Your memorable sayings are proverbs of ashes. Your defenses are defenses of clay.
Parallel Translations
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Your memorable sayings are proverbs of ashes. Your defenses are defenses of clay.
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Your remembrances are like unto ashes, your bodies to bodies of clay.
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Your memorials shall be like unto ashes, your eminences to eminences of clay.
Cross-references (11)
Passages linked to Job 13:12 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Genesis 2:7 Yahweh God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
- Genesis 18:27 Abraham answered, “See now, I have taken it on myself to speak to the Lord, although I am dust and ashes.
- Exodus 17:14 Yahweh said to Moses, “Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under the sky.”
- Job 4:19 How much more, those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed before the moth!
- Job 18:17 His memory will perish from the earth. He will have no name in the street.
- Psalms 34:16 Yahweh’s face is against those who do evil, to cut off their memory from the earth.
- Psalms 102:12 But you, Yahweh, will remain forever; your renown endures to all generations.
- Psalms 109:15 Let them be before Yahweh continually, that he may cut off their memory from the earth;
- Proverbs 10:7 The memory of the righteous is blessed, but the name of the wicked will rot.
- Isaiah 26:14 The dead shall not live. The departed spirits shall not rise. Therefore you have visited and destroyed them, and caused all memory of them to perish.
- 2 Corinthians 5:1 For we know that if the earthly house of our tent is dissolved, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal, in the heavens.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (14 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Your fame shall come to nothing.
Your fame shall come to nothing.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Job 13:12 Your remembrances [are] like unto ashes, your…
Job 13:12 Your remembrances [are] like unto ashes, your bodies to bodies of clay.
Ver. 12. Your remembrances are like unto ashes, &c.] Mr Beza readeth the whole verse thus: Your speeches are the words of ashes, and your stately bulwarks are but bulwarks of clay. And thus he paraphraseth: For these things which you allege as matters gathered by long observations, and which you thunder out against me as if they were most certain and grounded axioms, are indeed no more sound and substantial than ashes; and those your high forts, as it were, and turrets, out of which you assail me, are made but of dirt and mire. Others, by "your remembrances," understand with Mercer, quicquid in vobis memorabile est, whatsoever it is for the which you are so often remembered and mentioned by others, as your wealth, dignity, power, splendour, name, and fame, yea, your very life, is nothing else but ashes, and all shall return to ashes, and come to nought, according to that of Abraham, I am but dust and ashes, Gen 18:27; such an infinite distance there is between God’s unconceiveable highness and your extreme meanness, or rather, utter nothingness.
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Your bodies to bodies of clay] i.e. To images made of clay or earth; or, that which is highest in you, even your best enjoyments, your chiefest eminences, or greatest elevations, are like to a lump of clay, terrae quam terimus, terrae quam gerimus. See Job 4:19. {See Trapp on "Job 4:19"}
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Your remembrances; either,
Your remembrances; either,
1. Actively, i.e. your memorials, or your discourses and arguments, by which you design to bring things to my remembrance. So he might possibly allude to that passage, Job 4:7. Remember, I pray thee, &c. That and all your other mementos are like unto ashes, i.e. contemptible and unprofitable, Heb. are parables, or speeches, of dust, or ashes. Or,
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2. Passively; all that which is most excellent and memorable in you, your wealth, and dignity, and wit, and reputation, or whatsoever it is for which you expect or desire to be remembered, it is all but poor despicable dust and ashes. And therefore you have just reason to abhor yourselves, and to dread the Divine Majesty, as I now advised you.
