Bury them together in the dust; imprison them in the grave.
Parallel translations
- WEB Hide them in the dust together. Bind their faces in the hidden place.
- KJV Hide them in the dust together; and bind their faces in secret.
- NKJV Hide them in the dust together, Bind their faces in hidden darkness.
- NASB “Hide them together in the dust; Imprison them in the hidden place.
- NLT Bury them in the dust. Imprison them in the world of the dead.
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
God challenges Job to bury the proud in the dust and bind them in the grave. Only God holds power over death and final judgment.
Overview
The imagery of hiding the wicked in the dust and binding their faces speaks of consigning them to death and judgment. Job has no such power; he cannot decree the fate of men. God alone is Lord over life and death. The passage humbles Job and magnifies the sole authority of God to judge, an authority entrusted to the risen Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Isa 2:10Go into the rocks and hide in the dust from the terror of the LORD and the splendor of His majesty.
- Esth 7:8Just as the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet hall, Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was reclining. The king exclaimed, “Would he actually assault the queen while I am in the palace?” As soon as the words had left the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face.
- Job 14:13If only You would hide me in Sheol and conceal me until Your anger has passed! If only You would appoint a time for me and then remember me!
- Job 36:13The godless in heart harbor resentment; even when He binds them, they do not cry for help.
- Ps 49:14Like sheep they are destined for Sheol. Death will be their shepherd. The upright will rule them in the morning, and their form will decay in Sheol, far from their lofty abode.
- John 11:44The man who had been dead came out with his hands and feet bound in strips of linen, and his face wrapped in a cloth. “Unwrap him and let him go,” Jesus told them.
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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 40:13 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.