Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof;
Parallel translations
- WEB Whereupon were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone,
- BSB On what were its foundations set, or who laid its cornerstone,
- 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 stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing.
- Ps 104:5Who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed for ever.
- Ps 93:1The LORD reigneth, he is clothed with majesty; the LORD is clothed with strength, wherewith he hath girded himself: the world also is stablished, that it cannot be moved.
- 2 Pet 3:5For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:
- Isa 28:16Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.
- Zech 12:1The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him.
- Ps 118:22The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner.
- Ps 24:2For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods.
- Ps 144:12That our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth; that our daughters may be as corner stones, polished after the similitude of a palace:
- Exod 26:18–25And thou shalt make the boards for the tabernacle, twenty boards on the south side southward.
- Eph 2:20–21And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;
- 1 Sam 2:8He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the LORD’s, and he hath set the world upon them.
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.