Job 15:30
in Job 15He will not escape from the darkness; the flame will wither his shoots, and the breath of God’s mouth will carry him away.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
He shall not depart out of darkness; The flame shall dry up his branches, And by the breath of God’s mouth shall he go away.
KJV
He shall not depart out of darkness; the flame shall dry up his branches, and by the breath of his mouth shall he go away.
⋯
This verse in Job 15
Commentary
11 notes on this verseHe shall not depart out of darkness - 4. He shall be in continual afflictions and distress. 5. The flame shall dry up his branches - his children shall be cut off by sudden judgments. 6. He shall pass away by the breath of his mouth; for by the breath of his mouth doth God slay the wicked.
This site's exposition
He will no longer be rich
on Job 15:29-35
The poem closes with loss, and "the flame will wither his shoots" turns the plant words Job used of hope in chapter 14 into judgment. The last lines, "fire will consume the tents of bribery", state as settled law a doctrine the book leaves unsettled at 42:7.
This site's exposition
the flame will wither his shoots
Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read the shoots as the man's children and recall the loss of Job's own at 1:18 and 1:19. The breath of God's mouth is His wrath. Wesley remarks that one breath is enough for God to carry away His enemies.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
Ver. 30. He shall not depart out of darkness. If this proud man had been minded to turn back from sin to righteousness, he might 'depart out of darkness.' But because he seeks not the light of righteousness, he does not depart out of darkness. After whose example, those likewise, who 'attach themselves to him out breathe themselves in making earthly advancements, are kindled with the torches of avarice, and scorched with the fires of carnal desires. And hence it is added, The flame shall dry up his branches.
To explain this he says, "He will not emerge from the darkness," i.e. from the state of adversity. He gives the reason for not returning to the light when he says, "a flame will dry his branches." For there is still hope of reviving a …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
): By the breath of God's mouth shall he go away, and leave his wealth to others; that is, by God's wrath, which, like a stream of brimstone, kindles the fire that devours him ( Isa. xxx. 33 ), or by his word; he speaks, and it is done immediately.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+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
Branches - His wealth, and power, and glory, wherewith he was encompassed, as trees are with their branches. His mouth - And this expression intimates, with how much ease God subdueth his enemies: his word, his blast; one act of his will is sufficient. Go - Hebrew. go back: that is, run away from God faster than he ran upon him, ver. 26.
quarantine:anchor (2026-07-29) — cites-ver-26-anchored-30-30
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
He shall not depart out of darkness,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
depart--that is, escape (Job 15:22, 23). branches--namely, his offspring (Job 1:18, 19; Ps 37:35). dry up--The "flame" is the sultry wind in the East by which plants most full of sap are suddenly shrivelled. his mouth--that is, God's wrath (Isa 11:4).
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
He shall not depart out of darkness - He shall not escape from calamity; see Job 15:22. He shall not be able to rise again, but shall be continually poor. The flame shall dry up his branches - As the fire consumes the green branches of a tree, so shall punishment do to him. This comparison is very forcible, and the idea is, that the man who has been prospered as a tree shall be consumed - as the fire consumes a tree when it passes through the branches. The comparison of a prosperous man with a tree is very common, and very beautiful. Thus, the Psalmist says, I have seen the wicked in great power, And spreading himself like a green bay tree. Psa 37:35. Compare Psa 92:12-13. The aged Skenandoah - a chief of the Oneida tribe of Indians, said,” I am an aged hemlock. The winds of an hundred winters have whistled through my branches. I am dead at the top. My branches are falling,” etc. And by the breath of his mouth shall he go away - That is, by the breath of the mouth of God. God is not indeed specified, but it is not unusual to speak of him in this manner. The image here seems to be that of the destruction of a man by a burning wind or by lightning. As a tree is dried up, or is rent by lightning, or is torn up from the roots by a tempest sent by the Deity, so the wicked will be destroyed.
The words behind it
10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לֹֽא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יָס֨וּר׀ | yasur | he will depart | H5493 → | 299 times |
| מִנִּי־ | mini- | from | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| חֹ֗שֶׁךְ | choshekh | darkness | H2822 → | 80 times |
| יֹֽ֭נַקְתּוֹ | yonakto | young shoot[s] his | H3127 → | 6 times |
| תְּיַבֵּ֣שׁ | teyabesh | it will dry up | H3001 → | 59 times |
| שַׁלְהָ֑בֶת | shalhavet | a flame | H7957 → | |
| וְ֝יָס֗וּר | veyasur | so he may depart | H5493 → | 299 times |
| בְּר֣וּחַ | beruach | by [the] breath of | H7307 → | 378 times |
| פִּֽיו׃ | piv | mouth his | H6310 → | 498 times |
לֹֽא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
יָס֨וּר׀he will depart
yasurH5493 →299 times
מִנִּי־from
mini-H4480 →1188 times
חֹ֗שֶׁךְdarkness
choshekhH2822 →80 times
יֹֽ֭נַקְתּוֹyoung shoot[s] his
yonaktoH3127 →6 times
תְּיַבֵּ֣שׁit will dry up
teyabeshH3001 →59 times
שַׁלְהָ֑בֶתa flame
shalhavetH7957 →
וְ֝יָס֗וּרso he may depart
veyasurH5493 →299 times
בְּר֣וּחַby [the] breath of
beruachH7307 →378 times
פִּֽיו׃mouth his
pivH6310 →498 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
Matthew 25:41Then He will say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
it leads to
- 2 Peter 2:4
For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them deep into hell, placing them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment;
- Jude 1:6–7
And the angels who did not stay within their own domain but abandoned their proper dwelling—these He has kept in eternal chains under darkness, bound for judgment on that great day.
- 2 Thessalonians 1:9
They will suffer the penalty of eternal destruction, separated from the presence of the Lord and the glory of His might,
- Matthew 13:42
And they will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
- Revelation 20:10–15
And the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, into which the beast and the false prophet had already been thrown. There they will be tormented day…
- 2 Peter 2:4
Through
Job 20:26Total darkness is reserved for his treasures. A fire unfanned will consume him and devour what is left in his tent.
it leads to
- Psalms 21:9
You will place them in a fiery furnace at the time of Your appearing. In His wrath the LORD will engulf them, and the fire will consume them.
- Psalms 21:9
Through
Job 4:9By the breath of God they perish, and by the blast of His anger they are consumed.
it leads to
- Isaiah 11:4
but with righteousness He will judge the poor, and with equity He will decide for the lowly of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth and slay the…
- 2 Thessalonians 2:8
And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will slay with the breath of His mouth and annihilate by the majesty of His arrival.
- Isaiah 11:4
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 (1832-1869); Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XII; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.
