Skip to content
mannafest.faith
Read

Job 40:14

in Job 40

Then I will confess to you that your own right hand can save you.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Then will I also confess of thee That thine own right hand can save thee.

KJV

Then will I also confess unto thee that thine own right hand can save thee.

⋯

This verse in Job 40

Commentary

10 notes on this verse
And I will confess that thy right hand can save thee. 14. As if He were openly saying, If thou art able to do these terrible things, which I Myself have displayed, I attribute to thee, and not to Myself, all the good things thou hast done. But if thou canst not destroy others, that sin, by a look, it is plain that thou canst not set thyself free from the guilt of wickedness, by thy own power.

This site's exposition

adorn yourself with majesty and splendor

on Job 40:10-14

God bids Job take His office for a moment. Delitzsch reads the offer as irony, since no creature could survive wielding such power even briefly. God would confess “that your own right hand can save you” only if Job could do what he asks God to answer for.

This site's exposition

your own right hand can save you

God will confess that Job's own right hand can save him only if Job can humble the proud. Clarke says the power to save belongs to God alone. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown carry the verse to salvation in Christ at Isaiah 59:16.

The record, by era

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Thomas Aquinas

Commentary on Job · Written before 1274.

proposed

The Lord had treated these things first as to his own proper works. It is proper to him also to not need anyone else's help, something which does not befit man as he cannot do these works, and so he says, "And I will admit …

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

15 Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee; he eateth grass as an ox. 16 Lo now, his strength is in his loins, and his force is in the navel of his belly. 17 He moveth his tail like a cedar: the sinews of his stones are wrapped together.

quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

. here the cause is put upon this short issue: if Job can humble and abase proud tyrants and oppressors as easily and effectually as God can, it shall be acknowledged that he has some colour to compete with God. The justice Job is here challenged to do, and that is to bring the proud low with a look.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation

Then will I also confess unto thee that thine own right hand can save thee.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

Thine own right hand can save thee - It is the prerogative of God alone to save the human soul. Nothing less than unlimited power, exerted under the direction and impulse of unbounded mercy, can save a sinner.
2 more voices on this verse

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

"I also," who now censure thee. But since thou canst not do these works, thou must, instead of censuring, extol My government. thine own . . . hand . . . save-- (Ps 44:3). So as to eternal salvation by Jesus Christ (Isa 59:16;

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens

Then will I also confess unto thee ... - If you can do all this, it will be full proof that you can save yourself, and that you do not need the divine interposition. If he could do all this, then it might be admitted that he was qualified to pronounce a judgment on the divine counsels and dealings. He would then show that he had qualifications for conducting the affairs of the universe.

The words behind it

7 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וְגַם־and also

    vegam-H1571 →769 times

  • אֲנִ֥יI

    ʾaniH589 →874 times

  • אוֹדֶ֑ךָּI will praise you

    ʾodekaH3034 →

  • כִּֽי־that

    ki-H3588 →4482 times

  • תוֹשִׁ֖עַit will save

    toshia'H3467 →206 times

  • לְךָ֣<to> you

    lekha

  • יְמִינֶֽךָ׃right [hand] your

    yeminekhaH3225 →140 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

6 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

2 Corinthians 1:9Indeed, we felt we were under the sentence of death, in order that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God, who raises the dead.9 worksPsalms 44:3For it was not by their sword that they took the land; their arm did not bring them victory. It was by Your right hand, Your arm, and the light of Your face, because You favored them.2 worksRomans 5:6For at just the right time, while we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.2 worksEphesians 2:4–9But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,2 worksIsaiah 40:29He gives power to the faint and increases the strength of the weak.2 worksPsalms 44:6For I do not trust in my bow, nor does my sword save me.2 works

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Isaiah 40:29

    He gives power to the faint and increases the strength of the weak.

    it leads to

    • Isaiah 41:10

      Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will surely help you; I will uphold you with My right hand…

    • Philippians 4:13

      I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.

    • 2 Corinthians 12:9–10

      But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of…

    • Colossians 1:11

      being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might so that you may have full endurance and patience, and joyfully

    • Zechariah 10:12

      I will strengthen them in the LORD, and in His name they will walk,” declares the LORD.

  • Through

    Romans 5:6

    For at just the right time, while we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.

    it leads to

    • Ephesians 2:1–5

      And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,

    • Romans 5:8

      But God proves His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

    • Colossians 2:13

      When you were dead in your trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our trespasses,

Where this verse is studied

On this page

Studies1

About Job

Job Hears of His Misfortunes, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Job Hears of His Misfortunes, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Job: the study guide →Read Job 40 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Book of Job; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XXXII; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.

Read on in Job 40 →