Who has first given to me, that I should repay him? Everything under the heavens is mine.
Parallel translations
- KJV Who hath prevented me, that I should repay him? whatsoever is under the whole heaven 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 11:35“Or who has first given to him, and it will be repaid to him again?”
- Ps 24:1A Psalm by David. The earth is Yahweh’s, with its fullness; the world, and those who dwell therein.
- 1 Chr 29:11–14Yours, Yahweh, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty! For all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, Yahweh, and you are exalted as head above 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 all that is in it.
- Deut 10:14Behold, to Yahweh your God belongs heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth, with all that is therein.
- Exod 19:5Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice, and keep my covenant, then you shall be my own possession from among all peoples; for all the earth is mine;
- 1 Cor 10:26for “the earth is the Lord’s, and its fullness.”
- Job 22:2–3“Can a man be profitable to God? Surely he who is wise is profitable to himself.
- 1 Cor 10:28But if anyone says to you, “This was offered to idols,” don’t eat it for the sake of the one who told you, and for the sake of conscience. For “the earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness.”
- Ps 21:3For you meet him with the blessings of goodness. You set a crown of fine gold on his head.
- Ps 115:16The heavens are the heavens of Yahweh; but the earth has 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.