The Meaning of Job 24:24 Explained

Job 24:24

KJV: They are exalted for a little while, but are gone and brought low; they are taken out of the way as all other, and cut off as the tops of the ears of corn.

YLT: High they were for a little, and they are not, And they have been brought low. As all others they are shut up, And as the head of an ear of corn cut off.

Darby: They are exalted for a little, and are no more; they are laid low; like all other are they gathered, and are cut off as the tops of the ears of corn.

ASV: They are exalted; yet a little while, and they are gone; Yea, they are brought low, they are taken out of the way as all others, And are cut off as the tops of the ears of grain.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

They are exalted  for a little while,  but are gone and brought low;  they are taken out  of the way  as all [other], and cut off  as the tops  of the ears of corn. 

What does Job 24:24 Mean?

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 24:24 mean?

They are exalted for a little while and they [are] no [more] and they are brought low like all [others] they are taken out of the way and like the heads of grain they dry out
ר֤וֹמּוּ מְּעַ֨ט ׀ וְֽאֵינֶ֗נּוּ וְֽהֻמְּכ֗וּ כַּכֹּ֥ל יִקָּפְצ֑וּן וּכְרֹ֖אשׁ שִׁבֹּ֣לֶת יִמָּֽלוּ

ר֤וֹמּוּ  They  are  exalted 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: רָמַם  
Sense: to be exalted, be lifted up.
מְּעַ֨ט ׀  for  a  little  while 
Parse: Adjective, masculine singular
Root: מְעַט  
Sense: littleness, few, a little, fewness.
וְֽאֵינֶ֗נּוּ  and  they  [are]  no  [more] 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Adverb, third person masculine singular
Root: אַיִן 
Sense: nothing, not, nought n.
וְֽהֻמְּכ֗וּ  and  they  are  brought  low 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Hofal, Conjunctive perfect, third person common plural
Root: מָכַךְ  
Sense: to be low, be humiliated.
כַּכֹּ֥ל  like  all  [others] 
Parse: Preposition-k, Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: כֹּל  
Sense: all, the whole.
יִקָּפְצ֑וּן  they  are  taken  out  of  the  way 
Parse: Verb, Nifal, Imperfect, third person masculine plural, Paragogic nun
Root: קָפַץ  
Sense: to draw together, close, shut, shut up, stop up.
וּכְרֹ֖אשׁ  and  like  the  heads 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Preposition-k, Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: רֹאשׁ 
Sense: head, top, summit, upper part, chief, total, sum, height, front, beginning.
שִׁבֹּ֣לֶת  of  grain 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: שִׁבֹּלֶת 
Sense: flowing stream.
יִמָּֽלוּ  they  dry  out 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: מָלַל 
Sense: (Qal) to circumcise, become clipped, be circumcised, be cut off.