the picture of good health, vigorous and fit.
Parallel translations
- WEB His pails are full of milk. The marrow of his bones is moistened.
- KJV His breasts are full of milk, and his bones are moistened with marrow.
- BSB His body is well nourished, and his bones are rich with marrow.
- NKJV His pails are full of milk, And the marrow of his bones is moist.
- NASB His sides are filled with fat, And the marrow of his bones is wet,
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
Job describes this person as well-nourished and physically robust to the end, his body full of vigor. He dies in comfort and health.
Overview
The imagery of full milk pails and moist bone marrow conveys flourishing physical well-being. Job emphasizes that some die in the fullness of prosperity. The point is not envy but evidence: the manner of one's death is no reliable index of righteousness, undermining the friends' rigid doctrine of retribution.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 3
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 21:24 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.