Job 3:17
in Job 3There the wicked cease from raging, and there the weary find rest.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
There the wicked cease from troubling; And there the weary are at rest.
KJV
There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the weary be at rest.
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This verse in Job 3
Commentary
9 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
There the wicked cease - from “troubling.” In the grave - where kings and princes and infants lie. This verse is often applied to heaven, and the language is such as will express the condition of that blessed world. But as used by Job it had no such reference. It relates only to the grave. It is language which beautifully expresses the condition of the dead, and the “desirableness” even of an abode in the tomb. They who are there, are free from the vexations and annoyances to which people are exposed in this life.
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
There the wicked cease from raging
Barnes notes that readers often apply this verse to heaven, while Job speaks of the grave. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown take the wicked as the restless of Isaiah 57:20, and the weary as those whose strength is worn out. The raging and the weary both rest in the grave.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
MORAL INTERPRETATION. There the wicked cease from disturbance, and there the weary in strength be at rest.
He shows that he should have chosen this for himself so as not to have been subject to the evils of this life. So he says, "There," in the state where those are who after they were conceived did not see the light of day, …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
There the weary are at rest. Heaven is more than a rest to the souls of the saints, but the grave is a rest to their bodies. Their pilgrimage is a weary pilgrimage; sin and the world they are weary of; their services, sufferings, and expectations, they are wearied with; but in the grave they rest from all their labours, Rev. xiv.
There the wicked cease from troubling,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
the wicked--the original meaning, "those ever restless," "full of desires" (Isa 57:20, 21). the weary--literally, "those whose strength is wearied out" (Re 14:13).
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
There the wicked cease - In the grave the oppressors of men cease from irritating, harassing, and distressing their fellow creatures and dependents. And there the weary be at rest - Those who were worn out with the cruelties and tyrannies of the above. The troubles and the troubled, the restless and the submissive, the toils of the great and the labors of the slave, are here put in opposition.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| שָׁ֣ם | sham | there | H8033 → | 834 times |
| רְ֭שָׁעִים | reshaim | wicked [people] | H7563 → | 263 times |
| חָ֣דְלוּ | chadelu | they cease | H2308 → | 58 times |
| רֹ֑גֶז | rogez | turmoil | H7267 → | 7 times |
| וְשָׁ֥ם | vesham | and there | H8033 → | 834 times |
| יָ֝נ֗וּחוּ | yanuchu | they rest | H5117 → | 142 times |
| יְגִ֣יעֵי | yegiei | weary [ones] of | H3019 → | |
| כֹֽחַ׃ | khoach | strength | H3581 → | 126 times |
שָׁ֣םthere
shamH8033 →834 times
רְ֭שָׁעִיםwicked [people]
reshaimH7563 →263 times
חָ֣דְלוּthey cease
chadeluH2308 →58 times
רֹ֑גֶזturmoil
rogezH7267 →7 times
וְשָׁ֥םand there
veshamH8033 →834 times
יָ֝נ֗וּחוּthey rest
yanuchuH5117 →142 times
יְגִ֣יעֵיweary [ones] of
yegieiH3019 →
כֹֽחַ׃strength
khoachH3581 →126 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
Revelation 14:13And I heard a voice from heaven telling me to write, “Blessed are the dead—those who die in the Lord from this moment on.” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labors,…
it leads to
- Revelation 20:6
Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection! The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and will reign with Him…
- 2 Timothy 4:7–8
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:10
He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with Him.
- Hebrews 4:9–11
There remains, then, a Sabbath rest for the people of God.
- Revelation 20:6
Through
Hebrews 4:9There remains, then, a Sabbath rest for the people of God.
it leads to
- 1 Peter 2:10
Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
- Revelation 21:4
‘He will wipe away every tear from their eyes,’ and there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the former things have passed away.”
- 1 Peter 2:10
Through
Hebrews 4:11Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following the same pattern of disobedience.
it leads to
- Matthew 11:28–30
Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
- Luke 13:24
“Make every effort to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able.
- Matthew 11:28–30
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; 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 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.