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Job 38:31

WEBKJVBSBESVNKJVNASBNLT
Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades or loosen the belt of Orion?
Job 38:31 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB “Can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades, or loosen the cords of Orion?
  • KJV Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?
  • NKJV “Can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades, Or loose the belt of Orion?
  • NASB ¶“Can you tie up the chains of the Pleiades, Or untie the cords of Orion?
  • NLT “Can you direct the movement of the stars— binding the cluster of the Pleiades or loosening the cords of Orion?

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

Can Job bind the Pleiades or loosen Orion's belt? The very stars are arranged and held by God, not man.

Overview

The LORD lifts Job's gaze to the constellations, asking if he can control their fixed patterns. Job cannot touch the heavens, let alone arrange them. This celebrates God's sovereignty over the cosmos, the same God who calls each star by name (Isaiah 40:26).

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 2

  • Amos 5:8He who made the Pleiades and Orion, who turns darkness into dawn and darkens day into night, who summons the waters of the sea and pours them over the face of the earth—the LORD is His name—
  • Job 9:9He is the Maker of the Bear and Orion, of the Pleiades and the constellations of the south.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (4)
ASTRONOMYMETEOROLOGY AND CELESTIAL PHENOMENAORIONPLEIADES

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 38:31YouTube · 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 38:31 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.

Canst thou bindקָשַׁרthe sweet influencesמַעֲדַנָּהof Pleiadesכִּימָהor looseפָּתַחthe bandsמוֹשְׁכָהof Orionכְּסִיל
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