What Does Job 38:41 Mean in the King James?
Who provideth for the raven his food? when his young ones cry unto God, they wander for lack of meat.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The hungry raven’s young cry to God with the same root scripture uses for a human plea for help.
THE MEANING
The young ravens cry to God while they wander, unable to find food. The verse places their need within the question of who prepares food for them: their hunger and God’s provision belong in the same frame.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It unsettles the belief that need becomes prayer only when a human can put it into words: here, raven chicks cry unto God.
THE ROOT
יְשַׁוֵּעוּ
yeshavve'u
GROWS FROM
שוע
sh-w-ʿ
To cry out or call urgently for help.
“cry unto God” in this verse is yeshavve'u. The young ravens’ cry is built on שוע (sh-w-ʿ), the same root used for a human cry for help. Their hunger is expressed as an appeal to God, not merely as animal noise.
ALSO GROWS
shav'ah: A plea or cry for help.
שַׁוְעָה
Psalm 18:6 uses this word for a human cry to God, linking that distress with the ravens’ appeal here.
meshavea: A person calling out for help.
מְשַׁוֵּעַ
Psalm 72:12 uses this form for a needy person who cries out, giving human need and the ravens’ hunger a shared language.
יָכִין
yakhin
GROWS FROM
כון
kun
To be firm or established; in the Hiphil, to set in place, establish, or prepare.
“provideth” in this verse is yakhin. The verb means to make ready or prepare, and its root also describes what is established or serves as a base. Provision carries the sense of something set in place for life amid the young ravens’ wandering.
ALSO GROWS
tikkon: Be made firm or established.
תִּכּוֹן
Psalm 93:1 uses this root for the world being established, echoing the verse’s sense of provision as part of what sustains life.
mekhonah: A supporting base or stand.
מְכוֹנָה
The word’s connection to a base makes visible the root’s movement from preparing something to setting it on a firm support.
THE PATTERN
God’s provision reaches dependent creatures in their need, even when they cannot secure food for themselves.
He giveth to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry.These wait all upon thee; that thou mayest give them their meat in due season.Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls?THE THREAD
In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.The raven’s young “cry unto God” with the root שוע (sh-w-ʿ); Psalm 18:6 uses that same root for a human cry in distress. Hebrew gives the nestlings’ hunger and a person’s anguish the same language of appeal.
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