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 mankind be righteous before God? Can a man be pure before his Maker? 18He puts no trust even in His servants; And He accuses His angels of error. How much more those who live in houses of clay, Whose foundation is in the dust, Who are crushed before the moth! 20Between morning and evening they are broken in pieces; Unregarded, they perish forever. 21Is their tent-cord not pulled out within them? They die, yet without wisdom.’

Job 4:19 word by word

אַ֤ף׀ שֹׁכְנֵ֬י בָֽתֵּי־חֹ֗מֶר אֲשֶׁר־בֶּעָפָ֥ר יְסוֹדָ֑ם יְ֝דַכְּא֗וּם לִפְנֵי־עָֽשׁ׃Read the interlinear

• Howאַף'aph · alsoH637
• those who liveשָׁכַןshâkan · to dwellH7931
• housesבַּ֫יִתbayith · house: homeH1004
• of clayחֹ֫מֶרchômer · clayH2563
• Whoseאֲשֶׁר'ăsher · whichH834
• foundationיְסוֹדyesôd · foundationH3247
• is in the dustעָפָר‛âphâr · dustH6083
• Who are crushedדָּכָאdâkâ' · to crushH1792
• beforeפָּנֶהpânîym · face: beforeH6440
• the mothעָשׁ‛âsh ‛ăsab · mothH6211

Cross-references for Job 4:19

• Job 10:9Remember that You have made me as clay; Yet would You turn me into dust again?
• Job 13:12Your memorable sayings are proverbs of ashes, Your defenses are defenses of clay.
• Job 33:6Behold, I belong to God, like you; I too have been formed out of the clay.
• Genesis 2:7Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living person.
• Genesis 3:19By the sweat of your face You shall eat bread, Until you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return.”
• Genesis 18:27And Abraham replied, “Now behold, I have ventured to speak to the Lord, although I am only dust and ashes.
• Ecclesiastes 12:7then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.
• 2 Corinthians 4:7But we have this treasure in earthen containers, so that the extraordinary greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves;
• 2 Corinthians 5:1For we know that if our earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made by hands, eternal in the heavens.
• Job 13:28While I am decaying like a rotten thing, Like a garment that is moth-eaten.
• Job 14:2Like a flower he comes out and withers. He also flees like a shadow and does not remain.
• Psalms 39:11With rebukes You punish a person for wrongdoing; You consume like a moth what is precious to him; Certainly all mankind is mere breath! Selah
• Psalms 90:5You have swept them away like a flood, they fall asleep; In the morning they are like grass that sprouts anew.
• Psalms 103:15As for man, his days are like grass; Like a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
• Psalms 146:4His spirit departs, he returns to the earth; On that very day his plans perish.
• 1 Peter 1:24For, “All flesh is like grass, And all its glory is like the flower of grass. The grass withers, And the flower falls 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