“Though he piles up silver like dust, And prepares garments as plentiful as the clay,
Parallel translations
- WEB Though he heap up silver as the dust, and prepare clothing as the clay;
- KJV Though he heap up silver as the dust, and prepare raiment as the clay;
- BSB Though he heaps up silver like dust and piles up a wardrobe like clay,
- NKJV Though he heaps up silver like dust, And piles up clothing like clay—
- NLT “Evil people may have piles of money and may store away mounds of clothing.
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
Though the wicked pile up silver and clothing like dust and clay, it will not last. It matters because hoarded wealth cannot secure the godless.
Overview
Job acknowledges that the wicked man may amass silver as plentiful as dust and garments as abundant as clay. Yet such accumulation, however vast, is fleeting and will not benefit him. The verse echoes the warning that one cannot take riches beyond the grave, a theme Christ pressed in the parable of the rich fool (Luke 12:20-21).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Zech 9:3Tyre built herself a stronghold, and heaped up silver like the dust, and fine gold like the mire of the streets.
- Matt 6:19“Don’t lay up treasures for yourselves on the earth, where moth and rust consume, and where thieves break through and steal;
- 1 Kgs 10:27The king made silver as common as stones in Jerusalem, and cedars as common as the sycamore trees that are in the lowland.
- Job 22:24Lay your treasure in the dust, the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brooks.
- Hab 2:6Won’t all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting proverb against him, and say, ‘Woe to him who increases that which is not his, and who enriches himself by extortion! How long?’
- Jas 5:2Your riches are corrupted and your garments are moth-eaten.
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 27:16 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.