Job 14:18
in Job 14But as a mountain erodes and crumbles and a rock is dislodged from its place,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But the mountain falling cometh to nought; And the rock is removed out of its place;
KJV
And surely the mountain falling cometh to nought, and the rock is removed out of his place.
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This verse in Job 14
Commentary
7 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
as a mountain erodes and crumbles
on Job 14:18-19
The mountain that "erodes and crumbles" and the rock "dislodged from its place" widen the scale from one life to the most permanent things. The line "so You destroy a man’s hope" closes the comparison bluntly, naming man's hope as more fragile than the mountain's rock.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
After Job has posited his idea about the future resurrection, he here strengthens it with probable arguments. The first argument is taken from a comparison of man to lower creatures which are totally consumed without hope of restoration. For all things which are generated are …
Ver. 18, 19. And surely the mountain falling slippeth away, and the rock is removed out of his place. The waters wear the stones, and by washing little by little the earth is consumed, and so Thou wilt in a like way destroy man.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And surely the mountain falling cometh to nought,....
It is not so with the heavenly bodies. (2.) Of the natural products of it. The things which grow out of the earth, and seem to be firmly rooted in it, are sometimes by an excess of rain washed away,
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
The mountain falling cometh to naught - Every thing in nature is exposed to mutability and decay: - even mountains themselves may fall from their bases, and be dashed to pieces; or be suddenly swallowed up by an earthquake; and, by the same means, the strongest and most massive rocks may be removed.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
And surely the mountain falling - Margin, “Fadeth.” The sense of this is, that the hope of man in regard to living again, must certainly fail - as a mountain falls and does not rise again; as the rock is removed, and is not replaced; or as the waters wear away the stones, and they disappear. The hope of dying man was not like the tree that would spring up again Job 14:7-9; it was like the falling mountain, the wasting waters Job 14:11, the rock that was removed. The reference in the phrase before us is, probably, to a mountain that settles down and disappears - as is sometimes the case in violent convulsions of nature. It does not rise again, but is gone to reappear no more. So Job says it was of man. And the rock is removed - An earthquake shakes it, and removes it from its foundation, and it is not replaced.
The words behind it
7 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְ֭אוּלָם | veulom | and but | H199 → | 19 times |
| הַר־ | har- | a mountain | H2022 → | 546 times |
| נוֹפֵ֣ל | nofel | [is] falling | H5307 → | 435 times |
| יִבּ֑וֹל | yibol | it crumbles away | H5034 → | |
| וְ֝צ֗וּר | vetzur | and a rock | H6697 → | 78 times |
| יֶעְתַּ֥ק | ye'tak | it moves | H6275 → | 9 times |
| מִמְּקֹמֽוֹ׃ | mimekomo | from place its | H4725 → | 401 times |
וְ֭אוּלָםand but
veulomH199 →19 times
הַר־a mountain
har-H2022 →546 times
נוֹפֵ֣ל[is] falling
nofelH5307 →435 times
יִבּ֑וֹלit crumbles away
yibolH5034 →
וְ֝צ֗וּרand a rock
vetzurH6697 →78 times
יֶעְתַּ֥קit moves
ye'takH6275 →9 times
מִמְּקֹמֽוֹ׃from place its
mimekomoH4725 →401 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Isaiah 54:10Though the mountains may be removed and the hills may be shaken, My loving devotion will not depart from you, and My covenant of peace will not be broken,” says the LORD, who has…
it leads to
- Psalms 89:33–34
But I will not withdraw My loving devotion from him, nor ever betray My faithfulness.
- Psalms 46:2
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth is transformed and the mountains are toppled into the depths of the seas,
- Ephesians 2:4–5
But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,
- Matthew 24:35
Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.
- Romans 11:29
For God’s gifts and His call are irrevocable.
- Psalms 89:33–34
Through
Revelation 6:14The sky receded like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved from its place.
it leads to
- Isaiah 34:4
All the stars of heaven will be dissolved. The skies will be rolled up like a scroll, and all their stars will fall like withered leaves from the vine, like foliage from the fig…
- Revelation 16:20
Then every island fled, and no mountain could be found.
- 2 Peter 3:10
But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar, the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and its works will be laid…
- Isaiah 34:4
About Job
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Book of Job; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XII; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.