Job 27 · Verse 19

Job 27:19

The rich man shall lie down, but he shall not be gathered: he openeth his eyes, and he is not.
Job 27:19, King James Version

Job 27:19 in other translations

BSBHe lies down wealthy, but will do so no more; when he opens his eyes, all is gone.
WEBHe lies down rich, but he will not do so again. He opens his eyes, and he is not.
ASVHe lieth down rich, but he shall not be gathered to his fathers; He openeth his eyes, and he is not.
YLTRich he lieth down, and he is not gathered, His eyes he hath opened, and he is not.
DARBYHe lieth down rich, but will do so no more; he openeth his eyes, and he is not.
BBEHe goes to rest full of wealth, but does so for the last time: on opening his eyes, he sees it there no longer.
WebsterThe rich man shall lie down, but he shall not be gathered: he openeth his eyes, and he is not.

What does Job 27:19 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Job 27:11-23

11-23. These words are contrary to Job's previous sentiments (see on Job 21:22-33; Job 24:22-25). Job 21:22-33; 24:22-25). They therefore seem to be Job's statement, not so much of his own sentiments, as of what Zophar would have said had he spoken when his turn came (end of the twenty-sixth chapter). So Job stated the friends' opinion (Job 21:17-21; 24:18-21). The objection is, why, if so, does not Job answer…

Read the full comment on Job 27:11-23 →

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 19 The rich man shall lie down - In the grave. But he shall not be gathered - Neither have a respectable burial among men, nor be gathered with the righteous in the kingdom of God. It may be that Job alludes here to an opinion relative to the state of certain persons after death, prevalent in all nations in ancient times, viz., that those whose funeral rites had not been duly performed, wander about as ghosts, and find no rest. He openeth his eyes - In the morning of the resurrection. And he is not - He is utterly lost and undone for ever. This seems to be the plain sense of the passage; and so all the versions appear to have understood it; but Reiske and some others, by making יאסף yeaseph an Arabic word, signifying, not the idea of gathering, but care, anxiety, etc., have quite altered this sense of the passage; and Mr. Good, who copies them, translates thus: Let the rich man lie down, and care not. I see no manner of occasion to resort to this interpretation, which, in my judgment, gives a sense inferior to that given above, or to the following: The rich man shall lie down - go to his rest, fully persuaded that his property is in perfect safety; but he shall not be gathered, or he shall not gather - make any farther addition to his stores: he openeth his eyes in the morning, when he is not - marauders in the night have stripped him of all his property, as in the case of Job himself; a case quite probable, and not unfrequent in Arabia, when a hostile tribe makes a sudden incursion, and carries off an immense booty. But I prefer the first meaning, as it is obtained without crucifying the text. Coverdale translates: When the rich man dyeth, he carieth nothinge with him: he is gone in the twincklinge of an eye.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Job 27:11-23

Job's friends, on the same subject, spoke of the misery of wicked men before death as proportioned to their crimes; Job considered that if it were not so, still the consequences of their death would be dreadful. Job undertook to set this matter in a true light. Death to a godly man, is like a fair gale of wind to convey him to the heavenly country; but, to a wicked man, it is like a storm, that hurries him away to…

Read the full comment on Job 27:11-23 →

Job 27:19 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.

עָשִׁ֣יר'a.ShirrichH6223
יִ֭שְׁכַּבYish.kavhe will lie downH7901
וְלֹ֣אve.Lo'and notH3808
יֵאָסֵ֑ףye.'a.Sefhe will be removedH622
עֵינָ֖יו'ei.Naveyes hisH5869
פָּקַ֣חpa.Kachhe opensH6491
וְאֵינֶֽנּוּ\׃ve.'ei.Ne.nuand there not [is] itH369

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

Cross references for Job 27:19

  • Job 24:24

    They are exalted for a little while, but are gone and brought low; they are taken out of the way as all other, and cut off as the tops of the ears of corn.

  • Psalms 58:9

    Before your pots can feel the thorns, he shall take them away as with a whirlwind, both living, and in his wrath.

  • Psalms 73:19-20

    How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment! they are utterly consumed with terrors. As a dream when one awaketh; so, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image.

  • Jeremiah 8:2

    And they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven, whom they have loved, and whom they have served, and after whom they have walked, and whom they have sought, and whom they have worshipped: they shall not be gathered, nor be buried; they shall be for dung upon the face of the earth.

  • Matthew 23:37

    O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!

  • Job 20:7-9

    Yet he shall perish for ever like his own dung: they which have seen him shall say, Where is he? He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found: yea, he shall be chased away as a vision of the night. The eye also which saw him shall see him no more; neither shall his place any more behold him.

  • Matthew 3:12

    Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

  • Job 8:22

    They that hate thee shall be clothed with shame; and the dwelling place of the wicked shall come to nought.

  • Genesis 49:10

    The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.

  • Job 21:30

    That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction? they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath.

  • Job 7:8

    The eye of him that hath seen me shall see me no more: thine eyes are upon me, and I am not.

  • Job 21:23-26

    One dieth in his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet. His breasts are full of milk, and his bones are moistened with marrow. And another dieth in the bitterness of his soul, and never eateth with pleasure. They shall lie down alike in the dust, and the worms shall cover them.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
shall lie.
14:13-15; 21:23-26,30; 30:23
gathered.
Ge 49:10; Jer 8:2; Mt 3:12; 23:37
he openeth.
20:7-9; Ps 58:9; 73:19,20
he is not.
8:22; 14:10,12; 24:24; *marg:

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

Context

  • Job 27:18

    He buildeth his house as a moth, and as a booth that the keeper maketh.

  • Job 27:19

    The rich man shall lie down, but he shall not be gathered: he openeth his eyes, and he is not.

  • Job 27:20

    Terrors take hold on him as waters, a tempest stealeth him away in the night.

Read all of Job 27

Job 27:19 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		El rico dormirá, mas no será recogido: abrirá sus ojos, mas él no será.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Il se couche riche, et il ne le refera pas; il ouvre ses yeux, et il n’est plus.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Reich legt er sich ihn, und er tut es nicht wieder; er schlägt die Augen auf, und ist nicht mehr.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Dives, cum dormierit, nihil secum auferet: aperiet oculos suos, et nihil inveniet.