Job 8 · Verse 15

Job 8:15

He shall lean upon his house, but it shall not stand: he shall hold it fast, but it shall not endure.

Job 8:15, King James Version

Job 8:15 in other translations

BSB	He leans on his web, but it gives way; he holds fast, but it does not endure.
WEB	He will lean on his house, but it will not stand. He will cling to it, but it will not endure.
ASV	He shall lean upon his house, but it shall not stand: He shall hold fast thereby, but it shall not endure.
YLT	He leaneth on his house--and it standeth not: He taketh hold on it--and it abideth not.
DARBY	He shall lean upon his house, and it shall not stand; he shall lay hold on it, but it shall not endure.
BBE	He is looking to his family for support, but it is not there; he puts his hope in it, but it comes to nothing.
Webster	He shall lean upon his house, but it shall not stand: he shall hold it fast, but it shall not endure.

What does Job 8:15 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

15. he shall hold it fast--implying his eager grasp, when the storm of trial comes: as the spider "holds fast" by its web; but with this difference: the light spider is sustained by that on which it rests; the godless is not by the thin web on which he rests. The expression, "Hold fast," properly applies to the spider holding his web, but is transferred to the man. Hypocrisy, like the spider's web, is fine-spun, flimsy, and woven out of its own inventions, as the spider's web out of its own bowels. An Arab proverb says, "Time destroys the well-built house, as well as the spider's web."

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 15 He shall lean upon his house - This is all allusion to the spider. When he suspects his web, here called his house, to be frail or unsure, he leans upon it in different parts, propping himself on his hinder legs, and pulling with his fore claws, to see if all be safe. If he find any part of it injured, he immediately adds new cordage to that part, and attaches it strongly to the wall. When he finds all safe and strong, he retires into his hole at one corner, supposing himself to be in a state of complete security, when in a moment the brush or the besom sweeps away both himself, his house, and his confidence. This I have several times observed; and it is in this that the strength and point of the comparison consist. The wicked, whose hope is in his temporal possessions strengthens and keeps his house in repair; and thus leans on his earthly supports; in a moment, as in the case of the spider, his house is overwhelmed by the blast of God's judgments, and himself probably buried in its ruins. This is a very fine and expressive metaphor, which not one of the commentators that I have seen has ever discovered.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Job 8:8-19

Bildad discourses well of hypocrites and evil-doers, and the fatal end of all their hopes and joys. He proves this truth of the destruction of the hopes and joys of hypocrites, by an appeal to former times. Bildad refers to the testimony of the ancients. Those teach best that utter words out of their heart, that speak from an experience of spiritual and divine things. A rush growing in fenny ground, looking very…

Read the full comment on Job 8:8-19 →

Job 8:15 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.

יִשָּׁעֵ֣ןyi.sha.'Enhe supports himselfH8172

עַל\־'al-onH5921

בֵּ֭יתוֹbei.tohouse hisH1004

וְלֹ֣אve.Lo'and notH3808

יַעֲמֹ֑דya.'a.Modit standsH5975

יַחֲזִ֥יקya.cha.Zikhe takes holdH2388

בּ֝֗וֹboon it

וְלֹ֣אve.Lo'and notH3808

יָקֽוּם\׃ya.Kumit enduresH6965

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

Cross references for Job 8:15

Job 27:18
He buildeth his house as a moth, and as a booth that the keeper maketh.
Luke 6:47-49
Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like: He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock. But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.
Matthew 7:24-27
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
Proverbs 10:28
The hope of the righteous shall be gladness: but the expectation of the wicked shall perish.
Psalms 49:11
Their inward thought is, that their houses shall continue for ever, and their dwelling places to all generations; they call their lands after their own names.
Job 18:14
His confidence shall be rooted out of his tabernacle, and it shall bring him to the king of terrors.
Psalms 112:10
The wicked shall see it, and be grieved; he shall gnash with his teeth, and melt away: the desire of the wicked shall perish.
Psalms 52:5-7
God shall likewise destroy thee for ever, he shall take thee away, and pluck thee out of thy dwelling place, and root thee out of the land of the living. Selah. The righteous also shall see, and fear, and shall laugh at him: Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength; but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

it shall not stand.
18:14; 27:18; Ps 52:5-7; 112:10; Pr 10:28; Mt 7:24-27; Lu 6:47-49

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

Context

Job 8:14
Whose hope shall be cut off, and whose trust shall be a spider’s web.
Job 8:15
He shall lean upon his house, but it shall not stand: he shall hold it fast, but it shall not endure.
Job 8:16
He is green before the sun, and his branch shooteth forth in his garden.

Read all of Job 8

Job 8:15 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Apoyaráse él sobre su casa, mas no permanecerá en pie; atendráse á ella, mas no se afirmará.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	Il s’appuiera sur sa maison, et elle ne tiendra pas; il s’y cramponnera, et elle ne restera pas debout.
German Elberfelder 1871	Er stützt sich auf sein Haus, und es hält nicht stand; er hält sich daran fest, und es bleibt nicht aufrecht. -
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Innitetur super domum suam, et non stabit; fulciet eam, et non consurget.