Job 3:19

19 The small and the great are there, and the slaves are freed from their owners.

Job 3:19 in Other Translations

KJV
19 The small and great are there; and the servant is free from his master.
ESV
19 The small and the great are there, and the slave is free from his master.
NLT
19 Rich and poor are both there, and the slave is free from his master.
MSG
19 The small and the great are equals in that place, and slaves are free from their masters.
CSB
19 Both the small and the great are there, and the slave is set free from his master.

Job 3:19 Meaning and Commentary

Job 3:19

The small and great are there
Both as to age, and with respect to bulk and strength of body, and also to estate and dignity; children and men, or those of low and high stature, or in a mean or more exalted state of life, as to riches and honour, these all come to the grave without any difference, and lie there without any distinction


FOOTNOTES:

F25 "little and great are there all one"; as Mr. Broughton renders the words, see ( Revelation 20:12 ) ;

and the servant [is] free from his master;
death dissolves all relations among men, and takes away the power that one has legally over another, as the husband over the wife, who at death is loosed from the law and power of her husband, ( Romans 7:2 ) ; and so parents over their children, and masters over their servants; there the master and the servant are together, without any superiority of the one to the other: the consideration of all the above things made death and the state of the dead in the grave appear to Job much more preferable than life in his present circumstances; and therefore, since it had not seized on him sooner, and as soon as he before had wished it had, he desires it might not be long before it came upon him, as in ( Job 3:20-26 ) .


F25 "Grandia cum parvis Orcus metit". Horat. Ep. l. 2. ep. 2. ver. 178. "----Mista senum ac juvenum densantur funera". Horat. Carmin. l. 1. Ode. 28.

Job 3:19 In-Context

17 There the wicked cease from turmoil, and there the weary are at rest.
18 Captives also enjoy their ease; they no longer hear the slave driver’s shout.
19 The small and the great are there, and the slaves are freed from their owners.
20 “Why is light given to those in misery, and life to the bitter of soul,
21 to those who long for death that does not come, who search for it more than for hidden treasure,

Cross References 1

  • 1. Job 9:22; Job 17:16; Job 21:33; Job 24:24; Job 30:23; Ecclesiastes 12:5
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