Job 15:7
New International Version
“Are you the first man ever born? Were you brought forth before the hills?

New Living Translation
“Were you the first person ever born? Were you born before the hills were made?

English Standard Version
“Are you the first man who was born? Or were you brought forth before the hills?

Berean Standard Bible
Were you the first man ever born? Were you brought forth before the hills?

King James Bible
Art thou the first man that was born? or wast thou made before the hills?

New King James Version
Are you the first man who was born? Or were you made before the hills?

New American Standard Bible
“Were you the first person to be born, Or were you brought forth before the hills?

NASB 1995
“Were you the first man to be born, Or were you brought forth before the hills?

NASB 1977
“Were you the first man to be born, Or were you brought forth before the hills?

Legacy Standard Bible
“Were you the first man to be born, Or were you brought forth before the hills?

Amplified Bible
“Were you the first man to be born [the original wise man], Or were you created before the hills?

Christian Standard Bible
Were you the first human ever born, or were you brought forth before the hills?

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Were you the first person ever born, or were you brought forth before the hills?

American Standard Version
Art thou the first man that was born? Or wast thou brought forth before the hills?

Contemporary English Version
Were you the first human? Are you older than the hills?

English Revised Version
Art thou the first man that was born? or wast thou brought forth before the hills?

GOD'S WORD® Translation
"Were you the first human to be born? Were you delivered before the hills [existed]?

Good News Translation
Do you think you were the first person born? Were you there when God made the mountains?

International Standard Version
"Were you the first person to be born? Were you brought forth before the hills were made?

Majority Standard Bible
Were you the first man ever born? Were you brought forth before the hills?

NET Bible
"Were you the first man ever born? Were you brought forth before the hills?

New Heart English Bible
"Are you the first man who was born? Or were you brought forth before the hills?

Webster's Bible Translation
Art thou the first man that was born? or wast thou made before the hills?

World English Bible
“Are you the first man who was born? Or were you brought out before the hills?
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
Are you the first man born? And were you formed before the heights?

Young's Literal Translation
The first man art thou born? And before the heights wast thou formed?

Smith's Literal Translation
Shalt thou be the firm man born? and hadst thou a beginning before the hills?
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
Art thou the first man that was born, or wast thou made before the hills ?

Catholic Public Domain Version
Are you the first man who was born, or were you formed before the hills?

New American Bible
Were you the first to be born? Were you brought forth before the hills?

New Revised Standard Version
“Are you the firstborn of the human race? Were you brought forth before the hills?
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
Are you the first man that was born? Or were you conceived before the hills?

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
Were you born before man or were you formed in the womb before the hills?
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
Art thou the first man that was born? Or wast thou brought forth before the hills?

Brenton Septuagint Translation
What! art thou the first man that was born? or wert thou established before the hills?

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Eliphaz: Job Does Not Fear God
6Your own mouth, not mine, condemns you; your own lips testify against you. 7Were you the first man ever born? Were you brought forth before the hills? 8Do you listen in on the council of God or limit wisdom to yourself?…

Cross References
Proverbs 8:22-31
The LORD created me as His first course, before His works of old. / From everlasting I was established, from the beginning, before the earth began. / When there were no watery depths, I was brought forth, when no springs were overflowing with water. ...

Genesis 1:1-2
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. / Now the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.

John 1:1-3
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. / He was with God in the beginning. / Through Him all things were made, and without Him nothing was made that has been made.

Psalm 90:2
Before the mountains were born or You brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting You are God.

Isaiah 40:21
Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been declared to you from the beginning? Have you not understood since the foundation of the earth?

Proverbs 30:4
Who has ascended to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in His hands? Who has bound up the waters in His cloak? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name, and what is the name of His Son—surely you know!

Ecclesiastes 1:9-10
What has been will be again, and what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. / Is there a case where one can say, “Look, this is new”? It has already existed in the ages before us.

Romans 11:34
“Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been His counselor?”

Isaiah 41:4
Who has performed this and carried it out, calling forth the generations from the beginning? I, the LORD—the first and the last—I am He.”

1 Corinthians 2:16
“For who has known the mind of the Lord, so as to instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

Psalm 104:5
He set the earth on its foundations, never to be moved.

Isaiah 44:7
Who then is like Me? Let him say so! Let him declare his case before Me, since I established an ancient people. Let him foretell the things to come, and what is to take place.

Colossians 1:16-17
For in Him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things were created through Him and for Him. / He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.

