Job 21:33
in Job 21The clods of the valley are sweet to him; everyone follows behind him, and those before him are without number.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The clods of the valley shall be sweet unto him, And all men shall draw after him, As there were innumerable before him.
KJV
The clods of the valley shall be sweet unto him, and every man shall draw after him, as there are innumerable before him.
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This verse in Job 21
Commentary
10 notes on this verseVer. 33. He was sweet to the pebbles of Cocytus. 71. 'Cocytus' in the Greek tongue is the term for 'lamentation,' which is used to be taken for the lamentation of women, or any persons going weakly. Now the wise of this world being shut out from the light of truth, endeavoured by making search to hold a kind of shadows of truth. Hence they thought that the river Cocytus ran amongst the dead below, clearly denoting that they that commit deeds worthy of painful inflictions, run to an end into hell unto lamentation.
This site's exposition
He is carried to the grave
on Job 21:32-34
Job closes with a wicked man honored in death. He turns on their counsel, and "your answers remain full of falsehood" is the sharpest word he has used. Watson notes that in chapter 22 Eliphaz stops refining the doctrine and names specific sins Job is nowhere shown to have committed.
This site's exposition
The clods of the valley are sweet to him
Wesley reads the valley as the grave, sweet to him as a place of rest. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown cite the saying that the earth lies light on him; everyone follows him to the same end. Watch is kept over his tomb.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
Lest it seem that after death he passes into joy he says, "He was pleasant to the gravel of Cocytus (of the lower world)." For since he had invoked the man-in-the-street as his witness, he proposes the truth about the punishment of evil men after …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
He shall remain in the tomb with a Hic jacet--Here lies, over him, and a large encomium. Perhaps it is meant of the embalming of his body to preserve it, which was a piece of honour anciently done by the Egyptians to their great men. He shall watch in the tomb (so the word is), shall abide solitary and quiet there, as a watchman in his tower.
Valley - Of the grave, which is low and deep like a valley. Sweet - He shall sweetly rest in his grave. Draw - Hebrew. he shall draw every man after him, into the grave, all that live after him, whether good or bad, shall follow him to the grave, shall die as he did.
The clods of the valley shall be sweet unto him,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The clods of the valley shall be sweet unto him - That is, he shall lie as calmly as others in the grave. The language here is taken from that delusion of which we all partake when we reflect on death. We think of “ourselves” in the grave, and it is almost impossible to divest our minds of the idea, that we shall be conscious there, and be capable of understanding our condition.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
As the classic saying has it, "The earth is light upon him." His repose shall be "sweet." draw--follow. He shall share the common lot of mortals; no worse off than they (Heb 9:27). UMBREIT not so well (for it is not true of "every man").
The clods of the valley shall be sweet unto him - Perhaps there is an allusion here to the Asiatic mode of interment for princes, saints, and nobles: a well-watered valley was chosen for the tomb, where a perpetual spring might be secured. This was intended to be the emblem of a resurrection, or of a future life; and to conceal as much as possible the disgrace of the rotting carcass. Every man shall draw after him - There seem to be two allusions intended here: 1. To death, the common lot of all. Millions have gone before him to the tomb; and כל אדם col adam, all men, shall follow him: all past generations have died, all succeeding generations shall die also. 2. To pompous funeral processions; multitudes preceding, and multitudes following, the corpse.
The words behind it
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מָֽתְקוּ־ | mateku- | they will be sweet | H4985 → | 6 times |
| ל֗וֹ | lo | to <the> him | ||
| רִגְבֵ֫י | rigvei | [the] clods of | H7263 → | |
| נָ֥חַל | nachal | [the] wadi | H5158 → | 141 times |
| וְ֭אַחֲרָיו | veacharav | and after him | H310 → | 715 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | every | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| אָדָ֣ם | ʾadam | person | H120 → | 551 times |
| יִמְשׁ֑וֹךְ | yimshokh | he will follow | H4900 → | 36 times |
| וּ֝לְפָנָ֗יו | ulefanav | and <to> before him | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| אֵ֣ין | ʾein | there not | H369 → | 789 times |
| מִסְפָּֽר׃ | mispar | [is] number | H4557 → | 134 times |
מָֽתְקוּ־they will be sweet
mateku-H4985 →6 times
ל֗וֹto <the> him
lo
רִגְבֵ֫י[the] clods of
rigveiH7263 →
נָ֥חַל[the] wadi
nachalH5158 →141 times
וְ֭אַחֲרָיוand after him
veacharavH310 →715 times
כָּל־every
kol-H3605 →5413 times
אָדָ֣םperson
ʾadamH120 →551 times
יִמְשׁ֑וֹךְhe will follow
yimshokhH4900 →36 times
וּ֝לְפָנָ֗יוand <to> before him
ulefanavH6440 →2123 times
אֵ֣יןthere not
ʾeinH369 →789 times
מִסְפָּֽר׃[is] number
misparH4557 →134 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
Hebrews 9:27Just as man is appointed to die once, and after that to face judgment,
it leads to
- Ecclesiastes 12:7
before the dust returns to the ground from which it came and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 2 Corinthians 5:10
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive his due for the things done in the body, whether good or bad.
- Ecclesiastes 12:14
For God will bring every deed into judgment, along with every hidden thing, whether good or evil.
- Acts 17:31
For He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the Man He has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising Him from the dead.”
- 2 Samuel 14:14
For surely we will die and be like water poured out on the ground, which cannot be recovered. Yet God does not take away a life; but He devises ways that the banished one…
- Ecclesiastes 12:7
Through
Genesis 3:19By the sweat of your brow you will eat your bread, until you return to the ground—because out of it were you taken. For dust you are, and to dust you shall return.”
it leads to
- Job 34:15
all flesh would perish together and mankind would return to the dust.
- Psalms 104:29
When You hide Your face, they are terrified; when You take away their breath, they die and return to dust.
- Genesis 2:7
Then the LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being.
- Job 34:15
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 (1832-1869); Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XV; Jamieson, Fausset & 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; R. A. Watson, The Book of Job, Expositor's Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.