And if they be bound in fetters, and be holden in cords of affliction;
Parallel translations
- WEB If they are bound in fetters, and are taken in the cords of afflictions,
- BSB And if men are bound with chains, caught in cords of affliction,
- NKJV And if they are bound in fetters, Held in the cords of affliction,
- NASB “And if they are bound in shackles, And are caught in the snares of misery,
- NLT If they are bound in chains and caught up in a web of trouble,
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
Even when the righteous are bound in affliction's cords, God has a purpose. Suffering is not abandonment but instruction.
Overview
Elihu introduces a key theme: that God may allow even good people to be caught in chains of affliction for a reason. This begins his argument that suffering can be disciplinary and refining rather than purely punitive. It harmonizes with the New Testament teaching that the Lord disciplines those He loves for their good (Heb. 12:6-11).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Ps 107:10Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron;
- Prov 5:22His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.
- Job 13:27Thou puttest my feet also in the stocks, and lookest narrowly unto all my paths; thou settest a print upon the heels of my feet.
- Job 33:18–19He keepeth back his soul from the pit, and his life from perishing by the sword.
- Lam 3:9He hath inclosed my ways with hewn stone, he hath made my paths crooked.
- Ps 18:5The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me.
- Ps 116:3The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow.
- Job 19:6Know now that God hath overthrown me, and hath compassed me with his net.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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 36:8 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.