Yet he will be borne to the grave. Men will keep watch over the tomb.
Parallel Translations
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Yet he will be borne to the grave. Men will keep watch over the tomb.
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Yet shall he be brought to the grave, and shall remain in the tomb.
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For he is borne to the grave, and watch is kept over his tomb.
Cross-references (3)
Passages linked to Job 21:32 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Luke 16:22 The beggar died, and he was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died, and was buried.
- Psalms 49:14 They are appointed as a flock for Sheol. Death shall be their shepherd. The upright shall have dominion over them in the morning. Their beauty shall decay in Sheol, far from their mansion.
- Ezekiel 32:21-32 The strong among the mighty will speak to him out of the middle of Sheol with those who help him. They have gone down. The uncircumcised lie still, slain by the sword. “Asshur is there with all her company. Her graves are all around her. All of them slain, fallen by the sword; whose graves are set in the uttermost parts of the pit, and her company is around her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who caused terror in the land of the living. “There is Elam and all her multitude around her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who have gone down uncircumcised into the lower parts of the earth, who caused their terror in the land of the living, and have borne their shame with those who go down to the pit. They have set her a bed among the slain with all her multitude. Her graves are around her; all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for their terror was caused in the land of the living, and they have borne their shame with those who go down to the pit. He is put among those who are slain. “There is Meshech, Tubal, and all their multitude. Their graves are around them, all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for they caused their terror in the land of the living. They will not lie with the mighty who are fallen of the uncircumcised, who have gone down to Sheol with their weapons of war, and have laid their swords under their heads, and their iniquities are on their bones; for they were the terror of the mighty in the land of the living. “But you will be broken among the uncircumcised, and will lie with those who are slain by the sword. “There is Edom, her kings, and all her princes, who in their might are laid with those who are slain by the sword. They will lie with the uncircumcised, and with those who go down to the pit. “There are the princes of the north, all of them, and all the Sidonians, who have gone down with the slain. They are put to shame in the terror which they caused by their might. They lie uncircumcised with those who are slain by the sword, and bear their shame with those who go down to the pit. “Pharaoh will see them, and will be comforted over all his multitude, even Pharaoh and all his army, slain by the sword,” says the Lord Yahweh. “For I have put his terror in the land of the living. He will be laid among the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword, even Pharaoh and all his multitude,” says the Lord Yahweh.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Job 21:32 Yet shall he be brought to the…
Job 21:32 Yet shall he be brought to the grave, and shall remain in the tomb.
Ver. 32. Yet shall he be brought to the grave] He that was erst so stern and terrible shall shortly be laid low enough, and then leoni mortuo vel mus insultabit. the corpse of a lion or a leaping mouse. Though he were such a son of Belial that none could speak to him (as Nabal was, 1Sa 25:17), yet death will speak with him, and confute this proud haughty scorner, that dealeth in proud wrath. When death comes, saith Sir Walter Raleigh, which hates and destroys men, that is believed and obeyed; but God, that loveth and maketh men, he is not regarded. Oh mighty death! Oh eloquent death! whom none could advise, thou art able to prevail with.
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And shall remain in the tomb] Heb. He shall watch over the heap, super tumulum cumulo frugum in area constructo similem (Lavat.); as a watchman, there he is fixed and keeps this place. Or, He shall be watched in the tomb.
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 Yet, Heb. and. The pomp of his death shall…
Yet, Heb. and. The pomp of his death shall be suitable to the glory of his life.
Shall he be brought, with pomp and state, as the word signifies.
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To the grave, Heb. to the graves, i.e. to an honourable and eminent grave; the plural number being oft used emphatically to note eminency, as Job 40:10; Pro 1:20 Lam 3:22. He shall not die a violent, but a natural death, and shall lie in the bed of honour.
Shall remain in the tomb, Heb. shall watch (i.e. have a constant and fixed abode, as watchmen have in the watching-place) in the heap, i.e. in his grave, which is called a heap, either because the earth is there heaped up, or because it was adorned with some pyramid or other monument raised up to his honour. His body shall quietly rest in his grave or monument, where he shall be embalmed and preserved so entire and uncorrupted, that he might rather seem to be a living watchman, set there to guard the body, than to be a dead corpse.
