He shall not depart out of darkness; the flame shall dry up his branches, and by the breath of his mouth shall he go away.
Parallel translations
- WEB He shall not depart out of darkness. The flame shall dry up his branches. By the breath of God’s mouth shall he go away.
- BSB He will not escape from the darkness; the flame will wither his shoots, and the breath of God’s mouth will carry him away.
- NKJV He will not depart from darkness; The flame will dry out his branches, And by the breath of His mouth he will go away.
- NASB “He will not escape from darkness; The flame will dry up his shoot, And he will go away by the breath of His mouth.
- NLT “They will not escape the darkness. The burning sun will wither their shoots, and the breath of God will destroy them.
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 cannot escape darkness; God's breath withers and removes him. His destruction comes directly from God.
Overview
Eliphaz pictures the godless consumed like a tree scorched by flame and swept away by the breath of God's mouth. The imagery stresses that judgment is God's own act, not mere misfortune. While God does judge the wicked, the same divine breath that destroys also gives and renews life (Job 33:4), pointing beyond judgment to the hope of restoration in God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 20
- Job 4:9By the blast of God they perish, and by the breath of his nostrils are they consumed.
- Job 20:26All darkness shall be hid in his secret places: a fire not blown shall consume him; it shall go ill with him that is left in his tabernacle.
- Matt 25:41Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
- Job 15:22He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness, and he is waited for of the sword.
- Job 18:5–6Yea, the light of the wicked shall be put out, and the spark of his fire shall not shine.
- Job 18:18He shall be driven from light into darkness, and chased out of the world.
- Ezek 20:47–48And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.
- Ezek 15:4–7Behold, it is cast into the fire for fuel; the fire devoureth both the ends of it, and the midst of it is burned. Is it meet for any work?
- Mark 9:43–49And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:
- 2 Th 1:8–9In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:
- Matt 22:13Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
- Matt 8:12But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
- 2 Pet 2:17These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever.
- Jude 1:13Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.
- Isa 30:33For Tophet is ordained of old; yea, for the king it is prepared; he hath made it deep and large: the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it.
- Rev 19:15And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
- Isa 11:4But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.
- Job 5:14They meet with darkness in the day time, and grope in the noonday as in the night.
- Job 10:21–22Before I go whence I shall not return, even to the land of darkness and the shadow of death;
- Job 22:20Whereas our substance is not cut down, but the remnant of them the fire consumeth.
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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 15:30 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
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