Bible Strands
Job 40:19
He is the foremost of God’s works; only his Maker can draw the sword against him.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — God speaks to Job within a continuous discourse describing an untamable creature. The declaration occurs between verses detailing the animal’s physical strength and its natural habitat.
The words — רֵאשִׁית (re.Shit) means “first” or “foremost,” and חַרְבּוֹ (char.bo) means “his sword.” These terms establish the creature’s supreme rank among created things and the exclusive right of its Maker to judge it.
The thread — The motif of unmatched created power and divine judgment runs through Job 41:33, Job 26:13, and Psalms 7:12. These references similarly frame God’s sovereign authority against the limits of earthly or mythic forces.
Why it lands — The verse requires the reader to acknowledge that all created power remains subject to its Creator’s sole prerogative. It strips away human assumptions of control and places judgment exclusively in divine hands.
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
He is the chief of the ways of God: he that made him can make his sword to approach unto him.
Cross-references
- Job 41:33 Nothing on earth is his equal—a creature devoid of fear!
- Job 26:13 By His breath the skies were cleared; His hand pierced the fleeing serpent.
- Psalms 7:12 If one does not repent, God will sharpen His sword; He has bent and strung His bow.
- Psalms 104:24 How many are Your works, O LORD! In wisdom You have made them all; the earth is full of Your creatures.
- Isaiah 27:1 In that day the LORD will take His sharp, great, and mighty sword, and bring judgment on Leviathan the fleeing serpent—Leviathan the coiling serpent—and He will slay the dragon of the sea.