Job 4 · Verse 19

Job 4:19

How much less in them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, which are crushed before the moth?
Job 4:19, King James Version

Job 4:19 in other translations

BSBhow much more those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundations are in the dust, who can be crushed like a moth!
WEBHow much more those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed before the moth!
ASVHow much more them that dwell in houses of clay, Whose foundation is in the dust, Who are crushed before the moth!
YLTAlso--the inhabitants of houses of clay, (Whose foundation is in the dust, They bruise them before a moth.)
DARBYHow much more them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed as the moth!
BBEHow much more those living in houses of earth, whose bases are in the dust! They are crushed more quickly than an insect;
WebsterHow much less in them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed before the moth?

What does Job 4:19 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
19. 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.

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 19 How 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.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Job 4:12-21

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…

Read the full comment on Job 4:12-21 →

Job 4:19 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.

אַ֤ף\׀'afalsoH637
שֹׁכְנֵ֬יsho.khe.Nei[those who] dwell ofH7931
בָֽתֵּי\־va.tei-houses ofH1004
חֹ֗מֶרCho.merclayH2563
אֲשֶׁר\־'a.Sher-whichH834
בֶּעָפָ֥רbe.'a.Far[is] in the dustH6083
יְסוֹדָ֑םye.so.Damfoundation theirH3247
יְ֝דַכְּא֗וּםye.da.ke.'Umpeople crush themH1792
לִפְנֵי\־lif.nei-<to> beforeH6440
עָֽשׁ\׃'Asha mothH6211

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

Cross references for Job 4:19

  • Job 10:9

    Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast made me as the clay; and wilt thou bring me into dust again?

  • Genesis 2:7

    And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

  • Genesis 3:19

    In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

  • Job 33:6

    Behold, I am according to thy wish in God’s stead: I also am formed out of the clay.

  • Psalms 39:11

    When thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity, thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth: surely every man is vanity. Selah.

  • 2 Corinthians 4:7

    But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

  • Genesis 18:27

    And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes:

  • 2 Corinthians 5:1

    For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

  • Job 13:28

    And he, as a rotten thing, consumeth, as a garment that is moth eaten.

  • Job 13:12

    Your remembrances are like unto ashes, your bodies to bodies of clay.

  • Ecclesiastes 12:7

    Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

  • Job 22:16

    Which were cut down out of time, whose foundation was overflown with a flood:

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
dwell.
10:9; 13:12; 33:6; Ge 2:7; 3:19; 18:27; Ec 12:7; 2Co 4:7; 5:1
crushed.
13:28; 14:2; Ps 39:11; 90:5-7; 103:15,16; 146:4; 1Pe 1:24

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

Context

  • Job 4:18

    Behold, he put no trust in his servants; and his angels he charged with folly:

  • Job 4:19

    How much less in them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, which are crushed before the moth?

  • Job 4:20

    They are destroyed from morning to evening: they perish for ever without any regarding it.

Read all of Job 4

Job 4:19 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		¡Cuánto más en los que habitan en casas de lodo, cuyo fundamento está en el polvo, y que serán quebrantados de la polilla!
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Combien plus à ceux qui habitent dans des maisons d’argile dont le fondement est dans la poussière, qui sont écrasés comme la teigne!
German
Elberfelder 1871		wieviel mehr denen, die in Lehmhäusern wohnen, deren Grund im Staube ist! Wie Motten werden sie zertreten.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		quanto magis hi qui habitant domos luteas, qui terrenum habent fundamentum, consumentur velut a tinea?