Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped,
Parallel translations
- WEB Then Job arose, and tore his robe, and shaved his head, and fell down on the ground, and worshiped.
- BSB Then Job stood up, tore his robe, and shaved his head. He fell to the ground and worshiped,
- 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 the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
- 2 Sam 12:16–20David therefore besought God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night upon the earth.
- Gen 37:34And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days.
- Ezra 9:3And when I heard this thing, I rent my garment and my mantle, and plucked off the hair of my head and of my beard, and sat down astonied.
- Gen 37:29And Reuben returned unto the pit; and, behold, Joseph was not in the pit; and he rent his clothes.
- Deut 9:18And I fell down before the LORD, as at the first, forty days and forty nights: I did neither eat bread, nor drink water, because of all your sins which ye sinned, in doing wickedly in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.
- Matt 26:39And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.
- 2 Chr 7:3And when all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the LORD upon the house, they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement, and worshipped, and praised the LORD, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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.