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Terrors frighten him on every side and harass his every step.
Job 18:11 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB Terrors shall make him afraid on every side, and shall chase him at his heels.
  • KJV Terrors shall make him afraid on every side, and shall drive him to his feet.
  • NKJV Terrors frighten him on every side, And drive him to his feet.
  • NASB “All around sudden terrors frighten him, And harass him at every step.
  • NLT “Terrors surround the wicked and trouble them at every step.

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

Terrors assail the wicked man on every side and pursue him relentlessly. He is hounded by fear without rest.

Overview

Bildad portrays the godless surrounded by dread that chases him at his heels. The relentless pursuit of terror dramatizes the inner torment of judgment. While the guilty conscience of the wicked is real (Proverbs 28:1), Bildad's blanket application overlooks that the righteous, like Job, may also be beset by terrors within God's mysterious purposes.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 15

  • Job 15:21Sounds of terror fill his ears; in his prosperity the destroyer attacks him.
  • Jer 6:25Do not go out to the fields; do not walk the road. For the enemy has a sword; terror is on every side.
  • Jer 49:29They will take their tents and flocks, their tent curtains and all their goods. They will take their camels for themselves. They will shout to them: ‘Terror is on every side!’
  • Lev 26:36As for those of you who survive, I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies, so that even the sound of a windblown leaf will put them to flight. And they will flee as one flees the sword, and fall when no one pursues them.
  • Job 20:25It is drawn out of his back, the gleaming point from his liver. Terrors come over him.
  • Jer 46:5Why am I seeing this? They are terrified, they are retreating; their warriors are defeated, they flee in haste without looking back; terror is on every side!” declares the LORD.
  • 2 Cor 5:11Therefore, since we know what it means to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men. What we are is clear to God, and I hope it is clear to your conscience as well.
  • Rev 6:15–16Then the kings of the earth, the nobles, the commanders, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and free man hid in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains.
  • Job 6:4For the arrows of the Almighty have pierced me; my spirit drinks in their poison; the terrors of God are arrayed against me.
  • Ps 73:19How suddenly they are laid waste, completely swept away by terrors!
  • Ps 53:5There they are, overwhelmed with dread, where there was nothing to fear. For God has scattered the bones of those who besieged you. You put them to shame, for God has despised them.
  • Jer 20:3–4The next day, when Pashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, “The LORD does not call you Pashhur, but Magor-missabib.
  • Prov 28:1The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion.
  • Job 20:8He will fly away like a dream, never to be found; he will be chased away like a vision in the night.
  • 2 Kgs 7:6–7For the Lord had caused the Arameans to hear the sound of chariots, horses, and a great army, so that they said to one another, “Look, the king of Israel must have hired the kings of the Hittites and Egyptians to attack us.”

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Job videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Job 18:11YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on JobMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

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 18:11 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.