Passage

Job 38.4-7

Book: Job · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"2. Who is this that darkeneth counsel By words without knowledge? 3. Gird up now thy loins like a man; For I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me."

"4. Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if thou hast understanding. 5. Who determined the measures thereof, if thou knowest? Or who stretched the line upon it? 6. Whereupon were the foundations thereof fastened? Or who laid the corner - stone thereof, 7. When the morning stars sang together, And all the sons of God shouted for joy?"

"8. Or who shut up the sea with doors, When it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb; 9. When I made clouds the garment thereof, And thick darkness a swaddling-band for it," (Job 38:2-9, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"2. “Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge? 3. Brace yourself like a man, for I will question you, then you answer me!"

"4. “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if you have understanding. 5. Who determined its measures, if you know? Or who stretched the line on it? 6. Whereupon were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone, 7. when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?"

"8. “Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it broke out of the womb, 9. when I made clouds its garment, and wrapped it in thick darkness," (Job 38:2-9, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"2. Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge? 3. Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me. ^{answer: Heb. make me know}"

"4. Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. ^{hast: Heb. knowest understanding} 5. Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it? 6. Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof; ^{foundations: Heb. sockets} ^{fastened: Heb. made to sink?} 7. When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?"

"8. Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb? 9. When I made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddlingband for it," (Job 38:2-9, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"2. Who [is] this, darkening counsel, By words without knowledge? 3. Gird, I pray thee, as a man, thy loins, And I ask thee, and cause thou Me to know."

"4. Where wast thou when I founded earth? Declare, if thou hast known understanding. 5. Who placed its measures, if thou knowest? Or who hath stretched out upon it a line? 6. On what have its sockets been sunk? Or who hath cast its corner-stone? 7. In the singing together of stars of morning, And all sons of God shout for joy,"

"8. And He shutteth up with doors the sea, In its coming forth, from the womb it goeth out. 9. In My making a cloud its clothing, And thick darkness its swaddling band," (Job 38:2-9, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD

Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.