New International Version
Job 4:8
8As I have observed, those who plow evil and those who sow trouble reap it.
Job 4:8 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same.
- English Standard Version (ESV)As I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Even as I have seen, Those who plow iniquity And sow trouble reap the same.
- New Living Translation (NLT)My experience shows that those who plant trouble and cultivate evil will harvest the same.
Context of Job 4:8
6Should not your piety be your confidence and your blameless ways your hope? 7“Consider now: Who, being innocent, has ever perished? Where were the upright ever destroyed? As I have observed, those who plow evil and those who sow trouble reap it. 9At the breath of God they perish; at the blast of his anger they are no more. 10The lions may roar and growl, yet the teeth of the great lions are broken.
Read all of Job 4Job 4:8 word by word
כַּאֲשֶׁ֣ר רָ֭אִיתִי חֹ֣רְשֵׁי אָ֑וֶן וְזֹרְעֵ֖י עָמָ֣ל יִקְצְרֻֽהוּ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Job 4:8
- Psalms 7:14Whoever is pregnant with evil conceives trouble and gives birth to disillusionment.
- Proverbs 22:8Whoever sows injustice reaps calamity, and the rod they wield in fury will be broken.
- Jeremiah 4:18“Your own conduct and actions have brought this on you. This is your punishment. How bitter it is! How it pierces to the heart!”
- Hosea 8:7“They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind. The stalk has no head; it will produce no flour. Were it to yield grain, foreigners would swallow it up.
- Hosea 10:12Sow righteousness for yourselves, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the Lord, until he comes and showers his righteousness on you.
- 2 Corinthians 9:6Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.
- Galatians 6:7Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.
Commentaries on Job 4:8
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 8They that plough iniquity - A proverbial form of speech drawn from nature. Whatever seed a man sows in the ground, he reaps the same kind; for every seed produces its like. Thus Solomon, Proverbs 22:8; : "He that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity." And St. Paul, Galatians 6:7, Galatians 6:8; : "Be not deceived, God is not mocked; for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption; but…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 8Even as I have seen - Eliphaz appeals to his own observation, that people who had led wicked lives were suddenly cut off. Instances of this kind he might doubtless have observed - as all may have done. But his inference was too broad when he concluded that all the wicked are punished in this manner. It is true that wicked people are thus cut off and perish; but it is not true that all the wicked are thus punished in this life, nor that any of the…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 7-11Verses 7-11 Eliphaz argues, 1. That good men were never thus ruined. But there is one event both to the righteous and to the wicked, Ec 9:2, both in life and death; the great and certain difference is after death. Our worst mistakes are occasioned by drawing wrong views from undeniable truths. 2. That wicked men were often thus ruined: for the proof of this, Eliphaz vouches his own observation. We may see the same every day.Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 8The symbolic use of the language of harvest shows the idea in the Scriptures that actions deserve judgment (Proverbs 22:8; Hosea 8:7; Romans 2:9–11; Galatians 6:7–8). The New Testament compares the final judgment to a harvest (Matthew 13:39). By this principle, Jesus rejected overly simple attempts to analyze people's lives (Luke 13:4; John 9:1–3).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 88. they that plough iniquity ... reap the same--(Pr 22:8; Ho 8:7; 10:13; Ga 6:7, 8).Read the comment
Topics related to Job 4:8
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
New International Version — © NIV® 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 Biblica
Commentaries