“Hide them together in the dust; Imprison them in the hidden place.
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.
- BSB Bury them together in the dust; imprison them in the grave.
- NKJV Hide them in the dust together, Bind their faces in hidden darkness.
- 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 2:10Enter into the rock, and hide in the dust, from before the terror of Yahweh, and from the glory of his majesty.
- Esth 7:8Then the king returned out of the palace garden into the place of the banquet of wine; and Haman had fallen on the couch where Esther was. Then the king said, “Will he even assault the queen in front of me in the house?” As the word went out of the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face.
- Job 14:13“Oh that you would hide me in Sheol, that you would keep me secret, until your wrath is past, that you would appoint me a set time, and remember me!
- Job 36:13“But those who are godless in heart lay up anger. They don’t cry for help when he binds them.
- Ps 49:14They are appointed as a flock for Sheol. Death shall be their shepherd. The upright shall have dominion over them in the morning. Their beauty shall decay in Sheol, far from their mansion.
- John 11:44He who was dead came out, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Free him, and let him go.”
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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.