Job 21 26

Job 21:26 kjv

They shall lie down alike in the dust, and the worms shall cover them.

Job 21:26 nkjv

They lie down alike in the dust, And worms cover them.

Job 21:26 niv

Side by side they lie in the dust, and worms cover them both.

Job 21:26 esv

They lie down alike in the dust, and the worms cover them.

Job 21:26 nlt

But both are buried in the same dust,
both eaten by the same maggots.

Job 21 verses

Job 21 26 Meaning

This verse powerfully asserts the ultimate physical equality of all human beings in death. Regardless of how one's life was lived—whether in prosperity or suffering, wickedness or righteousness—all individuals share the common, inescapable fate of returning to the earth (dust) and undergoing the natural process of decomposition. It highlights the universality and finality of physical death, flattening all worldly distinctions.

Job 21 26 Context

Job 21:26 is part of Job’s third speech (Job 21:1-34), delivered in response to Zophar’s assertions about the swift demise of the wicked. Job's friends maintain a strict doctrine of retribution, arguing that suffering (like Job's) is direct evidence of sin, and prosperity is proof of righteousness. They claim the wicked are always punished and cut off. In chapter 21, Job vehemently refutes this oversimplified view by presenting compelling counter-evidence: he points out that the wicked often live long, prosper, enjoy peace, see their children flourish, and die peacefully without calamity. His central argument in this chapter is that divine justice is not always immediate or discernible in the patterns of prosperity and suffering during a person's lifetime. Verse 26, "Together they lie down in the dust, and worms cover them," underscores the common fate of death for all, whether wicked or righteous, prosperous or suffering, further challenging the friends' simplistic theology of worldly retribution. It suggests that if everyone ends up physically in the same state, the basis for differentiation or judgment must lie beyond earthly life or in God's broader, inscrutable purposes.

Job 21 26 Word analysis

• Together (Hebrew: יַחַד, yakhad):

  • Significance: This word emphasizes the collective, unified experience. It implies there is no distinction made in death based on one's earthly status, wealth, power, or apparent righteousness or wickedness. It powerfully counters the friends' belief that the wicked and righteous have fundamentally different ends in this life.
  • Connotation: It conveys a sense of ultimate equality and leveling in the face of mortality.

• they lie down (Hebrew: יִשְׁכָּבוּ, yishkavu, from שָׁכַב, shakhah - to lie, recline, go to sleep):

  • Significance: While literally meaning "to lie down," in the context of death, it signifies burial and resting in the grave. It often carries a connotation of sleep, implying a state of rest after life's labors, but in this context, it starkly refers to the inertness of death.
  • Connection: This "lying down" is an ultimate rest from all of life's struggles, regardless of what they were.

• in the dust (Hebrew: עַל־עָפָר, 'al-'afar, 'afar - dust, dry earth, soil, ashes):

  • Significance: "Dust" is a potent biblical symbol. From Gen 2:7 where man is formed from the dust, to Gen 3:19 where he is commanded to return to it, afar represents humanity's humble origin, frailty, mortality, and the ultimate destination of the physical body. It underscores the fleeting nature of life and the transience of all earthly achievements.
  • Implication: It points to the shared common ground, literally, that awaits all.

• and worms (Hebrew: וְרִמָּה, v'rimmah, rimmah - maggot, worm, corruption):

  • Significance: This is a graphic and stark image of decay and putrefaction. Rimmah refers to the creatures that consume dead flesh, highlighting the complete decomposition of the body. It represents the physical breakdown and ultimate degradation of the once living form.
  • Symbolism: It reinforces the reality that all earthly grandeur or suffering comes to the same basic biological end.

• cover them (Hebrew: תְכַסֶּם, tekhasem, from כָּסָה, kasah - to cover, conceal, hide):

  • Significance: This verb emphasizes the action of the worms. They actively conceal or engulf the body, completing the process of physical disintegration. It signifies a comprehensive consumption, leaving nothing recognizable of the former human form.
  • Imagery: The worms, an agent of decay, performing the final burial or obscuration of the body.

Words-Group Analysis:

• "Together they lie down in the dust": This phrase directly addresses the friends' theological premise. It counters their assumption of differing fates in death. Instead of righteous resting peacefully and wicked being consumed by wrath, Job asserts a physical uniformity in death for all. It stresses the democratic nature of mortality.
• "and worms cover them": This half-verse brutally brings home the final, inevitable reality of decay. It paints a vivid picture of the ultimate humiliation of the body, stripped of all its former life and distinction, reduced to basic organic matter consumed by scavengers. This imagery serves to mock any human pride or enduring earthly advantage.

Job 21 26 Bonus section

• The imagery used in this verse resonates deeply with humanity's created state in Genesis and the pronouncement of a return to dust following the Fall. It reinforces a theology of human humility and dependency on the Creator, who alone transcends such mortality.
• While focusing on the physical aspect of death, this verse implicitly highlights the ultimate question for faith: If death is such an equalizer physically, what then is the ultimate differentiator of destiny or eternal reward/punishment? This subtly opens the door to discussions of resurrection and the afterlife, themes explored more explicitly later in Job and throughout Scripture.
• The phraseology can be seen as a direct refutation of any attempt to find a conclusive indicator of a person's standing with God purely based on their material circumstances at the end of their lives.

Job 21 26 Commentary

Job 21:26 provides a profound, yet bleak, perspective on the shared destiny of all humanity in death. Job, challenging his friends’ rigid theology that links worldly suffering and prosperity directly to individual righteousness and wickedness, points out an inconvenient truth: the wicked often prosper throughout their lives and even die peacefully. This verse then cuts to the core of the issue by revealing the common physical end that awaits everyone, irrespective of how they lived or died: "Together they lie down in the dust, and worms cover them."

This statement emphasizes that physically, all earthly distinctions—wealth, status, wisdom, piety, or wickedness—are completely dissolved at death. The prosperous and the poor, the powerful and the weak, the seemingly righteous and the overtly wicked, all return to the dust from which they came, their bodies subject to the same natural decay. The image of worms covering the body is a stark reminder of human frailty and the impermanence of the physical self. Job uses this universal physical equality in death to destabilize his friends' limited view of divine justice, prompting a deeper question about where true justice lies if not in observable earthly outcomes. It forces the audience to consider a broader, potentially post-mortal, dimension of divine justice.