenge our blood?" (Revelation 6:10) and the song "Who will not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name?" (Revelation 15:4). Jesus's own question from the cross, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?", is on the page of the questions Jesus asks.