Job 41:11
in Job 41Who has given to Me that I should repay him? Everything under heaven is Mine.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Who hath first given unto me, that I should repay him? Whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine.
KJV
Who hath prevented me, that I should repay him? whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine.
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This verse in Job 41
Commentary
11 notes on this verseWho hath prevented me, that one should repay him?.... First given me something that was not my own, and so laid me under an obligation to him to make a return. The apostle seems to have respect to this passage, Rom 11:35; whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine; the fowls of the air, the cattle on a thousand hills, the fulness of the earth; gold, silver: precious stones, &c.
This site's exposition
Surely hope of overcoming him is false
on Job 41:9-11
The argument turns at “Then who is able to stand against Me”, from a man's power over one animal to God's ownership of all creation. Henry reads this turn as the speech's purpose, a beast no hook can catch standing for a Maker no argument can catch.
This site's exposition
Everything under heaven is Mine
Everything under heaven is Mine answers any claim that God must repay. Gill hears the question again at Romans 11:35. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown apply it to Job, for no one has given to God first, and none can call him unjust.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"All that is under heaven belongs to me. And I will not be silent." These words indicate the devil, whose prodigious nature is described in these two beasts, who is destined to be conquered by the power of Christ when the fullness of time will …
The Medieval Church2 voices
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistMorals on the Book of Job, Book XXXIII · Written before 604.
proposed
For who can resist My countenance? and who hath first given to Me that I should repay him? All things that are under heaven are Mine. 38. In which two verses He fully stated both the might of His own power, and the whole weight of the reason. For on account of His power He said, For who can resist My countenance? And on account of the reason He added; Who hath first given to Me, that I should repay him?
Second, he shows the same thing from the bestowing of his goodness by which he distributes his good things freely to everyone. So he says, "And who gave something first to me that I must repay him," implying the answer, "No one". From this it …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
That he is indebted to none of his creatures. If any pretend he is indebted to them, let them make their demand and prove their debt, and they shall receive it in full and not by composition: " Who has prevented me? " that is, "who has laid any obligations upon me by any services he has done me?
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
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.
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
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.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
prevented--done Me a favor first: anticipated Me with service (Ps 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.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
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.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
From his mouth From the flame that goes forth from his mouth.
2 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
His sneezes flash forth light With every sneeze that he sneezes, light flashes forth and shines.
From his nostrils smoke goes forth like a bubbling pot on the fire, which raises smoke.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מִ֣י | mi | who? | H4310 → | 423 times |
| הִ֭קְדִּימַנִי | hikdimani | has he confronted me | H6923 → | 26 times |
| וַאֲשַׁלֵּ֑ם | vaashalem | and I may repay | H7999 → | 116 times |
| תַּ֖חַת | tachat | under | H8478 → | 505 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הַשָּׁמַ֣יִם | hashamayim | the heavens | H8064 → | 421 times |
| לִי־ | li- | [belongs] to me | ||
| הֽוּא׃ | hu' | it | H1931 → | 1879 times |
מִ֣יwho?
miH4310 →423 times
הִ֭קְדִּימַנִיhas he confronted me
hikdimaniH6923 →26 times
וַאֲשַׁלֵּ֑םand I may repay
vaashalemH7999 →116 times
תַּ֖חַתunder
tachatH8478 →505 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
הַשָּׁמַ֣יִםthe heavens
hashamayimH8064 →421 times
לִי־[belongs] to me
li-
הֽוּא׃it
hu'H1931 →1879 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 24:1The earth is the LORD’s, and the fullness thereof, the world and all who dwell therein.
it leads to
- Psalms 89:11
The heavens are Yours, and also the earth. The earth and its fullness You founded.
- 1 Corinthians 10:26
for, “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.”
- 1 Chronicles 29:11
Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the splendor and the majesty, for everything in heaven and on earth belongs to You. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom,…
- Deuteronomy 10:14
Behold, to the LORD your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, and the earth and everything in it.
- Exodus 9:29
Moses said to him, “When I have left the city, I will spread out my hands to the LORD. The thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, so that you may…
- Psalms 89:11
Through
Deuteronomy 10:14Behold, to the LORD your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, and the earth and everything in it.
it leads to
- Exodus 19:5
Now if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, you will be My treasured possession out of all the nations—for the whole earth is Mine.
- Psalms 24:1
The earth is the LORD’s, and the fullness thereof, the world and all who dwell therein.
- Exodus 19:5
Through
Romans 11:35“Who has first given to God, that God should repay him?”
it leads to
- Job 35:7
If you are righteous, what do you give Him, or what does He receive from your hand?
- Job 35:7
About Job
This page draws on 10 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); Ephrem the Syrian, COMMENTARY ON JOB 41:2-3; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Book of Job; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XXXIII; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; 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.