Job 4:19
in Job 4how much more those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundations are in the dust, who can be crushed like a moth!
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
How much more them that dwell in houses of clay, Whose foundation is in the dust, Who are crushed before the moth!
KJV
How much less in them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, which are crushed before the moth?
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This verse in Job 4
Commentary
12 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".
This site's exposition
those who dwell in houses of clay
Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note that houses of sun-dried clay were common in the East and easily washed away. The body is the house, and its foundation is the dust of Genesis 3:19. Paul calls it an earthly tent at 2 Corinthians 5:1.
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
Eliphaz takes his third argument, to show that adversity comes from sin, from the human condition which he joins to the conclusion of the preceding argument. Thus one argument could be formed from two and he means this when he says, "How much more those …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
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
These are called houses, (because they are the receptacles of the soul, and the places of its settled abode) and houses of clay, because they were made of clay, or earth, and to note their great frailty and mutability; whereas the angels are free spirits, unconfined to such carcasses, and dwell in celestial, and glorious, and everlasting mansions.
How much less on them that dwell in houses of clay,....
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
A house of clay, if built upon a rock, might stand long; but, if founded in the dust, the uncertainty of the foundation will hasten its fall, and it will sink with its own weight. As man was made out of the earth, so he is maintained and supported by that which cometh out of the earth.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
How much less - (אף 'aph). This particle has the general sense of addition, accession, especially of something more important;” yea more, besides, even.” Gesenius. The meaning here is, “how much more true is this of man!” He puts no confidence in his angels; he charges them with frailty; how much more strikingly true must this be of man!
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
houses of clay-- (2Co 5:1). Houses made of sun-dried clay bricks are common in the East; they are easily washed away (Mt 7:27). Man's foundation is this dust (Ge 3:19). before the moth--rather, "as before the moth," which devours a garment (Job 13:28;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase+unbalanced-parens
How much less - Rather, with the Vulgate, How much more? If angels may be unstable, how can man arrogate stability to himself who dwells in an earthly tabernacle, and who must shortly return to dust? Crushed before the moth? The slightest accident oftentimes destroys. “A fly, a grape-stone, or a hair can kill.” Great men have fallen by all these. This is the general idea in the text, and it is useless to sift for meanings.
The words behind it
10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אַ֤ף׀ | ʾaf | also | H637 → | 134 times |
| שֹׁכְנֵ֬י | shokhenei | [those who] dwell of | H7931 → | 129 times |
| בָֽתֵּי־ | vatei- | houses of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| חֹ֗מֶר | chomer | clay | H2563 → | 31 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| בֶּעָפָ֥ר | beafar | [is] in the dust | H6083 → | 110 times |
| יְסוֹדָ֑ם | yesodam | foundation their | H3247 → | |
| יְ֝דַכְּא֗וּם | yedakeum | people crush them | H1792 → | 18 times |
| לִפְנֵי־ | lifnei- | <to> before | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| עָֽשׁ׃ | ʾash | a moth | H6211 → | 12 times |
אַ֤ף׀also
ʾafH637 →134 times
שֹׁכְנֵ֬י[those who] dwell of
shokheneiH7931 →129 times
בָֽתֵּי־houses of
vatei-H1004 →2046 times
חֹ֗מֶרclay
chomerH2563 →31 times
אֲשֶׁר־which
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
בֶּעָפָ֥ר[is] in the dust
beafarH6083 →110 times
יְסוֹדָ֑םfoundation their
yesodamH3247 →
יְ֝דַכְּא֗וּםpeople crush them
yedakeumH1792 →18 times
לִפְנֵי־<to> before
lifnei-H6440 →2123 times
עָֽשׁ׃a moth
ʾashH6211 →12 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
Genesis 2:7Then the LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being.
it leads to
- Ecclesiastes 12:7
before the dust returns to the ground from which it came and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 64:8
But now, O LORD, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You are the potter; we are all the work of Your hand.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Job 33:4
The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
- 1 Corinthians 15:45
So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being;” the last Adam a life-giving spirit.
- Acts 17:25
Nor is He served by human hands, as if He needed anything, because He Himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.
- Ecclesiastes 12:7
Through
2 Corinthians 5:1Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is dismantled, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.
it leads to
- Job 19:25–26
But I know that my Redeemer lives, and in the end He will stand upon the earth.
- 1 John 3:2
Beloved, we are now children of God, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when Christ appears, we will be like Him, for we will see Him as…
- Job 19:25–26
Through
Genesis 3:19By the sweat of your brow you will eat your bread, until you return to the ground—because out of it were you taken. For dust you are, and to dust you shall return.”
it leads to
- Genesis 2:7
Then the LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Genesis 2:7
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.