Job 15:35
in Job 15They conceive trouble and give birth to evil; their womb is pregnant with deceit.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
They conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity, And their heart prepareth deceit.
KJV
They conceive mischief, and bring forth vanity, and their belly prepareth deceit.
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This verse in Job 15
Commentary
10 notes on this verseVer. 35. They conceive woe, and bring forth iniquity, and their womb prepareth deceit. For he conceives 'woe,' when he devises wicked things; he 'brings forth iniquity,' when he has begun to fulfil what he has devised; by entertaining envy, he 'conceives woe;' by uttering slanders, he 'brings forth iniquity.' For it is grievous wickedness when he who is wicked strives to make others appear wicked, that he may himself thereby appear as holy, because he has shewn that others are not holy.
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
their womb is pregnant with deceit
Eliphaz ends his speech on the figure of birth: trouble conceived, evil born, a womb full of deceit. Gregory traces the stages from devising wickedness to doing it. Barnes judges that all of it was meant for Job, who had to sit and hear it.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
He adds a third sin of deceit. So the text continues, "He conceived pain," because he premeditated in his heart the kind of pain he would inflict on others. The conception of this pain has born harm unjustly inflicted and so the text continues, "and …
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
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
They conceive mischief,....
From such wicked men God deliver all good men. (2.) Let us see now what is the miserable condition of this wicked man, both in spiritual and temporal judgments. [1.] His inward peace is continually disturbed.
The congregation of them, the whole confederacy, they and all their tabernacles, shall be desolate and consumed with fire. Hypocrisy and bribery are here charged upon them; that is, deceitful dealing both with God and man--God affronted under colour of religion, man wronged under colour of justice. It is impossible that these should end well.
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)
They conceive mischief - The meaning of this verse is, that they form and execute plans of evil. It is the characteristic of such men that they form such plans and live to execute them, and they must abide the consequences. All this was evidently meant for Job; and few things could be more trying to a man’s patience than to sit and hear those ancient apothegms, designed to describe the wicked, applied so unfeelingly to himself.
They conceive mischief - The figure here is both elegant and impressive. The wicked conceive mischief, from the seed which Satan sows in their hearts; in producing which they travail with many pangs, (for sin is a sore labor), and at last their womb produces fraud or deception. This is an accursed birth, from an iniquitous conception. St. James gives the figure at full length, most beautifully touched in all its parts: When lust hath conceived it bringeth forth sin; and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death; Jas 1:15 (note), where see the note. Poor Job! what a fight of affliction had he to contend with! His body wasted and tortured with sore disease; his mind harassed by Satan; and his heart wrung with the unkindness, and false accusations of his friends. No wonder he was greatly agitated, often distracted, and sometimes even thrown off his guard. However, all his enemies were chained; and beyond that chain they could not go. God was his unseen Protector, and did not suffer his faithful servant to be greatly moved.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הָרֹ֣ה | haroh | they conceive | H2029 → | |
| עָ֭מָל | ʾamol | trouble | H5999 → | 55 times |
| וְיָ֣לֹד | veyalod | and they give birth to | H3205 → | 496 times |
| אָ֑וֶן | ʾaven | wickedness | H205 → | 77 times |
| וּ֝בִטְנָ֗ם | uvitnam | and belly their | H990 → | 72 times |
| תָּכִ֥ין | takhin | it prepares | H3559 → | 217 times |
| מִרְמָֽה׃ ס | mirmah | deceit | H4820 → |
הָרֹ֣הthey conceive
harohH2029 →
עָ֭מָלtrouble
ʾamolH5999 →55 times
וְיָ֣לֹדand they give birth to
veyalodH3205 →496 times
אָ֑וֶןwickedness
ʾavenH205 →77 times
וּ֝בִטְנָ֗םand belly their
uvitnamH990 →72 times
תָּכִ֥יןit prepares
takhinH3559 →217 times
מִרְמָֽה׃ סdeceit
mirmahH4820 →
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
James 1:15Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
it leads to
- Psalms 7:14
Behold, the wicked man travails with evil; he conceives trouble and births falsehood.
- Romans 5:12–21
Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, so also death was passed on to all men, because all sinned.
- Genesis 2:17
but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.”
- Isaiah 59:4
No one calls for justice; no one pleads his case honestly. They rely on empty pleas; they tell lies; they conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity.
- Genesis 3:6
When the woman saw that the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eyes, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom, she took the fruit and ate it. She also gave…
- Psalms 7:14
Through
Hosea 10:13You have plowed wickedness and reaped injustice; you have eaten the fruit of lies. Because you have trusted in your own way and in the multitude of your mighty men,
it leads to
- Job 4:8
As I have observed, those who plow iniquity and those who sow trouble reap the same.
- Galatians 6:7–8
Do not be deceived: God is not to be mocked. Whatever a man sows, he will reap in return.
- Job 4:8
Through
Psalms 7:14Behold, the wicked man travails with evil; he conceives trouble and births falsehood.
it leads to
- James 1:15
Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
- James 1:15
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; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job; 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.