Bildad's Description of the Wicked's Doom
Job 18:1-21
Job.18.1 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויען: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- בלדד: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- השחי: NOUN,m,sg,def
- ויאמר: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Job 8:1 (verbal): Same introductory formula: 'Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said' — Bildad's earlier speech uses identical wording.
- Job 25:1 (verbal): Bildad's final speech is introduced with the same formula, marking another turn in the dialogue by the same speaker.
- Job 4:1 (verbal): Eliphaz's first speech begins with the same speech-introduction pattern ('Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said'), showing the regular structural formula for the friends' responses.
- Job 11:1 (verbal): Zophar's opening speech uses the same introductory wording ('Then Zophar the Naamathite answered and said'), another instance of the repeated dialogical formula among Job's friends.
Alternative generated candidates
- And Bildad the Shuhite answered and said:
- Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said:
Job.18.2 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- עד: PREP
- אנה: ADV,interrog
- תשימון: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,pl
- קנצי: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- למלין: VERB,qal,inf,_,_,_
- תבינו: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,pl
- ואחר: CONJ
- נדבר: VERB,qal,imperfect,1,c,pl
Parallels
- Proverbs 10:19 (thematic): Both condemn excessive talk—warning that many words lead to trouble and that restraint in speech is prudent, echoing Bildad’s rebuke of long, provoking talk.
- Proverbs 17:27 (thematic): Emphasizes restraint and wisdom in speech ('whoever restrains his words has knowledge'), aligning with Bildad’s command to consider before speaking.
- Proverbs 18:13 (verbal): ‘Answering before listening is folly’ parallels Bildad’s injunction to consider (listen/think) and only then speak—both criticize hasty or ill-considered replies.
- James 1:19 (allusion): New Testament instruction to be 'quick to hear, slow to speak' reflects the same principle Bildad asserts: deliberate consideration should precede speech.
- Ecclesiastes 5:2 (thematic): Warns against rash words and urges reverent, measured speech—resonating with Bildad’s call to stop provocative talk and to reflect before speaking.
Alternative generated candidates
- How long will you hunt with words? Consider—then we will speak.
- How long will you put an end to words? Consider, and then we will speak.
Job.18.3 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- מדוע: ADV
- נחשבנו: VERB,niphal,perf,1,pl
- כבהמה: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- נטמינו: VERB,niphal,perf,1,c,pl
- בעיניכם: PREP+NOUN,pl,f,cons+PRON,2,pl
Parallels
- Psalm 73:22 (verbal): Psalmist confesses a similar self-description: 'I was brutish and ignorant; I was like a beast before you,' echoing Job's complaint of being regarded as a beast.
- Psalm 49:12 (thematic): Speaks of human pride and the equality of human and beast in death—'man in his pomp, yet without understanding, is like the beasts that perish'—parallel theme of humans being likened to animals.
- Job 30:1-8 (thematic): Later in Job's speeches he laments social degradation and contempt (treated like dogs and despised), a closely related theme of being humiliated and reduced to animal status by others.
- Job 25:6 (allusion): Bildad's rhetorical lowering of humanity—'how then can man be righteous before God? He who is a maggot...'—echoes the motif of human abasement and being regarded as lowly/unclean creatures.
Alternative generated candidates
- Why are we counted as beasts, held in contempt in your sight?
- Why are we counted as beasts, and despised in your sight?
Job.18.4 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- טרף: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- נפשו: NOUN,f,sg,abs+PRON,3,m,sg
- באפו: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs+pr:3,m
- הלמענך: PART+PREP+2,ms
- תעזב: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
- ארץ: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- ויעתק: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- צור: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ממקמו: PREP
Parallels
- Proverbs 10:25 (thematic): Both passages use the image of sudden overturning (the passing storm) that removes the wicked while the righteous remain as a fixed foundation—paralleling Job’s depiction of being uprooted and cast from place.
- Psalm 37:35-36 (thematic): The psalmist observes the apparent power of the wicked but then their sudden disappearance and inability to be found—echoing Job 18’s motif of the wicked being removed from the land and losing their standing.
- Isaiah 5:14 (allusion): Isaiah portrays Sheol enlarging to devour the proud and their habitations; this language of being consumed or devoured parallels the Hebrew phrasing of being devoured/consumed in Job 18:4.
- Isaiah 14:20 (thematic): Speaks of the ruin and exclusion of a fallen ruler—‘you shall not be joined with them in burial’/you are cast out of the land—which parallels Job’s theme of losing one’s place and being expelled from the earth.
