Job 7:10
in Job 7He never returns to his house; his place remembers him no more.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
He shall return no more to his house, Neither shall his place know him any more.
KJV
He shall return no more to his house, neither shall his place know him any more.
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This verse in Job 7
Commentary
9 notes on this verseHe shall return no more to his house, neither shall his place know him any more - He does not mean that he shall be annihilated but that he shall never more become an inhabitant of the earth. The word שאול, which we properly enough translate grave, here signifies also the state of the dead, hades, and sometimes any deep pit, or even hell itself.
This site's exposition
Remember that my life is but a breath
on Job 7:7-10
Job says his eyes "will never again see happiness". He speaks within the Old Testament's ordinary hope of Sheol, and the later reach of 19:25-26 stands out against it. "He never returns to his house" states the plain fact of mortality without yet claiming anything beyond it.
This site's exposition
He never returns to his house
Clarke reads the verse as the end of life on earth, with the dead still existing in Sheol. His house and his place forget him. Henry recalls the rich man of Luke 16, who asked that Lazarus be sent to his father's house because he knew he could never go.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistMorals on the Book of Job, Book VIII · Written before 604.
proposed
He shall return no more to his own house, neither shall his place know him any more. For 'the place' of man, but not a local place, the Creator Himself became, Who created him to have his being in Himself, which same place man did then forsake, when on hearing the words of the deceiver, he forsook the love of the Creator.
Those men thought that a dead man, after a certain span of time not only returned to life, but also had the same possessions and houses he formerly possessed. To disprove this he says, "He will never return home again." They also held that he …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
The rich man in hell desired that Lazarus might be sent to his house, knowing it was to no purpose to ask that he might have leave to go himself. Glorified saints shall return no more to the cares, and burdens, and sorrows of their house; nor damned sinners to the gaieties and pleasures of their house.
He shall return no more to his house,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
The Oriental keenly loves his dwelling. In Arabian elegies the desertion of abodes by their occupants is often a theme of sorrow. Grace overcomes this also (Lu 18:29;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
He shall return no more to his house - He shall not revisit his family. Job is dwelling on the calamity of death, and one of the circumstances most deeply felt in the prospect of death is, that a man must leave his own house to return no more. The stately palaces that he has built; the splendid halls which he has adorned; the chamber where he slept; the cheerful fireside where he met his family; the place at the table which he occupied, he will revisit no more. His tread will be no more heard; his voice will no more awaken delight in the happy family group; the father and husband returning from his daily toil will no more give pleasure to the joyous circle. Such is death. It removes us from all earthly comforts, takes us away from home and kindred - from children and friends, and bids us go alone to an unknown world. Job felt that it was a sad and gloomy thing. And so it is, unless there is a well-founded hope of a better world. It is the gospel only that can make us willing to leave our happy dwellings, and the embraces of kindred and friends, and to tread the lonely path to the regions of the dead. The friend of God has a brighter home in heaven. He has more numerous and better friends there. He has there a more splendid and happy mansion than any here on earth. He will be engaged in more blissful scenes there, than can be enjoyed by the most happy fireside here; will have more cheerful employments there, than any which can be found on earth; and will have higher and purer pleasures there, than can be found in parks, and lawns, and landscapes; in splendid halls, in music, and the festive board; in literary pursuits, and in the love of kindred. How far Job had the means of consolation from such reflections as these, it is not easy now to determine. The probability, however, is, that his views were comparatively dim and obscure.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
Neither will I restrain my mouth Since You do not desist from me, neither will I restrain my speech from complaining about Your ways.
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. 5 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יָשׁ֣וּב | yashuv | he will return | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| ע֣וֹד | od | again | H5750 → | 490 times |
| לְבֵית֑וֹ | leveito | to house his | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| וְלֹא־ | velo'- | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יַכִּירֶ֖נּוּ | yakirenu | it will acknowledge him | H5234 → | 49 times |
| ע֣וֹד | od | again | H5750 → | 490 times |
| מְקֹמֽוֹ׃ | mekomo | place his | H4725 → | 401 times |
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
יָשׁ֣וּבhe will return
yashuvH7725 →1056 times
ע֣וֹדagain
odH5750 →490 times
לְבֵית֑וֹto house his
leveitoH1004 →2046 times
וְלֹא־and not
velo'-H3808 →5168 times
יַכִּירֶ֖נּוּit will acknowledge him
yakirenuH5234 →49 times
ע֣וֹדagain
odH5750 →490 times
מְקֹמֽוֹ׃place his
mekomoH4725 →401 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
Job 20:9The eye that saw him will see him no more, and his place will no longer behold him.
it leads to
Through
Psalms 103:16when the wind passes over, it vanishes, and its place remembers it no more.
it leads to
- Job 20:9
The eye that saw him will see him no more, and his place will no longer behold him.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 40:7
The grass withers and the flowers fall when the breath of the LORD blows on them; indeed, the people are grass.
- Job 14:10
But a man dies and is laid low; he breathes his last, and where is he?
- Job 20:9
Through
Job 8:18If he is uprooted from his place, it will disown him, saying, ‘I never saw you.’
it leads to
- Psalms 37:36
yet he passed away and was no more; though I searched, he could not be found.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 37:36
Through
Job 27:21The east wind carries him away, and he is gone; it sweeps him out of his place.
it leads to
- Psalms 11:6
On the wicked He will rain down fiery coals and sulfur; a scorching wind will be their portion.
- Psalms 11:6
Through
Job 27:23It claps its hands at him and hisses him out of his place.
it leads to
- Lamentations 2:15
All who pass by clap their hands at you in scorn. They hiss and shake their heads at the Daughter of Jerusalem: “Is this the city that was called the perfection of beauty, the…
- Lamentations 2:15
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 on the Book of Job; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book VIII; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.