¶“Can you tie up the chains of the Pleiades, Or untie the cords of Orion?
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?
- BSB Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades or loosen the belt of Orion?
- NKJV “Can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades, Or loose the belt 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 5:8seek him who made the Pleiades and Orion, and turns the shadow of death into the morning, and makes the day dark with night; who calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out on the surface of the earth, Yahweh is his name,
- Job 9:9He makes the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades, and the rooms of the south.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 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.