Alternative generated candidates
- You who snatch at your prey in your wrath—shall the earth be forsaken for you, and the rock be moved from its place?
- May his soul be consumed in anger; you will cast him out of the land and uproot his refuge from its place.
Job.18.5 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- גם: ADV
- אור: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- רשעים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- ידעך: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- ולא: CONJ
- יגה: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- שביב: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אשו: NOUN,f,sg,poss3ms
Parallels
- Proverbs 13:9 (verbal): Vividly similar wording: 'The light of the righteous rejoices, but the lamp of the wicked will go out'—direct verbal parallel to extinguishing the wicked's light/spark.
- Proverbs 24:20 (verbal): Uses the same image—'the lamp of the wicked will be put out'—echoing Job 18:5's claim that the wicked's light/fire will not shine.
- Psalm 37:20 (thematic): Portrays the fate of the wicked as sudden disappearance/vanishing (like smoke), thematically akin to the extinguishing of their light in Job 18:5.
- Isaiah 42:3 (thematic): Also uses wick/fire imagery ('a dimly burning wick he will not quench'); parallels the motif of a weak flame but presents a contrasting theological claim (God will not extinguish the faint wick).
Alternative generated candidates
- Indeed the light of the wicked is put out, and the spark of his fire does not shine.
- Truly the light of the wicked shall be extinguished, and the spark of his fire shall not shine.
Job.18.6 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- אור: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- חשך: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- באהלו: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON,3,m,sg
- ונרו: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs,3,m,sg
- עליו: PREP,3,m,sg
- ידעך: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Proverbs 13:9 (verbal): Uses the same image of a lamp of the wicked being put out — ‘the lamp of the wicked shall be put out’ — closely paralleling Job’s ‘his lamp above him is put out.’
- Proverbs 20:20 (verbal): Speaks of a lamp being extinguished in utter darkness as judgment on the cursed person — similar verbal motif of a lamp going out and darkness covering the house/tent.
- Matthew 6:23 (allusion): Jesus states ‘if then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness,’ a paradoxical play on light becoming darkness like Job’s ‘light is darkness in his tent,’ echoing the motif of inner/household light turned to darkness.
- Psalm 18:28 (thematic): Contrasts divine provision of light (‘For you light my lamp’) with Job’s depiction of a man’s lamp being extinguished; both texts use the lamp/darkness motif to express fortune vs. misfortune under God’s hand.
Alternative generated candidates
- Darkness is his light in his tent, and his lamp above him goes out.
- Darkness shall be his light in his tent, and his lamp above him shall be dark.
Job.18.7 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- יצרו: NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON,3,m,sg
- צעדי: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- אונו: NOUN,m,sg,suff
- ותשליכהו: CONJ+VERB,qal,impf,3,f,sg (obj:3,m,sg)
- עצתו: NOUN,f,sg,abs+3ms
Parallels
- Psalm 7:15-16 (verbal): A schemer digs a pit and falls into it—direct verbal parallel: the plotter is undone by his own device, like 'his counsel casts him down.'
- Proverbs 26:27 (verbal): “Whoever digs a pit will fall into it” — a proverbial expression of self-inflicted ruin that echoes Job’s point about one’s plans bringing one low.
- Proverbs 1:31 (thematic): “They shall eat the fruit of their way, and be filled with their own devices” — theme of people ruined by the results of their own schemes or counsel.
- Psalm 73:18-19 (thematic): The imagery of feet placed on slippery ground and being cast down resonates with Job’s 'steps shortened' and the downward fall resulting from one’s course or counsel.
Alternative generated candidates
- The vigor of his steps is shortened, and his own counsel casts him down.
- The fabric of his ways will hem in his steps, and his own counsel will cast him down.
Job.18.8 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- כי: CONJ
- שלח: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- ברשת: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- ברגליו: PREP+NOUN,f,pl,suff,3,m,sg
- ועל: CONJ+PREP
- שבכה: NOUN,f,sg,cs
- יתהלך: VERB,hitp,imprf,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Psalm 9:15 (verbal): Uses identical imagery of a hidden net/snare catching one's own foot—nations sink into the pit they made, paralleling the idea of falling into one’s own trap.
- Proverbs 26:27 (verbal): Speaks of digging a pit and falling into it (and a stone rolling back), a proverbally similar formulation of self‑inflicted ruin like walking into a snare.
- Psalm 7:15–16 (thematic): Describes someone digging a pit and falling into the very ditch they made; his mischief returns on his own head—theme of self‑entrapment and retributive justice.
