Translations
F.O.G.MPrimary
F.O.G MessageJust as you cannot trace the path of the wind, or understand how bones are formed within the womb of a pregnant woman, so you cannot fathom the work of God, who makes all things.
F.O.GSecondary
The F.O.GJust as you do not know the way of the wind, nor how the bones take shape in the womb of a pregnant woman, so you cannot know the work of Elohim who makes everything.
KJV
King James VersionAs thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all.
BSB
Berean Standard BibleAs you do not know the path of the wind, or how the bones are formed in a mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things.
Footnotes
רוּחַ (ruach) recurs — "wind/spirit/breath." Some ancient versions (LXX, Vulgate) read this as "the way of the spirit/breath in the bones," but the parallelism with the pregnant womb strongly favours the wind reading. בְּבֶטֶן הַמְּלֵאָה (be-veten hamele'ah) = "in the full/pregnant womb" — the image is of fetal bone formation, a process invisible and inscrutable to any observer, used as an analogy for divine creativity. The F.O.G stresses the physical shaping ("take shape"); the F.O.G Message elevates to "fathom" to draw out the theological weight of unknowability before God.
