Exodus 5:2(v15)Pharaoh said, “Who is Yahweh, that I should listen to his voice to let Israel go? I don’t know Yahweh, and moreover I will not let Israel…
Job 22:17(v14)who said to God, ‘Depart from us;’ and, ‘What can the Almighty do for us?’
Job 34:9(v15)For he has said, ‘It profits a man nothing that he should delight himself with God.’
Job 36:11(v13)If they listen and serve him, they will spend their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasures.
Romans 8:7(v14)because the mind of the flesh is hostile toward God; for it is not subject to God’s law, neither indeed can it be.
Show all 38 cross-references
Psalms 10:4(v14)The wicked, in the pride of his face, has no room in his thoughts for God.
Malachi 1:13-14(v15)You say also, ‘Behold, what a weariness it is!’ and you have sniffed at it”, says Yahweh of Armies; “and you have brought that which was…
2 Thessalonians 2:10-12(v14)and with all deception of wickedness for those who are being lost, because they didn’t receive the love of the truth, that they might be…
Genesis 4:21(v12)His brother’s name was Jubal, who was the father of all who handle the harp and pipe.
Psalms 12:4(v15)who have said, “With our tongue we will prevail. Our lips are our own. Who is lord over us?”
Proverbs 1:29(v14)because they hated knowledge, and didn’t choose the fear of Yahweh.
Proverbs 30:9(v15)lest I be full, deny you, and say, ‘Who is Yahweh?’ or lest I be poor, and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.
Isaiah 5:12(v12)The harp, lyre, tambourine, and flute, with wine, are at their feasts; but they don’t respect the work of Yahweh, neither have they…
Isaiah 30:11(v15)Get out of the way. Turn away from the path. Cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.”
Amos 6:4-6(v12)Who lie on beds of ivory, and stretch themselves on their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the middle of…
John 3:19-20(v14)This is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their works were evil.…
John 15:23-24(v14)He who hates me, hates my Father also. If I hadn’t done among them the works which no one else did, they wouldn’t have had sin. But now…
2 Timothy 4:3-4(v14)For the time will come when they will not listen to the sound doctrine, but having itching ears, will heap up for themselves teachers after…
Genesis 31:27(v12)Why did you flee secretly, and deceive me, and didn’t tell me, that I might have sent you away with mirth and with songs, with tambourine…
Job 35:3(v15)that you ask, ‘What advantage will it be to you? What profit will I have, more than if I had sinned?’
Psalms 10:11(v14)He says in his heart, “God has forgotten. He hides his face. He will never see it.”
Psalms 73:4(v13)For there are no struggles in their death, but their strength is firm.
Psalms 107:41(v11)Yet he lifts the needy out of their affliction, and increases their families like a flock.
Psalms 127:3-5(v11)Behold, children are a heritage of Yahweh. The fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows in the hand of a mighty man, so are the children…
Proverbs 1:7(v14)The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of knowledge; but the foolish despise wisdom and instruction.
Proverbs 1:22(v14)“How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity? How long will mockers delight themselves in mockery, and fools hate knowledge?
Isaiah 22:13(v12)and behold, joy and gladness, killing cattle and killing sheep, eating meat and drinking wine: “Let’s eat and drink, for tomorrow we will…
Isaiah 45:19(v15)I have not spoken in secret, in a place of the land of darkness. I didn’t say to the offspring of Jacob, ‘Seek me in vain.’ I, Yahweh,…
Hosea 13:6(v15)According to their pasture, so were they filled; they were filled, and their heart was exalted. Therefore they have forgotten me.
Habakkuk 1:15(v14)He takes up all of them with the hook. He catches them in his net, and gathers them in his dragnet. Therefore he rejoices and is glad.
Matthew 24:38-39(v13)For as in those days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah…
Luke 8:28(v14)When he saw Jesus, he cried out, and fell down before him, and with a loud voice said, “What do I have to do with you, Jesus, you Son of…
Luke 8:37(v14)All the people of the surrounding country of the Gadarenes asked him to depart from them, for they were very much afraid. Then he entered…
Luke 12:19-20(v13)I will tell my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years. Take your ease, eat, drink, and be merry.” ’ “But God said to him,…
Luke 17:28-29(v13)Likewise, even as it was in the days of Lot: they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but in the day that…
John 8:45-47(v14)But because I tell the truth, you don’t believe me. Which of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? He who…
Romans 1:28(v14)Even as they refused to have God in their knowledge, God gave them up to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not fitting;
Matthew 7:7(v15)“Ask, and it will be given you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened for you.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (17 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Geneva Bible translators1599 · Public DomainOn vv11, 13, 14They have store of children, lusty and healthful, and…
They have store of children, lusty and healthful, and in these points he answereth to that which Zophar alleged before.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp1656 · Public DomainOn vv11–15Job 21:11 They send forth their little ones like…
Job 21:11 They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance.
