Job 36:16
in Job 36Indeed, He drew you from the jaws of distress to a spacious and broad place, to a table full of richness.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Yea, he would have allured thee out of distress Into a broad place, where there is no straitness; And that which is set on thy table would be full of fatness.
KJV
Even so would he have removed thee out of the strait into a broad place, where there is no straitness; and that which should be set on thy table should be full of fatness.
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This verse in Job 36
Commentary
9 notes on this verseHe will therefore bring thee safely from a narrow opening into a broad place. Every one who forsakes the way of life, and casts himself down into the darkness of sins, plunges himself, as it were, into a well or pitfall. But if, through long commission he is also so weighed down by a habit of sin, as to be unable to rise upward, he is pent in, as it were, in the narrow opening of a well.
This site's exposition
The godless in heart harbor resentment
on Job 36:13-21
Elihu warns Job directly that he is “laden with the judgment due the wicked”, and that “judgment and justice have seized you”. Wesley takes “Do not long for the night” in verse 20 as a warning against wishing for death, the wish Job voiced in chapter 3.
This site's exposition
to a spacious and broad place
Thomas Aquinas says Elihu now turns his rule on Job himself. Albert Barnes reads the broad place and full table as what God would have given if Job had come with a broken heart. Gregory the Dialogist pictures distress as the narrow mouth of a well.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
He applies what he has said already in general to the person of Job (vv.5-12). First, since he has said that God brings salvation to both the poor and the powerful in tribulation (vv. 8 and 15), he concludes that even Job can hope for …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
If thou hadst accommodated thyself to the will of God, thy liberty and plenty would have been restored to thee with advantage." 1. "Thou wouldst have been enlarged, and not confined thus by thy sickness and disgrace: He would have removed thee into a broad place where is no straitness, and thou wouldst no longer have been cramped thus and have had all thy measures broken." 2.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
Even so,....
His demonstration of God's sovereignty and omnipotence, which he gives instances of in the operations of common providence, and which is a reason why we should all submit to him in his dealings with us,
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Even so would he have removed thee - If thou hadst turned to, obeyed, and served him, thy present state would have been widely different from what it is.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Even so would he have removed thee - That is, if you had been patient and resigned, and if you had gone to him with a broken heart. Having stated the “principles” in regard to affliction which he held to be indisputable, and having affirmed that God was ever ready to relieve the sufferer if he would apply to him with a proper spirit, it was natural to infer from this that the reason why Job “continued” to suffer was, that he did not manifest a proper spirit in his trials. Had he done this, Elihu says, the hand of God would have been long since withdrawn, and his afflictions would have been removed. Out of the strait into a broad place - From the narrow, pent up way, where it is impossible to move, into a wide and open path. Afflictions are compared with a narrow path, in which it is impossible to get. along; prosperity with a broad and open road in which there are no obstructions; compare Psa 18:19; Psa 31:8. “And that which should be set on thy table.” Margin, “the rest of thy table.” The Hebrew word (נחת nachath - from נוח nûach, “to rest,” and in the Hiphil to set down, to cause to rest) means properly a “letting,” or “settling down;” and then that which is set down - as e. g. food on a table. This is the idea here. that the food which would be set on his table would be rich and abundant; that is, he would be restored to prosperity, if he envinced a penitent spirit in his trials, and confessed his sins to God. The same image of piety occurs in Psa 23:5, “Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies.”
The words behind it
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאַ֤ף | veaf | and also | H637 → | 134 times |
| הֲסִיתְךָ֨׀ | hasitekha | he has allured you | H5496 → | 18 times |
| מִפִּי־ | mipi- | from [the] mouth of | H6310 → | 498 times |
| צָ֗ר | tzar | enemy | H6862 → | 109 times |
| רַ֭חַב | rachav | a broad place | H7338 → | |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| מוּצָ֣ק | mutzak | constraint | H4164 → | |
| תַּחְתֶּ֑יהָ | tachteiha | in place its | H8478 → | 505 times |
| וְנַ֥חַת | venachat | and [the] quietness of | H5183 → | |
| שֻׁ֝לְחָנְךָ֗ | shulchanekha | table your | H7979 → | |
| מָ֣לֵא | male' | it was full | H4390 → | 249 times |
| דָֽשֶׁן׃ | dashen | fatness | H1880 → |
וְאַ֤ףand also
veafH637 →134 times
הֲסִיתְךָ֨׀he has allured you
hasitekhaH5496 →18 times
מִפִּי־from [the] mouth of
mipi-H6310 →498 times
צָ֗רenemy
tzarH6862 →109 times
רַ֭חַבa broad place
rachavH7338 →
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
מוּצָ֣קconstraint
mutzakH4164 →
תַּחְתֶּ֑יהָin place its
tachteihaH8478 →505 times
וְנַ֥חַתand [the] quietness of
venachatH5183 →
שֻׁ֝לְחָנְךָ֗table your
shulchanekhaH7979 →
מָ֣לֵאit was full
male'H4390 →249 times
דָֽשֶׁן׃fatness
dashenH1880 →
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 23:5You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
it leads to
- Ephesians 3:20
Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us,
- Psalms 92:10
But You have exalted my horn like that of a wild ox; with fine oil I have been anointed.
- Psalms 45:7
You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you above your companions with the oil of joy.
- Psalms 16:5
The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; You have made my lot secure.
- 1 John 2:20
You, however, have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.
- Ephesians 3:20
Through
Psalms 118:5In my distress I called to the LORD, and He answered and set me free.
it leads to
- Psalms 18:19
He brought me out into the open; He rescued me because He delighted in me.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 18:6
In my distress I called upon the LORD; I cried to my God for help. From His temple He heard my voice, and my cry for His help reached His ears.
- Psalms 18:19
Through
Psalms 18:19He brought me out into the open; He rescued me because He delighted in me.
it leads to
- Psalms 118:5
In my distress I called to the LORD, and He answered and set me free.
- Psalms 118:5
About Job
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XXVI; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.