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God does not restrain His anger; the helpers of Rahab cower beneath Him.
Job 9:13 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB “God will not withdraw his anger. The helpers of Rahab stoop under him.
  • KJV If God will not withdraw his anger, the proud helpers do stoop under him.
  • NKJV God will not withdraw His anger, The allies of the proud lie prostrate beneath Him.
  • NASB ¶“God will not turn back His anger; Beneath Him the helpers of Rahab cower.
  • NLT And God does not restrain his anger. Even the monsters of the sea are crushed beneath his feet.

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

Job says God's anger is unrelenting, and even the helpers of Rahab bow beneath him. The mightiest powers submit to God.

Overview

Rahab here is a symbol of chaotic, prideful power, sometimes pictured as a sea-monster of myth used poetically in the Old Testament. Job affirms that even such proud forces stoop before God. The image magnifies God's supremacy over every power, leaving Job all the more aware of his own smallness in any contest with the Almighty.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 7

  • Job 26:12By His power He stirred the sea; by His understanding He shattered Rahab.
  • Ps 89:10You crushed Rahab like a carcass; You scattered Your enemies with Your mighty arm.
  • Isa 30:7Egypt’s help is futile and empty; therefore I have called her Rahab Who Sits Still.
  • Isa 51:9Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD. Wake up as in days past, as in generations of old. Was it not You who cut Rahab to pieces, who pierced through the dragon?
  • Jas 4:6–7But He gives us more grace. This is why it says: “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
  • Isa 31:2–3Yet He too is wise and brings disaster; He does not call back His words. He will rise up against the house of the wicked and against the allies of evildoers.
  • Job 40:9–11Do you have an arm like God’s? Can you thunder with a voice like His?

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (1)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Job videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Job 9:13YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on JobMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 9:13 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.