Job 21:26
in Job 21But together they lie down in the dust, and worms cover them both.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
They lie down alike in the dust, And the worm covereth them.
KJV
They shall lie down alike in the dust, and the worms shall cover them.
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This verse in Job 21
Commentary
10 notes on this verseVer. 26. And yet they shall lie down alike in the dust, and the worms shall cover them. What wonder then if those persons for a moment run a course unlike in the prosperity and adversity of this world, who through the corruption of the flesh return alike to the earth? So that life alone is to be thought on, wherein together with the resurrection of the flesh there is the arrival at an unlike end of recompensing.
This site's exposition
bitterness of his soul
on Job 21:25-26
Job sets a second death beside the first. The line "But together they lie down in the dust, and worms cover them both" states the leveling flatly, since the grave receives both men. The pairing is Job's closing evidence against reading moral worth from outward circumstance.
This site's exposition
together they lie down in the dust
The man of verse 23, dying at ease, and the man of verse 25, dying in bitterness, lie down together in the dust. Barnes lays the weight on together: both die alike, so death tells nothing of a man's character. Wesley draws the same lesson.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
Yet although men with equal merits are differentiated this way in life, at least after death one cannot maintain that their lot cannot be changed in these things which are different in the disposition of their bodies. For their bodies are disposed equally after death, …
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
Alike - All these worldly differences are ended by death, and they lie in the grave without any distinction. So that no man can tell who is good, and who is bad by events which befall them in this life.
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
27 Behold, I know your thoughts, and the devices which ye wrongfully imagine against me. 28 For ye say, Where is the house of the prince? and where are the dwelling places of the wicked? 29 Have ye not asked them that go by the way? and do ye not know their tokens, 30 That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction? they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture
They shall lie down alike in the dust,....
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
They shall lie down alike in the dust - Death levels all distinctions, and the grave makes all equal. There may be a difference in the grave itself; but the human corpse is the same in all. Splendid monuments enshrine corruption; but the sod must lie close and heavy upon the putrefying carcass, to prevent it from becoming the bane of the living.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
They shall lie down alike in the dust - The emphasis here is on the word “alike” - יחד yachad. The idea is, that they should die “in a similar manner.” There would be no such difference in the mode of their death as to determine anything about their character or to show that one was the friend of God, and that the other was not. The friends of Job had maintained, that that could be certainly known by the divine dealings with people, either in their life, or in their death. Job combats this opinion, and says, that there is no such marked distinction in their life, nor is there any certain indication of their character in their death. Prosperity often attends the wicked as well as the righteous, and the death of the righteous and the wicked resemble each other. And the worms shall cover them - Cover them “both.” They shall alike moulder back to dust. There is no distinction in the grave. There is no difference in the manner in which they moulder back to dust. No argument can be drawn respecting their character from the divine dealings toward them when in life - none from the manner of their death - none from the mode in which they moulder back to dust. On the reference to the “worm” here, see the notes at Job 14:11.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| יַ֭חַד | yachad | together | H3162 → | 141 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| עָפָ֣ר | ʾafar | dust | H6083 → | 110 times |
| יִשְׁכָּ֑בוּ | yishkavu | they will lie | H7901 → | 212 times |
| וְ֝רִמָּ֗ה | verimah | and a maggot | H7415 → | 7 times |
| תְּכַסֶּ֥ה | tekhaseh | it will cover | H3680 → | 152 times |
| עֲלֵיהֶֽם׃ | ʾaleihem | over them | H5921 → | 5755 times |
יַ֭חַדtogether
yachadH3162 →141 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
עָפָ֣רdust
ʾafarH6083 →110 times
יִשְׁכָּ֑בוּthey will lie
yishkavuH7901 →212 times
וְ֝רִמָּ֗הand a maggot
verimahH7415 →7 times
תְּכַסֶּ֥הit will cover
tekhasehH3680 →152 times
עֲלֵיהֶֽם׃over them
ʾaleihemH5921 →5755 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
Psalms 49:14Like sheep they are destined for Sheol. Death will be their shepherd. The upright will rule them in the morning, and their form will decay in Sheol, far from their lofty abode.
it leads to
- Malachi 4:3
Then you will trample the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day I am preparing,” says the LORD of Hosts.
- 1 Corinthians 6:2
Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases?
- Daniel 7:22
until the Ancient of Days arrived and pronounced judgment in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came for them to possess the kingdom.
- Job 24:19–20
As drought and heat consume the melting snow, so Sheol steals those who have sinned.
- Job 30:23
Yes, I know that You will bring me down to death, to the place appointed for all the living.
- Malachi 4:3
Through
Ecclesiastes 9:2It is the same for all: There is a common fate for the righteous and the wicked, for the good and the bad, for the clean and the unclean, for the one who sacrifices…
it leads to
- Malachi 3:18
So you will again distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.”
- Ecclesiastes 2:14–16
The wise man has eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. Yet I also came to realize that one fate overcomes them both.
- Malachi 3:18
Through
Job 20:11The youthful vigor that fills his bones will lie down with him in the dust.
it leads to
- Job 13:26
For You record bitter accusations against me and bequeath to me the iniquities of my youth.
- Job 13:26
About Job
This page draws on 10 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); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Book of Job; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XV; Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; 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.