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 The clods of the valley shall be sweet unto…
The clods of the valley shall be sweet unto him,.... Where he lies interred, alluding to places of interment at the bottom of hills, and mountains, and under rocks, in plains and vales, see Gen 35:8; and by this strong figure is signified, that the dead wicked man, lying in the clods of the valley in his grave, is in great repose, and in the utmost ease and quiet, feels no pains of body, nor has any uneasiness of mind concerning what befalls his posterity after his death, Job 14:21;
and every man shall draw after him, as there are innumerable before him; which either respects the pomp at his funeral procession, vast numbers being drawn and gathered together to gaze at it, as is common at grand funerals; and particularly, it may describe the multitude that go before the corpse, as well as those that follow after it; but rather as he is before represented as brought to his grave, and laid there, this clause is added, to denote the universality of death, it being common to all; thousands and ten thousands, even a number which no man can number, have gone before him by death into another world, as every man that comes after him must; and so this may prevent an objection to the grandeur of a wicked man, that after all he dies; but then death is no other than what is common to all men, to the vast multitudes that have gone before, and will be the case of all that come after, to the end of the world.
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 And - The pomp of his death shall be…
And - The pomp of his death shall be suitable to the glory of his life. Brought - With pomp and state, as the word signifies. Grave - Hebrew. to the graves; to an honourable and eminent grave: the plural number being used emphatically to denote eminency. He shall not die a violent but a natural death.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 32. Yet shall he be brought to the…
Verse 32. Yet shall he be brought to the grave] He shall die like other men; and the corruption of the grave shall prey upon him. Mr. Carlyle, in his specimens of Arabic poetry, Translations, p. 16, quotes this verse, which he translates and paraphrases, והוא לקברות יובל "He shall be brought to the grave," ועל גדוש ישקוד And shall watch upon the high-raised heap."
It was the opinion of the pagan Arabs, that upon the death of any person, a bird, by them called Manah, issued from the brain, and haunted the sepulchre of the deceased, uttering a lamentable scream. This notion, he adds, is evidently alluded to in Job 21:32. Thus Abusahel, on the death of his mistress: -
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"If her ghost's funereal screech
Through the earth my grave should reach,
On that voice I loved so well
My transported ghost would dwell."
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Job 21:32. Yet — Hebrew, And, the pomp of…
Job 21:32. Yet — Hebrew, And, the pomp of his death shall be suitable to the glory of his life; shall he be brought to the grave — With pomp and state, as the word יובל, jubal, signifies. Hebrew, לקברות, likbaroth, to the graves, that is, to an honourable and eminent grave; the plural number being often used emphatically to denote eminence. He shall not die a violent, but a natural death, and shall lie in the bed of honour. And shall remain in the tomb — Or, watch in the heap. His body shall quietly rest in his grave or monument, where he shall be embalmed and preserved so entire and uncorrupted that he might rather seem to be a living watchman, set there to guard the body, than to be a dead corpse. Hebrew, ישׁקוד
ועל גדישׁ, vegnal gadish jishkod, over the tomb he shall watch. “A stately monument,” says Bishop Patrick, “is raised to preserve his memory, and represent him as if he were still living.”
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 Yet shall he be brought to the grave -…
Yet shall he be brought to the grave - Margin, “graves.” That is, he is brought with honor and prosperity to the grave. He is not cut down by manifest divine displeasure for his sins. He is conducted to the grave as other people are, not withstanding his enormous wickedness. The “object” of this is clearly to state that he would not be overwhelmed with calamity, as the friends of Job had maintained, and that nothing could be determined in regard to his character from the divine dealings toward him in this life.
And shall remain in the tomb - Margin, “watch in the heap.” The marginal reading does not make sense, though it seems to be an exact translation of the Hebrew. Noyes renders it, “Yet he still survives upon his tomb.” Prof. Lee, “For the tomb was he watchful;” that is, his anxiety was to have an honored and a splendid burial. Wemyss, “They watch over his tomb;” that is, he is honored in his death, and his friends visit his tomb with affectionate solicitude, and keep watch over his grave. So Dr. Good renders it. Jerome translates it; “et in congerie mortuorum vigilabit.” The Septuagint, “And he shall be borne to the graves, and he shall watch over the tombs;” or, he shall cause a watch to be kept over his tomb - ἐπὶ σωρῶν ἠγρύπνησεν epi sōrōn ēgrupnēsen. Amidst this variety of interpretation, it is not easy to determine the true sense of the passage. The “general” meaning is not difficult.
