The Meaning of Job 24:19 Explained

Job 24:19

KJV: Drought and heat consume the snow waters: so doth the grave those which have sinned.

YLT: Drought -- also heat -- consume snow-waters, Sheol those who have sinned.

Darby: Drought and heat consume snow waters; so doth Sheol those that have sinned.

ASV: Drought and heat consume the snow waters:'so doth'sheol those that have sinned.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Drought  and heat  consume  the snow  waters:  [so doth] the grave  [those which] have sinned. 

What does Job 24:19 Mean?

Study Notes

grave
Heb. "Sheol,"
hell
Sheol is, in the O.T., the place to which the dead go.
(1) Often, therefore, it is spoken of as the equivalent of the grave, merely, where all human activities cease; the terminus toward which all human life moves (e.g. Genesis 42:38 grave Job 14:13 grave Psalms 88:3 grave
(2) To the man "under the sun," the natural man, who of necessity judges from appearances, sheol seems no more than the grave-- the end and total cessation, not only of the activities of life, but of life itself. Ecclesiastes 9:5 ; Ecclesiastes 9:10
(3) But Scripture reveals sheol as a place of sorrow 2 Samuel 22:6 ; Psalms 18:5 ; Psalms 116:3 ; in which the wicked are turned Psalms 9:17 and where they are fully conscious; Isaiah 14:9-17 ; Ezekiel 32:21 see, especially, Jonah 2:2 what the belly of the great fish was to Jonah that sheol is to those who are therein). The sheol of the O.T. and hades of the N.T. (See Scofield " Luke 16:23 ") are identical.

Context Summary

Job 24:1-25 - Not Here, But Hereafter
Job laments that the times of punishment are not so explained by God, that those who know Him may see and understand His reasons. He then turns to describe the life of the ungodly, who do dark deeds with apparent impunity. A very sad catalogue of crimes follows. The oppression of the needy, the driving away of the ass of the fatherless, the taking of the widow's ox for a pledge, the frequenting of the wilderness, the plunder of caravans regardless of the claims of pity, the stealing of oil and wine from those who had labored to produce them, the murdering of the poor laboring man at the dawn, the commission of crimes at night-such are the iniquities which are described. And these crimes are still committed in so-called Christian lands. Wonderful that God should bear with us, but His long-suffering would fain lead men to repent. It is only after long forbearing and trial that He cuts down.
In his closing words, Job 24:18-21, Job quotes the opinion of his friends as to the condition of the ungodly, that they pass away swiftly as the waters, and are snapped as a branch of a tree. And, in opposition, he states his own view, Job 24:23-25, that they die in exalted positions, not by a painful and lingering death, but as corn in the maturity of the ear. This also is true. Wicked men do not always meet their deserts in this world. In the next world penalty is inevitable. [source]

Chapter Summary: Job 24

1  Wickedness often goes unpunished
17  There is a secret judgment for the wicked

What do the individual words in Job 24:19 mean?

As drought and heat consume the waters snow [So] the grave [consumes those who] have sinned
צִיָּ֤ה גַם־ חֹ֗ם יִגְזְל֥וּ מֵֽימֵי־ שֶׁ֗לֶג שְׁא֣וֹל חָטָֽאוּ

צִיָּ֤ה  As  drought 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: צִיָּה  
Sense: dryness, drought, desert.
חֹ֗ם  heat 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: חֹם  
Sense: heat, hot.
יִגְזְל֥וּ  consume 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: גָּזַל  
Sense: to tear away, seize, plunder, tear off, pull off, rob, take away by force.
מֵֽימֵי־  the  waters 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct
Root: מַיִם  
Sense: water, waters.
שֶׁ֗לֶג  snow 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: שֶׁלֶג 
Sense: snow.
שְׁא֣וֹל  [So]  the  grave 
Parse: Noun, common singular construct
Root: שְׁאֹול  
Sense: sheol, underworld, grave, hell, pit.
חָטָֽאוּ  [consumes  those  who]  have  sinned 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: חָטָא 
Sense: to sin, miss, miss the way, go wrong, incur guilt, forfeit, purify from uncleanness.