Job 3 19

Job 3:19 kjv

The small and great are there; and the servant is free from his master.

Job 3:19 nkjv

The small and great are there, And the servant is free from his master.

Job 3:19 niv

The small and the great are there, and the slaves are freed from their owners.

Job 3:19 esv

The small and the great are there, and the slave is free from his master.

Job 3:19 nlt

Rich and poor are both there,
and the slave is free from his master.

Job 3 verses

Job 3 19 Meaning

Job 3:19 expresses a longing for death as the ultimate equalizer, a state where all earthly distinctions, status, and forms of bondage are completely eradicated. It depicts the grave as a place of universal repose, where both the powerful and the lowly are reduced to the same common state, and crucially, where the oppressed are released from their burdens and the authority of their masters. It underscores Job's desperate desire for absolute freedom from his profound suffering.

Job 3 19 Context

Job 3 initiates Job's lament, where he expresses a profound despair that overshadows any comfort or hope. Following the intense physical and emotional suffering inflicted upon him, Job curses the day of his birth (vv. 1-10) and then articulates a passionate wish to have died at birth (vv. 11-16). He imagines a scenario where he would have found immediate rest and peace, undisturbed by life's anxieties and inequities. Verse 19 falls within this extended yearning for the tranquility of Sheol, the common grave, presenting it as the ultimate refuge from worldly anguish. It is part of his argument that death is preferable to his current life of unremitting torment, as in death, all human suffering and social distinctions cease.

Job 3 19 Word analysis

• The small (קָטֹן - qaton):

  • Meaning: Refers to those of little consequence, humble status, young, or of lesser power and wealth.
  • Significance: Represents the marginalized, the lowly, the weak, and those with minimal social standing in earthly life.
  • Context: In the ancient Near East, social hierarchies were rigid. "Small" would signify common laborers, the poor, or even children who held little to no influence.

• and great (גָדוֹל - gadol):

  • Meaning: Refers to those of high rank, powerful, wealthy, distinguished, or significant.
  • Significance: Represents the elite, the rulers, the influential, and those accustomed to authority and privilege.
  • Context: Includes kings, nobles, wealthy landowners, or those who wielded significant societal power.

• are there (שָׁם - sham):

  • Meaning: Refers to "there," specifically to Sheol, the grave, or the realm of the dead previously mentioned in Job's lament.
  • Significance: Emphasizes the universal destination of all humanity. It's a common, inescapable end for everyone, regardless of their living circumstances.
  • Polemics: This notion subtly challenges any ancient belief that the powerful or their wealth could somehow circumvent death or retain their earthly status beyond the grave.

• and the servant (עֶבֶד - eved):

  • Meaning: A slave, bondsman, or one who is subject to another's will and labor. This was a widespread social reality in the ancient world.
  • Significance: Represents those under extreme forms of coercion and ownership, lacking personal autonomy and subjected to continuous toil.
  • Context: Eved could mean a willing servant or a property-slave. In Job's desperate longing, he emphasizes the harshness of their condition.

• is free (חָפְשִׁי - chofshi):

  • Meaning: At liberty, exempt, loosed, set free, liberated.
  • Significance: Signifies absolute release from bondage, toil, and the demands of an earthly master. It is the cessation of enforced labor and servitude.
  • Connection: This word evokes the concept of legal emancipation or the Jubilee year's liberation (Lev 25:10).

• from his master (אֲדֹנָיו - adonav):

  • Meaning: His lord, his owner, his master.
  • Significance: Highlights the source of the servant's oppression. Death removes the oppressive authority of the master entirely.
  • Cultural Context: In a society where masters had considerable power over servants, even life and death power in some cases, freedom from a master represented the ultimate escape for a servant.

Words-group by words-group analysis:

• "The small and great are there;":
  • This phrase emphasizes death as the ultimate equalizer, transcending all societal stratification. The juxtaposition of "small" and "great" powerfully illustrates that wealth, power, or status are transient and utterly irrelevant in the face of death. All are equally vulnerable to Sheol's dominion, stripped of earthly pretensions.
• "and the servant is free from his master.":
  • This phrase highlights one of the most poignant freedoms found in death from Job's perspective. It speaks directly to the yearning for liberation from arduous labor, relentless demands, and the inherent power imbalance of servitude. It's a profound picture of rest for the weary and downtrodden, representing escape from human tyranny and daily oppression. The imagery of a slave, after a life of unending toil, finally finding complete rest and release is intensely sympathetic.

Job 3 19 Bonus section

• This verse provides an early biblical reflection on mortality's great equalizing effect, a theme echoed by wisdom literature throughout the Old Testament. It shows that irrespective of societal station or worldly possessions, all human life converges in the same destiny.
• Job's perception of the grave here is primarily one of absolute cessation and repose from earthly woes, without explicit mention of resurrection or eternal judgment, which would be more fully revealed later in biblical history, especially in the New Testament. This reflects a prevailing understanding of Sheol in that period as a shadowy, undifferentiated realm of the dead.
• The desire for release from the master's yoke finds an echo in the greater spiritual truth of believers being freed from the "mastery" of sin and the Law through Christ, leading to true rest (Rom 6:7, Matt 11:28). While Job yearns for physical rest, there is a profound spiritual parallel.

Job 3 19 Commentary

Job 3:19, following Job's lament and wish for his non-existence, crystallizes his perspective on the grave (Sheol) as the ultimate haven. For Job, death is not merely an end but a desired state of universal peace and equality. He sees it as the great leveler where societal constructs like wealth, status, power, and bondage cease to hold meaning. The verse particularly emphasizes the profound liberation experienced by the "servant" (slave), for whom death offers complete release from the authority and burdens imposed by a "master." This highlights the cruel realities of human oppression prevalent in the ancient world. Job's yearning illustrates the profound human desire for respite from suffering and injustice, contrasting his present overwhelming pain with the imagined tranquility where all are equally free from life's inherent troubles and power dynamics. This desperate hope reflects his absolute despondency, as death appears to be the only state free from his current torment.