Drought and heat consume the snow waters: so doth the grave those which have sinned.
Parallel translations
- WEB Drought and heat consume the snow waters, so does Sheol those who have sinned.
- BSB As drought and heat consume the melting snow, so Sheol steals those who have sinned.
- NKJV As drought and heat consume the snow waters, So the grave consumes those who have sinned.
- NASB “Dryness and heat snatch away the snow waters, As Sheol snatches those who have sinned.
- NLT The grave consumes sinners just as drought and heat consume snow.
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
As heat melts snow, so the grave swallows those who have sinned. It matters because death inevitably consumes the wicked.
Overview
Job compares the way drought and heat absorb snow waters to how Sheol takes away sinners. The image conveys the certainty and silent inevitability of death for the wicked. Yet for those in Christ, the grave's power is broken by His resurrection, which swallows up death in victory (1 Cor. 15:54).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Ps 49:14Like sheep they are laid in the grave; death shall feed on them; and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; and their beauty shall consume in the grave from their dwelling.
- Prov 14:32The wicked is driven away in his wickedness: but the righteous hath hope in his death.
- Luke 16:22And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;
- Job 21:13They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave.
- Luke 12:20But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?
- Eccl 9:4–6For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion.
- Ps 68:2As smoke is driven away, so drive them away: as wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.
- Job 21:23One dieth in his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet.
- Job 6:15–17My brethren have dealt deceitfully as a brook, and as the stream of brooks they pass away;
- Job 21:32–34Yet shall he be brought to the grave, and shall remain in the tomb.
- Ps 58:8–9As a snail which melteth, let every one of them pass away: like the untimely birth of a woman, that they may not see the sun.
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 24:19 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.