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It is, that he should be honored even in his death; that he would live in prosperity, and be buried with magnificence. There would be nothing in his death or burial which would certainly show that God regarded him as a wicked man. But there is considerable difficulty in determining the exact sense of the original words. The word rendered “tomb” in the text and “heap” in the margin (גדישׁ gâdı̂ysh) occurs only in the following places, Exo 22:6; Job 5:26; Jdg 15:5, where it is rendered “a shock of corn,” and in this place. The “verb” in the Syriac, Arabic, and in Chaldee, means “to heap up” (see Castell), and the noun may denote, therefore, a stack, or a heap, of grain, or a tomb, that was made by a pile of earth, or stones. The ancient “tumuli” were there heaps of earth or stone, and probably such a pile was made usually over a grave as a monument. On the meaning of the word used here, the reader may consult Bochart, Hieroz. P. i.
L. iii. c. xiii. p. 853. There can be little doubt that it here means a tomb, or a monument raised over a tomb. There is more difficulty about the word rendered “shall remain” (ישׁקוד yı̂shqôd). This properly means, to wake, to be watchful, to be sleepless. So the Chaldee שקד, and the Arabic “dakash” The verb is commonly rendered in the Scriptures, “watch,” or “waketh.” See Psa 127:1; Psa 102:7; Jer 31:28; Jer 1:12; Jer 5:6; Jer 44:27; Isa 29:20; Ezr 8:29; Dan 9:14. There is usually in the word the notion of “watching,” with a view to guarding, or protecting, as when one watches a vineyard, a house, or other property. The sense here is, probably, that his tomb should be carefully “watched” by friends, and the verb is probably taken impersonally, or used to denote that “someone” would watch over his grave. This might be either as a proof of affection, or to keep it in repair. One of the most painful ideas might have been then, as it is now among American savages (Bancroft’s History of the United States, vol. iii. p. 299), that of having the grave left or violated, and it may have been regarded as a special honor to have had friends, who would come and watch over their sepulchre.
According to this view, the meaning is, that the wicked man was often honorably buried; that a monument was reared to his memory; and that every mark of attention was paid to him after he was dead. Numbers followed him to his burial, and friends came and wept with affection around his tomb. The argument of Job is, that there was no such distinction between the lives and death of the righteous and the wicked as to make it possible to determine the character; and is it not so still? The wicked man often dies in a palace, and with all the comforts that every clime can furnish to alleviate his pain, and to soothe him in his dying moments. He lies upon a bed of down; friends attend him with unwearied care; the skill of medicine is exhausted to restore him, and there is every indication of grief at his death. So, in the place of his burial, a monument of finest marble, sculptured with all the skill of art, is reared over his grave. An inscription, beautiful as taste can make it, proclaims his virtues to the traveler and the stranger. Friends go and plant roses over his grave, that breathe forth their odors around the spot where he lies. Who, from the dying scene, the funeral, the monument, the attendants, would suppose that he was a man whom God abhorred, and whose soul was already in hell? This is the argument of Job, and of its solidity no one can doubt.
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 Dead. Hebrew, "the sheaves," being quite ripe for harvest,…
Dead. Hebrew, "the sheaves," being quite ripe for harvest, and even in the tomb, the tyrant retains some sore of pre-eminence, as he is buried with honour, an set like a more elevated sheaf, to inspect the rest. (Calmet) --- Godiss, is rendered by Protestants, "tomb," (margin) "heap." But (chap. v. 26.) where only the word occurs again, we find "a shock of corn," and this comparison seems very suitable here. The damned shall watch, alas, when it will be to no purpose, among the heap of fellow-sufferers, who would not think while they had time to repent. After millions of night spent thus without sleep or ease, we may imagine we hear their mournful lamentations from the depth of the abyss. Always misery! and never any hope of ease! (Haydock) --- "Eternity," says Bridayne, (ser. in Maury’s Eloq.) "is a pendulum, the vibration of which sounds continually, Always! Never! In the mean while, a reprobate cries out: What o’clock is it? And the same voice answers, Eternity!" Thus at last the wicked shal awake from the sleep in which they have spent their days; (Haydock) and their watching, restless, and immortal souls (St. Thomas Aquinas) will bitterly lament their past folly. What profit will they derive from the honours paid to their corpse by surviving friends, (Haydock) even though they be embalmed, and seem to live in marble statues? (Pineda)
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 Yet--rather, "and."