Ver. 11. They send forth their little ones like a flock] Sunt qui de eorum vitulis intelligunt recens natis, saith Mercer. Some understand it to be young calves, but better of young children, which have here their name from a root which signifieth wickedness, naughtiness, to show what little ones are, not innocents, as we call them, not pueri quasi puri; νηπιος, is both a fool and a child. The first blanket wherein a child is wrapped, is woven of sin, shame, blood, and filth, Eze 16:4; Eze 16:6. Hence infants were circumcised, and their foreskin cast away, to show that they themselves had deserved to be so served. Parents therefore should strive to mend that by education which they have marred by propagation. Wicked parents think not on this, though they send out their little ones like a flock, but tend them not, keep them not from the wolf of hell, who seeketh to devour them.
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And their children dance] Exiliunt, vitulantur, choreas ducunt, they skip and leap up and down, as young cattle, and are taught to dance artificially, which no sober man will do, saith Cicero, Nemo sobrius saltat. And, the better dancer the worse man, said Diogenes.
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 Poole1685 · Public DomainOn vv11, 13, 14, 15Like a flock of sheep or goats, as the…
Like a flock of sheep or goats, as the word signifies; in great numbers, and with sweet concord; which is a singular delight to them and to their parents.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill1763 · Public DomainOn vv11–15They take the timbrel and harp,.... Not the children,…
They take the timbrel and harp,.... Not the children, but the parents of them; these took these instruments of music into their hands, and played upon them while their children danced; thus merrily they spent their time: or, as Jarchi and Aben Ezra, they lift up the voice with the tabret and harp; that is, while they played on these with their hands, they sung songs with their mouths; they used both vocal and instrumental music together, to make the greater harmony, and give the greater pleasure, like those in Amo 6:5;
and rejoice at the sound of the organ; a musical instrument, very pleasant and entertaining, from whence it has its name in the Hebrew tongue; but of what form it was cannot be with certainty said; that which we now so call is of later invention, and unknown in those times: probably Job may have respect to Jubal, the inventor of this sort of music, and others of the posterity of Cain before the flood, who practised it, and were delighted in it; in which they were imitated and followed by wicked men after it, and in Job's time, Gen 4:21.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley1765 · Public DomainOn vv13–14Moment - They do not die of a lingering…
Moment - They do not die of a lingering and tormenting disease.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke1810 · Public DomainOn vv11–15Verse 11. They send forth their little ones] It…
Verse 11. They send forth their little ones] It is not very clear whether this refers to the young of the flocks or to their children. The first clause may mean the former, the next clause the latter; while the young of their cattle are in flocks, their numerous children are healthy and vigorous, and dance for joy.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson1811 · Public DomainOn vv13–15Job 21:13. They spend their days in wealth —…
Job 21:13. They spend their days in wealth — Hebrews בשׂוב, batob, in good: εν αγαθοις, LXX., in good things: in deliciis, in delights, Arab. ver: that is, in the enjoyment of all the good things of this life without any mixture of evil. And in a moment go down to the grave — They do not die of a lingering disease, as many good men die, but suddenly and sweetly.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes1834 · Public DomainOn vv11–15They send forth their little ones - Their numerous…
They send forth their little ones - Their numerous and happy children they send forth to plays and pastimes.
Like a flock - In great numbers. This is an exquisitely beautiful image of prosperity. What can be more so than a group of happy children around a man’s dwelling?
Read full note →
And their children dance - Dance for joy. They are playful and sportive, like the lambs of the flock. It is the skip of playfulness and exultation that is referred to here, and not the set and formal dance where children are instructed in the art; the sportiveness of children in the fields, the woods, and on the lawn, and not the set step taught in the dancing-school. The word used here (רקד râqad), means “to leap, to skip” - as from joy, and then to dance. Jerome has well rendered it, “exultant lusibus” - “they leap about in their plays.” So the Septuagint, προσπαίζουσιν prospaizousin - “they frolic” or “play.” There is no evidence here that Job meant to say that they taught their children to dance; that they caused them to be trained in anything that now corresponds to dancing-schools; and that he meant to say that such a training was improper and tended to exclude God from the heart.
