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Job 8:9

in Job 8

For we were born yesterday and know nothing; our days on earth are but a shadow.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

(For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing, Because our days upon earth are a shadow);

KJV

(For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing, because our days upon earth are a shadow:)

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This verse in Job 8

Commentary

9 notes on this verse
For we are but of yesterday - That is, we are of short life. We have had but few opportunities of observation compared with those who have gone before us. There can be no doubt that Bildad here refers to the longevity of the antecedent ages compared with the age of man at the time when he lived; and the passage, therefore, is of importance in order to fix the date of the poem.

This site's exposition

Please inquire of past generations

on Job 8:8-10

Bildad appeals to tradition as the court of final appeal: "Please inquire of past generations and consider the discoveries of their fathers". His clause "For we were born yesterday and know nothing" admits that his generation has no standing of its own and must borrow its wisdom.

This site's exposition

For we were born yesterday and know nothing

Bildad sets his short-lived generation beside the fathers, who lived for centuries and stored up what they saw, as Clarke reads it. Born yesterday, men know nothing. Their days on earth pass like a shadow, and Gregory draws the lesson that a brief life must learn from past generations.

The record, by era

The Medieval Church2 voices

A commentator

Thomas Aquinas

Commentary on Job · Written before 1274.

proposed

He shows the necessity of this investigation when he continues, "We are men of yesterday," born almost yesterday, "and we know nothing," of ancient deeds because of this. He says this certainly to show the shortness of our life and so he continues, "because our …

A commentator

Gregory the Dialogist

Morals on the Book of Job, Book VIII · Written before 604.

proposed

For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing, because our days upon earth are but a shadow. And so the generation of old is set before us to be inquired of, that the period of the present life may be shewn to pass away like a shadow; in this way, that if we recall to mind the things that have been and are now over, we clearly see how swiftly that also will be gone which we have in our hands.

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

Vita brevis, ars longa--life is short, the progress of art boundless. He refers to the testimony of the ancients and to the knowledge which Job himself had of their sentiments. "Do thou enquire of the former age, and let them tell thee, not only their own judgment in this matter, but the judgment also of their fathers,

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes

For we are but of yesterday (s),....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

of yesterday--that is, a recent race. We know nothing as compared with them because of the brevity of our lives; so even Jacob (Ge 47:9). Knowledge consisted then in the results of observation, embodied in poetical proverbs, and handed down by tradition.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase

1 more voice on this verse

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing - It is evident that Bildad refers to those times in which human life was protracted to a much longer date than that in which Job lived; when men, from the long period of eight or nine hundred years, had the opportunity of making many observations, and treasuring up a vast fund of knowledge and experience. In comparison with them, he considers that age as nothing, and that generation as being only of yesterday, not having had opportunity of laying up knowledge: nor could they expect it, as their days upon earth would be but a shadow, compared with that substantial time in which the fathers had lived. Perhaps there may be an allusion here to the shadow projected by the gnomon of a dial, during the time the sun is above the horizon. As is a single solar day, so is our life. The following beautiful motto I have seen on a sundial: Umbrae Sumus! “We are shadows!” referring to the different shadows by which the gnomon marked the hours, during the course of the day; and all intended to convey this moral lesson to the passengers: Your life is composed of time, marked out by such shadows as these. Such as time is, such are you; as fleeting, as transitory, as unsubstantial. These shadows lost, time is lost; time lost, soul lost! Reader take heed! The writer of this book probably had before his eyes these words of David, in his last prayer, 1Ch 29:15: “For we are strangers before thee, and sojourners, as all our fathers were; our days upon earth are as a Shadow, and there is no expectation. There is no reason to hope that they shall be prolonged; for our lives are limited down to threescore years and ten, as the average of the life even of old men.

The words behind it

10 Hebrew words

Every 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.

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

11 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Job 14:2Like a flower, he comes forth, then withers away; like a fleeting shadow, he does not endure.42 works1 Chronicles 29:15For we are foreigners and strangers in Your presence, as were all our forefathers. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope.10 worksPsalms 144:4Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow.8 worksJob 38:12In your days, have you commanded the morning or assigned the dawn its place,6 worksPsalms 102:11My days are like lengthening shadows, and I wither away like grass.5 worksJob 7:6My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle; they come to an end without hope.4 works
The other 5 cross-references, with their words ▾
Genesis 47:9“My travels have lasted 130 years,” Jacob replied. “My years have been few and hard, and they have not matched the years of the travels of my fathers.”4 worksEcclesiastes 6:12For who knows what is good for a man during the few days in which he passes through his fleeting life like a shadow? Who can tell a man what will come after him under the sun?4 worksPsalms 90:4For in Your sight a thousand years are but a day that passes, or a watch of the night.3 worksPsalms 39:5You, indeed, have made my days as handbreadths, and my lifetime as nothing before You. Truly each man at his best exists as but a breath. Selah3 worksJob 10:20Are my days not few? Withdraw from me, that I may have a little comfort,2 works

The walk

8 stops

Each 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 14:2

    Like a flower, he comes forth, then withers away; like a fleeting shadow, he does not endure.

    it leads to

    • 1 Peter 1:24

      For, “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall,

      Reached by 3 separate paths from here.

    • James 4:14

      You do not even know what will happen tomorrow! What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Isaiah 40:6–8

      A voice says, “Cry out!” And I asked, “What should I cry out?” “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flowers of the field.

    • Psalms 103:15–16

      As for man, his days are like grass— he blooms like a flower of the field;

    • 1 Chronicles 29:15

      For we are foreigners and strangers in Your presence, as were all our forefathers. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope.

  • Through

    Psalms 144:4

    Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow.

    it leads to

    • Psalms 102:11

      My days are like lengthening shadows, and I wither away like grass.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

  • Through

    1 Chronicles 29:15

    For we are foreigners and strangers in Your presence, as were all our forefathers. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope.

    it leads to

    • Psalms 144:4

      Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

  • Through

    Psalms 102:11

    My days are like lengthening shadows, and I wither away like grass.

    it leads to

    • Job 14:2

      Like a flower, he comes forth, then withers away; like a fleeting shadow, he does not endure.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

About Job

Job Hears of His Misfortunes, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Job Hears of His Misfortunes, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Job: the study guide →Read Job 8 →
This page draws on 10 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); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Book of Job; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job; 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.

Read on in Job 8 →