On what were its foundations set, or who laid its cornerstone,
Parallel translations
- WEB Whereupon were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone,
- KJV Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof;
- NKJV To what were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone,
- NASB “On what were its bases sunk? Or who laid its cornerstone,
- NLT What supports its foundations, and who laid its cornerstone
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
God asks on what the earth's foundations rest and who laid its cornerstone. The world's stability is God's handiwork, not Job's.
Overview
Drawing on building imagery, the LORD pictures the earth as a great structure with footings and a cornerstone. The questions emphasize that only God established the world's order and security. Scripture elsewhere names Christ the true cornerstone (Ephesians 2:20), hinting at God's foundational work in both creation and redemption.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Job 26:7He stretches out the north over empty space; He hangs the earth upon nothing.
- Ps 104:5He set the earth on its foundations, never to be moved.
- Ps 93:1The LORD reigns! He is robed in majesty; the LORD has clothed and armed Himself with strength. The world indeed is firmly established; it cannot be moved.
- 2 Pet 3:5But they deliberately overlook the fact that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water,
- Isa 28:16So this is what the Lord GOD says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; the one who believes will never be shaken.
- Zech 12:1This is the burden of the word of the LORD concerning Israel. Thus declares the LORD, who stretches out the heavens and lays the foundation of the earth, who forms the spirit of man within him:
- Ps 118:22The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.
- Ps 24:2For He has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters.
- Ps 144:12Then our sons will be like plants nurtured in their youth, our daughters like corner pillars carved to adorn a palace.
- Exod 26:18–25Construct twenty frames for the south side of the tabernacle,
- Eph 2:20–21built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the cornerstone.
- 1 Sam 2:8He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap. He seats them among princes and bestows on them a throne of honor. For the foundations of the earth are the LORD’s, and upon them He has set the world.
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 38:6 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.