Job 18:14
in Job 18He is torn from the shelter of his tent and is marched off to the king of terrors.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
He shall be rooted out of his tent wherein he trusteth; And he shall be brought to the king of terrors.
KJV
His confidence shall be rooted out of his tabernacle, and it shall bring him to the king of terrors.
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This verse in Job 18
Commentary
10 notes on this verseLet his confidence be rooted out of his tabernacle, and let death as a king trample on him. In this place by the title of 'death' we have denoted the enemy of the human race himself, who brought in death, who is set forth by a particular minister of his, of whom it is said to John, And his name was Death.
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
the king of terrors
Barnes reads the torn tent as lost shelter and security. Clarke cites a rendering of dissolution invading him like a monarch. Gregory reads the king as death, and behind death the enemy who brought it into the world.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
He calls the "soles of their feet" the products of their journeys, in order to say that the impious are not prosperous in their travels when they fall into "a violent ruin." But also their fruits of season, that is, their children, are insatiately consumed …
The Medieval Church1 voice
The dead man is taken out of his house, and regarding this he says, "May trust be torn away violently from his tent," because he did not place his hope in God, but in the vulgar display and the glory of his house, of which …
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 confidence shall be rooted out of his tabernacle,....
His own soul was his confidence, but that shall be rooted out of the tabernacle of the body, as a tree that cumbered the ground. "Thy soul shall be required of thee." 2. See him dead, and see his case then with an eye of faith.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
His confidence shall be rooted out - His dwelling-place, how well soever fortified, shah now he deemed utterly insecure. And it shall bring him to the king of terrors - Or, as Mr. Good translates, “And dissolution shall invade him as a monarch.” He shall be completely and finally overpowered. The phrase king of terrors has been generally thought to mean death; but it is not used in any such way in the text.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
His confidence shall be rooted out of his tabernacle - Security shall forsake his dwelling, and he shall be subject to constant alarms. There shall be nothing there in which he can confide, and all that he relied on as sources of safety shall have fled. And it shall bring him - That is, he shall be brought. To the king of terrors - There has been much variety in the explanation of this verse. Dr. Noyes renders it, “Terror pursues him like a king.” Dr. Good, “Dissolution shall invade him like a monarch.” Dr. Stock says. “I am sorry to part with a beautiful phrase in our common version, the king of terrors, as descriptive of death, but there is no authority for it in the Hebrew text.” Wemyss renders it, “Terror shall seize him as a king.” So Schultens translates it, “Gradientur in eum, instar regis, terrores.” Rosenmuller renders it as it is in our version. The Vulgate: Et calcet super eum, quasi rex, interitus - “destruction shall tread upon him as a king.” The Septuagint “and distress shall lay hold on him with the authority of a king” - αἰτίᾳ βασιλικῃ satia basilikē. The Chaldee renders it, “shall be brought to the king of terrors” - רגושתא למלך is not evident, therefore, that we are to give up the beautiful phrase, “king of terrors.” The fair construction of the Hebrew, as it seems to me, is that which is conveyed in our common version - meaning, that the wicked man would be conducted, not merely to death, but to that kind of death where a fearful king would preside - a monarch infusing terrors into his soul. There is something singularly beautiful and appropriate in the phrase, “the king of terrors.” Death is a fearful monarch. All dread him. He presides in regions of chilliness and gloom. All fear to enter those dark regions where he dwells and reigns, and an involuntary shudder seizes the soul on approaching the confines of his kingdom. […]
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
He shall be torn away from his wife Heb. מאהלו, lit. from his tent.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| יִנָּתֵ֣ק | yinatek | he is torn away | H5423 → | |
| מֵ֭אָהֳלוֹ | meoholo | from tent his | H168 → | 345 times |
| מִבְטַח֑וֹ | mivtacho | trust his | H4009 → | 15 times |
| וְ֝תַצְעִדֵ֗הוּ | vetatzidehu | and it makes march him | H6805 → | |
| לְמֶ֣לֶךְ | lemelekh | to [the] king of | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| בַּלָּהֽוֹת׃ | balahot | sudden terror<s> | H1091 → | 10 times |
יִנָּתֵ֣קhe is torn away
yinatekH5423 →
מֵ֭אָהֳלוֹfrom tent his
meoholoH168 →345 times
מִבְטַח֑וֹtrust his
mivtachoH4009 →15 times
וְ֝תַצְעִדֵ֗הוּand it makes march him
vetatzidehuH6805 →
לְמֶ֣לֶךְto [the] king of
lemelekhH4428 →2525 times
בַּלָּהֽוֹת׃sudden terror<s>
balahotH1091 →10 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
Proverbs 14:32The wicked man is thrown down by his own sin, but the righteous man has a refuge even in death.
it leads to
- 2 Timothy 4:18
And the Lord will rescue me from every evil action and bring me safely into His heavenly kingdom. To Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
- Psalms 23:4
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
- 2 Corinthians 5:8
We are confident, then, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.
- Genesis 49:18
I await Your salvation, O LORD.
- Job 19:25–27
But I know that my Redeemer lives, and in the end He will stand upon the earth.
- 2 Timothy 4:18
Through
Proverbs 10:28The hope of the righteous is joy, but the expectations of the wicked will perish.
it leads to
- Romans 15:13
Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
- Psalms 73:24–26
You guide me with Your counsel, and later receive me in glory.
- Job 8:13
Such is the destiny of all who forget God; so the hope of the godless will perish.
- Romans 15:13
About Job
This page draws on 11 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 XIV; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job; 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; Olympiodorus of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON JOB 18:12-14 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.