Job 7 9

Job 7:9 kjv

As the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away: so he that goeth down to the grave shall come up no more.

Job 7:9 nkjv

As the cloud disappears and vanishes away, So he who goes down to the grave does not come up.

Job 7:9 niv

As a cloud vanishes and is gone, so one who goes down to the grave does not return.

Job 7:9 esv

As the cloud fades and vanishes, so he who goes down to Sheol does not come up;

Job 7:9 nlt

Just as a cloud dissipates and vanishes,
those who die will not come back.

Job 7 verses

Job 7 9 Meaning

Job 7:9 articulates Job's despairing view of human life and death. He uses the analogy of a dissipating cloud to illustrate the absolute and irreversible nature of passing from life into the grave, or Sheol. In his immediate suffering, Job believes that once a person dies and descends into the realm of the dead, there is no return to earthly existence. This reflects a profound sense of hopelessness regarding his temporal life, understanding death as a final, inescapable separation from the living world.

Job 7 9 Context

Job 7:9 is part of Job's raw lament in response to Eliphaz's counsel. In this chapter, Job articulates his deep suffering, expressing weariness with life, constant pain, and a profound desire for death as release. He feels abandoned by God, seeing his existence as transient and futile. This particular verse reflects Job's immediate, human understanding of death as final, a point of no return to the living world. This perspective is shaped by his current torment and despair, not a fully developed theological doctrine on resurrection which is more clearly revealed later in the Scriptures, particularly in the New Testament. At this stage, Job perceives the grave (Sheol) as the ultimate destination from which there is no ascent to resume earthly life. This aligns with many ancient Near Eastern views that death was a shadowy, irreversible journey. Job's words underscore the human condition's vulnerability and mortality, providing a crucial backdrop for the eventual divine revelation and the hope of resurrection found elsewhere in the biblical narrative.

Job 7 9 Word analysis

• As the cloud:
  • Hebrew: כָּלָה (kalah)
  • Significance: The image of a cloud ('anan) immediately evokes transience and rapid disappearance. Clouds are ephemeral; they form, move, and dissipate completely, leaving no trace. This emphasizes the swiftness and absolute nature of what Job perceives as death's finality for earthly existence. In biblical literature, clouds can symbolize God's presence, but here they denote instability and swift passing.
• is consumed and vanishes away:
  • Hebrew: כָּלָה וַיֵּלֶךְ (kalah wayyelekh)
  • Kalah means 'is finished,' 'completed,' 'spent,' or 'destroyed.' Wayyelekh is from halak, 'to go,' 'to walk,' often implying movement or disappearance.
  • Significance: This phrase intensifies the notion of total obliteration. The cloud isn't just gone, but fully "consumed" or "spent," implying nothing remains. The going "away" further signifies removal from sight and being, completing the image of complete dissipation. It mirrors Job's belief that a deceased person utterly ceases to exist in the world of the living.
• so he that goeth down:
  • Hebrew: כֵּן יוֹרֵד (ken yored)
  • Ken means 'so' or 'thus,' drawing a direct parallel between the cloud and the human journey. Yored means 'descending,' or 'going down.'
  • Significance: This directly connects the transience of the cloud to the human experience of death. The "going down" is a common euphemism for dying and entering the realm of the dead. It vividly depicts the descent into Sheol.
• to the grave:
  • Hebrew: שְׁאוֹלָה (she'olah)
  • She'olah is Sheol with the directional suffix 'ah' meaning 'to Sheol.'
  • Significance: Sheol, in the Old Testament, is the common realm of the dead, conceived as a deep, dark, and silent place beneath the earth. It is not necessarily 'hell' in the later Christian sense but rather the common destination for all who die, a place of inactivity and no return to earthly life. Job's use of this term underlines the perceived finality and universality of death.
• shall come up no more:
  • Hebrew: לֹא יַעֲלֶה עוֹד (lo' ya'aleh 'od)
  • Lo' (not), ya'aleh (will ascend, come up), 'od (again, anymore).
  • Significance: This is the definitive statement of Job's despair. The negative 'lo'' combined with 'anymore' ('od) makes the assertion absolute regarding return to earthly life. It starkly highlights the boundary that death represents from Job's limited human perspective, showing a perceived permanent separation from the world above.

Words-group by words-group analysis:

• "As the cloud is consumed and vanishes away:": This opening clause establishes the analogy, painting a vivid picture of absolute and complete disappearance. The imagery selected by Job effectively communicates the totality of vanishing without a trace, laying the foundation for his statement about death. It speaks to the perceived ephemeral and irreversible nature of existence once life ends.
• "so he that goeth down to the grave": This phrase draws the direct comparison, asserting that human beings who die (goeth down) will similarly experience a complete and irreversible removal from the sphere of the living, into the unseen realm of Sheol. The 'going down' emphasizes the physical reality of burial and the common perception of the grave as a gateway to the netherworld.
• "shall come up no more": This concluding phrase explicitly states Job's grim conviction. It articulates the one-way nature of the journey to the grave from an earthly perspective, a permanent cessation of activity and presence in the land of the living. It emphasizes that from Sheol, there is no re-entry into life as it was. This stark statement sets the stage for the revelation of God's power over death in later biblical contexts, notably the resurrection.

Job 7 9 Bonus section

While Job expresses a lack of hope for return from the grave to earthly life in Job 7:9, it is crucial to note the theological progression within the book of Job itself. Later, in Job 19:25-27, Job makes a profound confession of faith, declaring, "For I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth; and after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!" This remarkable shift suggests Job ultimately moves beyond the despair of 7:9, affirming a future hope, albeit perhaps not a full understanding of bodily resurrection as revealed in the New Testament. This demonstrates that even within suffering and limited knowledge, a deeper faith in God's ultimate plan can emerge. The statement in Job 7:9, therefore, represents a raw, human lament, which the later revelation in Job's own story and the broader biblical narrative (especially through Jesus Christ) provides a transformative answer to.

Job 7 9 Commentary

Job 7:9 captures the profound despair of a suffering man who perceives death as an absolute end to earthly life and its miseries. In Job's current frame of mind, death offers a longed-for escape from pain but also represents an irreversible journey into Sheol, with no return. His use of the dissipating cloud metaphor underscores the perceived utter vanishing and the permanent separation that death entails for those left behind and for the deceased's experience of the world.

This verse reveals Job's limited understanding of the afterlife at this specific point in his suffering and theological development. While his immediate perception is one of no return from the grave to resume earthly life, the broader biblical narrative, particularly through Christ's resurrection, progressively unfolds a hope beyond the grave. Job's words are a poignant expression of the universal human fear and reality of death, from a perspective yet to be illuminated by the full revelation of God's power over Sheol and the promise of future resurrection. It underscores the profound mystery of death and the vital truth of Christ's victory that overcomes this perceived finality.