The image is one simply of health, abundance, exuberance of feeling, cheerfulness, prosperity. The houses were free from alarms; the fields were filled with herds and flocks, and their families of happy and playful children were around them. The object of Job was not to say that all this was in itself wrong, but that it was a plain matter of fact that God did not take away the comforts of all the wicked and overwhelm them with calamity. Of the impropriety of training children in a dancing-school, there ought to be but one opinion among the friends of religion (see National Preacher for January 1844), but there is no evidence that Job referred to any such training here, “and” this passage should not be adduced to prove that dancing is wrong. It refers to the playfulness and the cheerful sports of children, and God has made them so that they “will” find pleasure in such sports, and so that they are benefited by them. There is not a more lovely picture of happiness and of the benevolence of God any where on earth than in such groups of children, and in their sportiveness and playfulness there is no more that is wrong than there is in the gambols of the lambs of the flock.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary1859 · Public DomainOn vv11, 13, 14Their. Septuagint, "They continue like eternal sheep, as if…
Their. Septuagint, "They continue like eternal sheep, as if they and their flocks would never die. (Calmet) --- And play, is to shew the nature of the dance. It is not in Hebrew. (Haydock) --- The children are healthy and sportive. (Menochius) --- Septuagint, "they play before them." (Haydock)
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 Brown1871 · Public DomainOn vv11–15send forth--namely, out of doors, to their happy sports…
send forth--namely, out of doors, to their happy sports under the skies, like a joyful flock sent to the pastures.
little ones--like lambkins.
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children--somewhat older than the former.
dance--not formal dances; but skip, like lambs, in joyous and healthful play.
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. Whedon1874 · Public DomainOn vv11–1511. Like a flock — His wounded heart conceives…
11. Like a flock — His wounded heart conceives of the choicest of God’s gifts under the beautiful figure of a flock. Epiphanius has observed that in the early ages of the world the child rarely died before the parent. Hence the emphasis laid upon the death of Haran before that of his father, Terah, (Gen_11:28,) who, he thinks, was thus punished for his idolatry. (Jos_24:2; Jos_24:14.) The thought of his dead family must have added to the perplexities of Job, and may account somewhat for his confusion as to the moral government of God.
Children dance — וקד, jump about, (Delitzsch,) like the young of the flocks. The children of the wicked disport themselves under the skies (this is implied by ישׁלחו, they send them forth, namely, out of doors) like the sheep of the pastures. (Umbreit.) There is no evidence that their diversion corresponded to the modern dance. The harmless frolicking of the children was simply one of the features of domestic happiness that crowned the homes of the wicked. While the passage has no bearing on the question of dancing, as such, it is not unworthy of remark that the moralist, having in view the well-being of the soul, has ever felt himself called upon to condemn dancing as practiced in modern times.
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 Colleges1878 · Public DomainOn vv11–1411. Their children, numerous like the flock and happy…
11. Their children, numerous like the flock and happy like the lambs, skip in their glee and sport.
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 Readers1878 · Public DomainOn vv11, 13, 14(11, 12) They send forth their little ones .…
(11, 12) They send forth their little ones . . .—In striking contrast to the fate of Job’s own children, and in contradiction to what Eliphaz had said (Job_15:29-33).
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary1880 · Public DomainOn vv11–15They send forth their little ones like a flock.…
They send forth their little ones like a flock. Free, i.e. joyful and frolicsome, to disport themselves as they please. The picture is charmingly idyllic. And their children dance. Frisk, i.e. "and skip, and leap," like the young of cattle full of health, anti in the enjoyment of plenty" (Lee).
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator1887 · Public DomainOn vv13–15And in a moment go down to the grave.
Job_21:13
And in a moment go down to the grave.
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Things contingent upon a moment
Whatever begins, begins in a moment, and whatever ends, ends in a moment. Thoughts and purposes are formed in a moment--plans contemplated for years are decided in a moment--instantaneously. In so short a space everything comes to life and expires. In a moment we plant seed which takes centuries to grow, but which, in a moment only, the storm may cast down to the ground. The lightning may, in a moment, blast the work of a thousand years. A mans character may be ruined in a moment. In a little space of time it begins to go down. Break the law of gravitation, and crash would go creation. Job is moralising thus with his friends, and it seems to him strange that one event befalls the righteous and the wicked. It is a quick text, and has a sudden termination.
