The captives enjoy their ease; they do not hear the voice of the oppressor.
Parallel translations
- WEB There the prisoners are at ease together. They don’t hear the voice of the taskmaster.
- KJV There the prisoners rest together; they hear not the voice of the oppressor.
- NKJV There the prisoners rest together; They do not hear the voice of the oppressor.
- NASB “The prisoners are at ease together; They do not hear the voice of the taskmaster.
- NLT Even captives are at ease in death, with no guards to curse them.
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
Even prisoners are at ease in death, free from their oppressors. The grave releases the captive.
Overview
Job pictures captives in the grave no longer hearing the taskmaster's voice, finally at ease. Death, for him, is liberation from bondage and harsh authority. The longing for freedom from oppression points beyond the grave to the ultimate liberation accomplished by Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Job 39:7He scorns the tumult of the city and never hears the shouts of a driver.
- Judg 4:3Then the Israelites cried out to the LORD, because Jabin had nine hundred chariots of iron, and he had harshly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years.
- Exod 5:6–8That same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their foremen:
- Exod 5:15–19So the Israelite foremen went and appealed to Pharaoh: “Why are you treating your servants this way?
- Isa 14:3–4On the day that the LORD gives you rest from your pain and torment, and from the hard labor into which you were forced,
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 3:18 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.