Job 15:21
in Job 15Sounds of terror fill his ears; in his prosperity the destroyer attacks him.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
A sound of terrors is in his ears; In prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him.
KJV
A dreadful sound is in his ears: in prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him.
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This verse in Job 15
Commentary
10 notes on this verseVer. 21. A dreadful sound is alway in his ears, and when there is peace, he suspecteth plots. But there is nothing more happy than simplicity of heart, in that in proportion as it shews forth innocency towards others, there is nothing it dreads to meet with from others. For it has its simplicity as a kind of citadel of strength, nor is it suspicious of undergoing what it has no remembrance of having itself done. Whence it is well said by Solomon, In the fear of the Lord is strong confidence.
This site's exposition
A wicked man writhes in pain all his days
on Job 15:20-24
Eliphaz opens the book's first full poem on the wicked man, the doctrine the friends have assumed now set in verse. Henry reads it as settled theology of exact retribution, repeated in chapters 18 and 20 and rejected at 42:7, and Job's innocent suffering never appears.
This site's exposition
Sounds of terror fill his ears
The wicked man lives in terror even in his prosperity. Barnes pictures a man who thinks himself safe and is surprised by the enemy, and Clarke describes a tyrant who expects his cruelties to return. Henry compares him to a debtor who takes every stranger for a bailiff.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"Just when he seems to be at peace, his overthrow will come." Here Job learns that war comes from above, and there will be no change in his misfortunes.
The Medieval Church1 voice
From this lack of certainty, suspicion and fear arise. He describes this suspicion and fear as a consequence saying, "The sound of terror is always in the ear of that man," since he is threatened by every rumor thinking some attack is being prepared against …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
He knows that both heaven and earth are incensed against him, that God is angry with him and that all the world hates him; he has done nothing to make his peace with either, and therefore he thinks that every one who meets him will slay him, Gen. iv. Or he is like a man absconding for debt, who thinks every man a bailiff. Fear came in, at first, with sin ( Gen. iii.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
11 Are the consolations of God small with thee? is there any secret thing with thee? 12 Why doth thine heart carry thee away? and what do thy eyes wink at, 13 That thou turnest thy spirit against God, and lettest such words go out of thy mouth? 14 What is man, that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture
A dreadful sound is in his ears,....
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
A dreadful sound is in his ears - Margin, “A sound of fears.” He hears sudden, frightful sounds, and is alarmed. Or when he thinks himself safe, he is suddenly surprised. The enemy steals upon him, and in his fancied security he dies. This sentiment might be illustrated at almost any length by the mode of savage warfare in America, and by the sudden attacks which the American savage makes, in the silence of the night, on his unsuspecting foes.
A dreadful sound is in his ears - If he be an oppressor or tyrant, he can have no rest: he is full of suspicions that the cruelties he has exercised on others shall be one day exercised on himself; for even in his prosperity he may expect the destroyer to rush upon him.
The words behind it
6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| קוֹל־ | kol- | [the] sound of | H6963 → | 506 times |
| פְּחָדִ֥ים | pechadim | dread<s> | H6343 → | 49 times |
| בְּאָזְנָ֑יו | beazenav | [is] in ears his | H241 → | 187 times |
| בַּ֝שָּׁל֗וֹם | bashalom | in <the> peace | H7965 → | 236 times |
| שׁוֹדֵ֥ד | shoded | a destroyer | H7703 → | |
| יְבוֹאֶֽנּוּ׃ | yevoenu | he will come to him | H935 → | 2568 times |
קוֹל־[the] sound of
kol-H6963 →506 times
פְּחָדִ֥יםdread<s>
pechadimH6343 →49 times
בְּאָזְנָ֑יו[is] in ears his
beazenavH241 →187 times
בַּ֝שָּׁל֗וֹםin <the> peace
bashalomH7965 →236 times
שׁוֹדֵ֥דa destroyer
shodedH7703 →
יְבוֹאֶֽנּוּ׃he will come to him
yevoenuH935 →2568 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
1 Thessalonians 5:3While people are saying, “Peace and security,” destruction will come upon them suddenly, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
it leads to
- Luke 21:34–35
But watch yourselves, or your hearts will be weighed down by dissipation, drunkenness, and the worries of life—and that day will spring upon you suddenly like a snare.
- Matthew 24:37–39
As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be at the coming of the Son of Man.
- Luke 17:26–30
Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man:
- Revelation 18:7–8
As much as she has glorified herself and lived in luxury, give her the same measure of torment and grief. In her heart she says, ‘I sit as queen; I am not a widow…
- Luke 21:34–35
Through
1 Corinthians 10:10And do not complain, as some of them did, and were killed by the destroying angel.
it leads to
- Numbers 14:2
All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt, or if only we had died in this wilderness!
- Numbers 16:41
The next day the whole congregation of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have killed the LORD’s people!”
- Numbers 14:37
those men who had brought out the bad report about the land—were struck down by a plague before the LORD.
- Philippians 2:14
Do everything without complaining or arguing,
- Numbers 14:2
About Job
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XII; John Chrysostom, COMMENTARY ON JOB 15:17-23B; 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.