Job 8:15
in Job 8He leans on his web, but it gives way; he holds fast, but it does not endure.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
He shall lean upon his house, but it shall not stand: He shall hold fast thereby, but it shall not endure.
KJV
He shall lean upon his house, but it shall not stand: he shall hold it fast, but it shall not endure.
⋯
This verse in Job 8
Commentary
9 notes on this verseHe leaneth upon his house, but it shall not stand; he shall prop it, but it shall not rise up. As the house of our exterior life is the building which the body lives in, so the house of our thought is any thing whatever that the mind is centered in by affection. For every thing that we love, we as it were make our dwelling-place by reposing in it. Whence Paul, because he had fixed his heart in things above, being still upon earth indeed, yet a stranger to earth, said, Our conversation is in heaven.
This site's exposition
Does papyrus grow where there is no marsh
on Job 8:11-15
The poem on the wicked opens with papyrus, plants that flourish only where water stands and "dry up quicker than grass" once it is gone. The line "his security is in a spider’s web" names a structure built to look secure and unable to bear weight.
This site's exposition
He leans on his web
Clarke describes a spider testing its web, leaning on one strand and pulling another to see if it holds. The Hebrew calls the web a house, as Barnes notes, the refuge the godless man builds for himself. It gives way under his weight.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
For he did not confide in God's help, but in the strength of his house, i.e. his great wealth, his many relatives and things like this. But these easily fail him. So he continues, "He will put his trust in the stability of his own …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
The secure and prosperous sinner may think himself wronged when he is compared to a rush and a flag; he thinks he has a better root. "We will allow him his conceit," says Bildad, "and give him all the advantage he can desire, and bring him in suddenly cut off." He is here represented as Nebuchadnezzar was in his own dream ( Dan. iv.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
He shall lean upon his house,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
he shall hold it fast--implying his eager grasp, when the storm of trial comes: as the spider "holds fast" by its web; but with this difference: the light spider is sustained by that on which it rests; the godless is not by the thin web on which he rests. The expression, "Hold fast," properly applies to the spider holding his web, but is transferred to the man.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
He shall lean upon his house - This is all allusion to the spider. When he suspects his web, here called his house, to be frail or unsure, he leans upon it in different parts, propping himself on his hinder legs, and pulling with his fore claws, to see if all be safe. If he find any part of it injured, he immediately adds new cordage to that part, and attaches it strongly to the wall. When he finds all safe and strong, he retires into his hole at one corner, supposing himself to be in a state of complete security, when in a moment the brush or the besom sweeps away both himself, his house, and his confidence. This I have several times observed; and it is in this that the strength and point of the comparison consist. The wicked, whose hope is in his temporal possessions strengthens and keeps his house in repair; and thus leans on his earthly supports; in a moment, as in the case of the spider, his house is overwhelmed by the blast of God’s judgments, and himself probably buried in its ruins. This is a very fine and expressive metaphor, which not one of the commentators that I have seen has ever discovered.
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 lean upon his house - This is an allusion to the web or house of the spider. The hope of the hypocrite is called the house which he has built for himself; his home, his refuge, his support. But it shall fail him. In times of trial he will trust to it for support, and it will be found to be as frail as the web of the spider. How little the light and slender thread which a spider spins would avail a man for support in time of danger!
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
whose confidence shall be cut off His confidence and his trust Will be cut off
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
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| יִשָּׁעֵ֣ן | yishaen | he supports himself | H8172 → | |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| בֵּ֭יתוֹ | beito | house his | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| וְלֹ֣א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יַעֲמֹ֑ד | yaamod | it stands | H5975 → | 521 times |
| יַחֲזִ֥יק | yachazik | he takes hold | H2388 → | 291 times |
| בּ֝֗וֹ | bo | on it | ||
| וְלֹ֣א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יָקֽוּם׃ | yakum | it endures | H6965 → | 628 times |
יִשָּׁעֵ֣ןhe supports himself
yishaenH8172 →
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
בֵּ֭יתוֹhouse his
beitoH1004 →2046 times
וְלֹ֣אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
יַעֲמֹ֑דit stands
yaamodH5975 →521 times
יַחֲזִ֥יקhe takes hold
yachazikH2388 →291 times
בּ֝֗וֹon it
bo
וְלֹ֣אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
יָקֽוּם׃it endures
yakumH6965 →628 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
Psalms 49:11Their graves are their eternal homes— their dwellings for endless generations— even though their lands were their namesakes.
it leads to
- Genesis 4:17
And Cain had relations with his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to Enoch. Then Cain built a city and named it after his son Enoch.
- Psalms 5:9
For not a word they speak can be trusted; destruction lies within them. Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.
- Psalms 64:6
They devise injustice and say, “We have perfected a secret plan.” For the inner man and the heart are mysterious.
- Psalms 10:6
He says to himself, “I will not be moved; from age to age I am free of distress.”
- Ezekiel 38:10
This is what the Lord GOD says: On that day, thoughts will arise in your mind, and you will devise an evil plan.
- Genesis 4:17
Through
Job 27:18The house he built is like a moth’s cocoon, like a hut set up by a watchman.
it leads to
- Isaiah 1:8
And the Daughter of Zion is abandoned like a shelter in a vineyard, like a shack in a cucumber field, like a city besieged.
- Job 8:14–15
His confidence is fragile; his security is in a spider’s web.
- Isaiah 1:8
Through
Job 18:14He is torn from the shelter of his tent and is marched off to the king of terrors.
it leads to
- Proverbs 10:28
The hope of the righteous is joy, but the expectations of the wicked will perish.
- Proverbs 10:28
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; 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.