Job 21:24
in Job 21His body is well nourished, and his bones are rich with marrow.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
His pails are full of milk, And the marrow of his bones is moistened.
KJV
His breasts are full of milk, and his bones are moistened with marrow.
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This verse in Job 21
Commentary
9 notes on this verseVer. 23-25. One dieth in his full strength, being rich and prosperous. His inwards are full of fatness, and his bowels are moistened with marrow. And another dieth in the bitterness of his soul, and hath never any wealth. 62. These things being so, who may investigate the secrets of Almighty God, to find out wherefore He permits them so to be? Now to the Elect and the Lost, their life indeed is unlike, but the corruption of the flesh in death is no way unlike.
This site's exposition
One man dies full of vigor
on Job 21:23-24
One man "dies full of vigor, completely secure and at ease", a quick death where the friends' doctrine predicts wasting for a guilty life. Gill reads "his bones are rich with marrow" as a body still full of strength at death. The portrait names this man neither righteous nor wicked.
This site's exposition
his bones are rich with marrow
Clarke and Barnes discuss a rare Hebrew word in the first line, which Clarke says occurs nowhere else in the Bible. Henry reads the picture as health and vigor. This man dies at ease, while the man of verse 25 dies in bitterness.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
To show that his riches are not only sufficient, but also superabundant he says, "His bowels are full of fat," for fat is generated by a superabundance of food. Again, he shows his power is based on numerous supports saying, "and his bones are nourished …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
), that is, he is healthful and vigorous, and of a good constitution (like a milch cow that is fat and in good liking), he counts upon nothing but to live many years in mirth and pleasure.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
He overthrows the ground of their severe censures of him, by showing that the destruction of the wicked is reserved for the other world, and that they often escape to the last in this world (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
His breasts are full of milk,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
His breasts are full of milk - The word עטיניו atinaiv, which occurs nowhere else in the Hebrew Bible, is most likely an Arabic term, but probably so provincial as to be now lost. (Arabic) atana signifies to macerate hides so as to take off the hair: hence Mr. Good thinks it means here, that sleekness of skin which is the effect of fatness both in man and beast. But as the radical idea signifies to stink, as leather does which is thus macerated, I cannot see how this meaning can apply here.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
His breasts - Margin, “milk pails.” The marginal translation is much the most correct, and it is difficult to understand why so improbable a statement has been introduced into our common version. But there has been great variety in the translation. The Vulgate renders it, Viscera ejus plena sunt adipe - “his viscera are full of fat.” So the Septuagint, τὰ ἔγκατα ἀυτοῦ πλήρη στέατος ta engkata autou plērē steatos. The Syraic, “his sides;” Prof. Lee, “his bottles;” Noyes, “his sides;” Luther, “sein milkfass” - “his milk-pail;” Wemyss, “the stations of his cattle;” Good, “his sleek skin.” In this variety of rendering, what hope is there of ascertaining the meaning of the word? It is not easy to account for this variety, though it is clear that Jerome and the Septuagint followed a different reading from the present, and instead of עטיניו ‛ăṭı̂ynāyv, they read בטיניו baṭı̂ynāyv - from בטן beṭen - “the belly;” and that instead of the word חלב châlâb as at present pointed, meaning “milk,” they understood it as if it were pointed חלב cheleb - meaning “fat” - the same letters, but different vowels. The word which is rendered “breast” (עטין ‛ăṭı̂yn) occurs nowhere else in the Hebrew Scriptures. It has become necessary, therefore, to seek its meaning in the ancient versions, and in the cognate languages. For a full examination of the word, the reader may consult Bochart, Hieroz. P. 1, Lib. ii. c. xliv., pp. 455, 458; or Rosenmuller, where the remarks of Bochart are abridged; or Lee on Job, “in loc.” The Chaldee renders it ביזיו, “his breasts.” So Junius et Tre. Piscator, and others. […]
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| עֲ֭טִינָיו | ʾatinav | pails his | H5845 → | |
| מָלְא֣וּ | malu | they are full | H4390 → | 249 times |
| חָלָ֑ב | chalav | milk | H2461 → | |
| וּמֹ֖חַ | umoach | and [the] marrow of | H4221 → | |
| עַצְמוֹתָ֣יו | atzmotav | bones his | H6106 → | 126 times |
| יְשֻׁקֶּֽה׃ | yeshukeh | it is watered | H8248 → |
עֲ֭טִינָיוpails his
ʾatinavH5845 →
מָלְא֣וּthey are full
maluH4390 →249 times
חָלָ֑בmilk
chalavH2461 →
וּמֹ֖חַand [the] marrow of
umoachH4221 →
עַצְמוֹתָ֣יוbones his
atzmotavH6106 →126 times
יְשֻׁקֶּֽה׃it is watered
yeshukehH8248 →
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 3:8This will bring healing to your body and refreshment to your bones.
it leads to
- Proverbs 4:22
For they are life to those who find them, and health to the whole body.
- Psalms 147:3
He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
- Proverbs 16:24
Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.
- Ezekiel 16:4–5
On the day of your birth your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water for cleansing. You were not rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloths.
- Isaiah 1:6
From the sole of your foot to the top of your head, there is no soundness—only wounds and welts and festering sores neither cleansed nor bandaged nor soothed with oil.
- Proverbs 4:22
Through
Job 15:27Though his face is covered with fat and his waistline bulges with flesh,
it leads to
- Psalms 17:10
They have closed their callous hearts; their mouths speak with arrogance.
- Psalms 17:10
Through
Psalms 17:10They have closed their callous hearts; their mouths speak with arrogance.
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 2:3
Do not boast so proudly, or let arrogance come from your mouth, for the LORD is a God who knows, and by Him actions are weighed.
- Psalms 31:18
May lying lips be silenced— lips that speak with arrogance against the righteous, full of pride and contempt.
- 1 Samuel 2:3
About Job
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 XV; 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.