Job 27:14
in Job 27Though his sons are many, they are destined for the sword; and his offspring will never have enough food.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
If his children be multiplied, it is for the sword; And his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread.
KJV
If his children be multiplied, it is for the sword: and his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread.
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This verse in Job 27
Commentary
12 notes on this verseIf his children be multiplied,.... As it is possible they may; this is one external blessing common to good men and bad men. Haman, that proud oppressor, left ten sons behind him, and wicked Ahab had seventy, Est 9:12, it is for the sword; for them that kill with the sword, as the Targum; to be killed with it, as in the two instances above; Haman's ten sons were slain by the sword of the Jews, Est 9:13, and Ahab's seventy sons by the sword of Jehu, or those he ordered to slay them, 2Ki 10:
This site's exposition
This is the wicked man’s portion from God
on Job 27:13-15
"This is the wicked man’s portion from God" opens a list that reads like the friends' doctrine. Readers divide over whether Job concedes the wicked meet a bad end or rehearses the friends' creed to expose its thinness. Some modern critics give part of it to Zophar's missing third speech.
This site's exposition
Though his sons are many, they are destined for the sword
Barnes holds verses 13 to 23 recite the friends' doctrine of the wicked man's portion, and traces the offspring without food to Zophar at 20:10. Clarke takes it as Job's own teaching that many sons are no sure sign of blessing. The sword and hunger fall first on the family.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
He describes what is likely to happen to the ungodly. Admittedly, things do not always go in this manner for them. Some of them, indeed, preserve their prosperity until the end of their life, as he himself, in his quandary, has taught his friends in …
The Medieval Church2 voices
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistMorals on the Book of Job, Book XVIII · Written before 604.
proposed
If his children be multiplied, it is in the sword; and his grandchildren shall not be satisfied with bread. The title of the 'ungodly' is not without meaning given to heretics, who through the erroneousness of false doctrine are far removed from the knowledge of the truth; whom in the words following he calls 'violent' as well, as being persons who set themselves to wrest by violence to a wrong meaning the sentences of Holy Scripture containing right articles of doctrine.
For he shows that this share or inheritance is perishable first as to what happens for the most part to the children of evil men, which are held in great esteem among temporal goods. The sons of evil men who have prospered in this world …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
You eat, but you have not enough, Hag. i. (3.) Those that remain shall be buried in death, that is, shall die of the plague, which is called death ( Rev. vi. 8 ), and be buried privately and in haste, as soon as they are dead, without any solemnity, buried with the burial of an ass; and even their widows shall not weep; they shall not have wherewithal to put them in mourning.
) or magnified (so some); they are very numerous and are raised to honour and great estates. Worldly people are said to be full of children ( Ps. xvii.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Job's Protestation of His Sincerity. 1 Moreover Job continued his parable, and said, 2 As God liveth, who hath taken away my judgment; and the Almighty, who hath vexed my soul; 3 All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils;
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:87%@v1-3
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
If his children be multiplied - As numerous families were supposed to be a proof of the benediction of the Almighty, Job shows that this is not always the case; for the offspring of the wicked shall be partly cut off by violent deaths, and partly reduced to great poverty.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The fact is, it is probable that Job tacitly, by giving, in the twenty-eighth chapter, only a general answer, implies, that in spite of the wicked often dying, as he said, in prosperity, he does not mean to deny that the wicked are in the main dealt with according to right, and that God herein vindicates His moral government even here.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
If his children be multiplied, it is for the sword - That is, they shall be slain in war. The first calamities which it is here said would come upon a man, relate to his family Job 27:14-18; the next are those that would come upon himself, Job 27:19-23. All the sentiments here expressed are found in the various speeches of the friends of Job, and, according to the interpretation suggested above, this is designed to represent their sentiments. They maintained that if a wicked man was blessed with a numerous family, and seemed to be prosperous, it was only that the punishment might come the more heavily upon him, for that they certainly would be cut off; see Job 18:19-20; Job 20:10. And his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread - This sentiment was advanced by Zophar, Job 20:10; see the notes at that verse.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
If his sons increase they will increase for the sword. in death They will die amidst suffering and sicknesses, until his widows will be happy at their death and will not weep.
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. 3 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
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אִם־ | ʾim- | if | H518 → | 1069 times |
| יִרְבּ֣וּ | yirbu | they will increase | H7235 → | 227 times |
| בָנָ֣יו | vanav | children his | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| לְמוֹ־ | lemov- | for | H3926 → | 4 times |
| חָ֑רֶב | charev | [the] sword | H2719 → | 413 times |
| וְ֝צֶאֱצָאָ֗יו | vetzeetzaav | and descendants his | H6631 → | 11 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יִשְׂבְּעוּ־ | yisbeu- | they will be satisfied | H7646 → | 97 times |
| לָֽחֶם׃ | lachem | bread | H3899 → | 298 times |
אִם־if
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
יִרְבּ֣וּthey will increase
yirbuH7235 →227 times
בָנָ֣יוchildren his
vanavH1121 →4930 times
לְמוֹ־for
lemov-H3926 →4 times
חָ֑רֶב[the] sword
charevH2719 →413 times
וְ֝צֶאֱצָאָ֗יוand descendants his
vetzeetzaavH6631 →11 times
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
יִשְׂבְּעוּ־they will be satisfied
yisbeu-H7646 →97 times
לָֽחֶם׃bread
lachemH3899 →298 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
Luke 23:29Look, the days are coming when people will say, ‘Blessed are the barren women, the wombs that never bore, and breasts that never nursed!’
it leads to
- Matthew 24:19
How miserable those days will be for pregnant and nursing mothers!
- Luke 21:23–24
How miserable those days will be for pregnant and nursing mothers! For there will be great distress upon the land and wrath against this people.
- Mark 13:17–19
How miserable those days will be for pregnant and nursing mothers!
- Hosea 9:12–16
Even if they raise their children, I will bereave them of each one. Yes, woe be to them when I turn away from them!
- Hosea 13:16
Samaria will bear her guilt because she has rebelled against her God. They will fall by the sword; their little ones will be dashed to pieces, and their pregnant women ripped open.
- Matthew 24:19
Through
Deuteronomy 28:41You will father sons and daughters, but they will not remain yours, because they will go into captivity.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 28:32
Your sons and daughters will be given to another nation, while your eyes grow weary looking for them day after day, with no power in your hand.
- Lamentations 1:5
Her foes have become her masters; her enemies are at ease. For the LORD has brought her grief because of her many transgressions. Her children have gone away as captives before the enemy.
- Deuteronomy 28:32
Through
Job 20:10His sons will seek the favor of the poor, for his own hands must return his wealth.
it leads to
- Job 20:18
He must return the fruit of his labor without consuming it; he cannot enjoy the profits of his trading.
- Job 20:18
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Job
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on A. B. Davidson, The Book of Job, Cambridge Bible; 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 XVIII; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Olympiodorus of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON JOB 27:14-15 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.