Job 4:18
in Job 4If God puts no trust in His servants, and He charges His angels with error,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Behold, he putteth no trust in his servants; And his angels he chargeth with folly:
KJV
Behold, he put no trust in his servants; and his angels he charged with folly:
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This verse in Job 4
Commentary
11 notes on this verseBehold, His servants are not stedfast, and in His Angels He found folly: How much more in them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, which shall be consumed as by the moth? Though the Angelical nature, by being fixed in contemplation of the Creator, remains unchangeable in its own state, yet hereby, that it is a created being, it admits in itself the variableness of change. Now to be changed is to go from one thing into another, and to be without stability in one's self.
This site's exposition
If God puts no trust in His servants
on Job 4:18-21
If God "charges His angels with error," how much more those "who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundations are in the dust". Clarke reads the moth as the frailest of creatures, the measure of how quickly a house is destroyed. The speech ends with men who "die without wisdom".
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
In truth, to be faultless is not easy for human beings. Faultlessness is beyond human possibilities. The order of the angels is itself subject to such weakness. This is what Eliphaz says, "Even in his servants God puts no trust." It is evident that God …
The Medieval Church1 voice
His second argument comes from a comparison to the angels. It is from the greater when he says, "Even those who serve him are not stable and in his angels he finds evil." This opinion is clear according to the Catholic faith. The Catholic faith …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
I think it would bear this reading, repeating the negation, which is very common: He will put no trust in his saints; nor will he glory in his angels (in angelis suis non ponet gloriationem) or make his boast of them, as if their praises, or services, added any thing to him: it is his glory that he is infinitely happy without them.
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
Servants - They are called his servants by way of eminency, that general name being here appropriated to the chief of the kind, to intimate that sovereign dominion which the great God hath over the angels, and much more over men.
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Behold, he put no trust in his servants,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
Behold, he put no trust in his servants - This verse is generally understood to refer to the fall of angels; for there were some of those heavenly beings who kept not their first estate: they did not persevere to the end of their probation, and therefore fell into condemnation, and are reserved in chains of darkness unto the judgment of the great day; Jud 1:
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
folly--Imperfection is to be attributed to the angels, in comparison with Him. The holiness of some of them had given way (2Pe 2:4), and at best is but the holiness of a creature. Folly is the want of moral consideration [UMBREIT].
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Behold, he put no trust in his servants - These are evidently the words of the oracle that appeared to Eliphaz; see Schultens, in loc. The word servants here refers to angels; and the idea is, that God was so pure that he did not confide even in the exalted holiness of angels - meaning that their holiness was infinitely inferior to his. The design is to state that God had the highest possible holiness, such as to render the holiness of all others, no matter how exalted, as nothing - as all lesser lights are as nothing before the glory of the sun. The Chaldee renders this, “Lo, in his servants, the prophets, he does not confide;” but the more correct reference is undoubtedly to the angels. And his angels he charged with folly - Margin, Or,” Nor in his angels, in whom he put light.” The different rendering in the text and in the margin, has arisen from the supposed ambiguity of the word employed here - תהלה tohŏlâh. It is a word which occurs nowhere else, and hence, it is difficult to determine its true signification. Walton renders it, gloriatio glorying; Jerome, pravitas, wickedness; the Septuagint, σκολιόν skolion, fault, blemish; Dr. Good. default, or defection; Noyes, frailty. Gesenius says that the word is derived from הלל hâlăl, (No. 4), to be foolish. So also Kimchi explains it. According to this, the idea is that of foolishness - that is, they are far inferior to God in wisdom; or, as the word folly in the Scriptures is often synonymous with sin, it might mean that their purity was so far inferior to his as to appear like impurity and sin. The essential idea is, that even the holiness of angels was not to be compared with God. It is not that they were polluted and unholy, for, in their measure, they are perfect; but it is that their holiness was as nothing compared with the infinite perfection of God. […]
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הֵ֣ן | hen | there! | H2005 → | 316 times |
| בַּ֭עֲבָדָיו | baavadav | in servants his | H5650 → | 799 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יַאֲמִ֑ין | yaamin | he trusts | H539 → | 106 times |
| וּ֝בְמַלְאָכָ֗יו | uvemalakhav | and against messengers his | H4397 → | 213 times |
| יָשִׂ֥ים | yasim | he charges | H7760 → | 584 times |
| תָּהֳלָֽה׃ | toholah | error | H8417 → |
הֵ֣ןthere!
henH2005 →316 times
בַּ֭עֲבָדָיוin servants his
baavadavH5650 →799 times
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
יַאֲמִ֑יןhe trusts
yaaminH539 →106 times
וּ֝בְמַלְאָכָ֗יוand against messengers his
uvemalakhavH4397 →213 times
יָשִׂ֥יםhe charges
yasimH7760 →584 times
תָּהֳלָֽה׃error
toholahH8417 →
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
2 Peter 2:4For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them deep into hell, placing them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment;
it leads to
- Matthew 25:41
Then He will say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jude 1:6
And the angels who did not stay within their own domain but abandoned their proper dwelling—these He has kept in eternal chains under darkness, bound for judgment on that great day.
- Romans 8:32
He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also, along with Him, freely give us all things?
- Revelation 20:1–3
Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven with the key to the Abyss, holding in his hand a great chain.
- Revelation 12:7–9
Then a war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back.
- Matthew 25:41
Through
Jude 1:6And the angels who did not stay within their own domain but abandoned their proper dwelling—these He has kept in eternal chains under darkness, bound for judgment on that great day.
it leads to
- 2 Peter 2:4
For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them deep into hell, placing them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment;
- Ephesians 6:12
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this world’s darkness, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
- 2 Peter 2:4
Through
Psalms 104:4He makes the winds His messengers, flames of fire His servants.
it leads to
- Hebrews 1:7
Now about the angels He says: “He makes His angels winds, His servants flames of fire.”
- Hebrews 1:7
Where this verse is studied
On this page
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 V; Hesychius of Jerusalem, HOMILIES ON JOB 7.4.18-21; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; 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.