Hebrews 1:10-12
And: “In the beginning, O Lord, You laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands. / They will perish, but You remain; they will all wear out like a garment. / You will roll them up like a robe; like a garment they will be changed; but You remain the same, and Your years will never end.”

Psalm 102:25-27
In the beginning You laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands. / They will perish, but You remain; they will all wear out like a garment. Like clothing You will change them, and they will be passed on. / But You remain the same, and Your years will never end.


Treasury of Scripture

Are you the first man that was born? or were you made before the hills?

the first

Job 15:10
With us are both the grayheaded and very aged men, much elder than thy father.

Job 12:12
With the ancient is wisdom; and in length of days understanding.

Genesis 4:1
And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD.

or wast thou

Job 38:4
Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.

Psalm 90:2
Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.

Proverbs 8:22-25
The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old…

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Job 15
1. Eliphaz reproves Job for impiety in justifying himself
17. He proves by tradition the restlessness of wicked men














Were you the first man ever born?
This phrase is a rhetorical question posed by Eliphaz, one of Job's friends, during his second speech. The Hebrew root for "first" is "ri'shon," which implies primacy or precedence. Eliphaz is challenging Job's wisdom and understanding by questioning his authority and experience. In the ancient Near Eastern context, wisdom was often associated with age and experience. By asking if Job was the "first man," Eliphaz is sarcastically suggesting that Job lacks the ancient wisdom that comes with being the first of humanity, like Adam. This question underscores the theme of human limitation in understanding divine wisdom, a central theme in the Book of Job. It serves as a reminder that human beings, regardless of their knowledge or experience, are not privy to the full scope of God's creation and purposes.

Were you brought forth before the hills?
The phrase "brought forth" comes from the Hebrew word "chuwl," which can mean to be born or to be brought into existence. The imagery of being "brought forth before the hills" evokes the idea of ancient, enduring creation. Hills and mountains in biblical literature often symbolize stability, longevity, and the ancient order of creation. By asking if Job was born before these ancient hills, Eliphaz is emphasizing the vastness and timelessness of God's creation compared to human life. This rhetorical question serves to humble Job, reminding him of his place within the created order. It highlights the biblical theme that God's wisdom and plans are eternal and far surpass human understanding. This perspective encourages believers to trust in God's sovereignty and wisdom, even when faced with suffering and confusion, as Job was.

(7) Art thou the first man that was born?--This is a retort upon Job 12:2; Job 12:7; Job 12:9, where Job had claimed equal knowledge for the inanimate creation.

Verse 7. - Art thou the first man that was born? That is, "Dost thou claim to have the wisdom of that first human intelligence, which, proceeding direct from God (Genesis 1:27), was without fault or flaw - a perfect intelligence, which judged all things aright?" It is not clear that Eliphaz had ever heard of Adam; but he evidently believed in a "first man," from whom all others were descended, and he attributed to this first man a mind and intellect surpassing those of all other men. His question is, of course, rather a scoff than an inquiry. He knows that Job makes no such foolish pretence; but he throws it in his teeth that, from what he has said, men might suppose he took some such view of himself. Or wast thou made before the hills? This is a taunt of the same kind as the previous one, but intensified. Wisdom is the result of experience. Art thou older than all the rest of us - older than the earth itself, than "the everlasting hills"? There were Greeks who claimed to be ethnically προσέληνοι, "older than the moon," but no inhabitant of earth was ever so foolish as to imagine himself individually more ancient than the earth on which he lived.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Were you the first
הֲרִאישׁ֣וֹן (hă·ri·yō·šō·wn)
Article | Adjective - masculine singular
Strong's 7223: First, in place, time, rank

man
אָ֭דָם (’ā·ḏām)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 120: Ruddy, a human being

ever born?
תִּוָּלֵ֑ד (tiw·wā·lêḏ)
Verb - Nifal - Imperfect - second person masculine singular
Strong's 3205: To bear young, to beget, medically, to act as midwife, to show lineage

Were you brought forth
חוֹלָֽלְתָּ׃ (ḥō·w·lā·lə·tā)
Verb - Pual - Perfect - second person masculine singular
Strong's 2342: To twist, whirl, to dance, to writhe in pain, fear, to wait, to pervert

before
וְלִפְנֵ֖י (wə·lip̄·nê)
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-l | Noun - common plural construct
Strong's 6440: The face

the hills?
גְבָע֣וֹת (ḡə·ḇā·‘ō·wṯ)
Noun - feminine plural
Strong's 1389: A hillock


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OT Poetry: Job 15:7 Are you the first man who was (Jb)
Job 15:6
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