Job 38:20

THE MESSAGE

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
so you can lead it back to its border?Are you familiar with the paths to its home?

Hebrew Names Version
That you should take it to the bound of it, That you should discern the paths to the house of it?

King James Version
That thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof, and that thou shouldest know the paths to the house thereof?

English Standard Version
that you may take it to its territory and that you may discern the paths to its home?

New Century Version
Can you take them to their places? Do you know the way to their homes?

New English Translation
that you may take them to their borders and perceive the pathways to their homes?

Amplified Bible
That you may take it to its territory And that you may know the paths to its house?

New American Standard Bible
That you would take it to its territory, And discern the paths to its home?

World English Bible
That you should take it to the bound of it, That you should discern the paths to the house of it?

Geneva Bible (1587)
That thou shouldest receiue it in the boundes thereof, and that thou shouldest knowe the paths to the house thereof?

Legacy Standard Bible
That you may take it to its territoryAnd that you may discern the paths to its home?

Berean Standard Bible
so you can lead it back to its border? Do you know the paths to its home?

Contemporary English Version
Can you lead them home?

Complete Jewish Bible
If you knew, you could take each to its place and set it on its homeward path.

Darby Translation
That thou shouldest take it to its bound, and that thou shouldest know the paths to its house?

Easy-to-Read Version
Can you take them back to where they belong? Do you know how to get there?

George Lamsa Translation
Do you know its borders and the path to its house?

Good News Translation
Can you show them how far to go, or send them back again?

Lexham English Bible
that you may take it to its territory, and that you might discern the paths to its home?

Literal Translation
that you should take it to its boundary, and that you should perceive the paths to its house?

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
yt thou mayest bringe vs vnto their quarters, yf thou cast tell the waye to their houses.

American Standard Version
That thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof, And that thou shouldest discern the paths to the house thereof?

Bible in Basic English
So that you might take it to its limit, guiding it to its house?

JPS Old Testament (1917)
That thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof, and that thou shouldest know the paths to the house thereof?

King James Version (1611)
That thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof, and that thou shouldest know the pathes to the house thereof.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
That thou shouldest receaue it in the boundes thereof, and know the pathes to their houses.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
If thou couldest bring me to their utmost boundaries, and if also thou knowest their paths;

English Revised Version
That thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof, and that thou shouldest discern the paths to the house thereof?

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
that thou lede ech thing to hise termes, and thou vndurstonde the weies of his hows.

Update Bible Version
That you should take it to the bound thereof, And that you should discern the paths to the house thereof?

Webster's Bible Translation
That thou shouldest take it to its bound, and that thou shouldest know the paths [to] its house?

New King James Version
That you may take it to its territory, That you may know the paths to its home?

New Living Translation
Can you take each to its home? Do you know how to get there?

New Life Bible
that you may take it to its land, and know the paths to its home?

New Revised Standard
that you may take it to its territory and that you may discern the paths to its home?

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
That thou mayest conduct it unto the bound thereof, and that thou mayest perceive the paths to its house.

Douay-Rheims Bible
That thou mayst bring every thing to its own bounds, and understand the paths of the house thereof.

Revised Standard Version
that you may take it to its territory and that you may discern the paths to its home?

Young's Literal Translation
That thou dost take it unto its boundary, And that thou dost understand The paths of its house.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
That you may take it to its territory And that you may discern the paths to its home?

Contextual Overview

¹²"And have you ever ordered Morning, ‘Get up!' told Dawn, ‘Get to work!' So you could seize Earth like a blanket and shake out the wicked like cockroaches? As the sun brings everything to light, brings out all the colors and shapes, The cover of darkness is snatched from the wicked— they're caught in the very act! ¹⁶"Have you ever gotten to the true bottom of things, explored the labyrinthine caves of deep ocean? Do you know the first thing about death? Do you have one clue regarding death's dark mysteries? And do you have any idea how large this earth is? Speak up if you have even the beginning of an answer. ¹⁹"Do you know where Light comes from and where Darkness lives So you can take them by the hand and lead them home when they get lost? Why, of course you know that. You've known them all your life, grown up in the same neighborhood with them! ²²"Have you ever traveled to where snow is made, seen the vault where hail is stockpiled, The arsenals of hail and snow that I keep in readiness for times of trouble and battle and war? Can you find your way to where lightning is launched, or to the place from which the wind blows? Who do you suppose carves canyons for the downpours of rain, and charts the route of thunderstorms That bring water to unvisited fields, deserts no one ever lays eyes on, Drenching the useless wastelands so they're carpeted with wildflowers and grass? And who do you think is the father of rain and dew, the mother of ice and frost? You don't for a minute imagine these marvels of weather just happen, do you?

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

it to: or, it at

the bound: Genesis 10:19, Genesis 23:17

Reciprocal: Job 9:7 - sealeth

Cross-References

Leviticus 19:17
"Don't secretly hate your neighbor. If you have something against him, get it out into the open; otherwise you are an accomplice in his guilt.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

That thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof,.... Either darkness, or rather the light; take it as it were by the hand, and guide and direct its course to its utmost bound. This only the Lord can do and does: he has set a tabernacle for the sun, which goes forth at his command as a strong man to run a race; whose going forth is from the end of the heavens, and his circuit unto the ends of it: in which his course is so steered and directed by the Lord, that he never misses his way or errs from it; but keeps his path exactly, as well as knows its rising and setting, its utmost bounds;

and that thou shouldest know the paths [to] the house thereof? from whence it sets out, and whither it returns; see Psalms 19:4. And so the light and darkness of prosperity and adversity, as well as natural light and darkness, are of God, at his disposal, and bounded by him, and therefore his will should be submitted to; which is the doctrine the Lord would teach Job by all this.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

That thou shouldest take it to the bounds thereof - Margin, “or, at.” The sense seems to be this: God asks Job whether he was so well acquainted with the sources of light, and the place where it dwelt, that he could take it under his guidance and reconduct it to its place of abode.

And that thou shouldest know the paths to the house thereof? - The same idea is repeated here. Light has a home; a place of abode. It was far distant - in some region unknown to man. Did Job know the way in which it came, and the place where it dwelt so well, that he could conduct it back again to its own dwelling? Umbreit, Noyes, and Herder, suppose that this is to be understood ironically.

“For thou hast reached its boundaries!

For then knowest the path to its dwelling!”

But it has been commonly regarded as a question, and thus understood it accords better with the connection.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Job 38:20. Shouldest take it to the bound thereof? — Or, as Mr. Good, translates, "That thou shouldest lay hold of it in its boundary." That thou shouldest go to the very spot where light commences, and where darkness ends; and see the house where each dwells. Here darkness and light are personified, each as a real intelligent being, having a separate existence and local dwelling. But poetry animates everything. It is the region of fictitious existence.

I believe this verse should be translated thus: - "For thou canst take US to its boundary; for thou knowest the paths to its house." This is a strong irony, and there are several others in this Divine speech. Job had valued himself too much on his knowledge; and a chief object of this august speech is to humble his "knowing pride," and to cause him to seek true wisdom and humility where they are to be found.