Your bodies; though they be not full of sores and boils as mine is, yet they are but dust, and to dust they shall return as well as mine. Heb. your backs, which, being the strongest part of the body, is put for the whole body. Or, your eminencies, or excellencies, as this word most properly signifies, as Hebricians observe; so it answers to their memorables. All those things wherein you do, or think that you do, excel others, are but like eminencies, or lumps, or heaps of clay, vain and useless things, if compared with the excellencies of God. Or, your heights, i.e. your lofty discourses, are like clay, i.e. without solidity and strength.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Your remembrances are like unto ashes,.... Either of things…
Your remembrances are like unto ashes,.... Either of things they put Job in remembrance of, the mementos which they had suggested to him; see Job 4:7; or the things which they had brought forth out of their memories, the instances they had given of what had been in the world, the arguments, objections, and reasonings, they had made use of in this controversy; their "memorable sentences" (e), as some render it, were of no more moment and importance than ashes, and easily blown away like them; or whatsoever was memorable in them, or they thought would perpetuate their memory hereafter, as their houses and lands, and towns and cities, called by their names, these memorials should perish, Psa 49:11; or their wealth and riches, their honour and glory, their learning, wisdom, and knowledge, all should fade, and come to nothing; the memory of the just indeed is blessed, the righteous are had in everlasting remembrance, because of their everlasting righteousness; but as anything else, that may be thought to be a remembrance of man, it is but as ashes, of little worth, gone, and often trampled upon; and men should remember that they are but dust and ashes, as Aben Ezra (f) observes, even in their best estate, in comparison of the excellency of God, before spoken of; and as Abraham confessed in the presence of God, Gen 18:27;
your bodies to bodies of clay; that is, are like to bodies of clay, to such as are made of clay after the similitude of human bodies; and such are the bodies of men themselves, they are of the earth, earthly, they are houses of clay, which have their foundation in the dust; earthen vessels, and earthly houses of this tabernacle, poor, mean, frail, brittle things, are crushed before the moth, and much more before the Almighty; the word is by some rendered "eminencies", the most eminent men; what is most eminent in them are like to "eminences of clay" (g), or heaps of dirt: some interpret this, as the former expression, of their words, reasonings, arguments, and objections; which though great swelling words, were vain and empty, mere bubbles, and though reckoned strong reasonings, unanswerable arguments, and objections, had no strength in them, but were to be easily thrown down like hillocks of clay; and though thought to be like shields, or high and strong fortresses, as some (h) take the word to signify, yet are but clayey ones.
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(e) "sententiae vestrae memorabiles", Schultens. (f) So the Tigurine version, "meminisse oportebat vos similea esse cineri". (g) "eminentiae vestrae, eminentiae luteae", Beza; so Bolducius. (h) So Cocceius, Beza.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Remembrance - Mouldering and coming to nothing. And the…
Remembrance - Mouldering and coming to nothing. And the consideration of our mortality should make us afraid of offending God. Your mementos are like unto ashes, contemptible and unprofitable.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 12. Your remembrances are like unto ashes] Your…
Verse 12. Your remembrances are like unto ashes] Your memorable sayings are proverbs of dust. This is properly the meaning of the original: זכרניכם משלי אפר zichroneycem mishley epher. This he speaks in reference to the ancient and reputedly wise sayings which they had so copiously quoted against him.
Your bodies to bodies of clay.] This clause is variously translated: Your swelling heaps are swelling heaps of mire. That is, Your high-flown speeches are dark, involved, and incoherent; they are all sound, no sense; great swelling words, either of difficult or no meaning, or of no point as applicable to my case.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Your remembrances are like unto ashes - There has…
Your remembrances are like unto ashes - There has been a considerable variety in the interpretation of this verse. The meaning in our common version is certainly not very clear. The Vulgate renders it, Memoria vestra comparabitur cineri. The Septuagint, Ἀποβήσεται δὲ ὑμῶν τὸ γαυρίαμα Ἶσα σποδᾷ Apobēsetai de humōn to gauriama isa spodō - “your boasting shall pass away like ashes.” Dr. Good renders it, “Dust are your stored-up sayings.” Noyes, “Your maxims are words of dust.” The word rendered “remembrances” זכרון zı̂krôn means properly “remembrance, memory,” Jos 4:7; Eze 12:14; then a “memento,” or “record;” then a “memorable saying, a maxim.” This is probably the meaning here; and the reference is to the apothegms or proverbs which they had so profusely uttered, and which they regarded as so profound and worthy of attention, but which Job was disposed to regard as most common-place, and to treat with contempt.
Are like unto ashes - That is, they are valueless. See the notes at Isa 44:20. Their maxims had about the same relation to true wisdom which ashes have to substantial and nutritious food. The Hebrew here (אפר משׁלי mâshaly 'êpher) is rather, “are parables of ashes;” - the word משׁל mâshâl meaning similitude, parable, proverb. This interpretation gives more force and beauty to the passage.
