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 man’ and to nobles, ‘Wicked men,’ 19who shows no partiality to princes, and does not take note of the rich more than the poor, because all of them are the work of his hands? In a moment they die, in the middle of the night, people are shaken and they pass away. The mighty are removed effortlessly. 21For his eyes are on the ways of an individual, he observes all a person’s steps. 22There is no darkness, and no deep darkness, where evildoers can hide themselves.

Job 34:20 word by word

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

Words taken from the KJV.

• In a momentרֶ֫גַעrega‛ · momentH7281
• shall they dieמוּתmûth · to dieH4191
• and the peopleעַם‛am · peopleH5971
• shall be troubledגָּעַשׁgâ‛ash · to shakeH1607
• at midnightלַ֫יְלָהlayil lêyl layelâh · nightH3915
• at midnightחָצוֹתchâtsôth · middleH2676
• and pass awayעָבַר‛âbar · to passH5674
• and the mightyאַבִּיר'abbîyr · mighty: strongH47
• shall be taken awayסוּרsûr ώûr · to turn aside: removeH5493
• without handיָדyâd · handH3027

Cross-references for Job 34:20

• Psalms 73:19How desolate they become in a mere moment! Terrifying judgments make their demise complete!
• Isaiah 30:13So this sin will become your downfall. You will be like a high wall that bulges and cracks and is ready to collapse; it crumbles suddenly, in a flash.
• Isaiah 37:38One day, as he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword. They ran away to the land of Ararat; his son Esarhaddon replaced him as king.
• Daniel 5:30And in that very night Belshazzar, the Babylonian king, was killed.
• Luke 12:20But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded back from you, but who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’
• Acts 12:23Immediately an angel of the Lord struck Herod down because he did not give the glory to God, and he was eaten by worms and died.
• 1 Thessalonians 5:2For you know quite well that the day of the Lord will come in the same way as a thief in the night.
• 2 Peter 2:3And in their greed they will exploit you with deceptive words. Their condemnation pronounced long ago is not sitting idly by; their destruction is not asleep.
• Exodus 12:29It happened at midnight – the Lord attacked 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 prison, and all the firstborn of the cattle.
• Isaiah 37:36The Lord’s messenger went out and killed 185,000 troops in the Assyrian camp. When they got up early the next morning, there were all the corpses!
• Matthew 25:6But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Look, the bridegroom is here! Come out to meet him.’
• Luke 17:26Just as it was in the days of Noah, so too it will be in the days of the Son of Man.
• 1 Samuel 25:37In the morning, when Nabal was sober, his wife told him about these matters. He had a stroke and was paralyzed.
• 1 Samuel 26:10David went on to say, “As the Lord lives, the Lord himself will strike him down. Either his day will come and he will die, or he will go down into battle and be swept away.
• Isaiah 10:16For this reason the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, will make his healthy ones emaciated. His majestic glory will go up in smoke.
• Isaiah 30:30The Lord will give a mighty shout and intervene in power, with furious anger and flaming, destructive fire, with a driving rainstorm 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