- Psalm 35:7–8 (thematic): Prays that the hidden net laid by enemies should ensnare them and that they fall into their own snares—echoes the motif of enemies ensnared by their own devices.
Alternative generated candidates
- For he is caught in a net by his own feet; he walks into a snare.
- For he has set a net for his feet; a snare lies along his path.
Job.18.9 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- יאחז: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- בעקב: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- פח: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יחזק: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- עליו: PREP,3,m,sg
- צמים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
Parallels
- Psalm 9:15 (verbal): Speaks of a net hidden by nations and their own foot being caught—very close imagery of a snare/grip on the foot/heel.
- Proverbs 26:27 (verbal): ‘Whoever digs a pit will fall into it’—the motif of a trap laid that ensnares the one who prepared it echoes Job’s image.
- Psalm 7:15-16 (thematic): Describes one digging a pit and falling into it; his malice returns on his own head—parallel theme of the wicked seized by their own devices.
- Jeremiah 5:26 (verbal): Speaks of wicked men who ‘lay wait’ and ‘set a snare’ for others—uses the same snaring/entrapment language as Job 18:9.
- Psalm 141:9 (thematic): A prayer to be kept ‘from the snares they have laid for me’—reflects the recurring biblical motif of enemies’ snares and being caught by them.
Alternative generated candidates
- A trap seizes him by the heel; a snare holds him fast.
- A noose takes hold of his heel; a trap seizes him fast.
Job.18.10 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- טמון: VERB,pual,ptc,_,m,sg
- בארץ: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,def
- חבלו: NOUN,m,sg,abs,suff:3ms
- ומלכדתו: CONJ+NOUN,f,sg,abs,suff:3ms
- עלי: PREP+PRON,1,sg
- נתיב: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Psalm 7:15-16 (verbal): Uses pit/trap imagery—one who devises a pit falls into it; parallels Job’s picture of a hidden snare and sudden ruin for the wicked.
- Proverbs 26:27 (thematic): Proverbial retribution motif: ‘He who digs a pit will fall into it’—echoes the theme of snares laid that entrap their maker or the wicked on the way.
- Psalm 91:3 (thematic): Speaks of deliverance ‘from the snare of the fowler’; connects conceptually to Job’s concern with snares and hidden dangers on the path.
- Isaiah 24:17 (verbal): Mentions ‘fear, and the pit, and the snare’ coming upon the inhabitants of the earth—uses the same trio of images (pit/snake/snare) as metaphors for sudden calamity.
Alternative generated candidates
- A cord is hidden for him in the ground, and a snare for him on the path.
- His cord is hidden in the earth, and his trap waits on the road.
Job.18.11 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- סביב: ADV
- בעתהו: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs+PRON,3,ms
- בלהות: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- והפיצהו: CONJ+VERB,hiph,perf,3,ms+PRON,3,ms
- לרגליו: PREP+NOUN,f,pl,cons+PRON,3,ms
Parallels
- Proverbs 1:27 (verbal): Uses nearly identical language of 'terror' coming upon the wicked—warning that terror and sudden calamity will overtake those who reject wisdom, paralleling Job's depiction of terrors surrounding the wicked.
- Psalm 18:5 (verbal): Speaks of being surrounded and entangled by death's cords and snares—similar imagery of deadly terrors encircling and pressing in on a person as in Job 18:11.
- Isaiah 33:14 (thematic): Describes sinners being struck with terror and trembling—a prophetic parallel that frames the wicked as seized by fear, echoing the theme of pervasive dread around the guilty.
- Psalm 91:5 (thematic): Mentions 'the terror of the night' as a threat—serves as a contrastive parallel motif (terror surrounding a person) highlighting the same fear-language used of danger that encircles humans in biblical poetry.
Alternative generated candidates
- Terrors hem him about and pursue him at his heels.
- Terrors surround him and pursue him; dread spreads itself before his feet.
Job.18.12 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- יהי: VERB,qal,juss,3,m,sg
- רעב: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אנו: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ואיד: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- נכון: ADJ,m,sg,abs
- לצלעו: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs+3,m,sg
Parallels
- Proverbs 10:7 (verbal): Direct verbal parallel: contrasts the lasting memory of the righteous with the perishing/rotting of the wicked's name — same motif of a wicked person's name or remembrance being blotted out.
- Psalm 9:5 (thematic): Speaks of God destroying the wicked and blotting out their name forever, closely echoing the idea that the wicked's remembrance and standing are removed from the earth.
