But if they do not obey, then they perish by the sword and die without knowledge.
Parallel translations
- WEB But if they don’t listen, they shall perish by the sword; they shall die without knowledge.
- KJV But if they obey not, they shall perish by the sword, and they shall die without knowledge.
- NKJV But if they do not obey, They shall perish by the sword, And they shall die without knowledge.
- NASB “But if they do not listen, they will perish by the sword, And die without knowledge.
- NLT But if they refuse to listen to him, they will cross over the river of death, dying from lack of understanding.
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
But if they refuse to listen, they perish by the sword and die without knowledge. Persistent rebellion leads to ruin.
Overview
Elihu sets the alternative before the hearer: those who reject God's correction face destruction and die in ignorance of Him. This sober warning underscores the high stakes of responding to God's discipline. It echoes the broad biblical contrast between the way of life and the way of death (Deut. 30:19), a choice resolved for believers in the life freely given in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Job 4:21Are not their tent cords pulled up, so that they die without wisdom?’
- Rom 2:8–9But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow wickedness, there will be wrath and anger.
- Isa 3:11Woe to the wicked; disaster is upon them! For they will be repaid with what their hands have done.
- Deut 29:15–20but also with those who are standing here with us today in the presence of the LORD our God, as well as with those who are not here today.
- Deut 18:15–22The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers. You must listen to him.
- John 8:21–24Again He said to them, “I am going away, and you will look for Me, but you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.”
- Isa 1:20But if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.” For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
- Job 15:22He despairs of his return from darkness; he is marked for the sword.
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 36:12 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.