Job 15:7
in Job 15Were you the first man ever born? Were you brought forth before the hills?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Art thou the first man that was born? Or wast thou brought forth before the hills?
KJV
Art thou the first man that was born? or wast thou made before the hills?
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This verse in Job 15
Commentary
9 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Art thou the first man that was born? - Hast thou lived ever since the creation, and treasured up all the wisdom of past times, that thou dost now speak so arrogantly and confidently? This question was asked, because, in the estimation of Eliphaz and his friends, wisdom was supposed to be connected with long life, and with an opportunity for extended and varied observation; see Job 15:10. Job they regarded as comparatively a young man.
This site's exposition
Were you the first man ever born
on Job 15:7-9
Eliphaz mocks Job with the question of primeval wisdom, "Were you the first man ever born", which the speeches from the whirlwind ask in earnest. Barnes notes that these questions are rhetorical weapons, unlike the same form of question when God asks it.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Eliphaz is just about to say, did you by any chance exist before the entire world, so that you learned about the most ancient times? Or did you learn anything from the mouth of God? You are not superior to us in knowledge at all. Since you had said that "wisdom is found in a long time," are you not caught in a trap now? In fact, you are not aged at all, nor were you born before the universe. But Job said that so that his friends might show their pride.
The Medieval Church2 voices
Ver. 7, 8. Art thou the first man that was born? or wast thou made before the hills? Hast thou heard the secret of God? and shall His wisdom be inferior to thee? Whence Eliphaz sets himself to reprove blessed Job as it were on principles of reason, saying, Art thou the first man that was born? or wast thou made before the hills? Hast thou heard the secret of God? and shall His wisdom be inferior to thee?
Still he shows that the argument he used was unfitting in many ways. First, by comparison of Job to all creatures. For if any creature could argue with God, this would be really fitting only for the first and most excellent of creatures, a condition …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
"Did not he suffer for sin; and yet wilt not thou, who art so great a sufferer, own thyself a sinner? Wast thou made before the hills, as Wisdom herself was? Must God's counsels, which are as the great mountains ( Ps. xxxvi.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens+odd-straight-quotes
Art thou the first man that was born?....
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Wisdom existed before the hills; that is, the eternal Son of God (Pr 8:25; Wast thou in existence before Adam? The farther back one existed, the nearer he was to the Eternal Wisdom.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Art thou the first man that was born? - Literally, “Wert thou born before Adam?” Art thou in the pristine state of purity and innocence? Or art thou like Adam in his first state? It does not become the fallen descendant of a fallen parent to talk as thou dost. Made before the hills? - Did God create thee the beginning of his ways? or wert thou the first intelligent creature which his hands have formed?
The words behind it
6 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הֲרִאישׁ֣וֹן | hariyoshon | ¿ first | H7223 → | |
| אָ֭דָם | ʾadom | human being | H120 → | 551 times |
| תִּוָּלֵ֑ד | tivaled | were you born | H3205 → | 496 times |
| וְלִפְנֵ֖י | velifnei | and <to> before | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| גְבָע֣וֹת | gevaot | [the] hills | H1389 → | |
| חוֹלָֽלְתָּ׃ | cholalta | were you brought forth? | H2342 → | 58 times |
הֲרִאישׁ֣וֹן¿ first
hariyoshonH7223 →
אָ֭דָםhuman being
ʾadomH120 →551 times
תִּוָּלֵ֑דwere you born
tivaledH3205 →496 times
וְלִפְנֵ֖יand <to> before
velifneiH6440 →2123 times
גְבָע֣וֹת[the] hills
gevaotH1389 →
חוֹלָֽלְתָּ׃were you brought forth?
cholaltaH2342 →58 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 90:2Before the mountains were born or You brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting You are God.
it leads to
- Hebrews 13:8
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
- Genesis 1:1
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
- Psalms 102:24–27
I say: “O my God, do not take me in the midst of my days! Your years go on through all generations.
- Psalms 93:2
Your throne was established long ago; You are from all eternity.
- Revelation 1:8
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and was and is to come—the Almighty.
- Hebrews 13:8
Through
Job 12:12Wisdom is found with the elderly, and understanding comes with long life.
it leads to
Through
Job 15:10Both the gray-haired and the aged are on our side—men much older than your father.
it leads to
- Job 32:6–7
So Elihu son of Barachel the Buzite declared: “I am young in years, while you are old; that is why I was timid and afraid to tell you what I know.
- Job 32:6–7
About Job
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Job; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XII; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, COMMENTARY ON JOB 15:7A-10B; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.