Job 27:18
in Job 27The house he built is like a moth’s cocoon, like a hut set up by a watchman.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
He buildeth his house as the moth, And as a booth which the keeper maketh.
KJV
He buildeth his house as a moth, and as a booth that the keeper maketh.
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This verse in Job 27
Commentary
13 notes on this verseA 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.
This site's exposition
Though he heaps up silver like dust
on Job 27:16-18
The wicked man "heaps up silver like dust and piles up a wardrobe like clay". Yet "what he lays up, the righteous will wear, and his silver will be divided by the innocent". The effort is immense, and what it builds is never meant to last.
This site's exposition
like a hut set up by a watchman
Jamieson, Fausset and Brown trace the moth from the clothing of verse 16, whose cocoon breaks when the garment is shaken. Wesley pictures the watchman's booth, raised in fruit time and pulled down as quickly. Both houses are quickly gone.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistMorals on the Book of Job, Book XVIII · Written before 604.
proposed
He buildeth his house as a moth. And as the keeper he maketh a booth. 'The moth builds a house' for itself by corrupting. Nor could the heretic have been shewn by a better comparison, who makes a dwelling for his misbelief no where else save in the minds which he has corrupted, who also engages for his followers to be free from everlasting fire. For he pledges to them the refreshment of eternal rest, but his words have no solidity, because they lack the fulness of truth. Whence it is added, And as the keeper he maketh a booth.
Spacious houses are also signs of earthly prosperity, but he shows these to be perishable for two reasons. First, because sometimes he builds a house for himself by violence on another's land after he has driven out, and so he says, "he has built his …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
The Egyptians' jewels were the Israelites' pay. Solomon observes ( Eccl. ii. 26 ) that God makes the sinners drudges to the righteous; for the sinner he gives travail to gather and heap up, that he may give to him that is good before God. [2.] They shall do good with it.
He is very secure in it, as a moth, and has no apprehension of danger; but it will prove of as short continuance as a booth which the keeper makes, which will quickly be taken down and gone, and his place shall know him no more.
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
5 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
A moth - Which settleth itself in a garment, but is quickly and unexpectedly dispossessed of its dwelling, and crushed to death. A booth - Which the keeper of a garden or vineyard suddenly rears up in fruit-time, and as quickly pulls down again.
He buildeth his house as a moth,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The transition is natural from "raiment" (Job 27:16) to the "house" of the "moth" in it, and of it, when in its larva state. The moth worm's house is broken whenever the "raiment" is shaken out, so frail is it. booth--a bough-formed hut which the guard of a vineyard raises for temporary shelter (Isa 1:8).
He buildeth his house as a moth - With great skill, great pains, and great industry; but the structure, however skillful, shall be dissolved; and the materials, however costly, shall be brought to corruption. To its owner it shall be only a temporary habitation, like that which the moth makes in its larve or caterpillar state, during its change from a chrysalis to a winged insect.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
He buildeth his house as a moth - The house which the moth builds is the slight fabric which it makes for its own dwelling in the garment which it consumes. On this verse compare Job 8:14. The dwelling of the moth is composed of the materials of the garment on which it feeds, and there may be an allusion here not only to the fact that the house which the wicked reared for themselves would be temporary, and that it would soon pass away like the dwelling of the moth, but that it was obtained - like the dwelling of the moth - at the expense of others. The idea of frailty, however, and of its being only a very temporary habitation, is probably the main thought in the passage. The allusion here is to the moth-worm as it proceeds from the egg, before it is changed into the chrysalis, aurelia, or nymph. “The young moth, upon leaving the egg which a papilio has lodged upon a piece of stuff, or a skin well dressed, and commodious for her purpose, immediately finds a habitation and food in the nap of the stuff, or hair of the skin. It gnaws and lives upon the nap, and likewise builds with it its apartment, accommodated both with a front door and a back one: the whole is well fastened to the ground of the stuff, with several cords and a little glue. The moth sometimes thrusts her head out of one opening, and sometimes out of the other, and perpetually demolishes all about her; and when she has cleared the place about her, she draws out all the stakes of the tent, after which she carries it to some little distance, and then fixes it with her slender cords in a new situation.” Burder. It is to the insect in its larvae or caterpillar state that Job refers here, and the slightness of the habitation will be easily understood by anyone who has watched the operations of the silkworm, or of the moths that appear in this country. […]
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בָּנָ֣ה | banah | he has built | H1129 → | 376 times |
| כָעָ֣שׁ | khaash | like <the> moth | H6211 → | 12 times |
| בֵּית֑וֹ | beito | house his | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| וּ֝כְסֻכָּ֗ה | ukhesukah | and like a shelter | H5521 → | 31 times |
| עָשָׂ֥ה | ʾasah | [which] he has made | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| נֹצֵֽר׃ | notzer | a watchman | H5341 → |
בָּנָ֣הhe has built
banahH1129 →376 times
כָעָ֣שׁlike <the> moth
khaashH6211 →12 times
בֵּית֑וֹhouse his
beitoH1004 →2046 times
וּ֝כְסֻכָּ֗הand like a shelter
ukhesukahH5521 →31 times
עָשָׂ֥ה[which] he has made
ʾasahH6213 →2628 times
נֹצֵֽר׃a watchman
notzerH5341 →
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
Isaiah 1:8And the Daughter of Zion is abandoned like a shelter in a vineyard, like a shack in a cucumber field, like a city besieged.
it leads to
- Zechariah 9:9
Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your King comes to you, righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of…
- John 12:15
“Do not be afraid, O Daughter of Zion. See, your King is coming, seated on the colt of a donkey.”
- Zechariah 2:10
“Shout for joy and be glad, O Daughter of Zion, for I am coming to dwell among you,” declares the LORD.
- Isaiah 62:11
Behold, the LORD has proclaimed to the ends of the earth, “Say to Daughter Zion: See, your Savior comes! Look, His reward is with Him, and His recompense goes before Him.”
- Isaiah 10:32
Yet today they will halt at Nob, shaking a fist at the mount of Daughter Zion, at the hill of Jerusalem.
- Zechariah 9:9
Through
Isaiah 51:8For the moth will devour them like a garment, and the worm will eat them like wool. But My righteousness will last forever, My salvation through all generations.”
it leads to
- Isaiah 51:6
Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look at the earth below; for the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment, and its people will die like…
- Isaiah 50:9
Surely the Lord GOD helps Me. Who is there to condemn Me? See, they will all wear out like a garment; the moths will devour them.
- Isaiah 51:6
Through
Lamentations 2:6He has laid waste His tabernacle like a garden booth; He has destroyed His place of meeting. The LORD has made Zion forget her appointed feasts and Sabbaths. In His fierce anger He has…
it leads to
- Lamentations 1:4
The roads to Zion mourn, because no one comes to her appointed feasts. All her gates are deserted; her priests groan, her maidens grieve, and she herself is bitter with anguish.
- Lamentations 1:4
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
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 XVIII; Jamieson, Fausset & 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); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.