Surely this is the joy of his way; yet others will spring from the dust.
Parallel translations
- WEB Behold, this is the joy of his way: out of the earth, others shall spring.
- KJV Behold, this is the joy of his way, and out of the earth shall others grow.
- NKJV “Behold, this is the joy of His way, And out of the earth others will grow.
- NASB “Behold, this is the joy of His way; And out of the dust others will spring.
- NLT That’s the end of its life, and others spring up from the earth to replace it.
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
Bildad ironically calls this destruction 'the joy of his way,' for from the same soil others spring up to replace him. The godless are easily supplanted.
Overview
With bitter irony, Bildad says the end of the wicked's path is its only 'joy': he is uprooted and others grow in his place. The fallen are replaced and forgotten. The verse completes the plant parable, stressing that life without God yields no enduring legacy, though Bildad misjudges Job's standing.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Job 20:5the triumph of the wicked has been brief and the joy of the godless momentary?
- Ps 113:7He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the dump
- 1 Sam 2:8He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap. He seats them among princes and bestows on them a throne of honor. For the foundations of the earth are the LORD’s, and upon them He has set the world.
- Matt 13:20–21The seed sown on rocky ground is the one who hears the word and at once receives it with joy.
- Ps 75:7but it is God who judges; He brings down one and exalts another.
- Ezek 17:24Then all the trees of the field will know that I am the LORD. I bring the tall tree down and make the low tree tall. I dry up the green tree and make the withered tree flourish. I, the LORD, have spoken, and I have done it.’”
- Matt 3:9And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.
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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 8:19 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.