Even little boys scorn me; when I appear, they deride me.
Parallel translations
- WEB Even young children despise me. If I arise, they speak against me.
- KJV Yea, young children despised me; I arose, and they spake against me.
- NKJV Even young children despise me; I arise, and they speak against me.
- NASB “Even young children despise me; I stand up and they speak against me.
- NLT Even young children despise me. When I stand to speak, they turn their backs on me.
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
Even young children despise Job and mock him when he stands up. He has lost the basic respect once given to him.
Overview
Job, formerly honored by elders and youth alike, is now scorned by mere children, the lowest rung of social standing. Their contempt marks how completely his reputation has been overturned. The picture of the righteous mocked by the young anticipates the abuse heaped on Christ, who endured scorn to redeem the despised.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- 2 Kgs 2:23From there, Elisha went up to Bethel, and as he was walking up the road, a group of boys came out of the city and jeered at him, chanting, “Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!”
- Job 30:12The rabble arises at my right; they lay snares for my feet and build siege ramps against me.
- Job 30:1“But now they mock me, men younger than I am, whose fathers I would have refused to entrust with my sheep dogs.
- Isa 3:5The people will oppress one another, man against man, neighbor against neighbor; the young will rise up against the old, and the base against the honorable.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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 19:18 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.