- Job 20:5-11 (structural): Zophar's catalogue of the fate of the wicked (short-lived prosperity, sudden ruin, loss of standing) parallels Bildad's depiction in Job 18 of the annihilation of the wicked's memory and name.
- Psalm 37:20 (thematic): Describes the wicked perishing and vanishing like smoke; thematically aligns with Job 18:12's emphasis on the disappearance of the wicked's remembrance and reputation.
Alternative generated candidates
- Hunger shall consume his vigor, and calamity shall be ready at his side.
- A famine is ready for him; misfortune stands at his side.
Job.18.13 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- יאכל: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- בדי: PREP
- עורו: NOUN,m,sg,abs+3ms
- יאכל: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- בדיו: NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON:3ms
- בכור: NOUN,m,sg,const
- מות: VERB,qal,infabs
Parallels
- Psalm 140:3 (verbal): Uses the image of a sharpened tongue and the 'poison of vipers' under the lips—verbal and imagistic parallel to venom/viper causing death in Job 18:13.
- Psalm 58:4-5 (thematic): Speaks of the wicked's words as venom like that of a serpent and predicts their ruin—thematic connection in serpentine poison and the fate of the wicked.
- Isaiah 59:5-6 (verbal): Describes hatching adders' eggs and those who eat them dying, and that what is crushed brings forth a viper—close verbal/imagistic parallel to 'eating' or being consumed by serpent‑poison leading to death.
- Proverbs 23:32 (thematic): The intoxication is said to 'bite like a serpent and sting like an adder'—shares the metaphor of a fatal sting/poison producing destruction, resonant with Job's viper imagery.
- Job 20:16 (structural): Zophar's speech on the fate of the wicked (part of the 'consequences' tradition in Job) parallels Bildad's account in Job 18—both structurally portray the wicked being consumed and destroyed as a result of their ways.
Alternative generated candidates
- It shall devour the strength of his skin; even the firstborn of death shall devour his limbs.
- He will gnaw at his own skin; the firstborn of death will feast on him.
Job.18.14 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ינתק: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- מאהלו: PREP
- מבטחו: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs,3,m,sg
- ותצעדהו: VERB,qal,impf,3,f,sg
- למלך: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- בלהות: NOUN,f,pl,abs
Parallels
- Proverbs 1:27 (thematic): Both speak of sudden terror and destruction coming upon the wicked—'your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind' parallels Job’s picture of confidence removed and doom approaching.
- Proverbs 10:25 (verbal): ‘When the whirlwind passeth, the wicked is no more’ echoes Job’s image of security being uprooted from the house/tent and the wicked being swept away.
- Psalm 55:15 (thematic): ‘Let death seize them… for wickedness is in their dwellings’ connects to Job’s motif of death/terror coming into a person’s dwelling and overturning their refuge.
- Psalm 37:35-36 (thematic): These verses describe the sudden disappearance of the wicked—'he passed away, and, lo, he was not'—paralleling Job’s theme of confidence being removed from one’s tent and the person being overcome by terror.
Alternative generated candidates
- He shall be torn from the tent in which he trusted and brought out to the king of terrors.
- He will be torn from his tent—his confidence will be carried off; he will be led forth to the king of terrors.
Job.18.15 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- תשכון: VERB,qal,imperfect,3,f,sg
- באהלו: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON,3,m,sg
- מבלי: PREP
- לו: PRON,3,m,sg
- יזרה: VERB,qal,imperfect,3,m,sg
- על: PREP
- נוהו: NOUN,m,sg,abs+3ms
- גפרית: NOUN,f,sg,abs
Parallels
- Genesis 19:24 (verbal): God 'rains' fire and brimstone on Sodom — a direct verbal and pictorial parallel to Job's image of a habitation consumed by sulfur as divine judgment.
- Deuteronomy 29:23 (verbal): Describes a land turned into brimstone and salt and overturned like Sodom and Gomorrah — closely parallels the motif of a dwelling laid waste by sulfur.
- Isaiah 34:9-10 (verbal): Depicts desolated land and torrents turned to burning pitch and sulfur that are unquenchable — a poetic expansion of the brimstone-as-judgment imagery found in Job 18:15.
- Psalm 11:6 (Hebrew 11:6 / English 11:6) (thematic): Speaks of God raining snares, fire and brimstone on the wicked — thematically parallels Job's association of divine retribution with burning brimstone.
