Job 3 14

Job 3:14 kjv

With kings and counsellors of the earth, which build desolate places for themselves;

Job 3:14 nkjv

With kings and counselors of the earth, Who built ruins for themselves,

Job 3:14 niv

with kings and rulers of the earth, who built for themselves places now lying in ruins,

Job 3:14 esv

with kings and counselors of the earth who rebuilt ruins for themselves,

Job 3:14 nlt

I would rest with the world's kings and prime ministers,
whose great buildings now lie in ruins.

Job 3 verses

Job 3 14 Meaning

Job 3:14 expresses Job's deep yearning for death, imagining himself at peace alongside powerful earthly figures—kings and counselors—who, despite their worldly achievements and grand constructions, now lie in silent, desolate places. The verse highlights the ultimate equalizer of death, rendering all earthly power and wisdom void, and presents the grave as a tranquil resting place free from suffering.

Job 3 14 Context

Job chapter 3 marks a crucial turning point in the book of Job. After seven days of silent mourning with his friends, Job breaks his silence with a profound lament, cursing the day he was born. This is his first extended speech, filled with anguish and despair. He expresses a desire for non-existence or, failing that, for immediate death, seeking refuge in the stillness of the grave from his unbearable suffering. Job contemplates the tranquility of death, contrasting his current torment with the peace he imagines exists in Sheol (the realm of the dead). Verse 14 specifically portrays his fantasy of being at rest among the once-powerful, whose grand earthly ambitions ultimately led to silent desolation in their tombs, symbolizing the ultimate end of all worldly pursuits.

Job 3 14 Word analysis

• With (‘im - עִם): Signifies association or being alongside. Job yearns to join them.
• kings (məlaḵîm - מְלָכִים): Plural of melech, referring to monarchs, those with supreme authority and worldly power. Their high status highlights the great leveling effect of death.
• and counselors (wə·yō·‘ă·ṣê - וְיוֹעֲצֵי): Those who provide advice and wisdom to kings, indicating intellectual and political influence. Death makes their worldly wisdom meaningless.
• of the earth (ā·reṣ - אָרֶץ): Emphasizes the temporal, limited scope of their dominion, confined to the mortal world. Their power does not extend beyond life.
• who built (bō·nîm - בֹּנִים): Active participle, denoting ongoing construction. This suggests a lifelong pursuit of building for themselves.
• for themselves (lāhem - לָהֶם): Indicates self-serving ambition and personal glory as the motivation for their building endeavors.
• desolate places (ḥorāḇōwt - חֳרָבֹות): From the root ḥarav meaning "to be dry, wasted, desolate." This term significantly informs the verse. While literally meaning "ruins" or "waste places," in this context, when connected to kings "building for themselves," it strongly alludes to:
  • Grand, often funerary monuments: Impressive structures like pyramids, mausoleums, or elaborate tombs that kings built to perpetuate their legacy or as their final resting places. These, despite their grandeur, eventually become desolate or silent places where only the dead reside.
  • Cities they built that are now in ruins: Kings often founded or built great cities, but in time, these too might fall into ruin, serving as a reminder of the transience of human endeavor. The specific "for themselves" makes grand tombs or isolated fortresses more probable.
  • Figuratively: The emptiness and silence of the grave, the ultimate desolate state for those who sought power and glory.
  • This choice of word emphasizes the paradox: what was built for power and eternal legacy becomes a place of desolation and silence. Job wants to enter this eternal quiet.

Words-group by words-group analysis:

• With kings and counselors of the earth: This phrase highlights the universality of death's dominion. Regardless of their earthly rank, power, or wisdom, all humans are subject to death's decree. Job sees no difference between himself and these elite figures in the realm of the grave; all find common rest.
• who built for themselves desolate places: This pivotal phrase captures the vanity of earthly ambition. Kings and counselors often invested enormous resources and power in building lasting monuments or grand cities. The term "desolate places" applied to what they "built for themselves" suggests their ultimate abode—a tomb, a desolate monument, or even a city that falls into ruin—symbolizing the ephemeral nature of all human achievements when faced with death. They built for immortality, but found only quiet desolation. Job desires this same ultimate peace and oblivion, even if it comes in such a context.

Job 3 14 Bonus section

• The Hebrew term ḥorāḇōwt (desolate places) used in this verse is rich with layers of meaning. While "ruins" is a common translation, its application to structures built by kings for themselves specifically evokes the vast funerary complexes of ancient Near Eastern rulers, such as the pyramids of Egypt or the ziggurats and burial mounds of Mesopotamia. These were impressive, massive undertakings meant to ensure eternal memory, yet they are silent places, devoid of life, becoming ultimately "desolate" for the living. Job sees their finality as peace.
• This verse contributes to a broader biblical theme found particularly in wisdom literature (like Psalms and Ecclesiastes) concerning the futility of human ambition and the universality of death. No matter one's station or achievement, death levels all, reducing kings to dust just like paupers.
• Job's words are spoken in his darkest moment of despair, reflecting his deep longing for relief from his suffering. He isn't seeking a specific glory in death, but rather an absolute quietude and freedom from pain, a peace he perceives even in the tombs of the mightiest rulers.

Job 3 14 Commentary

Job's lament in 3:14 is a profound expression of his desire for the ultimate peace that death brings, free from the crushing weight of his suffering. By picturing himself alongside deceased kings and counselors, he underscores the great equalizer of death, where status, power, and wisdom hold no sway. These powerful figures, who expended their lives building lasting monuments for themselves, now rest in silence, their grand constructions ironically becoming "desolate places" that symbolize the end of all earthly pursuits. Job longs for this profound stillness and non-existence, finding the silence of the grave preferable to his tormented life. This verse beautifully captures the theme of human vanity and the ultimate frailty of worldly might in the face of death's inescapable dominion. Job envisions the grave not as a terror, but as a desired sanctuary of quietude.