“But if they do not listen, they will 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.
- BSB But if they do not obey, then they perish by the sword and die without knowledge.
- NKJV But if they do not obey, They shall perish by the sword, And they shall 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 4:21Isn’t their tent cord plucked up within them? They die, and that without wisdom.’
- Rom 2:8–9but to those who are self-seeking, and don’t obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, will be wrath and indignation,
- Isa 3:11Woe to the wicked! Disaster is upon them; for the deeds of his hands will be paid back to him.
- Deut 29:15–20but with those who stand here with us today before Yahweh our God, and also with those who are not here with us today
- Deut 18:15–22Yahweh your God will raise up to you a prophet from among you, of your brothers, like me. You shall listen to him.
- John 8:21–24Jesus said therefore again to them, “I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sins. Where I go, you can’t come.”
- Isa 1:20but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured with the sword; for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken it.”
- Job 15:22He doesn’t believe that he shall return out of darkness. He is waited for by 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
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