Even captives are at ease in death, with no guards to curse them.
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.
- BSB The captives enjoy their ease; they do not hear 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.
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, neither does he hear the shouting of the driver.
- Judg 4:3The children of Israel cried to Yahweh, for he had nine hundred chariots of iron; and he mightily oppressed the children of Israel for twenty years.
- Exod 5:6–8The same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people, and their officers, saying,
- Exod 5:15–19Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried to Pharaoh, saying, “Why do you deal this way with your servants?
- Isa 14:3–4It will happen in the day that Yahweh will give you rest from your sorrow, from your trouble, and from the hard service in which you were made to serve,
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.