Then I said, I shall die in my nest, and I shall multiply my days as the sand.
Parallel translations
- WEB Then I said, ‘I shall die in my own house, I shall count my days as the sand.
- BSB So I thought: ‘I will die in my nest and multiply my days as the sand.
- NKJV “Then I said, ‘I shall die in my nest, And multiply my days as the sand.
- NASB “Then I thought, ‘I will die with my family, And I will multiply my days as the sand.
- NLT “I thought, ‘Surely I will die surrounded by my family after a long, good life.
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 had expected to die peacefully at home after a long and full life.
Overview
Reflecting on his former security, Job recalls his confident expectation of many days and a quiet death surrounded by blessing. His prosperity had seemed permanent and divinely secured. This honest account of dashed expectations reflects the uncertainty of all earthly hopes and the need to anchor our confidence in God rather than circumstances (James 4:14).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Ps 30:6–7And in my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved.
- Ps 91:16With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.
- Gen 32:12And thou saidst, I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.
- Obad 1:4Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the LORD.
- Jer 49:16Thy terribleness hath deceived thee, and the pride of thine heart, O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, that holdest the height of the hill: though thou shouldest make thy nest as high as the eagle, I will bring thee down from thence, saith the LORD.
- Job 42:16–17After this lived Job an hundred and forty years, and saw his sons, and his sons’ sons, even four generations.
- Job 5:26Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age, like as a shock of corn cometh in in his season.
- Hab 2:9Woe to him that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of evil!
- Jer 22:23O inhabitant of Lebanon, that makest thy nest in the cedars, how gracious shalt thou be when pangs come upon thee, the pain as of a woman in travail!
- Gen 41:49And Joseph gathered corn as the sand of the sea, very much, until he left numbering; for it was without number.
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 29:18 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.