“He will drop off his unripe grape like the vine, And will cast off his flower like the olive tree.
Parallel translations
- WEB He shall shake off his unripe grape as the vine, and shall cast off his flower as the olive tree.
- KJV He shall shake off his unripe grape as the vine, and shall cast off his flower as the olive.
- BSB He will be like a vine stripped of its unripe grapes, like an olive tree that sheds its blossoms.
- NKJV He will shake off his unripe grape like a vine, And cast off his blossom like an olive tree.
- NLT They will be like a vine whose grapes are harvested too early, like an olive tree that loses its blossoms before the fruit can form.
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 loses his fruit early, like a vine dropping unripe grapes and an olive casting its blossom. His promise comes to nothing.
Overview
Eliphaz continues the agricultural picture: the godless sheds his immature grapes and shaken-off flowers, never reaching harvest. This vividly portrays a life of wasted potential under judgment. The barrenness of the wicked stands against the fruitfulness God intends for his people, fulfilled in those who abide in Christ and bear lasting fruit.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 3
- Deut 28:39–40You will plant vineyards and dress them, but you will neither drink of the wine, nor harvest, because worms will eat them.
- Isa 33:9The land mourns and languishes. Lebanon is confounded and withers away. Sharon is like a desert, and Bashan and Carmel are stripped bare.
- Rev 6:13The stars of the sky fell to the earth, like a fig tree dropping its unripe figs when it is shaken by a great wind.
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 15:33 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.