- Revelation 21:8 (allusion): Final judgment imagery of the 'lake that burns with fire and sulfur' echoes the Old Testament motif (including Job) of dwellings/lands consumed by brimstone as the fate of the wicked.
Alternative generated candidates
- In his tent shall dwell terror; brimstone shall be strewn upon his habitation.
- It shall dwell in his tent though he be gone; brimstone shall be scattered upon his dwelling.
Job.18.16 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- מתחת: PREP
- שרשיו: NOUN,m,pl,abs+3ms
- יבשו: VERB,qal,imprf,3,m,pl
- וממעל: CONJ+PREP
- ימל: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- קצירו: NOUN,m,sg,abs,3ms
Parallels
- Psalm 1:3 (thematic): Uses a tree-by-water image for the righteous whose leaves do not wither—a thematic inverse to Job 18:16’s image of roots drying up and branches withering to depict the wicked’s ruin.
- Hosea 9:16 (verbal): Speaks of a root being dried up and people bearing no fruit; closely parallels the wording and judicial motif of roots drying and failure to prosper.
- Ezekiel 31:14-15 (structural): An extended cedar-tree lament describing roots and branches and the tree’s downfall; structurally parallels Job’s use of root/branch imagery to portray destruction.
- Psalm 52:5-7 (verbal): Declares that God will cut off/uproot the wicked and take them away—verbal and thematic overlap with Job 18:16’s depiction of branches withering and harvest being cut off.
Alternative generated candidates
- Underneath his roots the moisture shall be dried up, and above his branch his blossom shall wither.
- Its roots shall dry beneath, and its branch shall wither above.
Job.18.17 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- זכרו: VERB,qal,imperat,2,m,pl
- אבד: VERB,qal,infabs
- מני: PREP+PRON,1,_,sg
- ארץ: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- ולא: CONJ
- שם: ADV
- לו: PRON,3,m,sg
- על: PREP
- פני: NOUN,m,sg,cons
- חוץ: ADV
Parallels
- Proverbs 10:7 (verbal): Contrasts memory of the righteous with the fate of the wicked: 'the memory of the righteous is a blessing, but the name of the wicked will rot'—parallels Job's claim that the wicked's remembrance is destroyed and they have no name.
- Psalm 9:5 (Hebrew 9:6) (verbal): Speaks of God removing the name of the wicked: 'You have rebuked the nations... you have put out their name forever and ever,' echoing Job 18:17's language of remembrance being blotted out.
- Exodus 17:14 (quotation): God commands Moses to write a memorial and declares he will 'blot out the remembrance of Amalek'—uses the same verb/idea of erasing remembrance from the land.
- Deuteronomy 25:19 (quotation): Repeats the injunction to 'blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven,' thematically parallel in the notion of deliberate obliteration of a people's name/memory.
- Psalm 69:28 (thematic): Prayer that the wicked be 'blotted out of the book of the living'—a related metaphor of being erased from record and memory, akin to having 'no name' in the street.
Alternative generated candidates
- His memory shall perish from the earth; he shall have no name on the street.
- Its memory shall perish from the earth, and it shall have no name in the streets.
Job.18.18 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- יהדפהו: VERB,hiph,impf,3,m,sg
- מאור: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אל: NEG
- חשך: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- ומתבל: CONJ+PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ינדהו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Job 10:21-22 (verbal): Speaks of going to 'the land of darkness and deep shadow', closely echoing Job 18:18's movement from light into darkness (shared language and theme of descent into gloom).
- Psalm 107:10-11 (thematic): Describes people 'sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death' and being 'hungry and thirsty', paralleling the motif of exclusion from light and being thrust into darkness and distress.
- Psalm 88:6-7 (thematic): The psalmist laments being placed in the 'lowest pit' and 'darkness', reflecting the same idea of exile from light and being overwhelmed by gloom found in Job 18:18.
- Proverbs 4:19 (thematic): States 'the way of the wicked is like deep darkness', thematically paralleling Job 18:18's depiction of the wicked being driven away from light into darkness.
Alternative generated candidates
- He is driven from light into darkness and driven out of the world.
- They will thrust him from light into darkness and cast him out of the world.
Job.18.19 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- לא: PART_NEG
- נין: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- לו: PRON,3,m,sg
- ולא: CONJ
- נכד: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- בעמו: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,poss,3,m,sg
- ואין: CONJ+PART,exist
- שריד: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- במגוריו: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,poss3,m,pl
Parallels
- Psalm 109:13-15 (thematic): A judicial curse invoking the loss of offspring and household—’May his children be fatherless…’—echoes Job 18:19’s image of no heir and no survivor in the house.
