The writer uses parallelism in verse 17, conveying a single idea using two different statements to emphasize a question about the purity of man before God.  (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-parallelism]])

## The spirit stood still ##

"It stood still," with "it" referring to the "someone" or the "spirit" or the "ghost" in [Job 4:12](./12.md) and [Job 4:14](./14.md).

## and I heard ##

"then I heard"

## Can a mortal man be more righteous than God? ##

Eliphaz poses this question so that Job will consider, "Do I regard myself as more righteous than God?" or "Am I justified before God?" AT: "A mortal man cannot be more righteous than God" or "A mortal man cannot be righteous before God." (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-rquestion]])

## be more righteous than God ##

AT: "be righteous before God" or "be justified before God"

## Can a man be more pure than his Maker? ##

This question has the same purpose as the previous question. AT: "A man cannot be more pure than his Maker" or "A man cannot be pure before his Maker."

## Maker ##

"Creator"