Job 18:13

Job 18:13 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)It shall devour the strength of his skin: even the firstborn of death shall devour his strength.
• New International Version (NIV)It eats away parts of his skin; death’s firstborn devours his limbs.
• English Standard Version (ESV)It consumes the parts of his skin; the firstborn of death consumes his limbs.
• New King James Version (NKJV)It devours patches of his skin; The firstborn of death devours his limbs.

Context of Job 18:13

11Everywhere a wicked person goes, things frighten him. He cannot escape from them. 12Now he is hungry and his strength has disappeared. Terrible trouble is ready to take hold of him whenever it has the chance. A bad disease eats his skin. It causes his arms and his legs to become useless and he dies. 14Then he has to leave his tent where he had lived safely. He will have to meet the terrible king of death. 15Other people will live in his tent. They have used sulphur to burn all his things.

Job 18:13 word by word

יֹ֭אכַל בַּדֵּ֣י עוֹר֑וֹ יֹאכַ֥ל בַּ֝דָּ֗יו בְּכ֣וֹר מָֽוֶת׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• It shall devourאָכַל'âkal · to eatH398
• the strengthבַּדbad · alone: poleH905
• of his skinעוֹר‛ôr · skinH5785
• the firstbornבְּכוֹרbekôr · firstbornH1060
• of deathמָ֫וֶתmâveth · deathH4194

Cross-references for Job 18:13

• Job 17:16When I go to the world of dead people, all my hope will have finished. Everything that I had hoped for will lie with me in the dust.’
• Jonah 2:6I went very deep in the water, as far as the bottom of the mountains. Deep in the earth, I was in a prison, and its gates had shut for ever. But, Lord, my God, you brought me up from that deep hole.
• Genesis 49:3Jacob said, ‘Reuben you are my firstborn son. You were born first, when I was a strong young man. Of all my sons, you are the most famous and the strongest.
• Isaiah 14:30The Lord will give food to the poorest of his people. The weak and helpless people will live safely. But you Philistine people will die from famine. I will destroy you all, so that nobody remains.
• Revelation 6:8I looked, and I saw a grey horse. The name of the person who was riding the horse was Death. The place for dead people, called Hades, was following near to him. They had authority to kill people in a quarter of the earth. They could kill people in different ways. They could kill them in wars. They could cause people to die because there was no food. They could cause people to become very ill so that they died. They could also cause wild animals to kill people.

Commentaries on Job 18:13

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 13It shall devour the strength of his skin - This may refer to the elephant, or to the rhinoceros, whose skin scarcely any dart can pierce: but in the case referred to above, the animal is taken in a pitfall, and then the first-born of death - a sudden and overwhelming stroke - deprives him of life. See the account of hunting the elephant in the East at the end of the chapter, Job 18:21; (note). The Chaldee has: "The strength of his skin shall devour his…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 13It shall devour the strength of his skin - Margin, bars. The margin is a correct translation of the Hebrew. The word used (בדי badēy construct with עורו ‛ôrô - his skin) means bars, staves, branches, and here denotes his limbs, members; or, more literally, the bones, as supports of the skin, or the human frame. The bones are regarded as the bars, or the framework, holding the other parts of the body in their place, and over which the skin is stretched…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 11-21Verses 11-21 Bildad describes the destruction wicked people are kept for, in the other world, and which in some degree, often seizes them in this world. The way of sin is the way of fear, and leads to everlasting confusion, of which the present terrors of an impure conscience are earnests, as in Cain and Judas. Miserable indeed is a wicked man's death, how secure soever his life was. See him dying; all that he trusts to for his support shall be taken from…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 13death devours: The prophet Isaiah later changed this image. He pictured the Lord as defeating death (Isaiah 25:8; see 1 Corinthians 15:54).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1313. Umbreit has "he" for "it," that is, "in the rage of hunger he shall devour his own body"; or, "his own children" (La 4:10). Rather, "destruction" from Job 18:12 is nominative to "devour." strength--rather, "members" (literally, the "branches" of a tree). the first-born of death--a personification full of poetical horror. The first-born son held the chief place (Ge 49:3); so here the chiefest (most deadly) disease that death has ever engendered (Is…Read the comment

Topics related to Job 18:13

• Wicked (People)

In the dictionaries

• Net
• Bildad
• Plagues of Egypt
• Skin

Commentaries on Job 18

• 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