- Jeremiah 16:2-4 (allusion): God’s decree that people shall not marry or have children (’do not take a wife… no son or daughter’) presents the same motif of a family line cut off as a mark of judgment.
- Hosea 9:14 (thematic): A prayer for the enemies to be made childless (’Give them, O Lord… wombs that do not bear’) parallels the theme of barrenness and the absence of descendants as calamity.
- Proverbs 13:22 (structural): ’A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children’ functions as a contrast to Job 18:19’s picture of having no heir—highlighting the social and moral significance of lineage and surviving descendants.
Alternative generated candidates
- He has no offspring, no survivor among his people; no one dwells in his dwelling-place.
- He shall have no son or grandson among his people; no survivor shall be found in his dwellings.
Job.18.20 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- על: PREP
- יומו: NOUN,m,sg,abs+prs3ms
- נשמו: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- אחרנים: ADJ,f,sg,abs
- וקדמנים: CONJ+ADJ,m,pl,abs
- אחזו: VERB,qal,perf,3,pl
- שער: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Psalm 109:8 (thematic): Prays that the offender's days be few and 'let another take his office' — parallels the idea of others occupying a person's place/day (replacement).
- Psalm 37:10 (thematic): 'A little while, and the wicked shall be no more... consider his place, and it shall not be' — echoes the loss of one's place and others taking it.
- Isaiah 3:2-4 (structural): God removes leaders and support so that youths and outsiders seize authority — parallels the image of being dispossessed and others 'seizing the gate' (control of the city/gate).
- Ezekiel 21:26-27 (thematic): The overturning of a throne and giving it to 'him whose right it is' depicts replacement of rule — similar to being supplanted and others taking the position/seat of authority.
Alternative generated candidates
- Those who come after him are astonished at his day, and the former ones were seized with fear.
- Those who come after him shall be astonished at his fate, and those who went before were seized with alarm at the gate.
Job.18.21 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- אך: PART
- אלה: DEM,pl,abs
- משכנות: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- עול: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- וזה: CONJ+PRON,dem,m,sg,abs
- מקום: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- לא: PART_NEG
- ידע: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- אל: NEG
Parallels
- Psalm 1:5-6 (thematic): Contrasts the destiny of the wicked with the righteous—'the way of the wicked will perish'—echoing Job's picture of the dwellings/place belonging to one who does not know God.
- Proverbs 4:19 (verbal): The wicked's way is described as darkness and ignorance—'they do not know where they stumble'—paralleling Job's language about the place of the one who does not know God.
- Psalm 14:1 (thematic): 'The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”' Connects the moral/spiritual state of those who do not know or acknowledge God to Job's depiction of their abode.
- Romans 1:21 (thematic): Paul's observation that people 'did not honor him as God' and became futile in their thinking reflects the New Testament parallel of those who do not know God and the consequences implied in Job 18:21.
Alternative generated candidates
- Such are the dwellings of the wicked; this is the place of him who does not know God.
- Yet these are the dwellings of the wicked—this is the place of one who does not know God.
Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said:
How long will you put words in your mouth? Consider, and afterwards we will speak.
Why are we counted as animals, as if we were unclean in your sight?
His fury devours his soul; because of him he will abandon the land, and the rock will be removed from its place.
Indeed, the light of the wicked is put out, and the spark of his fire does not shine.
The light grows dark in his tent, and his lamp above him is extinguished.
The steps of his strength are shortened, and his own counsel casts him down.
For he is hurled into a net by his feet; he walks into a snare.
A trap seizes him by the heel; a gin holds him fast.
A rope lies hidden in the ground for him; a trap awaits him on the path.
Terror shall hem him in on every side, and it will pursue him at his heels.
His strength shall be famished, and calamity is ready for his limbs.
He shall consume his skin; the firstborn of death shall devour his limbs.
He shall be torn from the tent where he trusted; he shall be led forth to the king of terrors.
His dwelling shall be desolate—no help for him; brimstone shall be scattered over his habitation.
Its roots beneath shall be dried up, and its branch above shall be cut off.
His memory shall perish from the earth, and he shall have no name in the street.
He shall be driven from light into darkness, and he shall be thrust out of the world.
He shall have no posterity, no offspring among his people, and no survivor in his dwelling place.
Those who come after him shall be astonished at his day; the former ones shall be seized at the gate.
Such are the dwellings of the wicked—this is the place of him who does not know God.