Job 3:15
in Job 3or with princes who had gold, who filled their houses with silver.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Or with princes that had gold, Who filled their houses with silver:
KJV
Or with princes that had gold, who filled their houses with silver:
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This verse in Job 3
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Or with princes that had gold - That is, he would have been united with the rich and the great. Is there not here too also a slight evidence of the fondness for wealth, which might have been one of the errors of this good man? Would it not seem that such was his estimate of the importance of being esteemed rich, that he would count it an honor to be united with the affluent in death, rather than be subjected to a condition of poverty and want among the living?
This site's exposition
with kings and counselors of the earth
on Job 3:14-19
In Job's grave, kings lie beside a stillborn child, the greatest men he can name and the least death he can imagine at one rest. "There the wicked cease from raging, and there the weary find rest" is the chapter's most quoted line, a longing for an end to trouble.
This site's exposition
with princes who had gold
Clarke notes that such princes filled their houses with silver and left it all behind, keeping nothing but the grave. Barnes asks whether the line betrays a fondness for wealth in Job himself, the greatest man of the East. The grave keeps none of their gold.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
It seems to me that Job attempts to humble these noble characters and to persuade them not to attach a great importance to human affairs, because he has not introduced the kings into this passage without purpose or at random. Job speaks of "those who gloried in their swords." Notice again how amid his afflictions Job possesses words full of wisdom. Their wealth, in fact, has granted the kings no protection; their power has been of no use; death has come at the end for everyone.
The Medieval Church2 voices
Second, he says it respecting the goods which he formerly possessed, for someone might say to him, "If you had not been preserved in this life, you would not have had the goods which you enjoyed in time past." As if to answer this he …
MORAL INTERPRETATION. Or with princes that have gold, who fill their houses with silver. Whom does he call princes, but the rulers of holy Church, whom the Divine economy substitutes without intermission in the room of their predecessors? Concerning these the Psalmist, speaking to the same Church, says, Instead of thy fathers thou hast children born to thee, whom thou mayest make princes in all lands. And what does he call gold, saving wisdom; of which Solomon saith, A treasure to be desired lieth at rest in the mouth of the wise?
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Or with princes that had gold,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Or with princes that had gold - Chief or mighty men, lords of the soil, or fortunate adventurers in merchandise, who got gold in abundance, filled their houses with silver, left all behind, and had nothing reserved for themselves but the empty places which they had made for their last dwelling, and where their dust now sleeps, devoid of care, painful journeys, and anxious expectations. He alludes here to the case of the covetous, whom nothing can satisfy, as an Asiatic writer has observed, but the dust that fills his mouth when laid in the grave - Saady.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
who build ruins for themselves It is customary for those who seek fame to rebuild ruined cities as a memorial for themselves, as in (Isa.: 12), “And those coming from you shall be called the repairer of the breaches.” That is to say, with princes and famous people.
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. 4 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
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| א֣וֹ | ʾo | or | H176 → | 321 times |
| עִם־ | ʾimsa- | with | H5973 → | 1050 times |
| שָׂ֭רִים | sarim | princes | H8269 → | 421 times |
| זָהָ֣ב | zahav | [whom] gold | H2091 → | 389 times |
| לָהֶ֑ם | lahem | [belonged] to them | ||
| הַֽמְמַלְאִ֖ים | hamalim | those [who] filled | H4390 → | 249 times |
| בָּתֵּיהֶ֣ם | bateihem | houses their | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| כָּֽסֶף׃ | kasef | silver | H3701 → | 403 times |
א֣וֹor
ʾoH176 →321 times
עִם־with
ʾimsa-H5973 →1050 times
שָׂ֭רִיםprinces
sarimH8269 →421 times
זָהָ֣ב[whom] gold
zahavH2091 →389 times
לָהֶ֑ם[belonged] to them
lahem
הַֽמְמַלְאִ֖יםthose [who] filled
hamalimH4390 →249 times
בָּתֵּיהֶ֣םhouses their
bateihemH1004 →2046 times
כָּֽסֶף׃silver
kasefH3701 →403 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
Zephaniah 1:18Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them on the Day of the LORD’s wrath. The whole earth will be consumed by the fire of His jealousy.” For indeed, He…
it leads to
- Zephaniah 3:8
Therefore wait for Me,” declares the LORD, “until the day I rise to testify. For My decision is to gather nations, to assemble kingdoms, to pour out upon them My indignation—all My burning anger.…
- Ezekiel 7:19
They will throw their silver into the streets, and their gold will seem unclean. Their silver and gold cannot save them in the day of the wrath of the LORD. They cannot satisfy their…
- Proverbs 11:4
Riches are worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness brings deliverance from death.
- Zephaniah 1:2–3
“I will completely sweep away everything from the face of the earth,” declares the LORD.
- Jeremiah 9:11
“And I will make Jerusalem a heap of rubble, a haunt for jackals; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.”
- Zephaniah 3:8
Through
Job 22:25then the Almighty will be your gold and the finest silver for you.
it leads to
- Isaiah 33:6
He will be the sure foundation for your times, a storehouse of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge. The fear of the LORD is Zion’s treasure.
- Psalms 16:5–6
The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; You have made my lot secure.
- Isaiah 33:6
Through
Job 12:21He pours out contempt on nobles and disarms the mighty.
it leads to
- Psalms 107:40
He pours out contempt on the nobles and makes them wander in a trackless wasteland.
- Psalms 107:40
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); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Job; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book IV; John Chrysostom, COMMENTARY ON JOB 3:20-23; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.