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Selected Verse: Job 41:11 - King James
| Verse |
Translation |
Text |
| Job 41:11 |
King James |
Who hath prevented me, that I should repay him? whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine. |
Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse
| A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882] |
| prevented--done Me a favor first: anticipated Me with service (Psa 21:3). None can call Me to account ("stand before Me," Job 41:10) as unjust, because I have withdrawn favors from him (as in Job's case): for none has laid Me under a prior obligation by conferring on Me something which was not already My own. What can man give to Him who possesses all, including man himself? Man cannot constrain the creature to be his "servant" (Job 41:4), much less the Creator. |
| Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834] |
Who hath prevented me? - As this verse is here rendered, its meaning, and the reason why it is introduced, are not very apparent. It almost looks, indeed, as if it were an interpolation, or had been introduced from some other place, and torn from its proper connection. Dr. Harris proposes to remove the principal difficulty by translating it,
"Who will stand before me, yea, presumptuously?
Whatsoever is beneath the whole heaven is mine.
I cannot be confounded at his limbs and violence,
Nor at his power, or the strength of his frame."
It may be doubted, however, whether the original will admit of this translation. Rosenmuller, Umbreit, and Noyes, unite in supposing the meaning to be, "Who has done me a favor, that I must repay him?" But perhaps the true idea of the passage may be arrived at by adverting to the meaning of the word rendered "prevented" - קדם qâdam. It properly means in the Piel, to go before; to precede; to anticipate, Psa 17:13; Psa 119:148. Then it means to rush upon suddenly; to seize; to go to meet anyone either for succor, Psa 59:11, or for a different purpose. Isa 37:33, "no shield shall come up against her." יקדמנה yaqâdamenâh "i. e." against the city. So Job 30:27, "The days of affliction prevented me." A similar meaning occurs in the Hiphil form in Amo 9:10, "The evil shall not overtake us nor prevent us;" that is, shall not rush upon us as if by anticipation, or when we are off our guard.
If some idea of this kind be supposed to be conveyed by the word here, it will probably express the true sense. "Who is able to seize upon me suddenly, or when I am off my guard; to anticipate my watchfulness and my power of resistance so as to compel me to recompense him, or so to overmaster me as to lay me under obligation to confer on him the favors which he demands?" There may be an allusion to the manner in which wild beasts are taken, when the hunter springs his gin suddenly, anticipates the power of the animal, rushes unexpectedly upon him, and compels him to yield. God says that no one could thus surprise and overpower him. Thus explained, the sentiment agrees with the argument which the Almighty is presenting. He is showing his right to reign and do all his pleasure. He appeals, in proof of this, to his great and mighty works, and especially to those specimens of the animal creation which "man" could not tame or overcome. The argument is this: "If man cannot surprise and subdue these creatures of the Almighty, and compel "them" to render him service, how can he expect to constrain the Creator himself to be tributary to him, or to grant him the favors which he demands?"
Whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine - That is, "All belong to me; all are subject to me; all are mine, to be conferred on whom I please. No one can claim them as his own: no one can wrest them from me." This claim to the proprietorship of all created things, is designed "here" to show to Job that over a Being thus supreme man could exert no control. It is his duty, therefore, to submit to him without a complaint, and to receive with gratitude what he chooses to confer. |
| Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65] |
| Prevented - Hath laid the first obligation upon me, for which I am indebted to him. Who can be before - hand with me in kindnesses, since all things under heaven are mine. |
| Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826 |
| Who hath prevented me - Who is it that hath laid me under obligation to him? Do I need my creatures? All under the heavens is my property. |
4 Will he make a covenant with thee? wilt thou take him for a servant for ever?
10 None is so fierce that dare stir him up: who then is able to stand before me?
3 For thou preventest him with the blessings of goodness: thou settest a crown of pure gold on his head.
10 All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say, The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us.
27 My bowels boiled, and rested not: the days of affliction prevented me.
33 Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shields, nor cast a bank against it.
11 Slay them not, lest my people forget: scatter them by thy power; and bring them down, O Lord our shield.
148 Mine eyes prevent the night watches, that I might meditate in thy word.
13 Arise, O LORD, disappoint him, cast him down: deliver my soul from the wicked, which is thy sword: