That they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever!
Parallel translations
- WEB That with an iron pen and lead they were engraved in the rock forever!
- BSB by an iron stylus on lead, or chiseled in stone forever.
- NKJV That they were engraved on a rock With an iron pen and lead, forever!
- NASB “That with an iron stylus and lead They were engraved in the rock forever!
- NLT carved with an iron chisel and filled with lead, engraved forever in the rock.
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
Job wishes his words were engraved in rock with an iron pen forever. He desires the most permanent possible record.
Overview
Building on the previous verse, Job longs for his testimony carved into stone with lead-filled letters, the most enduring writing he can imagine. His earnest desire signals the supreme importance of the confession to follow. The intensity of his longing prepares the reader for one of the Old Testament's clearest expressions of resurrection hope.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Jer 17:1The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond: it is graven upon the table of their heart, and upon the horns of your altars;
- Deut 27:2–3And it shall be on the day when ye shall pass over Jordan unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, that thou shalt set thee up great stones, and plaister them with plaister:
- Exod 28:21And the stones shall be with the names of the children of Israel, twelve, according to their names, like the engravings of a signet; every one with his name shall they be according to the twelve tribes.
- Exod 28:11–12With the work of an engraver in stone, like the engravings of a signet, shalt thou engrave the two stones with the names of the children of Israel: thou shalt make them to be set in ouches of gold.
- Deut 27:8And thou shalt write upon the stones all the words of this law very plainly.
- Exod 32:16And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables.
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 19:24 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.