Who hath prevented me, that I should repay him? whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine.
Parallel translations
- WEB Who has first given to me, that I should repay him? Everything under the heavens is mine.
- BSB Who has given to Me that I should repay him? Everything under 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 11:35Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?
- Ps 24:1The earth is the LORD’s, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.
- 1 Chr 29:11–14Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all.
- Job 35:7If thou be righteous, what givest thou him? or what receiveth he of thine hand?
- Ps 50:12If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof.
- Deut 10:14Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the LORD’s thy God, the earth also, with all that therein is.
- Exod 19:5Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:
- 1 Cor 10:26For the earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof.
- Job 22:2–3Can a man be profitable unto God, as he that is wise may be profitable unto himself?
- 1 Cor 10:28But if any man say unto you, This is offered in sacrifice unto idols, eat not for his sake that shewed it, and for conscience sake: for the earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof:
- Ps 21:3For thou preventest him with the blessings of goodness: thou settest a crown of pure gold on his head.
- Ps 115:16The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD’s: but the earth hath he given to the children of men.
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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 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.