The Meaning of Job 4:19 Explained

Job 4:19

KJV: How much less in them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, which are crushed before the moth?

YLT: Also -- the inhabitants of houses of clay, (Whose foundation is in the dust, They bruise them before a moth.)

Darby: How much more them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed as the moth!

ASV: How much more them that dwell in houses of clay, Whose foundation is in the dust, Who are crushed before the moth!

KJV Reverse Interlinear

How much less  [in] them that dwell  in houses  of clay,  whose foundation  [is] in the dust,  [which] are crushed  before  the moth? 

What does Job 4:19 Mean?

Context Summary

Job 4:1-21 - "shall Mortal Man Be More Just Than God?"
The first cycle of speeches is opened by Eliphaz. It must be remembered that he and the two others believed that special suffering resulted from and was the sign of special sin. Job's calamities, in the light of that thought, seemed to prove that he who had been considered a paragon of perfection was not what they had supposed. According to their philosophy, if only he would confess his sin, all would be well and the sun would shine again upon his path.
Eliphaz recounts a visitation, in a night vision, from the unseen world, which is described with marvelous power. Emphasis is laid on the infinite distance between God and man, and on the impossibility of a mortal being accounted just in the presence of divine purity. Of course the suggestion is that Job was suffering the penalty of sin which, though it had eluded human eyes, was naked and open before God. An angel seems dark against God's pure light, and if an angel is deficient, how much more man! [source]

Chapter Summary: Job 4

1  Eliphaz reproves Job that the innocent do not suffer
7  He teaches God's judgments to be not for the righteous, but for the wicked
12  His fearful vision to humble the excellency of creatures before God

What do the individual words in Job 4:19 mean?

How much more those who dwell in houses of clay Whose in the dust Whose foundation is [Who] are crushed before a moth
אַ֤ף ׀ שֹׁכְנֵ֬י בָֽתֵּי־ חֹ֗מֶר אֲשֶׁר־ בֶּעָפָ֥ר יְסוֹדָ֑ם יְ֝דַכְּא֗וּם לִפְנֵי־ ؟ עָֽשׁ

אַ֤ף ׀  How  much  more 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: אַף  
Sense: also, yea, though, so much the more adv.
שֹׁכְנֵ֬י  those  who  dwell  in 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine plural construct
Root: שָׁכַן  
Sense: to settle down, abide, dwell, tabernacle, reside.
בָֽתֵּי־  houses 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct
Root: בַּיִת 
Sense: house.
חֹ֗מֶר  of  clay 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: חֹמֶר 
Sense: cement, mortar, clay.
אֲשֶׁר־  Whose 
Parse: Pronoun, relative
Root: אֲשֶׁר 
Sense: (relative part.).
בֶּעָפָ֥ר  in  the  dust 
Parse: Preposition-b, Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: עָפָר  
Sense: dry earth, dust, powder, ashes, earth, ground, mortar, rubbish.
יְסוֹדָ֑ם  Whose  foundation  is 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine plural
Root: יְסׄוד  
Sense: foundation, base.
יְ֝דַכְּא֗וּם  [Who]  are  crushed 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Imperfect, third person masculine plural, third person masculine plural
Root: דָּכָא  
Sense: to crush, be crushed, be contrite, be broken.
לִפְנֵי־  before 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, masculine plural construct
Root: לִפְנֵי 
Sense: face.
؟ עָֽשׁ  a  moth 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: עָשׁ 
Sense: moth.