Job 4:9 kjv
By the blast of God they perish, and by the breath of his nostrils are they consumed.
Job 4:9 nkjv
By the blast of God they perish, And by the breath of His anger they are consumed.
Job 4:9 niv
At the breath of God they perish; at the blast of his anger they are no more.
Job 4:9 esv
By the breath of God they perish, and by the blast of his anger they are consumed.
Job 4:9 nlt
A breath from God destroys them.
They vanish in a blast of his anger.
Job 4 9 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Ps 18:15 | Then the channels of the sea were seen, The foundations... were uncovered At Your rebuke, O LORD, At the blast of the breath of Your nostrils. | God's powerful rebuke and breath causing upheaval |
| 2 Sam 22:16 | Then the channels of the sea were seen, The foundations... were uncovered By the rebuke of the LORD, At the blast of the breath of His nostrils. | Parallel to Ps 18:15; God's judgment from breath |
| Isa 11:4 | But with righteousness He shall judge the poor, And decide with equity for the meek... He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked. | Messiah's judgment: slays wicked with His breath |
| 2 Thess 2:8 | And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. | Christ destroys Antichrist with breath |
| Exod 15:8 | With the blast of Your nostrils The waters gathered up; The floods stood like a heap... | God's powerful breath parts the Red Sea |
| Ps 104:29 | You hide Your face, they are troubled; You take away their breath, they die and return to their dust. | God's breath (life) removal causes death |
| Ps 1:4-6 | The ungodly are not so, But are like the chaff which the wind drives away... | Fate of the wicked: unstable, carried away |
| Ps 37:10 | For yet a little while and the wicked will be no more; Indeed, you will look carefully for his place, But it will be no more. | Wicked vanish quickly |
| Prov 10:24 | The fear of the wicked will come upon him, But the desire of the righteous will be granted. | Wicked's doom overtakes them |
| Mal 4:1 | “For behold, the day is coming, Burning like an oven, And all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble... | Wicked consumed by divine fire |
| Isa 57:20 | But the wicked are like the troubled sea, When it cannot rest... | Wicked perpetually unstable and agitated |
| Prov 29:1 | He who is often rebuked, and hardens his neck, Will suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy. | Sudden, irreparable destruction for obstinance |
| Nah 1:6 | Who can stand before His indignation? And who can endure the fierceness of His anger? His fury is poured out like fire, And the rocks are overthrown by Him. | God's intense and inescapable anger |
| Gen 2:7 | And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. | Breath from God gives life |
| Ps 39:11 | When with rebukes You correct man for iniquity, You make his beauty waste away like a moth; Surely every man is vapor. | God's rebukes consume human life/strength |
| Heb 12:29 | For our God is a consuming fire. | God's inherent nature to purify/destroy |
| Lam 4:16 | The face of the LORD scattered them; He will no longer regard them. They did not respect the priests, They did not favor the elders. | God's judgment leading to being scattered |
| Job 27:8 | For what is the hope of the hypocrite, Though he may gain much, If God takes away his life? | The hope of the ungodly is cut off |
| Isa 30:33 | For Tophet was established of old... The breath of the LORD, like a torrent of brimstone, kindles it. | God's breath fueling destructive judgment |
| Joel 2:20 | “But I will remove far from you the northern army... His stench will come up, And his foul odor will rise, Because He has done monstrous things.” | God drives away enemies decisively |
| Ps 90:3 | You return man to dust, And say, “Return, O children of men.” | God's ultimate power over human existence |
| Job 20:5 | ...that the triumphing of the wicked is short, And the joy of the hypocrite is but for a moment? | Wicked prosperity is fleeting |
| Ps 73:18-19 | Surely You have set them in slippery places; You cast them down to destruction. Oh, how they are brought to desolation, as in a moment! | Sudden destruction of the proud |
Job 4 verses
Job 4 9 Meaning
Job 4:9, spoken by Eliphaz, declares that those deemed wicked are utterly annihilated by God's overwhelming power, conveyed as a mere breath or blast from Him. This imagery portrays God's ultimate authority and ease in bringing about judgment, resulting in a swift and complete destruction for the unrighteous.
Job 4 9 Context
Job 4:9 occurs within Eliphaz the Temanite's initial response to Job's profound lament and curses (Job 3). As the first of Job's friends to speak, Eliphaz represents a prevailing traditional wisdom that adheres strictly to the doctrine of retribution: divine justice means that the righteous prosper and the wicked suffer. His speech (Job 4:1-5:27) seeks to apply this framework to Job's inexplicable agony. Specifically, in Job 4:7-9, Eliphaz rhetorically questions if any innocent person has ever truly perished, positing that suffering like Job's must stem from deep-seated wickedness, thus concluding that "they that plow iniquity...reap the same." Verse 9, therefore, is his summation of this principle, presenting God's judgment as the swift, decisive, and annihilating force against the guilty, subtly implying Job's guilt in the process.
