who long for death that does not come, and search for it like hidden treasure,
Parallel translations
- WEB Who long for death, but it doesn’t come; and dig for it more than for hidden treasures,
- KJV Which long for death, but it cometh not; and dig for it more than for hid treasures;
- NKJV Who long for death, but it does not come, And search for it more than hidden treasures;
- NASB Who long for death, but there is none, And dig for it more than for hidden treasures;
- NLT They long for death, and it won’t come. They search for death more eagerly than for hidden treasure.
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
The suffering long for death more than for hidden treasure, yet it does not come. Their misery makes the grave seem desirable.
Overview
Job describes those who dig for death as eagerly as men search for buried riches, longing for a release that is withheld. The image conveys how unbearable suffering can make death seem precious. It voices the desperation of the afflicted while the book holds out a deeper hope than the grave.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Rev 9:6In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will long to die, but death will escape them.
- Prov 2:4if you seek it like silver and search it out like hidden treasure,
- 1 Kgs 19:4while he himself traveled on a day’s journey into the wilderness. He sat down under a broom tree and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, LORD,” he said. “Take my life, for I am no better than my fathers.”
- Jonah 4:8As the sun was rising, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint and wished to die, saying, “It is better for me to die than to live.”
- Jonah 4:3And now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”
- Num 11:15If this is how You are going to treat me, please kill me right now—if I have found favor in Your eyes—and let me not see my own wretchedness.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 3:21 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.