Yet--rather, "and."
brought--with solemn pomp (Psa 45:15).
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grave--literally, "graves"; that is, the place where the graves are.
remain in--rather, watch on the tomb, or sepulchral mound. Even after death he seems still to live and watch (that is, have his "remembrance" preserved) by means of the monument over the grave. In opposition to Bildad (Job 18:17).
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 32. The grave — Like “dwelling-places” in Job_21:28, “the…
32. The grave — Like “dwelling-places” in Job_21:28, “the graves” here is an amplificative plural. (Delitzsch.)
Brought — The idea of pomp, or ceremony, is involved in the word youbal. The magnificence displayed by the ancient Egyptians in the burial of their dead surpasses description. (See CAREY’S Job, p. 458.)
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Shall remain in the tomb — Shall watch over the tomb. Mercerus remarks: “The dead is said to watch in the sepulchre; since there he is assiduous; there assiduously remains! — never thence departs.” Renan surmises that there may be an allusion to the threatening inscriptions against those who profane the abodes of the dead, (see note Job_18:16,) which will remind of Shakspeare’s curse against him who should disturb his bones. A better view is, that the wicked, instead of perishing from remembrance, as Bildad had said, (Job_18:17,) lives on either in the affection that cares for his tomb, or in the splendid memorial crowning the sepulchral height. There may be an allusion, says Hengstenberg, to the Egyptian custom of placing in the tomb an image of the dead, either as a statue or a painting on the wall.
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 32. Yet shall he be brought] Rather, and he…
32. Yet shall he be brought] Rather, and he is carried, as above. Comp. ch. Job_10:19, where Job uses the same language of his own burial. The word is that used in Job_21:30 (led forth, cf. reff.), and suggests the pomp and slow solemnity of his interment.
shall remain in the tomb] Rather, as above, keep watch over his tomb, lit. his heap (ch. Job_5:26 of a heap of sheaves), meaning the monument raised over him. This may have been first a heap of stones, but naturally the word might be used in a wider sense of any sepulchral monument. This is watched against desecration. In the Sidonian inscription on the tomb of Eshmun‘azar that monarch utters deep curses against any who shall violate his grave. Instead of “they keep watch” others render “he watches,” considering the reference to be to the effigy of the deceased graven upon his sarcophagus. The practice of making such an effigy was common in Egypt, and the Author of the Book might be familiar with it. But the practice was not unknown elsewhere. The sarcophagus of Eshmun’azar has such an effigy, the inscription of 22 lines being cut upon the breast and body of the figure, and again in part around the head. The Author of the Book is fond of alluding to customs and things not specifically Hebrew. At the same time, whether we render “they watch over,” or “he watches upon,” the words might be used in a less precise sense, meaning in the one case that they looked with respect or reverence to his place of sepulture, and in the other that his memory and life were perpetuated in the monument upon his tomb.
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32, 33. The wicked man is buried in honour; and his example followed.
32 And he is carried to the grave,
And they keep watch over his tomb;
33 The clods of the valley are sweet unto him;
And all men draw after him,
As there were innumerable before him.
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 (32) And shall remain in the tomb.—The word rendered…
(32) And shall remain in the tomb.—The word rendered tomb is rendered shock of corn in Job_5:26, and is not found in the sense of tomb elsewhere. It is doubtful, therefore, whether this is its meaning here. The verse may mean: “He shall be borne to the grave, and men shall watch over his sheaves,” i.e., his possessions; or “He shall be borne to the grave with as much deference as when he used to watch over his sheaves” (to protect them from robbery).
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 Yet shall he be brought to the grave; rather,…
Yet shall he be brought to the grave; rather, he moreover is borne (in pomp) to the grave. Even in death the advantage is still with the wicked man. He is borne in procession to the grave a mausoleum or a family vault by a long train of mourners, who weep and lament for him, and pay him funeral honours. The poor virtuous man, on the other hand, is hastily thrust under the soil. And shall remain in in the tomb; or shall keep watch over his tomb. The allusion is probably to the custom, common certainly in Egypt and Phoenicia, of carving a figure of the deceased on the lid of his sarcophagus, to keep as it were watch over the remains deposited within. The figure was sometimes accompanied by an inscription, denouncing curses on those who should dare to violate the tomb or disturb the remains (see "Records of the Past," vol. 9. pp. 112-114; and compare the author"s "History of Phoenicia," pp. 393-395).
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.