And there came a messenger unto Job, and said, The oxen were plowing, and the asses feeding beside them:
Parallel translations
- WEB that there came a messenger to Job, and said, “The oxen were plowing, and the donkeys feeding beside them,
- BSB a messenger came and reported to Job: “While the oxen were plowing and the donkeys were grazing nearby,
- NKJV and a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them,
- NASB a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the female donkeys feeding beside them,
- NLT a messenger arrived at Job’s home with this news: “Your oxen were plowing, with the donkeys feeding beside them,
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
A lone messenger arrives to report the first disaster. The relentless chain of bad news begins.
Overview
The scene of oxen plowing and donkeys feeding pictures ordinary, productive life about to be shattered. The arrival of the first of four messengers signals an overwhelming, rapid-fire assault on Job's world. The narrative pace mirrors the crushing weight of compounding loss.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 3
- Jer 51:31One post shall run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to shew the king of Babylon that his city is taken at one end,
- 1 Sam 4:17And the messenger answered and said, Israel is fled before the Philistines, and there hath been also a great slaughter among the people, and thy two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God is taken.
- 2 Sam 15:13And there came a messenger to David, saying, The hearts of the men of Israel are after Absalom.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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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 1:14 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.