Job 4 9 Word analysis
- "By the blast":
- Hebrew: מִנִּשְׁמַת (minnishmat), from נְשָׁמָה (neshamah), meaning "breath," "spirit of life."
- Unlike the life-giving neshamah of creation, here it denotes an explosive, forceful exhalation.
- Significance: Highlights God's absolute, effortless power to destroy merely by a forceful breath, without physical exertion.
- "of God":
- Refers to Elohim (אֱלֹהִים), emphasizing God's majestic and sovereign power as the ultimate judge.
- Significance: Direct attribution of the destructive force to the divine Creator.
- "they perish":
- Hebrew: יֹאבֵדוּ (yo'vedu), meaning "they perish," "are destroyed," "lost."
- Conveys total and irreversible destruction, leaving no remainder.
- Significance: Emphasizes the finality and thoroughness of divine judgment from Eliphaz's perspective.
- "and by the breath":
- Hebrew: וּמֵרוּחַ (umimeruach), from רוּחַ (ruach), meaning "wind," "spirit," "breath."
- Parallel to neshamah, reinforcing the imagery of powerful divine exhalation.
- Significance: Reinforces the idea of an invisible but mighty force from God, aligning with other biblical depictions of God's Spirit as dynamic and powerful.
- "of His nostrils":
- Hebrew: אַפּוֹ (appo), from אַף (af), meaning "nose," "nostril," often associated with "anger" or "wrath."
- An anthropomorphism, attributing a human physical feature and an emotion (anger) to God.
- Significance: Adds the nuance of divine indignation or fierce anger as the source of this destructive breath, like an enraged, snorting bull, consuming its target.
- "they are consumed":
- Hebrew: יִכְלוּ (yiklu), meaning "they are consumed," "finished," "brought to an end."
- Synonymous parallelism with "perish," amplifying the totality of the destruction.
- Significance: Further underlines the complete eradication and irreversible nature of the judgment against the wicked.
Words-group by words-group analysis:
- "By the blast of God they perish": This clause sets forth the core assertion: the immediate and utter destruction of the wicked is directly attributable to an act of God, depicted as a powerful, effortless expulsion of divine air or force. This illustrates God's swiftness and decisive authority.
- "and by the breath of His nostrils they are consumed": This phrase functions as a strong parallel, reinforcing and intensifying the first half. "Breath of His nostrils" imbues the divine act with personal wrath and righteous indignation, implying that God's very being (expressed through His 'breath') carries a destructive fury for the wicked. The word "consumed" underscores the complete and irrevocable nature of this obliteration, leaving no trace behind.
Job 4 9 Bonus section
- Ancient Near Eastern Wisdom: This verse resonates with a common theme in ancient Near Eastern wisdom literature, where natural disasters or personal calamities were often interpreted as direct punishments from the gods for transgression, rather than arbitrary events or tests.
- Anthropomorphic Depiction of Wrath: The association of God's "nostrils" (af) with wrath is a recurring biblical motif. It suggests a furious, "smoking" intensity of divine anger, much like a person snorting in rage. This makes God's judgment intensely personal and formidable.
- Divine "Rebuke": The Hebrew root often translated as "blast" or "breath" can also imply a "rebuke" or "furious shout." Thus, God's very words of displeasure can bring about utter destruction.
- Foreshadowing the Solution: Ironically, Eliphaz's words, though misapplied, point to God's ultimate power. Later in the book, when God directly addresses Job from the whirlwind, He similarly demonstrates His unparalleled might and sovereign control over creation, which ultimately leads to Job's restoration (Job 38-42).
Job 4 9 Commentary
Job 4:9 encapsulates Eliphaz’s foundational theological conviction: the wicked inevitably meet swift and absolute destruction at the hand of God. The dual imagery of "blast" and "breath of His nostrils" portrays divine power as immediate, effortless, and infused with an inherent fury against unrighteousness. While this verse powerfully declares God’s sovereignty over life and death, and His ultimate justice, its application by Eliphaz is theologically narrow. He posits it as an unwavering principle of retributive justice, implying Job's suffering must be a consequence of hidden sin. This conventional wisdom, though containing a kernel of truth about God’s nature, falls short in addressing the complexities of righteous suffering, a core theme explored throughout the book of Job. It simplifies divine governance to a strict cause-and-effect formula, a perspective that the rest of the narrative progressively undermines in favor of a deeper, more mysterious understanding of God's ways.