Job 3:14

Job 3:14 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)With kings and counsellors of the earth, which built desolate places for themselves;
• New International Version (NIV)with kings and rulers of the earth, who built for themselves places now lying in ruins,
• English Standard Version (ESV)with kings and counselors of the earth who rebuilt ruins for themselves,
• New King James Version (NKJV)With kings and counselors of the earth, Who built ruins for themselves,

Context of Job 3:14

12Instead, my mother held me on her knees. I drank from her breasts. 13If I had died at birth, I would now be resting in peace. I would be resting with kings and rulers. They lived in beautiful houses which are now heaps of stones. 15I would be with princes who once were very rich. Their palaces were full of gold and silver. 16My parents should have buried me, like a child that is born dead. I would never have seen the light of day.

Job 3:14 word by word

עִם־מְ֭לָכִים וְיֹ֣עֲצֵי אָ֑רֶץ הַבֹּנִ֖ים חֳרָב֣וֹת לָֽמוֹ׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• With kingsמֶ֫לֶךְmelek · kingH4428
• and counsellorsיָעַץyâ‛ats · to adviseH3289
• of the earthאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: country/planetH776
• which builtבָּנָהbânâh · to buildH1129
• desolate placesחׇרְבָּהchorbâh · desolationH2723

Cross-references for Job 3:14

• Job 30:23I know that you are already taking me to my death. Everyone who lives has to go to that place.
• 1 Kings 2:10Then David died. They buried him in the City of David.
• 1 Kings 11:43Then he died. They buried him with his ancestors, in the city of his father David. His son Rehoboam became king after him.
• Psalms 49:6Those people think that their money will keep them safe. They are proud about their riches.
• Psalms 89:48Nobody can continue to live and never die. Nobody can escape from the power of death.
• Ecclesiastes 8:8Nobody has the power to control the wind. Also, nobody has the power to decide the day of their death. Soldiers are not allowed to leave a battle. Also, if people do wicked things, that will not rescue them.
• Isaiah 14:10All of them will say to you, “Now you have become as weak as we are! You are weak like us!”
• Ezekiel 27:18Traders from Damascus came to you because you had many valuable things to sell. They sold you wine from Helbon and white wool from Zahar.
• Job 15:28He lives in a town that is empty. No one else lives in the houses there. The buildings will soon fall down and they will become heaps of stones.
• Isaiah 5:8It will be very bad for you people who buy many houses for yourselves. You also buy land to join to the land that you already have. Then there is no more land left for anyone else. You are the only people who remain on the land.
• Ezekiel 26:20Then I will cause you to you to fall deep down into the earth. You will be part of the world of dead people who lived a long time ago. You will join other cities that became heaps of stones long ago. You will remain there. You will never again be a city in the world where people are alive.

Commentaries on Job 3:14

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 14With kings and counsellors of the earth - I believe this translation to be perfectly correct. The counsellors, יעצי yoatsey, I suppose to mean the privy council, or advisers of kings; those without whose advice kings seldom undertake wars, expeditions, etc. These mighty agitators of the world are at rest in their graves, after the lives of commotion which they have led among men: most of whom indeed have been the troublers of the peace of the globe. Which…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 14With kings - Reposing as they do. This is the language of calm meditation on what would have been the consequence if he had died when he was an infant. He seems to delight to dwell on it. He contrasts it with his present situation. He pauses on the thought that that would have been an honorable repose. He would have been numbered with kings and princes. Is there not here a little spice of ambition even in his sorrows and humilation? Job had been an…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 11-19Verses 11-19 Job complained of those present at his birth, for their tender attention to him. No creature comes into the world so helpless as man. God's power and providence upheld our frail lives, and his pity and patience spared our forfeited lives. Natural affection is put into parents' hearts by God. To desire to die that we may be with Christ, that we may be free from sin, is the effect and evidence of grace; but to desire to die, only that we may be…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 14People believed the dead kept their identities and social status. Job might have wanted kings and prime ministers to recognize his status as a prince (1:3).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1414. With kings ... which built desolate places for themselves--who built up for themselves what proved to be (not palaces, but) ruins! The wounded spirit of Job, once a great emir himself, sick of the vain struggles of mortal great men, after grandeur, contemplates the palaces of kings, now desolate heaps of ruins. His regarding the repose of death the most desirable end of the great ones of earth, wearied with heaping up perishable treasures, marks the…Read the comment

Topics related to Job 3:14

• Afflictions and Adversities
• Dead (People)
• Despondency

In the dictionaries

• Above
• Dig
• Roaring
• Safety
• Solitary
• Job, Book of

Commentaries on Job 3

• 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