Christian Standard Bible
Job 4:19
19how much more those who dwell in clay houses, whose foundation is 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 a mortal be righteous before God? Can a man be more pure than his Maker?” 18If God puts no trust in his servants and he charges his angels with foolishness, how much more those who dwell in clay houses, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed like a moth! 20They are smashed to pieces from dawn to dusk; they perish forever while no one notices. 21Are their tent cords not pulled up? They die without 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 10:9Please remember that you formed me like clay. Will you now return me to dust?
- Job 13:12Your memorable sayings are proverbs of ash; your defenses are made of clay.
- Job 33:6I am just like you before God; I was also pinched off from a piece of clay.
- Genesis 2:7Then the Lord God formed the man out of the dust from the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being.
- Genesis 3:19You will eat bread by the sweat of your brow until you return to the ground, since you were taken from it. For you are dust, and you will return to dust.”
- Genesis 18:27Then Abraham answered, “Since I have ventured to speak to my lord — even though I am dust and ashes —
- Ecclesiastes 12:7and the dust returns to the earth as it once was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
- 2 Corinthians 4:7Now we have this treasure in clay jars, so that this extraordinary power may be from God and not from us.
- 2 Corinthians 5:1For we know that if our earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal dwelling in the heavens, not made with hands.
- Job 13:28A person wears out like something rotten, like a moth-eaten garment.
- Job 14:2He blossoms like a flower, then withers; he flees like a shadow and does not last.
- Psalms 39:11You discipline a person with punishment for iniquity, consuming like a moth what is precious to him; yes, every human being is only a vapor.Selah
- Psalms 90:5You end their lives; they sleep. They are like grass that grows in the morning —
- Psalms 103:15As for man, his days are like grass — he blooms like a flower of the field;
- Psalms 146:4When his breath leaves him, he returns to the ground; on that day his plans die.
- 1 Peter 1:24For All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like a flower of the grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls,
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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