New English Translation
Job 4:19
19how much more to those who live in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed like a moth?
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“Is a mortal man righteous before God? Or a man pure before his Creator? 18If God puts no trust in his servants and attributes folly to his angels, how much more to those who live in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed like a moth? 20They are destroyed between morning and evening; they perish forever without anyone regarding it. 21Is not their excess wealth taken away from them? They die, yet without attaining wisdom.
Read all of Job 4Job 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 10:9Remember that you have made me as with the clay; will you return me to dust?
- Job 13:12Your maxims are proverbs of ashes; your defenses are defenses of clay.
- Job 33:6Look, I am just like you in relation to God; I too have been molded from clay.
- Genesis 2:7The Lord God formed the man from the soil of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
- Genesis 3:19By the sweat of your brow you will eat food until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you will return.”
- Genesis 18:27Then Abraham asked, “Since I have undertaken to speak to the Lord (although I am but dust and ashes),
- Ecclesiastes 12:7and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the life’s breath returns to God who gave it.
- 2 Corinthians 4:7But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that the extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us.
- 2 Corinthians 5:1For we know that if our earthly house, the tent we live in, is dismantled, we have a building from God, a house not built by human hands, that is eternal in the heavens.
- Job 13:28So I waste away like something rotten, like a garment eaten by moths.
- Job 14:2He grows up like a flower and then withers away; he flees like a shadow, and does not remain.
- Psalms 39:11You severely discipline people for their sins; like a moth you slowly devour their strength. Surely all people are a mere vapor. (Selah)
- Psalms 90:5You bring their lives to an end and they “fall asleep.” In the morning they are like the grass that sprouts up;
- Psalms 103:15A person’s life is like grass. Like a flower in the field it flourishes,
- Psalms 146:4Their life’s breath departs, they return to the ground; on that day their plans die.
- 1 Peter 1:24For all flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of the 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
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
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