Job 4:15
in Job 4Then a spirit glided past my face, and the hair on my body bristled.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Then a spirit passed before my face; The hair of my flesh stood up.
KJV
Then a spirit passed before my face; the hair of my flesh stood up:
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This verse in Job 4
Commentary
9 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Then a spirit passed before my face - He does not intimate whether it was the spirit of a man, or an angel who thus appeared. The belief in such apparitions was common in the early ages, and indeed has prevailed at all times. No one can demonstrate that God could not communicate his will in such a manner as this, or by a messenger deputed from his immediate presence to impart valuable truth to people. The hair of my flesh stood up - This is an effect which is known often to be produced by fear.
This site's exposition
Then a spirit glided past my face
on Job 4:15-17
A spirit "glided past my face" and stood, its form beyond discerning. Then "a whispering voice" gave the doctrine's climax, "Can a mortal be more righteous than God, or a man more pure than his Maker". The book's crux is whether Eliphaz applied a true word to a false case.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church3 voices
ON HOW HERETICS MISUSE THIS VERSE. And when a spirit passed before my face, the hair of my flesh stood up. There stood one, but I knew not the face of him. That they may shew that they have been made acquainted with incomprehensible mysteries, they relate, not that 'a spirit' stood still, but that it 'passed by before their face.' And they pretend that they beheld a countenance they knew not, that they may prove themselves to be known to Him, Whom the human mind is not equal to know. And here it is further added; An image was before mine eyes, and I heard the voice as it were of a light breath of air. Heretics often picture God to themselves by a sensible form, seeing that they are unable to behold Him spiritually. And they tell that they hear His 'voice as of a light breath of air,' in that for the obtaining the knowledge of His secret things, they delight to have as if a particular freedom of intercourse with Him. For they never teach the things, which God reveals openly, but such as are breathed into their ears in a secret manner.
As a consequence, he shows the cause of this fear when he says, "When a spirit glided past my face; the hairs on my flesh stood up." For it is reasonable that one with lesser power is awestruck in the presence of one with greater …
And as a spirit passed before my face, the hair of my flesh stood up. But when the mind is suspended in contemplation, when, exceeding the narrow limits of the flesh, with all the power of her ken, she strains to find something of the freedom of interior security, she cannot for long rest standing above herself, because though the spirit carries her on high, yet the flesh sinks her down below by the yet remaining weight of her corruption.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
A spirit - An angel in visible shape, otherwise he could not have discerned it. Stood up - Through that excessive horror caused by so glorious, unusual, and terrible a presence.
4 Thy words have upholden him that was falling, and thou hast strengthened the feeble knees. 5 But now it is come upon thee, and thou faintest; it toucheth thee, and thou art troubled. 6 Is not this thy fear, thy confidence, thy hope, and the uprightness of thy ways?
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture
2 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Then a spirit passed before my face,....
His conscience was to be awakened and informed, not his curiosity gratified. We know little of spirits; we are not capable of knowing much of them, nor is it fit that we should: all in good time; we must shortly remove to the world of spirits, and shall then be better acquainted with them.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
terror befell me from the spirit that came to me. and the spirit was an angel. as it is stated (Ps.:4): “He makes his angels spirits.”
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
7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְ֭רוּחַ | veruach | and a wind | H7307 → | 378 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | over | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| פָּנַ֣י | panai | face my | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| יַחֲלֹ֑ף | yachalof | it passed over | H2498 → | 28 times |
| תְּ֝סַמֵּ֗ר | tesamer | it made bristle | H5568 → | |
| שַֽׂעֲרַ֥ת | saarat | [the] hair of | H8185 → | |
| בְּשָׂרִֽי׃ | besari | flesh my | H1320 → | 270 times |
וְ֭רוּחַand a wind
veruachH7307 →378 times
עַל־over
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
פָּנַ֣יface my
panaiH6440 →2123 times
יַחֲלֹ֑ףit passed over
yachalofH2498 →28 times
תְּ֝סַמֵּ֗רit made bristle
tesamerH5568 →
שַֽׂעֲרַ֥ת[the] hair of
saaratH8185 →
בְּשָׂרִֽי׃flesh my
besariH1320 →270 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 1:7Now about the angels He says: “He makes His angels winds, His servants flames of fire.”
it leads to
- Psalms 104:4
He makes the winds His messengers, flames of fire His servants.
- Hebrews 1:14
Are not the angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 2 Kings 6:17
Then Elisha prayed, “O LORD, please open his eyes that he may see.” And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw that the hills were full of horses and…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ezekiel 1:13–14
In the midst of the living creatures was the appearance of glowing coals of fire, or of torches. Fire moved back and forth between the living creatures; it was bright, and lightning flashed out…
- Psalms 104:4
Through
Psalms 104:4He makes the winds His messengers, flames of fire His servants.
it leads to
- 2 Kings 2:11
As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire with horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up into heaven in a whirlwind.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Hebrews 1:7
Now about the angels He says: “He makes His angels winds, His servants flames of fire.”
- Psalms 148:8
lightning and hail, snow and clouds, powerful wind fulfilling His word,
- 2 Kings 2:11
Through
Daniel 5:6his face grew pale and his thoughts so alarmed him that his hips gave way and his knees knocked together.
it leads to
- Nahum 2:10
She is emptied! Yes, she is desolate and laid waste! Hearts melt, knees knock, bodies tremble, and every face grows pale!
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Nahum 2:10
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Job
This page draws on 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 V; 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.