Job 4:19

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 ⌞any⌟ mortal be righteous to God? Can ⌞any⌟ human being be pure to his maker?’ 18“You see, God doesn’t trust his own servants, and he accuses his angels of making mistakes. How much more will he accuse those who live in clay houses that have their foundation in the dust. Those houses can be crushed quicker than a moth! 20From morning to evening, they are shattered. They will disappear forever without anyone paying attention. 21Haven’t the ropes of their tent been loosened? Won’t they die without wisdom?

Job 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 made me out of clay and that you will return me to the dust again.
• Job 13:12“Your recollections are worthless proverbs. Your answers are absolutely useless.
• Job 33:6Indeed, I stand in front of God as you do. I, too, was formed from a piece of clay.
• Genesis 2:7Then the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the earth and blew the breath of life into his nostrils. The man became a living being.
• Genesis 3:19By the sweat of your brow, you will produce food to eat until you return to the ground, because you were taken from it. You are dust, and you will return to dust.”
• Genesis 18:27Abraham asked, “Consider now, if I may be so bold as to ask you, although I’m ⌞only⌟ dust and ashes,
• Ecclesiastes 12:7Then the dust ⌞of mortals⌟ goes back to the ground as it was before, and the breath of life goes back to God who gave it.
• 2 Corinthians 4:7Our bodies are made of clay, yet we have the treasure of the Good News in them. This shows that the superior power of this treasure belongs to God and doesn’t come from us.
• 2 Corinthians 5:1We know that if the life we live here on earth is ever taken down like a tent, we still have a building from God. It is an eternal house in heaven that isn’t made by human hands.
• Job 13:28I am like worn-out wineskins, like moth-eaten clothes.
• Job 14:2He comes up like a flower; then he withers. He is like a fleeting shadow; he doesn’t stay long.
• Psalms 39:11With stern warnings you discipline people for their crimes. Like a moth you eat away at what is dear to them. Certainly, everyone is like a whisper in the wind. Selah
• Psalms 90:5You sweep mortals away. They are a dream. They sprout again in the morning like cut grass.
• Psalms 103:15Human life is as short-lived as grass. It blossoms like a flower in the field.
• Psalms 146:4When they breathe their last breath, they return to the ground. On that day their plans come to an end.
• 1 Peter 1:24“All people are like grass, and all their beauty is like a flower of the field. The grass dries up and the flower drops 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

• Angel (a Spirit)
• Body
• Clay
• Depravity of Man
• Dream
• Faith
• God Continued...
• Ground
• Immortality
• Life
• Man
• Moth
• Wisdom

In the dictionaries

• Clay
• Crush
• Moth
• Prey
• Dust
• Eliphaz (2)
• House
• Job, Book of
• Eliphaz

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