Who has given to Me that I should repay him? Everything under heaven is Mine.
Parallel translations
- WEB Who has first given to me, that I should repay him? Everything under the heavens is mine.
- KJV Who hath prevented me, that I should repay him? whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine.
- NKJV Who has preceded Me, that I should pay him? Everything under heaven is Mine.
- NASB “Who has been first to give to Me, that I should repay him? Whatever is under the entire heaven is Mine.
- NLT Who has given me anything that I need to pay back? Everything under heaven is mine.
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 declares that no one has given to him first that he should repay, for everything under heaven is his. God owes nothing to anyone; all things belong to him.
Overview
God affirms his absolute ownership of all creation: no one can put him in his debt, for everything already belongs to him. This grounds the whole speech. Job cannot demand anything from God as if God owed him, because the Creator possesses all. The apostle Paul cites this truth to magnify the freeness of God's grace, for none can claim God as debtor; salvation is wholly of his mercy.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Rom 11:35“Who has first given to God, that God should repay him?”
- Ps 24:1A Psalm of David. The earth is the LORD’s, and the fullness thereof, the world and all who dwell therein.
- 1 Chr 29:11–14Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the splendor and the majesty, for everything in heaven and on earth belongs to You. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom, and You are exalted as head over all.
- Job 35:7If you are righteous, what do you give Him, or what does He receive from your hand?
- Ps 50:12If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world is Mine, and the fullness thereof.
- Deut 10:14Behold, to the LORD your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, and the earth and everything in it.
- Exod 19:5Now if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, you will be My treasured possession out of all the nations—for the whole earth is Mine.
- 1 Cor 10:26for, “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.”
- Job 22:2–3“Can a man be of use to God? Can even a wise man benefit Him?
- 1 Cor 10:28But if someone tells you, “This food was offered to idols,” then do not eat it, for the sake of the one who told you and for the sake of conscience—
- Ps 21:3For You welcomed him with rich blessings; You placed on his head a crown of pure gold.
- Ps 115:16The highest heavens belong to the LORD, but the earth He has given to mankind.
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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 41:11 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.