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Your bodies - - גביכם gabēykem Vulgate, “cervices.” Septuagint, τὸ δὲ σῶμα πήλινον to de sōma pēlinon - but the body is clay. The Hebrew word גב gab, means something gibbous (from where the word “gibbous” is derived), convex, arched; hence, the “back” of animals or human beings, Eze 10:12; the boss of a shield or buckler - the “gibbous,” or exterior convex part - Job 15:26; and then, according to Gesenius, an entrenchment, a fortress, a strong-hold. According to this interpretation, the passage here means, that the arguments behind which they entrenched themselves were like clay. They could not resist an attack made upon them, but would be easily thrown down, like mud walls. Grotius renders it, “Your towers (of defense) are tumult of clay.” Rosenmuller remarks on the verse that the ancients were accustomed to inscribe sentences of valuable historical facts on pillars. If these were engraved on stone, they would be permanent; if on pillars covered with clay, they would soon be obliterated. On a pillar or column at Aleandria, the architect cut his own name at the base deep in the stone. On the plaster or stucco with which the column was covered, he inscribed the name of the person to whose honor it was reared. The consequence was, that that name became soon obliterated; his own then appeared, and was permanent. But the meaning here is rather, that the apothegms and maxims behind which they entrenched themselves were like mud walls, and could not withstand an attack.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Necks. Septuagint, "body." Hebrew also, (Haydock) "heights," (Calmet) or…
Necks. Septuagint, "body." Hebrew also, (Haydock) "heights," (Calmet) or "fortifications." (Grotius)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain remembrances--"proverbial maxims," so called because well remembered.
remembrances--"proverbial maxims," so called because well remembered.
like unto ashes--or, "parables of ashes"; the image of lightness and nothingness (Isa 44:20).
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bodies--rather, "entrenchments"; those of clay, as opposed to those of stone, are easy to be destroyed; so the proverbs, behind which they entrench themselves, will not shelter them when God shall appear to reprove them for their injustice to Job.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 12. Remembrances — Memorable sayings.
12. Remembrances — Memorable sayings.
Like unto ashes — Are maxims of ashes. In the East, ashes are regarded as of no value, fit only to be trodden under foot, (Mal_4:3,) hence an image of worthlessness, Gen_18:27. Bodies — Strongholds. The original is נב, gab, a back, the boss of a shield, thence a bulwark, etc. “Bulwarks of clay” were easily demolished. In those days the tower of stone was the symbol of strength. The “old saws” of the friends were “proverbs of ashes,” their glittering bulwarks, “bulwarks of mud;” a strict parallelism of thought. In this contemptuous setting of their “remembrances,” zikronim, in similitudes of ashes and mud, there is a keen verbal thrust at the stately “Remember, I pray thee,” of Eliphaz. (Zekorna, Job_4:7.) Compare chap. Job_8:8.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 12. This verse reads,
12. This verse reads,
Your remembrances shall be proverbs of ashes,
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Your defences defences of dust.
The term “remembrances” means their traditional sayings, remembered from antiquity, their maxims, such as Bildad adduced, ch. 8, and Eliphaz with his Remember now! ch. Job_4:7; these shall be found to be but ashes, easily dissipated, and not able to resist. The word “defences” is used of the boss of the buckler, ch. Job_15:26, and may refer to some sort of breastwork or cover from which men assailed the enemy. These shall turn out defences of dust, lit clay, i. e. dried clay, which crumbles into dust. “Defences” here are not works for defence strictly but for offence, they are the arguments of the friends; cf. Isa_41:21, “strong reasons.” These great arguments which the friends used in defence of God against Job shall be found by them, when God searches them out, to be mere ashes and crumbling clay. So it turned out, cf. ch. Job_42:7 seq.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (12) Remembrances—i.e. “Wise and memorable saws of garnered wisdom…
(12) Remembrances—i.e. “Wise and memorable saws of garnered wisdom are proverbs of ashes, worthless as the dust, and fit for bodies of clay like your bodies.” Or, as some understand it, “Your high fabrics, or defences, are fabrics of clay,” as an independent parallelism.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Your remembrances are like unto ashes. The "remembrances" intended…
Your remembrances are like unto ashes. The "remembrances" intended are probably the wise saws, embodiments of the ancient wisdom, on which Job"s adversaries have relied in their disputations with him. (Job_4:7, 8 8:8-11, etc.) These Job declares to be mere dust and ashes useless, worthless, such as the first breath of air wilt blow away. Your bodies to bodies of clay; rather, your mounds"or your defences (see the Revised Version). These defences, Job saysi.e, the arguments by which his opponents support their views are no better than "defences of clay easy to batter down and destroy. The ancient defences of a town were usually either of stone, as at Khorsabad ("Ancient Monarchies," vol. 1. pp. 278, 279), or of crude brick faced with burnt brick, as at Babylon and elsewhere. But Job seems to be speaking of something more primitive than either of these mere earthworks, like the Roman aggera"hastily thrown up and easy to level with the ground.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 13:12 Ashes are worthless (cp. Isa 44:20).
13:12 Ashes are worthless (cp. Isa 44:20).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.