Albert Barnes Commentary Job 41:11

"Who hath first given unto me, that I should repay him? [Whatsoever is] under the whole heaven is mine." — Job 41:11 (ASV)

Who has prevented me? — As this verse is rendered here, its meaning, and the reason why it is introduced, are not very apparent. It almost looks, indeed, as if it were an interpolation, or had been introduced from some other place, and torn from its proper connection. Dr. Harris proposes to remove the principal difficulty by translating it:

“Who will stand before me, indeed, presumptuously?
Whatever is beneath the whole heaven is mine.
I cannot be confounded at his limbs and violence,
Nor at his power, or the strength of his frame.”

It may be doubted, however, whether the original will admit of this translation. Rosenmuller, Umbreit, and Noyes, unite in supposing the meaning to be, “Who has done me a favor, that I must repay him?” But perhaps the true idea of the passage may be reached by considering the meaning of the word rendered “prevented” — קדם qâdam. It properly means in the Piel, to go before; to precede; to anticipate (Psalms 17:13; Psalms 119:148).

Then it means to rush upon suddenly; to seize; to go to meet anyone either for aid (Psalms 59:11), or for a different purpose. In Isaiah 37:33, no shield shall come up against her (the Hebrew word יקדמנה yaqâdamenâh, that is, against the city). So in Job 30:27, The days of affliction prevented me. A similar meaning occurs in the Hiphil form in Amos 9:10, The evil shall not overtake us nor prevent us; that is, shall not rush upon us as if by anticipation, or when we are off our guard.

If some idea of this kind is thought to be conveyed by the word here, it will probably express the true sense: “Who is able to seize upon me suddenly, or when I am off my guard; to anticipate my watchfulness and my power of resistance so as to compel me to recompense him, or so to overmaster me as to lay me under obligation to confer on him the favors which he demands?”

This interpretation may allude to the way wild beasts are taken, when the hunter springs his trap suddenly, anticipates the animal's power, rushes unexpectedly upon it, and compels it to yield. God says that no one could surprise and overpower Him in this way.

Thus explained, the sentiment agrees with the argument the Almighty is presenting. He is showing His right to reign and do all His pleasure.

In proof of this, He appeals to His great and mighty works, and especially to those specimens of the animal creation which man could not tame or overcome. The argument is this: “If man cannot surprise and subdue these creatures of the Almighty, and compel them to render him service, how can he expect to constrain the Creator Himself to be tributary to Him, or to grant him the favors which he demands?”

Whatever is under the whole heaven is mine. — That is, “All belong to Me; all are subject to Me; all are Mine, to be given to whomever I please. No one can claim them as his own; no one can wrest them from Me.”

This claim to the proprietorship of all created things is designed here to show Job that man could exert no control over such a supreme Being. It is his duty, therefore, to submit to Him without complaint and to receive with gratitude whatever He chooses to confer.