Job 38:41

Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God as they wander about for lack of food?

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — God addresses Job following a series of rhetorical questions about natural order. The speaker contrasts human limitation with sovereign provision in the wild.

The words — יָכִ֥ין (ya.Khin) = does he prepare; לָ/עֹרֵ֗ב (la./'o.Rev) = for the raven. The phrasing frames the question around the agent who sustains the fledglings.

The thread — The motif runs through Psalms 147:9, Matthew 6:26, and Luke 12:24. These texts parallel the focus on unmerited care for wild creatures that neither sow nor store.

Why it lands — The text demands recognition of a sustainer who operates beyond human calculation. It requires the reader to accept that provision exists independently of agricultural labor or storage.

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

מִ֤יmiwho?יָכִ֥יןya.Khindoes he prepare לָעֹרֵ֗בla./'o.Revfor the/ raven צֵ֫יד֥וֹtzei.D/ofood-supply/ its כִּֽי־ki-if יְ֭לָדָיוye.la.do/vyoung ones/ its אֶל־'el-to אֵ֣ל'elGod יְשַׁוֵּ֑עוּye.sha.Ve.'uthey will cry for help יִ֝תְע֗וּyit.'Uthey will wander about לִבְלִי־li/v.li-for/ not אֹֽכֶל׃'O.khelfood

King James Version

Who provideth for the raven his food? when his young ones cry unto God, they wander for lack of meat.

Cross-references

Luke 12:24 Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storehouse or barn; yet God feeds them. How much more valuable you are than the birds!
Psalms 147:9 He provides food for the animals, and for the young ravens when they call.
Matthew 6:26 Look at the birds of the air: They do not sow or reap or gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?
Psalms 104:27 All creatures look to You to give them their food in due season.