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Job 38:21

WEBKJVBSBESVNKJVNASBNLT
Surely you know, for you were born then, and the number of your days is great!
Job 38:21 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • KJV Knowest thou it, because thou wast then born? or because the number of thy days is great?
  • BSB Surely you know, for you were already born! And the number of your days is great!
  • NKJV Do you know it, because you were born then, Or because the number of your days is great?
  • NASB “You know, for you were born then, And the number of your days is great!
  • NLT But of course you know all this! For you were born before it was all created, and you are so very experienced!

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

With biting irony God says Job surely knows all this, since he was born so long ago and has lived so many days. The sarcasm exposes Job's finitude.

Overview

The LORD mocks any pretense that Job was present at creation or has accumulated such ancient wisdom. Job's brief life cannot compare with the eternal Creator. The verse aims not to crush but to deflate human pride and restore right perspective before God.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 3

  • Job 15:7“Are you the first man who was born? Or were you brought out before the hills?
  • Job 38:4“Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if you have understanding.
  • Job 38:12“Have you commanded the morning in your days, and caused the dawn to know its place;

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Job videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Job 38:21YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on JobMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 38:21 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.

Knowestיָדַעthou it, because thou wast then bornיָלַדor because the numberמִסְפָּרof thy daysיוֹםis greatרַב
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