Indeed, He drew you from the jaws of distress to a spacious and broad place, to a table full of richness.
Parallel translations
- WEB Yes, he would have allured you out of distress, into a wide place, where there is no restriction. That which is set on your table would be full of fatness.
- KJV Even so would he have removed thee out of the strait into a broad place, where there is no straitness; and that which should be set on thy table should be full of fatness.
- NKJV “Indeed He would have brought you out of dire distress, Into a broad place where there is no restraint; And what is set on your table would be full of richness.
- NASB “Then indeed, He induced you away from the mouth of distress, And instead of it, a broad place with no constraint; And your table was full of rich food.
- NLT “God is leading you away from danger, Job, to a place free from distress. He is setting your table with the best food.
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
Elihu tells Job that God would have led him out of distress into a spacious, abundant place. God's desire was to bless and relieve him.
Overview
Elihu suggests that God's purpose for Job was deliverance into freedom and abundance, pictured as a broad place and a table full of richness. The 'wide place' is a common image of salvation and relief (Ps. 18:19). Though Elihu misjudges Job's situation, the verse rightly portrays God's generous intent, ultimately realized for His people in the abundant life and rest found in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Ps 23:5You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
- Ps 118:5In my distress I called to the LORD, and He answered and set me free.
- Ps 31:8You have not delivered me to the enemy; You have set my feet in the open.
- Ps 63:5My soul is satisfied as with the richest of foods; with joyful lips my mouth will praise You.
- Ps 18:19He brought me out into the open; He rescued me because He delighted in me.
- Isa 25:6On this mountain the LORD of Hosts will prepare a banquet for all the peoples, a feast of aged wine, of choice meat, of finely aged wine.
- Ps 40:1–3For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. I waited patiently for the LORD; He inclined to me and heard my cry.
- Ps 36:8They feast on the abundance of Your house, and You give them drink from Your river of delights.
- Job 19:8He has blocked my way so I cannot pass; He has veiled my paths with darkness.
- Job 42:10–17After Job had prayed for his friends, the LORD restored his prosperity and doubled his former possessions.
- Isa 55:2Why spend money on that which is not bread, and your labor on that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of foods.
- Hos 2:14“Therefore, behold, I will allure her and lead her to the wilderness, and speak to her tenderly.
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 36:16 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.