when the Sabeans raided them and took them away—indeed they have killed the servants with the edge of the sword; and I alone have escaped to tell you!”
Parallel translations
- WEB and the Sabeans attacked, and took them away. Yes, they have killed the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”
- KJV And the Sabeans fell upon them, and took them away; yea, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.
- BSB the Sabeans swooped down and took them away. They put the servants to the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you!”
- NASB and the Sabeans attacked and took them. They also killed the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”
- NLT when the Sabeans raided us. They stole all the animals and killed all the farmhands. I am the only one who escaped to tell you.”
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
Raiding Sabeans seize the oxen and donkeys and kill the servants. Human evil is one instrument of Job's suffering.
Overview
The Sabean attack shows that Job's losses come partly through wicked human agents, not only natural disaster. Yet the reader knows these events trace back to the heavenly scene, revealing layered causes behind suffering. The refrain "I alone have escaped to tell you" begins, building unbearable tension as catastrophe follows catastrophe.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Gen 10:7The sons of Cush were: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. The sons of Raamah were: Sheba and Dedan.
- Job 6:19The caravans of Tema looked. The companies of Sheba waited for them.
- Ezek 23:42“The voice of a multitude being at ease was with her. With men of the common sort were brought drunkards from the wilderness; and they put bracelets on their hands, and beautiful crowns on their heads.
- Ps 72:10The kings of Tarshish and of the islands will bring tribute. The kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts.
- Job 1:16–17While he was still speaking, there also came another, and said, “The fire of God has fallen from the sky, and has burned up the sheep and the servants, and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”
- 1 Sam 22:20–21One of the sons of Ahimelech, the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped, and fled after David.
- Gen 25:3Jokshan became the father of Sheba, and Dedan. The sons of Dedan were Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim.
- Job 1:19and behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness, and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young men, and they are dead. I alone have escaped to tell you.”
- Joel 3:8and I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hands of the children of Judah, and they will sell them to the men of Sheba, to a faraway nation, for Yahweh has spoken it.”
- Gen 10:28Obal, Abimael, Sheba,
- Isa 45:14Yahweh says: “The labor of Egypt, and the merchandise of Ethiopia, and the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over to you, and they shall be yours. They will go after you. They shall come over in chains; and they will bow down to you. They will make supplication to you: ‘Surely God is in you; and there is no one else. There is no other god.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 1:15 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.