The sound of terror rings in their ears, and even on good days they fear the attack of the destroyer.
Parallel translations
- WEB A sound of terrors is in his ears. In prosperity the destroyer shall come on him.
- KJV A dreadful sound is in his ears: in prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him.
- BSB Sounds of terror fill his ears; in his prosperity the destroyer attacks him.
- NKJV Dreadful sounds are in his ears; In prosperity the destroyer comes upon him.
- NASB “Sounds of terror are in his ears; While he is at peace the destroyer comes upon him.
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
The wicked man hears terrors and lives in fear even in prosperity, expecting a destroyer to strike. His outward success cannot quiet his inward dread.
Overview
Eliphaz describes the guilty conscience that supposedly torments the wicked, allowing no security even when things go well. This captures a real spiritual truth: those at war with God lack true peace (Isaiah 57:21). Yet as a blanket explanation of Job's plight it falls short, since Job's terror flows not from hidden sin but from God's mysterious dealings with a faithful servant.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Job 18:11Terrors shall make him afraid on every side, and shall chase him at his heels.
- 1 Th 5:3For when they are saying, “Peace and safety,” then sudden destruction will come on them, like birth pains on a pregnant woman; and they will in no way escape.
- Lev 26:36“‘As for those of you who are left, I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies. The sound of a driven leaf will put them to flight; and they shall flee, as one flees from the sword. They will fall when no one pursues.
- 1 Cor 10:10Don’t grumble, as some of them also grumbled, and perished by the destroyer.
- Rev 9:11They have over them as king the angel of the abyss. His name in Hebrew is “Abaddon”, but in Greek, he has the name “Apollyon”.
- Prov 1:26–27I also will laugh at your disaster. I will mock when calamity overtakes you;
- Ps 92:7though the wicked spring up as the grass, and all the evildoers flourish, they will be destroyed forever.
- Job 20:5–7that the triumphing of the wicked is short, the joy of the godless but for a moment?
- Job 20:22–25In the fullness of his sufficiency, distress shall overtake him. The hand of everyone who is in misery shall come on him.
- Job 27:20Terrors overtake him like waters. A storm steals him away in the night.
- Job 1:13–19It fell on a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house,
- Gen 3:9–10Yahweh God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?”
- Ps 73:18–20Surely you set them in slippery places. You throw them down to destruction.
- 1 Sam 25:36–38Abigail came to Nabal; and behold, he held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. Nabal’s heart was merry within him, for he was very drunk. Therefore she told him nothing, until the morning light.
- 2 Kgs 7:6For the Lord had made the army of the Syrians to hear the sound of chariots, and the sound of horses, even the noise of a great army; and they said to one another, “Behold, the king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites and the kings of the Egyptians to attack us.”
- Acts 12:21–23On an appointed day, Herod dressed himself in royal clothing, sat on the throne, and gave a speech to them.
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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 15:21 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.