Job 15:31
in Job 15Let him not deceive himself with trust in emptiness, for emptiness will be his reward.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Let him not trust in vanity, deceiving himself; For vanity shall be his recompense.
KJV
Let not him that is deceived trust in vanity: for vanity shall be his recompence.
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This verse in Job 15
Commentary
10 notes on this verseVer. 31. Let him not believe, being vainly deceived, that he is to be redeemed with any price. As often as we do alms after sin, we as it were pay a price for bad actions. Whence too it is said by the Prophet concerning him who doeth these things not, He will not give God his propitiation, nor the price of the redemption of the soul.
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
trust in emptiness
Eliphaz turns from description to warning. Wesley reads the reward as an exchange, one vanity traded for another, a pleasing emptiness for a painful one. Barnes lists what such a man leans on, his wealth, rank, lands and armies, and none of it will hold him up.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
He cannot hope for any sort of renewal, not even from God whom pride of words offends and so he says, "Let him not trust in vain, deceived that he is deemed by some price," for he must be freed by some help from tribulation.
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
Vanity - In the vain and deceitful things of this world, he subjoins a general caution to all men to take heed of running into the same error and mischief. Vanity - Disappointment and dissatisfaction, and the loss of all his imaginary felicity. Recompence - Hebrew. his exchange; he shall exchange one vanity for another, a pleasing vanity for a vexatious vanity.
) let not him that is deceived trust in vanity. Let the mischiefs which befal others be our warnings, and let not us rest on that broken reed which always failed those who leaned on it. [1.] Those who trust to their sinful ways of getting wealth trust in vanity, and vanity will be their recompence, for they shall not get what they expected.
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
Let not him that is deceived trust in vanity,....
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Let not him that is deceived - 7. He has many vain imaginations of obtaining wealth, power, pleasure, and happiness; but he is deceived; and he finds that he has trusted בשוא bashshav, in a lie; and this lie is his recompense.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Let not him that is deceived trust in vanity - The sense is, “Let him not trust in vanity. He will be deceived. Vanity will be his recompense.” The idea is, that a man should not confide in that which will furnish no support. He should not rely on his wealth and rank; his houses and lands; his servants, his armies, or his power, if he is wicked, for all this is vain. He needs some better reliance, and that can be found only in a righteous life.
The words behind it
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אַל־ | ʾal- | may not | H408 → | 724 times |
| יַאֲמֵ֣ן | yaamen | he trust | H539 → | 106 times |
| בַּשָּׁ֣יו | bashov | in <the> worthlessness | H7723 → | 53 times |
| נִתְעָ֑ה | nitah | he has been led astray | H8582 → | 50 times |
| כִּי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| שָׁ֝֗וְא | shav' | worthlessness | H7723 → | 53 times |
| תִּהְיֶ֥ה | tihyeh | it will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| תְמוּרָתֽוֹ׃ | temurato | recompense his | H8545 → | 6 times |
אַל־may not
ʾal-H408 →724 times
יַאֲמֵ֣ןhe trust
yaamenH539 →106 times
בַּשָּׁ֣יוin <the> worthlessness
bashovH7723 →53 times
נִתְעָ֑הhe has been led astray
nitahH8582 →50 times
כִּי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
שָׁ֝֗וְאworthlessness
shav'H7723 →53 times
תִּהְיֶ֥הit will be
tihyehH1961 →3559 times
תְמוּרָתֽוֹ׃recompense his
temuratoH8545 →6 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
Galatians 6:3If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.
it leads to
- Proverbs 26:12
Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.
- 1 Corinthians 3:18
Let no one deceive himself. If any of you thinks he is wise in this age, he should become a fool, so that he may become wise.
- 1 Corinthians 8:2
The one who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know.
- Romans 12:3
For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but think of yourself with sober judgment, according to the measure…
- 2 Corinthians 3:5
Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim that anything comes from us, but our competence comes from God.
- Proverbs 26:12
Through
Hosea 8:7For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind. There is no standing grain; what sprouts fails to yield flour. Even if it should produce, the foreigners would swallow it up.
it leads to
- Proverbs 22:8
He who sows injustice will reap disaster, and the rod of his fury will be destroyed.
- Proverbs 22:8
Through
Psalms 62:10Place no trust in extortion, or false hope in stolen goods. If your riches increase, do not set your heart upon them.
it leads to
- 1 Timothy 6:17
Instruct those who are rich in the present age not to be conceited and not to put their hope in the uncertainty of wealth, but in God, who richly provides all things for us…
- Psalms 52:7
“Look at the man who did not make God his refuge, but trusted in the abundance of his wealth and strengthened himself by destruction.”
- 1 Timothy 6:17
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 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.