Behold, thou hast instructed many, and thou hast strengthened the weak hands.
Parallel translations
- WEB Behold, you have instructed many, you have strengthened the weak hands.
- BSB Surely you have instructed many, and have strengthened their feeble hands.
- NKJV Surely you have instructed many, And you have strengthened weak hands.
- NASB “Behold, you have taught many, And you have strengthened weak hands.
- NLT “In the past you have encouraged many people; you have strengthened those who were weak.
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
Eliphaz reminds Job that he has instructed and strengthened many. He appeals to Job's past ministry to others.
Overview
Eliphaz recalls how Job once taught and steadied those who were weak, acknowledging his former godliness and helpfulness. This sets up a contrast with Job's present collapse. The compliment, however, becomes the basis for a subtle rebuke that Job should now practice what he preached.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Isa 35:3Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.
- Prov 10:21The lips of the righteous feed many: but fools die for want of wisdom.
- Job 16:5But I would strengthen you with my mouth, and the moving of my lips should asswage your grief.
- Luke 22:32But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.
- Heb 12:12Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees;
- Eph 4:29Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
- Luke 22:43And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.
- Deut 3:28But charge Joshua, and encourage him, and strengthen him: for he shall go over before this people, and he shall cause them to inherit the land which thou shalt see.
- Prov 15:7The lips of the wise disperse knowledge: but the heart of the foolish doeth not so.
- Ezek 13:22Because with lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life:
- Isa 50:4The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned.
- Gen 18:19For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.
- Prov 16:21The wise in heart shall be called prudent: and the sweetness of the lips increaseth learning.
- Ezra 6:22And kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with joy: for the LORD had made them joyful, and turned the heart of the king of Assyria unto them, to strengthen their hands in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.
- Col 4:6Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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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 4:3 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
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