“Nowprepare yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer Me:
Parallel translations
- WEB “Now brace yourself like a man. I will question you, and you will answer me.
- KJV Gird up thy loins now like a man: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.
- BSB “Now brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall inform Me.
- NASB “Now tighten the belt on your waist like a man; I will ask you, and you instruct Me.
- NLT “Brace yourself like a man, because I have some questions for you, and you must answer them.
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 again calls Job to brace himself as God questions and Job must answer. The Lord summons Job to face his searching questions.
Overview
Echoing his opening challenge, God tells Job to gird himself like a man for further questioning. The repetition signals that more humbling is needed before Job fully grasps God's righteousness and his own limits. God's method is not to crush Job but to lead him, through honest confrontation, to a settled trust in the wisdom and justice of his Maker.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- Job 38:3Brace yourself like a man, for I will question you, then you answer me!
- Job 42:4You said, ‘Listen, now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you will answer me.’
- Job 23:3–4Oh that I knew where I might find him! That I might come even to his seat!
- Job 13:22Then call, and I will answer; or let me speak, and you answer me.
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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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 40:7 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.