1. Life is a very little thing. It may be crushed as we would crush an eggshell. It need not take an hour to strike the blow which shall shiver it. Indeed, the wonder is that with such a little thing we live at all, for death is lurking all around us--the destructive forces so thick, that it seems as if the earth was made of nothing else. The pestilence rings at no mans door to toll of its coming, but it comes suddenly, and sweeps hundreds of men into the tomb. We stand on the graves brink every day.
2. Some men think death to be a long way off when the precipice is right at their side, and they are liable to fall into it at any moment. The young are not more free from the enemies of destruction than their parents. The great and the small, the good and the evil, are taken away in a moment. What is to rescue us from deaths dominion? Moses on Pisgahs top might plead that he was but 120 years old, that his eye was not dim, that he greatly desired to enter the promised land, but the plea was too weak, and he laid him down there on the top of the Mount. The man of business may plead that he is young and healthy, and his plans not yet accomplished; but death is inexorable, and he bows his head and gives up the ghost. Charles I and Marie Antoinette might plead their royal blood, or the popular will in their exaltation, but the executioners axe severed their heads and their excuses in a moment. Death cares for none of these things.
3. How suddenly, too, his arrows fly. Like that night in Egypt, when suddenly at midnight the gleam of the destroying angels sword was seen in the darkness, and, in a moment, the firstborn of all that land passed from life to death. The kings son and the chained captive lie side by side in deaths embrace, and a kingdom is in tears. How sudden the exit of Dickens, Thackeray, and others, hurried off ere their last chapter was written and last page dried. And sometimes death aggravates his work, and takes thousands on the battlefield, and hacks and tears them ¢o pieces; or, on the steamer, burns and scalds their flesh from their bones. Learn from destructive forces being near not to tempt Providence by carelessness and negligence. A great deal is sot down to Providence which should be set down to ourselves. And let us be always ready, since but a step between us and the grave! (Anon.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield1917 · Public DomainOn v13Heb. "Sheol," (See Scofield "Hab 2:5")
grave
Heb. "Sheol," (See Scofield "Hab 2:5")
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0On v13Connecting Statement:
Connecting Statement:
Job continues speaking with his friends.
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their days
"their lifetime"
they go down quietly to Sheol
This is a polite way of saying that they die. AT: "they die peacefully" (See: Euphemism)
your ways
This refers to how God wants people to behave.
What is the Almighty, that we should worship him? What advantage would we get if we prayed to him?
The wicked people use these questions to mock God. AT: "We do not believe that this Almighty God is worthy of our worship. He can do nothing for us." (See: Rhetorical Question)
GEBible — Godless Engineer's Bible App
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv11, 13, 14 They have store of children, lusty and healthful, and…
They have store of children, lusty and healthful, and in these points he answereth to that which Zophar alleged before.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv11–15 Job 21:11 They send forth their little ones like…
Job 21:11 They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance.
Ver. 11. They send forth their little ones like a flock] Sunt qui de eorum vitulis intelligunt recens natis, saith Mercer. Some understand it to be young calves, but better of young children, which have here their name from a root which signifieth wickedness, naughtiness, to show what little ones are, not innocents, as we call them, not pueri quasi puri; νηπιος, is both a fool and a child. The first blanket wherein a child is wrapped, is woven of sin, shame, blood, and filth, Eze 16:4; Eze 16:6. Hence infants were circumcised, and their foreskin cast away, to show that they themselves had deserved to be so served. Parents therefore should strive to mend that by education which they have marred by propagation. Wicked parents think not on this, though they send out their little ones like a flock, but tend them not, keep them not from the wolf of hell, who seeketh to devour them.
Read full note →
And their children dance] Exiliunt, vitulantur, choreas ducunt, they skip and leap up and down, as young cattle, and are taught to dance artificially, which no sober man will do, saith Cicero, Nemo sobrius saltat. And, the better dancer the worse man, said Diogenes.
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 On vv11, 13, 14, 15 Like a flock of sheep or goats, as the…
Like a flock of sheep or goats, as the word signifies; in great numbers, and with sweet concord; which is a singular delight to them and to their parents.
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 On vv11–15 They take the timbrel and harp,.... Not the children,…
They take the timbrel and harp,.... Not the children, but the parents of them; these took these instruments of music into their hands, and played upon them while their children danced; thus merrily they spent their time: or, as Jarchi and Aben Ezra, they lift up the voice with the tabret and harp; that is, while they played on these with their hands, they sung songs with their mouths; they used both vocal and instrumental music together, to make the greater harmony, and give the greater pleasure, like those in Amo 6:5;
and rejoice at the sound of the organ; a musical instrument, very pleasant and entertaining, from whence it has its name in the Hebrew tongue; but of what form it was cannot be with certainty said; that which we now so call is of later invention, and unknown in those times: probably Job may have respect to Jubal, the inventor of this sort of music, and others of the posterity of Cain before the flood, who practised it, and were delighted in it; in which they were imitated and followed by wicked men after it, and in Job's time, Gen 4:21.
