He has lived in desolate cities, in houses which no one inhabited, which were ready to become heaps.
Parallel translations
- KJV And he dwelleth in desolate cities, and in houses which no man inhabiteth, which are ready to become heaps.
- BSB he will dwell in ruined cities, in abandoned houses destined to become rubble.
- NKJV He dwells in desolate cities, In houses which no one inhabits, Which are destined to become ruins.
- NASB “He has lived in desolate cities, In houses no one would inhabit, Which are destined to become ruins.
- NLT But their cities will be ruined. They will live in abandoned houses that are ready to tumble down.
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 dwells in ruined, abandoned places destined to become rubble. His habitation itself signals coming judgment.
Overview
Eliphaz pictures the godless living in desolate cities marked for destruction, perhaps seizing what was under a curse. The decaying setting foreshadows his own ruin. The imagery reinforces that those who oppose God find no lasting dwelling, a theme answered in Christ, who alone secures an enduring home for his people (John 14:2-3).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Job 3:14with kings and counselors of the earth, who built up waste places for themselves;
- Jer 51:37Babylon will become heaps, a dwelling place for jackals, an astonishment, and a hissing, without inhabitant.
- Mic 3:12Therefore Zion for your sake will be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem will become heaps of rubble, and the mountain of the temple like the high places of a forest.
- Isa 5:8–10Woe to those who join house to house, who lay field to field, until there is no room, and you are made to dwell alone in the middle of the land!
- Jer 9:11“I will make Jerusalem heaps, a dwelling place of jackals. I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.”
- Job 18:15There shall dwell in his tent that which is none of his. Sulfur shall be scattered on his habitation.
- Jer 26:18“Micah the Morashtite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah; and he spoke to all the people of Judah, saying, ‘Yahweh of Armies says: “‘Zion will be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest.’
- Mic 7:18Who is a God like you, who pardons iniquity, and passes over the disobedience of the remnant of his heritage? He doesn’t retain his anger forever, because he delights in loving kindness.
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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 15:28 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.