Job 34:20

Job 34:20 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)In a moment shall they die, and the people shall be troubled at midnight, and pass away: and the mighty shall be taken away without hand.
• New International Version (NIV)They die in an instant, in the middle of the night; the people are shaken and they pass away; the mighty are removed without human hand.
• English Standard Version (ESV)In a moment they die; at midnight the people are shaken and pass away, and the mighty are taken away by no human hand.
• New King James Version (NKJV)In a moment they die, in the middle of the night; The people are shaken and pass away; The mighty are taken away without a hand.

Context of Job 34:20

18Who says to a king, ‘Worthless one,’ To nobles, ‘Wicked ones’; 19Who shows no partiality to princes Nor regards the rich above the poor, For they all are the work of His hands? In a moment they die, and at midnight People are shaken and pass away, And the mighty are taken away without a hand. 21“For His eyes are upon the ways of a man, And He sees all his steps. 22There is no darkness or deep shadow Where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.

Job 34:20 word by word

רֶ֤גַע׀ יָמֻתוּ֮ וַחֲצ֪וֹת לָ֥יְלָה יְגֹעֲשׁ֣וּ עָ֣ם וְיַעֲבֹ֑רוּ וְיָסִ֥ירוּ אַ֝בִּ֗יר לֹ֣א בְיָֽד׃Read the interlinear

• In a momentרֶ֫גַעrega‛ · momentH7281
• they dieמוּתmûth · to dieH4191
• at midnightחָצוֹתchâtsôth · middleH2676
• at midnightלַ֫יְלָהlayil lêyl layelâh · nightH3915
• Peopleעַם‛am · peopleH5971
• are shakenגָּעַשׁgâ‛ash · to shakeH1607
• and passעָבַר‛âbar · to passH5674
• awayעָבַר‛âbar · to passH5674
• the mightyאַבִּיר'abbîyr · mighty: strongH47
• are takenסוּרsûr ώûr · to turn aside: removeH5493
• withoutלֹאlô' lô' lôh · notH3808
• a handיָדyâd · handH3027

Cross-references for Job 34:20

• Psalms 73:19How they are destroyed in a moment! They are utterly swept away by sudden terrors!
• Isaiah 30:13Therefore this iniquity will be to you Like a breach about to fall, A bulge in a high wall, Whose collapse comes suddenly in an instant,
• Isaiah 37:38It came about as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons killed him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son became king in his place.
• Daniel 5:30That same night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was slain.
• Luke 12:20But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?’
• Acts 12:23And immediately an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and died.
• 1 Thessalonians 5:2For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night.
• 2 Peter 2:3and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.
• Exodus 12:29Now it came about at midnight that the Lord struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of cattle.
• Isaiah 37:36Then the angel of the Lord went out and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians; and when men arose early in the morning, behold, all of these were dead.
• Matthew 25:6But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’
• Luke 17:26And just as it happened in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man:
• 1 Samuel 25:37But in the morning, when the wine had gone out of Nabal, his wife told him these things, and his heart died within him so that he became as a stone.
• 1 Samuel 26:10David also said, “As the Lord lives, surely the Lord will strike him, or his day will come that he dies, or he will go down into battle and perish.
• Isaiah 10:16Therefore the Lord, the God of hosts, will send a wasting disease among his stout warriors; And under his glory a fire will be kindled like a burning flame.
• Isaiah 30:30And the Lord will cause His voice of authority to be heard, And the descending of His arm to be seen in fierce anger, And in the flame of a consuming fire In cloudburst, downpour and hailstones.

Commentaries on Job 34:20

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 20In a moment shall they die - Both are equally dependent on the Almighty for their breath and being; the mighty as well as the poor. If the great men of the earth have abused their power, he sometimes cuts them off by the most sudden and unexpected death; and even at midnight, when in security, and least capable of defense, they are cut off by the people whom they have oppressed, or by the invisible hand of the angel of death. This appears to be spoken in…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 20In a moment shall they die - That is, the rich and the great. They pass suddenly off the stage of action. They have no power to compel God to favor them, and they have no permanency of existence here which can constitute a claim on his special favor. Soon they will lie undistinguished in the dust. All are in his hand; and when he wills it, they must lie down in the dust together. He exempts none from death; spares none on account of beauty, rank, wealth…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 16-30Verses 16-30 Elihu appeals directly to Job himself. Could he suppose that God was like those earthly princes, who hate right, who are unfit to rule, and prove the scourges of mankind? It is daring presumption to condemn God's proceedings, as Job had done by his discontents. Elihu suggests divers considerations to Job, to produce in him high thoughts of God, and so to persuade him to submit. Job had often wished to plead his cause before God. Elihu asks…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2020. they--"the rich" and "princes" who offend God. the people--namely, of the guilty princes: guilty also themselves. at midnight--image from a night attack of an enemy on a camp, which becomes an easy prey (Ex 12:29, 30). without hand--without visible agency, by the mere word of God (so Job 20:26; Zec 4:6; Da 2:34).Read the comment

Topics related to Job 34:20

• Death
• God

In the dictionaries

• Chastisement
• Choose
• Dust
• Elihu
• Fit
• Midnight

Commentaries on Job 34

• 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
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings