Have You not placed a hedge on every side around him and his household and all that he owns? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.
Parallel translations
- WEB Haven’t you made a hedge around him, and around his house, and around all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.
- KJV Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.
- NKJV Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.
- NASB Have You not made a fence around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.
- NLT You have always put a wall of protection around him and his home and his property. You have made him prosper in everything he does. Look how rich he is!
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Satan claims Job is godly only because God has hedged and prospered him. He alleges Job's faith is bought by protection and wealth.
Overview
The accuser admits God's protective hedge around Job, his house, and his possessions, ironically testifying to God's faithful care. His argument is that remove the blessings and the piety will vanish. Believers may take comfort that God's hedge of protection is real, while learning that true faith must rest on God Himself and not merely His gifts.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 28
- Ps 34:7The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear Him, and he delivers them.
- Zech 2:5For I will be a wall of fire around it, declares the LORD, and I will be the glory within it.’”
- 1 Pet 1:5who through faith are shielded by God’s power for the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
- Deut 28:2–6And all these blessings will come upon you and overtake you, if you will obey the voice of the LORD your God:
- Prov 10:22The blessing of the LORD enriches, and He adds no sorrow to it.
- Job 31:25if I have rejoiced in my great wealth because my hand had gained so much,
- Zech 2:8For this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “After His Glory has sent Me against the nations that have plundered you—for whoever touches you touches the apple of His eye—
- Ps 107:38He blesses them, and they multiply greatly; He does not let their herds diminish.
- Gen 15:1After these events, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.”
- Deut 7:13He will love you and bless you and multiply you. He will bless the fruit of your womb and the produce of your land—your grain, new wine, and oil, the young of your herds and the lambs of your flocks—in the land that He swore to your fathers to give you.
- Gen 26:12Now Isaac sowed seed in the land, and that very year he reaped a hundredfold. And the LORD blessed him,
- Ps 90:17May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish for us the work of our hands—yes, establish the work of our hands!
- Isa 5:5Now I will tell you what I am about to do to My vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it will be consumed; I will tear down its wall, and it will be trampled.
- Job 42:12So the LORD blessed Job’s latter days more than his first. He owned 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys.
- 1 Sam 25:16They were a wall around us, both day and night, the whole time we were herding our sheep near them.
- Isa 5:2He dug it up and cleared the stones and planted the finest vines. He built a watchtower in the middle and dug out a winepress as well. He waited for the vineyard to yield good grapes, but the fruit it produced was sour!
- Deut 33:27The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms. He drives out the enemy before you, giving the command, ‘Destroy him!’
- Gen 30:43Thus Jacob became exceedingly prosperous. He owned large flocks, maidservants and menservants, and camels and donkeys.
- Ps 128:1–4A song of ascents. Blessed are all who fear the LORD, who walk in His ways!
- Gen 49:25by the God of your father who helps you, and by the Almighty who blesses you, with blessings of the heavens above, with blessings of the depths below, with blessings of the breasts and womb.
- Ps 71:21You will increase my honor and comfort me once again.
- Gen 30:30Indeed, you had very little before my arrival, but now your wealth has increased many times over. The LORD has blessed you wherever I set foot. But now, when may I also provide for my own household?”
- Job 29:6when my steps were bathed in cream and the rock poured out for me streams of oil!
- Deut 33:11Bless his substance, O LORD, and accept the work of his hands. Smash the loins of those who rise against him, and of his foes so they can rise no more.”
- Ps 5:12For surely You, O LORD, bless the righteous; You surround them with the shield of Your favor.
- Gen 39:5From the time that he put Joseph in charge of his household and all he owned, the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s household on account of him. The LORD’s blessing was on everything he owned, both in his house and in his field.
- Job 1:3and he owned 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and a very large number of servants. Job was the greatest man of all the people of the East.
- Ps 80:12Why have You broken down its walls, so that all who pass by pick its fruit?
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Christ at the center
Job's cry for a mediator who can lay his hand on both God and man, and his confidence that 'my Redeemer lives' and will stand on the earth, reaches forward to Jesus the living Redeemer.
How Job 1:10 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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