Then Job stood up, tore his robe, and shaved his head. He fell to the ground and worshiped,
Parallel translations
- WEB Then Job arose, and tore his robe, and shaved his head, and fell down on the ground, and worshiped.
- KJV Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped,
- NKJV Then Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head; and he fell to the ground and worshiped.
- NASB Then Job got up, tore his robe, and shaved his head; then he fell to the ground and worshiped.
- NLT Job stood up and tore his robe in grief. Then he shaved his head and fell to the ground to worship.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Job mourns deeply yet responds by worshiping God. His grief and his faith coexist.
Overview
Tearing his robe and shaving his head are genuine expressions of profound mourning, not stoic suppression. Astonishingly, Job's first instinct is to fall down and worship rather than to curse. This models faithful lament that brings sorrow honestly before God while still bowing to Him, a posture perfected in Christ's own anguished surrender to the Father.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- 1 Pet 5:6Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, so that in due time He may exalt you.
- 2 Sam 12:16–20David pleaded with God for the boy. He fasted and went into his house and spent the night lying in sackcloth on the ground.
- Gen 37:34Then Jacob tore his clothes, put sackcloth around his waist, and mourned for his son many days.
- Ezra 9:3When I heard this report, I tore my tunic and cloak, pulled out some hair from my head and beard, and sat down in horror.
- Gen 37:29When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not there, he tore his clothes,
- Deut 9:18Then I fell down before the LORD for forty days and forty nights, as I had done the first time. I did not eat bread or drink water because of all the sin you had committed in doing what was evil in the sight of the LORD and provoking Him to anger.
- Matt 26:39Going a little farther, He fell facedown and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me. Yet not as I will, but as You will.”
- 2 Chr 7:3When all the Israelites saw the fire coming down and the glory of the LORD above the temple, they bowed down on the pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped and gave thanks to the LORD: “For He is good; His loving devotion endures forever.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Job's cry for a mediator who can lay his hand on both God and man, and his confidence that 'my Redeemer lives' and will stand on the earth, reaches forward to Jesus the living Redeemer.
How Job 1:20 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.