English Standard Version
Job 4:21
21Is not their tent-cord plucked up within them, do they not die, and that without wisdom?'
Job 4:21 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Doth not their excellency which is in them go away? they die, even without wisdom.
- New International Version (NIV)Are not the cords of their tent pulled up, so that they die without wisdom?’
- New King James Version (NKJV)Does not their own excellence go away? They die, even without wisdom.’
- New Living Translation (NLT)Their tent-cords are pulled and the tent collapses, and they die in ignorance.
Context of Job 4:21
19how much more those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed like the moth. 20Between morning and evening they are beaten to pieces; they perish forever without anyone regarding it. Is not their tent-cord plucked up within them, do they not die, and that without wisdom?'
Read all of Job 4Job 4:21 word by word
הֲלֹא־נִסַּ֣ע יִתְרָ֣ם בָּ֑ם יָ֝מ֗וּתוּ וְלֹ֣א בְחָכְמָֽה׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Job 4:21
- Psalms 39:5Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath! Selah
- Psalms 49:14Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol; death shall be their shepherd, and the upright shall rule over them in the morning. Their form shall be consumed in Sheol, with no place to dwell.
- Psalms 146:3Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.
- Isaiah 14:16Those who see you will stare at you and ponder over you: 'Is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms,
- Luke 16:22The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried,
- James 1:11For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.
- Job 36:12But if they do not listen, they perish by the sword and die without knowledge.
- Psalms 49:20Man in his pomp yet without understanding is like the beasts that perish.
- Isaiah 2:22Stop regarding man in whose nostrils is breath, for of what account is he?
- Luke 12:20But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?'
Commentaries on Job 4:21
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 21Doth not their excellency - go away! - Personal beauty, corporeal strength, powerful eloquence, and various mental endowments, pass away, or are plucked up by the roots; they are no more seen or heard among men, and their memory soon perisheth. They die, even without wisdom - If wisdom means the pursuit of the best end, by the most legitimate and appropriate means, the great mass of mankind appear to perish without it. But, if we consider the subject more…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 21Doth not their excellency - Dr. Good renders this, “Their fluttering round is over with them,” by a very forced construction of the passage. Translators and expositors have been very much divided in opinion as to its meaning; but the sense seems to be, that whatever is excellent in people is torn away or removed. Their excellence does not keep them from death, and they are taken off before they are truly wise. The word “excellency” here refers not only…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. 21A tent often symbolized human life (Isaiah 38:12; 2 Corinthians 5:1; compare Ecclesiastes 12:6).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2121. their excellency--(Psa 39:11; 146:4; 1Co 13:8). But Umbreit, by an Oriental image from a bow, useless because unstrung: "Their nerve, or string would be torn away." Michaelis, better in accordance with Job 4:19, makes the allusion be to the cords of a tabernacle taken down (Is 33:20). they die, even without wisdom--rather, "They would perish, yet not according to wisdom," but according to arbitrary choice, if God were not infinitely wise and holy. The…Read the comment
Topics related to Job 4:21
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
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries