Wilt thou trust him, because his strength is great? or wilt thou leave thy labour to him?
Parallel translations
- WEB Will you trust him, because his strength is great? Or will you leave to him your labor?
- BSB Can you rely on his great strength? Will you leave your hard work to him?
- NKJV Will you trust him because his strength is great? Or will you leave your labor to him?
- NASB “Will you trust him because his strength is great, And leave your labor to him?
- NLT Given its strength, can you trust it? Can you leave and trust the ox to do your work?
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
Will Job trust the wild ox's great strength or hand over his heavy labor to it? Such reliance would be foolish.
Overview
God asks whether Job would depend on the wild ox's power to do his work. The animal cannot be trusted to serve human ends. The point is that Job controls neither this creature nor the vast world it represents, all of which God upholds.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Gen 1:28And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
- Ps 20:7Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God.
- Ps 144:14That our oxen may be strong to labour; that there be no breaking in, nor going out; that there be no complaining in our streets.
- Prov 14:4Where no oxen are, the crib is clean: but much increase is by the strength of the ox.
- Gen 1:26And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
- Gen 42:26And they laded their asses with the corn, and departed thence.
- Isa 30:6The burden of the beasts of the south: into the land of trouble and anguish, from whence come the young and old lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent, they will carry their riches upon the shoulders of young asses, and their treasures upon the bunches of camels, to a people that shall not profit them.
- Gen 9:2And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered.
- Isa 31:1–3Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many; and in horsemen, because they are very strong; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the LORD!
- Isa 30:16But ye said, No; for we will flee upon horses; therefore shall ye flee: and, We will ride upon the swift; therefore shall they that pursue you be swift.
- Ps 33:16–17There is no king saved by the multitude of an host: a mighty man is not delivered by much strength.
- Ps 147:10He delighteth not in the strength of the horse: he taketh not pleasure in the legs of a man.
- Isa 46:1Bel boweth down, Nebo stoopeth, their idols were upon the beasts, and upon the cattle: your carriages were heavy loaden; they are a burden to the weary beast.
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 39:11 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.