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.
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.
- BSB Indeed, He drew you from the jaws of distress to a spacious and broad place, to a table full of richness.
- 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 23:5Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
- Ps 118:5I called upon the LORD in distress: the LORD answered me, and set me in a large place.
- Ps 31:8And hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy: thou hast set my feet in a large room.
- Ps 63:5My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips:
- Ps 18:19He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me.
- Isa 25:6And in this mountain shall the LORD of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined.
- Ps 40:1–3I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.
- Ps 36:8They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures.
- Job 19:8He hath fenced up my way that I cannot pass, and he hath set darkness in my paths.
- Job 42:10–17And the LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.
- Isa 55:2Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.
- Hos 2:14Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her.
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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 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.