New King James Version
Job 31:40
40Then let thistles grow instead of wheat, And weeds instead of barley.” The words of Job are ended.
Job 31:40 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Let thistles grow instead of wheat, and cockle instead of barley. The words of Job are ended.
- New International Version (NIV)then let briers come up instead of wheat and stinkweed instead of barley.” The words of Job are ended.
- English Standard Version (ESV)let thorns grow instead of wheat, and foul weeds instead of barley." The words of Job are ended.
- New Living Translation (NLT)then let thistles grow on that land instead of wheat, and weeds instead of barley.” Job’s words are ended.
Context of Job 31:40
38“If my land cries out against me, And its furrows weep together; 39If I have eaten its fruit without money, Or caused its owners to lose their lives; Then let thistles grow instead of wheat, And weeds instead of barley.” The words of Job are ended.
Read all of Job 31Job 31:40 word by word
תַּ֤חַת חִטָּ֨ה׀ יֵ֥צֵא ח֗וֹחַ וְתַֽחַת־שְׂעֹרָ֥ה בָאְשָׁ֑ה תַּ֝֗מּוּ דִּבְרֵ֥י אִיּֽוֹב׃ פRead the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Let thistlesחוֹחַchôach · thistleH2336
- growיָצָאyâtsâ' · to come out: issueH3318
- instead of wheatחִטָּהchiţţâh · wheatH2406
- and cockleבׇּאְשָׁהbo'shâh · foul weedH890
- instead of barleyשְׂעֹרָהώe‛ôrâh ώe‛ôrâh ώe‛ôr ώe‛ôr · barleyH8184
- The wordsדָּבָרdâbâr · wordH1697
- of Jobאִיּוֹב'îyôb · JobH347
- are endedתָּמַםtâmam · to finishH8552
People and places in Job 31:40
Cross-references for Job 31:40
- 2 Kings 14:9And Jehoash king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, “The thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son as wife’; and a wild beast that was in Lebanon passed by and trampled the thistle.
- Genesis 3:17Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life.
- Isaiah 7:23It shall happen in that day, That wherever there could be a thousand vines Worth a thousand shekels of silver, It will be for briers and thorns.
- Zephaniah 2:9Therefore, as I live,” Says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “Surely Moab shall be like Sodom, And the people of Ammon like Gomorrah— Overrun with weeds and saltpits, And a perpetual desolation. The residue of My people shall plunder them, And the remnant of My people shall possess them.”
- Malachi 1:3But Esau I have hated, And laid waste his mountains and his heritage For the jackals of the wilderness.”
- Psalms 72:20The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.
Commentaries on Job 31:40
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 40Let thistles grow instead of wheat - What the word חוח choach means, which we translate thistles, we cannot tell: but as חח chach seems to mean to hold, catch as a hook, to hitch, it must signify some kind of hooked thorn, like the brier; and this is possibly its meaning. And cockle - באשה bashah, some fetid plant, from באש baash, to stink. In Isaiah 5:2, Isaiah 5:4, we translate it wild grapes; and Bishop Lowth, poisonous berries: but Hasselquist, a…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 40Let thistles grow; - Genesis 3:18. Thistles are valueless; and Job is so confident of entire innocence in regard to this, that he says he would be willing, if he were guilty, to have his whole land overrun with noxious weeds. And cockle - Cockle is a well known herb that gets into wheat or other grain. It has a bluish flower, and small black seed, and is injurious because it tends to discolor the flour. It is not certain by any means, however, that this…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 33-40Verses 33-40 Job clears himself from the charge of hypocrisy. We are loth to confess our faults, willing to excuse them, and to lay the blame upon others. But he that thus covers his sins, shall not prosper, Pr 28:13. He speaks of his courage in what is good, as an evidence of his sincerity in it. When men get estates unjustly, they are justly deprived of comfort from them; it was sown wheat, but shall come up thistles. What men do not come honestly by…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 40let briers grow: Job cursed himself (spoke evil against himself), echoing when God first "cursed" Adam (Genesis 3:17–18; see also Isaiah 7:25; Zephaniah 2:9).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 4040. thistles--or brambles, thorns. cockle--literally, "noxious weeds." The words ... ended--that is, in the controversy with the friends. He spoke in the book afterwards, but not to them. At Job 31:37 would be the regular conclusion in strict art. But Job 31:38-40 are naturally added by one whose mind in agitation recurs to its sense of innocence, even after it has come to the usual stopping point; this takes away the appearance of rhetorical artifice…Read the comment
Topics related to Job 31:40
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Job 31
- 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
New King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
Commentaries