Job 18:12
in Job 18His strength is depleted, and calamity is ready at his side.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
His strength shall be hunger-bitten, And calamity shall be ready at his side.
KJV
His strength shall be hungerbitten, and destruction shall be ready at his side.
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This verse in Job 18
Commentary
12 notes on this verseLet his strength be hungerbitten, and starvation invade his ribs. After the manner of Holy Scripture, he has the appearance of wishing that which he foresees will be, not surely in the spirit of one uttering curses, but of one pronouncing prophesies. Thus every man, in that he consists of soul and flesh, is as it were made up of strength and weakness. For by virtue of that part, by which he was created a reasoning spirit, he is not improperly called 'strong,' but in respect of that, by which he is of a fleshly substance, he is weak.
This site's exposition
Terrors frighten him on every side
on Job 18:11-14
With "Terrors frighten him on every side" the poem moves from trap to pursuit, and the Hebrew behind "His strength is depleted" is hunger. The unit closes with "marched off to the king of terrors", which Jamieson, Fausset and Brown and Gill read as death in its terror.
This site's exposition
calamity is ready at his side
Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note that the Hebrew says his strength is hungry, and Barnes reads it as strength depleted by famine. Spurgeon said Bildad meant it as a charge against Job, and did Job great injustice. Calamity stands ready at his side.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
These words are appropriate to the impious but not at all to Job, because "pains have not destroyed him" but have made him appear to be a powerful fighter, have made him appear doubly just. Many have come, and "the soles of their feet have …
The Medieval Church1 voice
In the foregoing Baldath had premised the punishments of sinners found in exterior adversities, but here he begins to pursue the punishments pertaining to the persons. One must note that sins themselves implicate the sinner in exterior adversities, and so he pursued exterior adversities as …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
In this he seems, all along, to have an eye to Job's complaints of the miserable condition he was in, that he was in the dark, bewildered, ensnared, terrified, and hastening out of the world. "This," says Bildad, "is the condition of a wicked man; and therefore thou art one." Second Address of Eliphaz.
His strength shall be hungerbitten,....
He that carries his own accuser, and his own tormentor, always in his bosom, cannot but be afraid on every side. This will drive him to his feet, like the malefactor, who, being conscious of his own guilt, takes to his heels and flees when none pursues, Prov. xxviii. But his feet will do him no service; they are fast in the snare,
4 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
His strength shall be hungerbitten - Shall be exhausted by hunger or famine. And destruction shall be ready at his side - Hebrew “Shall be fitted” נכוּן nākûn “to his side.” Some have supposed that this refers to some disease, like the pleurisy, that would adhere closely to his side. So Jerome understands it.
Bildad was declaring the history of the hypocritical, presumptuous and wicked man. And he intended, no doubt, to insinuate that Job was just such a person—that he had been a deceiver and that, therefore, God's Providence had at last revealed him and was visiting him for his sins. In this, Bildad was guilty of great injustice to his friend. All the three miserable comforters of Job were mistaken in the special aim of their discourses and yet, concerning the speeches of each one, it may be said that their general statements were, for the most part, true.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The Hebrew is brief and bold, "his strength is hungry." destruction--that is, a great calamity (Pr 1:27). ready at his side--close at hand to destroy him (Pr 19:29).
Bildad was declaring the history of the hypocritical, presumptuous and wicked man. And he intended, no doubt, to insinuate that Job was just such a person—that he had been a deceiver and that, therefore, God's Providence had at last revealed him and was visiting him for his sins. In this, Bildad was guilty of great injustice to his friend. All the three miserable comforters of Job were mistaken in the special aim of their discourses and yet, concerning the speeches of each one, it may be said that their general statements were, for the most part, true. They uttered truths, but they drew mistaken inferences and they were ungenerous in the imputations which they cast upon Job. It is true that, sooner or later, either in this world or the next, all conceivable curses fall upon the hypocrite and the ungodly man, but it is not true that when a Christian is in trouble, we are to judge that he is suffering for his sin! It would be both cruel and wicked for us to think so. Nevertheless, because what Bildad said was, in the most part, true, though unkindly and wrongly applied, we feel ourselves quite at liberty to take a text out of his mouth. It is true of many persons that their strength shall be starved— and I shall speak concerning these words in three ways, noticing, first, that this is a curse which will surely be fulfilled upon the ungodly. Secondly, this is a discipline which God often exercises upon the self-righteous when He means to save them. And, thirdly—and it is grievous work to have to say it—this is a form of chastisement upon Believers who are not living near to God as they ought to be—their strength becomes starved or weak. I. First we shall view our text as A CURSE WHICH WILL BE FULFILLED UPON THE UNGODLY. "His strength shall be starved." It is not said that they are starved merely, but that their strength is.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
He shall eat the branches of his body And he shall devour all the rest of his branches, viz. his sons and daughters.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| יְהִי־ | yehi- | it is | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| רָעֵ֥ב | raev | hungry | H7457 → | 20 times |
| אֹנ֑וֹ | ʾono | trouble his | H202 → | 13 times |
| וְ֝אֵ֗יד | veeid | and disaster | H343 → | 24 times |
| נָכ֥וֹן | nakhon | [is] prepared | H3559 → | 217 times |
| לְצַלְעֽוֹ׃ | letzalo | for stumbling his | H6761 → |
יְהִי־it is
yehi-H1961 →3559 times
רָעֵ֥בhungry
raevH7457 →20 times
אֹנ֑וֹtrouble his
ʾonoH202 →13 times
וְ֝אֵ֗ידand disaster
veeidH343 →24 times
נָכ֥וֹן[is] prepared
nakhonH3559 →217 times
לְצַלְעֽוֹ׃for stumbling his
letzaloH6761 →
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
Psalms 34:10Young lions go lacking and hungry, but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.
it leads to
- Psalms 84:11
For the LORD God is a sun and a shield; the LORD gives grace and glory; He withholds no good thing from those who walk with integrity.
- Matthew 6:32
For the Gentiles strive after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.
- Psalms 104:21
The young lions roar for their prey and seek their food from God.
- Luke 1:51–53
He has performed mighty deeds with His arm; He has scattered those who are proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
- Job 4:10–11
The lion may roar, and the fierce lion may growl, yet the teeth of the young lions are broken.
- Psalms 84:11
Through
1 Samuel 2:5The well-fed hire themselves out for food, but the starving hunger no more. The barren woman gives birth to seven, but she who has many sons pines away.
it leads to
- Psalms 113:9
He settles the barren woman in her home as a joyful mother to her children. Hallelujah!
- Luke 1:53
He has filled the hungry with good things, but has sent the rich away empty.
- Jeremiah 15:9
The mother of seven will grow faint; she will breathe her last breath. Her sun will set while it is still day; she will be disgraced and humiliated. And the rest I will put…
- Psalms 113:9
About Job
This page draws on 12 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on 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); Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 1510: “The Hunger-Bite”; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 1510: “The Hunger-Bite” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XIV; Hesychius of Jerusalem, HOMILIES ON JOB 21.18.12; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset and 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); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.