Amplified Bible
Job 4:19
19How much more [will He blame and charge] those who dwell in houses (bodies) of clay, Whose foundations are in the dust, Who are crushed like a moth.
Job 4:19 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)How much less in them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, which are crushed before the moth?
- New International Version (NIV)how much more those who live in houses of clay, whose foundations are in the dust, who are crushed more readily than a moth!
- English Standard Version (ESV)how much more those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed like the moth.
- New King James Version (NKJV)How much more those who dwell in houses of clay, Whose foundation is in the dust, Who are crushed before a moth?
Context of Job 4:19
17‘Can [mortal] man be just before God or be more righteous than He? Can a man be pure before his Maker or be more cleansed than He? 18God puts no trust or confidence, even in His [heavenly] servants, And He charges His angels with error. How much more [will He blame and charge] those who dwell in houses (bodies) of clay, Whose foundations are in the dust, Who are crushed like a moth. 20Between morning and evening they are broken in pieces and destroyed; Unobserved and unnoticed, they perish forever. 21Is not their tent-cord drawn up within them [so that the tent collapses]? Do they not die, and yet without [acquiring] wisdom?’
Read all of Job 4Job 4:19 word by word
אַ֤ף׀ שֹׁכְנֵ֬י בָֽתֵּי־חֹ֗מֶר אֲשֶׁר־בֶּעָפָ֥ר יְסוֹדָ֑ם יְ֝דַכְּא֗וּם לִפְנֵי־עָֽשׁ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- How much lessאַף'aph · alsoH637
- them that dwellשָׁכַןshâkan · to dwellH7931
- in housesבַּ֫יִתbayith · house: homeH1004
- of clayחֹ֫מֶרchômer · clayH2563
- whose foundationיְסוֹדyesôd · foundationH3247
- in the dustעָפָר‛âphâr · dustH6083
- are crushedדָּכָאdâkâ' · to crushH1792
- beforeפָּנֶהpânîym · face: beforeH6440
- the mothעָשׁ‛âsh ‛ăsab · mothH6211
Cross-references for Job 4:19
- Job 10:9Remember now, that You have made me as clay; So will You turn me into dust again?
- Job 13:12Your memorable sayings are [worthless, merely] proverbs of ashes; Your defenses are defenses of [crumbling] clay.
- Job 33:6Behold, I belong to God like you; I too was formed out of the clay.
- Genesis 2:7then the Lord God formed [that is, created the body of] man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being [an individual complete in body and spirit].
- Genesis 3:19By the sweat of your face You will eat bread Until you return to the ground, For from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return.”
- Genesis 18:27Abraham answered, “Now behold, I who am but dust [in origin] and ashes have decided to speak to the Lord.
- Ecclesiastes 12:7then the dust [out of which God made man’s body] will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.
- 2 Corinthians 4:7But we have this precious treasure [the good news about salvation] in [unworthy] earthen vessels [of human frailty], so that the grandeur and surpassing greatness of the power will be [shown to be] from God [His sufficiency] and not from ourselves.
- 2 Corinthians 5:1For we know that if the earthly tent [our physical body] which is our house is torn down [through death], we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
- Job 13:28While I waste away like a rotten thing, Like a garment that is moth-eaten.
- Job 14:2Like a flower he comes forth and withers; He also flees like a shadow and does not remain.
- Psalms 39:11With rebukes You discipline man for sin; You consume like a moth what is precious to him; Surely every man is a mere breath [a wisp of smoke, a vapor that vanishes]. Selah.
- Psalms 90:5You have swept them away like a flood, they fall asleep [forgotten as soon as they are gone]; In the morning they are like grass which grows anew—
- Psalms 103:15As for man, his days are like grass; Like a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
- Psalms 146:4When his spirit leaves him, he returns to the earth; In that very day his thoughts and plans perish.
- 1 Peter 1:24For, “All flesh is like grass, And all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers And the flower falls off,
Commentaries on Job 4:19
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 19How much less - Rather, with the Vulgate, How much more? If angels may be unstable, how can man arrogate stability to himself who dwells in an earthly tabernacle, and who must shortly return to dust? Crushed before the moth? The slightest accident oftentimes destroys. "A fly, a grape-stone, or a hair can kill." Great men have fallen by all these. This is the general idea in the text, and it is useless to sift for meanings.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 19How much less - (אף 'aph ). This particle has the general sense of addition, accession, especially of something more important;” yea more, besides, even.” Gesenius. The meaning here is, “how much more true is this of man!” He puts no confidence in his angels; he charges them with frailty; how much more strikingly true must this be of man! It is not merely, as our common translation would seem to imply, that he put much less confidence in man than in…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 12-21Verses 12-21 Eliphaz relates a vision. When we are communing with our own hearts, and are still, Psa 4:4, then is a time for the Holy Spirit to commune with us. This vision put him into very great fear. Ever since man sinned, it has been terrible to him to receive communications from Heaven, conscious that he can expect no good tidings thence. Sinful man! shall he pretend to be more just, more pure, than God, who being his Maker, is his Lord and Owner?…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 18-21The idea that God does not trust His servants and charges His angels with error is unique (but see Genesis 6:1–4).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1919. houses of clay--(2Co 5:1). Houses made of sun-dried clay bricks are common in the East; they are easily washed away (Mt 7:27). Man's foundation is this dust (Ge 3:19). before the moth--rather, "as before the moth," which devours a garment (Job 13:28; Psa 39:11; Is 50:9). Man, who cannot, in a physical point of view, stand before the very moth, surely cannot, in a moral, stand before God.Read the comment
Topics related to Job 4:19
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Job 4
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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