Bible Strands
Job 15:7
Were you the first man ever born? Were you brought forth before the hills?
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Eliphaz addresses Job in the midst of their dialogue, countering Job’s claims to deep understanding by questioning his age relative to creation.
The words — רִאשׁוֹן (ri.yo.Shon) means first, and גְבָעוֹת (ge.va.'ot) means hills, anchoring the rhetorical challenge in primordial origins.
The thread — The theme of pre-creation existence and the limits of human wisdom runs through Psalms 90:2, Job 12:12, and Job 38:4.
Why it lands — The verse asks the reader to acknowledge human finitude and reject the presumption that wisdom is confined to personal experience or age.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Art thou the first man that was born? or wast thou made before the hills?
Cross-references
- Psalms 90:2 Before the mountains were born or You brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting You are God.
- Job 12:12 Wisdom is found with the elderly, and understanding comes with long life.
- Job 38:4 Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding.
- Proverbs 8:22 The LORD created me as His first course, before His works of old.
- Genesis 4:1 And Adam had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain. “With the help of the LORD I have brought forth a man,” she said.
- Job 15:10 Both the gray-haired and the aged are on our side—men much older than your father.