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“Certainly these are the dwellings of the wicked, And this is the place of him who does not know God.”
Job 18:21 · New American Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB Surely such are the dwellings of the unrighteous. This is the place of him who doesn’t know God.”
  • KJV Surely such are the dwellings of the wicked, and this is the place of him that knoweth not God.
  • BSB Surely such is the dwelling of the wicked and the place of one who does not know God.”
  • NKJV Surely such are the dwellings of the wicked, And this is the place of him who does not know God.”
  • NLT They will say, ‘This was the home of a wicked person, the place of one who rejected God.’”

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

Bildad concludes that such ruin is the dwelling of the unrighteous, the one who does not know God. He implies Job belongs in this category.

Overview

Bildad ends his speech by summarizing: this destruction marks the place of the godless who has no knowledge of God. The accusation indirectly targets Job, wrongly numbering him among those ignorant of the Lord. Ironically, Job knows God truly and will yet declare 'I know that my Redeemer lives'; saving knowledge of God comes fully through Jesus Christ (John 17:3).

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 13

  • Jer 9:3“They bend their tongue, as their bow, for falsehood; and they have grown strong in the land, but not for truth: for they proceed from evil to evil, and they don’t know me,” says Yahweh.
  • Titus 1:16They profess that they know God, but by their deeds they deny him, being abominable, disobedient, and unfit for any good work.
  • Judg 2:10After all that generation were gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them, who didn’t know Yahweh, nor the work which he had done for Israel.
  • Jer 10:25Pour out your wrath on the nations that don’t know you, and on the families that don’t call on your name: for they have devoured Jacob. Yes, they have devoured him and consumed him, and have laid waste his habitation.
  • 2 Th 1:8giving vengeance to those who don’t know God, and to those who don’t obey the Good News of our Lord Jesus,
  • 1 Th 4:5not in the passion of lust, even as the Gentiles who don’t know God;
  • 1 Sam 2:12Now the sons of Eli were wicked men. They didn’t know Yahweh.
  • Exod 5:2Pharaoh said, “Who is Yahweh, that I should listen to his voice to let Israel go? I don’t know Yahweh, and moreover I will not let Israel go.”
  • Job 21:28For you say, ‘Where is the house of the prince? Where is the tent in which the wicked lived?’
  • Ps 79:6Pour out your wrath on the nations that don’t know you; on the kingdoms that don’t call on your name;
  • Job 21:14They tell God, ‘Depart from us, for we don’t want to know about your ways.
  • Rom 1:28Even as they refused to have God in their knowledge, God gave them up to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not fitting;
  • 1 Chr 28:9You, Solomon my son, know the God of your father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind; for Yahweh searches all hearts, and understands all the imaginations of the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (1)

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 18:21YouTube · 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 18:21 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.