Job 19 · Verse 24

Job 19:24

That they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever!
Job 19:24, King James Version

Job 19:24 in other translations

BSBby an iron stylus on lead, or chiseled in stone forever.
WEBThat with an iron pen and lead they were engraved in the rock forever!
ASVThat with an iron pen and lead They were graven in the rock for ever!
YLTWith a pen of iron and lead--For ever in a rock they may be hewn.
DARBYThat with an iron style and lead they were graven in the rock for ever!
BBEAnd with an iron pen and lead be cut into the rock for ever!
WebsterThat they were graven with an iron pen in lead, in the rock for ever!

What does Job 19:24 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
24. pen--graver. lead--poured into the engraven characters, to make them better seen [Umbreit]. Not on leaden plates; for it was "in the rock" that they were engraved. Perhaps it was the hammer that was of "lead," as sculptors find more delicate incisions are made by it, than by a harder hammer. FOSTER (One Primeval Language) has shown that the inscriptions on the rocks in Wady-Mokatta, along Israel's route through the desert, record the journeys of that people, as Cosmas Indicopleustes asserted, A.D. 535. for ever--as long as the rock lasts.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 24 Iron pen and lead - Some suppose that the meaning of this place is this: the iron pen is the chisel by which the letters were to be deeply cut in the stone or rock; and the lead was melted into those cavities in order to preserve the engraving distinct. But this is not so natural a supposition as what is stated above; that Job refers to the different kinds of writing or perpetuating public events, used in his time: and the quotations from Pliny and Pausanias confirm the opinion already expressed.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Job 19:23-29

The Spirit of God, at this time, seems to have powerfully wrought on the mind of Job. Here he witnessed a good confession; declared the soundness of his faith, and the assurance of his hope. Here is much of Christ and heaven; and he that said such things are these, declared plainly that he sought the better country, that is, the heavenly. Job was taught of God to believe in a living Redeemer; to look for the…

Read the full comment on Job 19:23-29 →

Job 19:24 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

בְּעֵט\־be.'et-with a stylus ofH5842
בַּרְזֶ֥לbar.ZelironH1270
וְעֹפָ֑רֶתve.'o.Fa.retand leadH5777
לָ֝עַ֗דla.'Adfor everH5703
בַּצּ֥וּרba.Tzurin the rockH6697
יֵחָצְבֽוּן\׃ye.cha.tze.Vunthey will be engraved !H2672

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Job 19:24

  • Jeremiah 17:1

    The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond: it is graven upon the table of their heart, and upon the horns of your altars;

  • Exodus 32:16

    And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables.

  • Deuteronomy 27:2-3

    And it shall be on the day when ye shall pass over Jordan unto the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, that thou shalt set thee up great stones, and plaister them with plaister: And thou shalt write upon them all the words of this law, when thou art passed over, that thou mayest go in unto the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, a land that floweth with milk and honey; as the Lord God of thy fathers hath promised thee.

  • Exodus 28:21

    And the stones shall be with the names of the children of Israel, twelve, according to their names, like the engravings of a signet; every one with his name shall they be according to the twelve tribes.

  • Exodus 28:11-12

    With the work of an engraver in stone, like the engravings of a signet, shalt thou engrave the two stones with the names of the children of Israel: thou shalt make them to be set in ouches of gold. And thou shalt put the two stones upon the shoulders of the ephod for stones of memorial unto the children of Israel: and Aaron shall bear their names before the Lord upon his two shoulders for a memorial.

  • Deuteronomy 27:8

    And thou shalt write upon the stones all the words of this law very plainly.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
graven.
Ex 28:11,12,21; 32:16; De 27:2,3,8; Jer 17:1

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Job 19:23

    Oh that my words were now written! oh that they were printed in a book!

  • Job 19:24

    That they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever!

  • Job 19:25

    For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:

Read all of Job 19

Job 19:24 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		¡Que con cincel de hierro y con plomo fuesen en piedra esculpidas para siempre!
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Avec un style de fer et du plomb, et gravées dans le roc pour toujours!
German
Elberfelder 1871		mit eisernem Griffel und Blei in den Felsen eingehauen auf ewig!
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		stylo ferreo et plumbi lamina, vel celte sculpantur in silice?