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 On vv13–14 Moment - They do not die of a lingering…
Moment - They do not die of a lingering and tormenting disease.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv11–15 Verse 11. They send forth their little ones] It…
Verse 11. They send forth their little ones] It is not very clear whether this refers to the young of the flocks or to their children. The first clause may mean the former, the next clause the latter; while the young of their cattle are in flocks, their numerous children are healthy and vigorous, and dance for joy.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv13–15 Job 21:13. They spend their days in wealth —…
Job 21:13. They spend their days in wealth — Hebrews בשׂוב, batob, in good: εν αγαθοις, LXX., in good things: in deliciis, in delights, Arab. ver: that is, in the enjoyment of all the good things of this life without any mixture of evil. And in a moment go down to the grave — They do not die of a lingering disease, as many good men die, but suddenly and sweetly.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv11–15 They send forth their little ones - Their numerous…
They send forth their little ones - Their numerous and happy children they send forth to plays and pastimes.
Like a flock - In great numbers. This is an exquisitely beautiful image of prosperity. What can be more so than a group of happy children around a man’s dwelling?
Read full note →
And their children dance - Dance for joy. They are playful and sportive, like the lambs of the flock. It is the skip of playfulness and exultation that is referred to here, and not the set and formal dance where children are instructed in the art; the sportiveness of children in the fields, the woods, and on the lawn, and not the set step taught in the dancing-school. The word used here (רקד râqad), means “to leap, to skip” - as from joy, and then to dance. Jerome has well rendered it, “exultant lusibus” - “they leap about in their plays.” So the Septuagint, προσπαίζουσιν prospaizousin - “they frolic” or “play.” There is no evidence here that Job meant to say that they taught their children to dance; that they caused them to be trained in anything that now corresponds to dancing-schools; and that he meant to say that such a training was improper and tended to exclude God from the heart.
The image is one simply of health, abundance, exuberance of feeling, cheerfulness, prosperity. The houses were free from alarms; the fields were filled with herds and flocks, and their families of happy and playful children were around them. The object of Job was not to say that all this was in itself wrong, but that it was a plain matter of fact that God did not take away the comforts of all the wicked and overwhelm them with calamity. Of the impropriety of training children in a dancing-school, there ought to be but one opinion among the friends of religion (see National Preacher for January 1844), but there is no evidence that Job referred to any such training here, “and” this passage should not be adduced to prove that dancing is wrong. It refers to the playfulness and the cheerful sports of children, and God has made them so that they “will” find pleasure in such sports, and so that they are benefited by them. There is not a more lovely picture of happiness and of the benevolence of God any where on earth than in such groups of children, and in their sportiveness and playfulness there is no more that is wrong than there is in the gambols of the lambs of the flock.
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 On vv11, 13, 14 Their. Septuagint, "They continue like eternal sheep, as if…
Their. Septuagint, "They continue like eternal sheep, as if they and their flocks would never die. (Calmet) --- And play, is to shew the nature of the dance. It is not in Hebrew. (Haydock) --- The children are healthy and sportive. (Menochius) --- Septuagint, "they play before them." (Haydock)
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 On vv11–15 send forth--namely, out of doors, to their happy sports…
send forth--namely, out of doors, to their happy sports under the skies, like a joyful flock sent to the pastures.
little ones--like lambkins.
Read full note →
children--somewhat older than the former.
dance--not formal dances; but skip, like lambs, in joyous and healthful play.
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 On vv11–15 11. Like a flock — His wounded heart conceives…
11. Like a flock — His wounded heart conceives of the choicest of God’s gifts under the beautiful figure of a flock. Epiphanius has observed that in the early ages of the world the child rarely died before the parent. Hence the emphasis laid upon the death of Haran before that of his father, Terah, (Gen_11:28,) who, he thinks, was thus punished for his idolatry. (Jos_24:2; Jos_24:14.) The thought of his dead family must have added to the perplexities of Job, and may account somewhat for his confusion as to the moral government of God.
