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“The quiver rattles against him, The flashing spear and javelin.
Job 39:23 · New American Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB The quiver rattles against him, the flashing spear and the javelin.
  • KJV The quiver rattleth against him, the glittering spear and the shield.
  • BSB A quiver rattles at his side, along with a flashing spear and lance.
  • NKJV The quiver rattles against him, The glittering spear and javelin.
  • NLT The arrows rattle against it, and the spear and javelin flash.

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

The horse charges forward even as weapons rattle and flash around him. His unshaken nerve magnifies the Creator who made him so.

Overview

Amid the clatter of quivers, spears, and javelins, the war-horse presses on undismayed. The imagery heightens the sense of a creature supremely fitted for war by God's hand. Job is meant to feel the gulf between his frailty and the God who can fashion such fearless strength, deepening his sense of awe and dependence.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 1

  • Job 41:26–29If one attacks him with the sword, it can’t prevail; nor the spear, the dart, nor the pointed shaft.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (1)

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 39:23YouTube · 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 39:23 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.