the Second Week after Easter
Click here to join the effort!
Read the Bible
Contemporary English Version
Job 38:21
Bible Study Resources
Concordances:
- Nave'sDictionaries:
- BridgewayParallel Translations
Don’t you know? You were already born;you have lived so long!
Surely you know, for you were born then, And the number of your days is great!
Knowest thou it, because thou wast then born? or because the number of thy days is great?
You know, for you were born then, and the number of your days is great!
Surely you know, if you were already born when all this happened! Have you lived that many years?
You know, for you were born before them; and the number of your days is great!
"You [must] know, since you were born then, And because you are so extremely old!
"You know, for you were born then, And the number of your days is great!
Surely you know, for you were born then, And the number of your days is great!
Knewest thou it, because thou wast then borne, and because the nomber of thy dayes is great?
You know, for you were born then,And the number of your days is great!
Surely you know, for you were already born! And the number of your days is great!
You know, of course, because you were born then; by now you must be very old!
Thou knowest, for thou wast then born, and the number of thy days is great!
Surely you know these things, since you are so old and wise. You were alive when I made them, weren't you?
Do you remember when you were born, and do you know if you will live many days?
I am sure you can, because you're so old and were there when the world was made!
You know, for you were born then, and the number of your days is great.
You know, for then you were born, and the number of your days is great.
Knewest thou (when thou wast borne) how olde thou shuldest be?
Doubtless, thou knowest, for thou wast then born, And the number of thy days is great!
No doubt you have knowledge of it, for then you had come to birth, and the number of your days is great.
Thou knowest it, for thou wast then born, and the number of thy days is great!
Knowest thou it, because thou wast then borne? Or because the number of thy daies is great?
Knewest thou afore thou wast borne how olde thou shouldest be?
I know then that thou wert born at that time, and the number of thy years is great.
Doubtless, thou knowest, for thou wast then born, and the number of thy days is great!
Wistist thou thanne, that thou schuldist be borun, and knew thou the noumbre of thi daies?
[Doubtless], you know, for you were then born, And the number of your days is great!
Knowest thou [it], because thou wast then born? or [because] the number of thy days [is] great?
Do you know it, because you were born then, Or because the number of your days is great?
But of course you know all this! For you were born before it was all created, and you are so very experienced!
You know, for you were born then. You are very old!
Surely you know, for you were born then, and the number of your days is great!
Thou knowest, for, then, hadst thou been born! And, in number, thy days are many!
Didst thou know then that thou shouldst be born? and didst thou know the number of thy days?
You know, for you were born then, and the number of your days is great!
Thou hast known -- for then thou art born And the number of thy days [are] many!
"You know, for you were born then, And the number of your days is great!
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
Job 38:4, Job 38:12, Job 15:7
Gill's Notes on the Bible
Knowest thou [it], because thou wast then born?.... When light and darkness were first separated, and had their several apartments assigned them; their laws and rules given them, and their bounds and limits set them? No; he was not: and, had he been the first man, could not have been early enough to have been present at the doing of this, and so come at the knowledge thereof; since man was not made until the sixth day of the creation;
or [because] the number of thy days [is] great; reach to the beginning of time, and so as old as the creation. This was not the case. Some understand these words ironically; "thou knowest" the places and bounds of light and darkness, since thou art a very old man, born as soon as the world was. Whereas he was of yesterday, and knew nothing; which to convince him of is the design of this biting, cutting, expression. The Targum is,
"didst thou know then that thou shouldest be born, and the number of thy days many?''
No, Job did not know when he was born, nor of whom, and in what circumstances, but by the relation of others; and much less could he know before he was born, that he should be, or how long he should live in the world: but God knows all this beforehand; when men shall come into the world, at what period and of what parents, and how long they shall continue in it.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
Knowest thou it, because thou wast then born? - This may either be a question, or it may be spoken ironically. According to the former mode of rendering it, it is the same as asking Job whether he had lived long enough to understand where the abode of light was, or whether he had an existence when it was created, and knew where its home was appointed. According to the latter mode, it is keen sarcasm. âThou must know all this, for thou art so old. Thou hast had an opportunity of observing all this, for thou hast lived through all these changes, and observed all the works of God.â This latter method of interpreting it is adopted by Umbreit, Herder, Noyes, Rosenmuller, and Wemyss. The former, however, seems much better to accord with the connection, and with the dignity and character of the speaker. It is not desirable to represent God as speaking in the language of irony and sarcasm unless the rules of interpretation imperatively demand it.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Job 38:21. Knowest thou — This is another strong and biting irony, and the literal translation proves it: "Thou knowest, because thou was then born; and the number of thy days is great," or multitudinous, ר××× rabbim, multitudes.
