How much less man, who is a worm, the son of man, who is a worm!”
Parallel translations
- KJV How much less man, that is a worm? and the son of man, which is a worm?
- BSB how much less man, who is but a maggot, and the son of man, who is but a worm!”
- NKJV How much less man, who is a maggot, And a son of man, who is a worm?”
- NASB How much less man, that maggot, And a son of man, that worm!”
- NLT In comparison, people are maggots; we mortals are mere worms.”
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 man is but a worm before God. It matters because it presses human lowliness to its lowest point.
Overview
Bildad ends by calling man a worm and a maggot, utterly insignificant beside God. The statement captures real human frailty, yet it overlooks that God also made man in His image and cares for him. The full answer comes in Christ, who though equal with God became low for our sake, lifting fallen humanity to dignity and hope.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Isa 41:14Don’t be afraid, you worm Jacob, and you men of Israel. I will help you,” says Yahweh, “and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
- Ps 22:6But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised by the people.
- Job 4:19How much more, those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed before the moth!
- Gen 18:27Abraham answered, “See now, I have taken it on myself to speak to the Lord, although I am dust and ashes.
- Job 7:17What is man, that you should magnify him, that you should set your mind on him,
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 25:6 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.