They are but foam on the surface of the water; their portion of the land is cursed, so that no one turns toward their vineyards.
Parallel translations
- WEB “They are foam on the surface of the waters. Their portion is cursed in the earth. They don’t turn into the way of the vineyards.
- KJV He is swift as the waters; their portion is cursed in the earth: he beholdeth not the way of the vineyards.
- NKJV “They should be swift on the face of the waters, Their portion should be cursed in the earth, So that no one would turn into the way of their vineyards.
- NASB ¶“They are insignificant on the surface of the water; Their plot of land on the earth is cursed. They do not turn toward the vineyards.
- NLT “But they disappear like foam down a river. Everything they own is cursed, and they are afraid to enter their own vineyards.
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 says the wicked are fleeting like foam, their land cursed and barren. It matters as a statement that the wicked will not finally endure.
Overview
Here Job seems to affirm that the wicked are swift and unstable as foam on water, their portion under a curse. Some scholars think Job is quoting or anticipating his friends' view to dispute it, while others read it as Job conceding that judgment does come, though delayed. Either way, the ultimate instability of the wicked stands in contrast to the secure inheritance of the righteous in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Ps 69:22May their table become a snare; may it be a retribution and a trap.
- Job 9:26They sweep by like boats of papyrus, like an eagle swooping down on its prey.
- Job 22:16They were snatched away before their time, and their foundations were swept away by a flood.
- Ps 73:18–20Surely You set them on slick ground; You cast them down into ruin.
- Prov 3:33The curse of the LORD is on the house of the wicked, but He blesses the home of the righteous.
- Mal 2:2If you do not listen, and if you do not take it to heart to honor My name,” says the LORD of Hosts, “I will send a curse among you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already begun to curse them, because you are not taking it to heart.
- Deut 28:16–20You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country.
- Ps 58:7May they vanish like water that runs off; when they draw the bow, may their arrows be blunted.
- Isa 23:10Cultivate your land like the Nile, O Daughter of Tarshish; there is no longer a harbor.
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 24:18 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.