Children dance — וקד, jump about, (Delitzsch,) like the young of the flocks. The children of the wicked disport themselves under the skies (this is implied by ישׁלחו, they send them forth, namely, out of doors) like the sheep of the pastures. (Umbreit.) There is no evidence that their diversion corresponded to the modern dance. The harmless frolicking of the children was simply one of the features of domestic happiness that crowned the homes of the wicked. While the passage has no bearing on the question of dancing, as such, it is not unworthy of remark that the moralist, having in view the well-being of the soul, has ever felt himself called upon to condemn dancing as practiced in modern times.
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 On vv11–14 11. Their children, numerous like the flock and happy…
11. Their children, numerous like the flock and happy like the lambs, skip in their glee and sport.
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 On vv11, 13, 14 (11, 12) They send forth their little ones .…
(11, 12) They send forth their little ones . . .—In striking contrast to the fate of Job’s own children, and in contradiction to what Eliphaz had said (Job_15:29-33).
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 On vv11–15 They send forth their little ones like a flock.…
They send forth their little ones like a flock. Free, i.e. joyful and frolicsome, to disport themselves as they please. The picture is charmingly idyllic. And their children dance. Frisk, i.e. "and skip, and leap," like the young of cattle full of health, anti in the enjoyment of plenty" (Lee).
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv13–15 And in a moment go down to the grave.
Job_21:13
And in a moment go down to the grave.
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Things contingent upon a moment
Whatever begins, begins in a moment, and whatever ends, ends in a moment. Thoughts and purposes are formed in a moment--plans contemplated for years are decided in a moment--instantaneously. In so short a space everything comes to life and expires. In a moment we plant seed which takes centuries to grow, but which, in a moment only, the storm may cast down to the ground. The lightning may, in a moment, blast the work of a thousand years. A mans character may be ruined in a moment. In a little space of time it begins to go down. Break the law of gravitation, and crash would go creation. Job is moralising thus with his friends, and it seems to him strange that one event befalls the righteous and the wicked. It is a quick text, and has a sudden termination.
1. Life is a very little thing. It may be crushed as we would crush an eggshell. It need not take an hour to strike the blow which shall shiver it. Indeed, the wonder is that with such a little thing we live at all, for death is lurking all around us--the destructive forces so thick, that it seems as if the earth was made of nothing else. The pestilence rings at no mans door to toll of its coming, but it comes suddenly, and sweeps hundreds of men into the tomb. We stand on the graves brink every day.
2. Some men think death to be a long way off when the precipice is right at their side, and they are liable to fall into it at any moment. The young are not more free from the enemies of destruction than their parents. The great and the small, the good and the evil, are taken away in a moment. What is to rescue us from deaths dominion? Moses on Pisgahs top might plead that he was but 120 years old, that his eye was not dim, that he greatly desired to enter the promised land, but the plea was too weak, and he laid him down there on the top of the Mount. The man of business may plead that he is young and healthy, and his plans not yet accomplished; but death is inexorable, and he bows his head and gives up the ghost. Charles I and Marie Antoinette might plead their royal blood, or the popular will in their exaltation, but the executioners axe severed their heads and their excuses in a moment. Death cares for none of these things.
3. How suddenly, too, his arrows fly. Like that night in Egypt, when suddenly at midnight the gleam of the destroying angels sword was seen in the darkness, and, in a moment, the firstborn of all that land passed from life to death. The kings son and the chained captive lie side by side in deaths embrace, and a kingdom is in tears. How sudden the exit of Dickens, Thackeray, and others, hurried off ere their last chapter was written and last page dried. And sometimes death aggravates his work, and takes thousands on the battlefield, and hacks and tears them ¢o pieces; or, on the steamer, burns and scalds their flesh from their bones. Learn from destructive forces being near not to tempt Providence by carelessness and negligence. A great deal is sot down to Providence which should be set down to ourselves. And let us be always ready, since but a step between us and the grave! (Anon.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v13 Heb. "Sheol," (See Scofield "Hab 2:5")
grave
Heb. "Sheol," (See Scofield "Hab 2:5")
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v13 Connecting Statement:
Connecting Statement:
Job continues speaking with his friends.
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their days
"their lifetime"
they go down quietly to Sheol
This is a polite way of saying that they die. AT: "they die peacefully" (See: Euphemism)
your ways
This refers to how God wants people to behave.
What is the Almighty, that we should worship him? What advantage would we get if we prayed to him?
The wicked people use these questions to mock God. AT: "We do not believe that this Almighty God is worthy of our worship. He can do nothing for us." (See: Rhetorical Question)
translationWords
prosper
Hades
God
know
Almighty
worship
pray
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.