The Meaning of Job 7:9 Explained

Job 7:9

KJV: As the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away: so he that goeth down to the grave shall come up no more.

YLT: Consumed hath been a cloud, and it goeth, So he who is going down to Sheol cometh not up.

Darby: The cloud consumeth and vanisheth away; so he that goeth down to Sheol shall not come up.

ASV: As the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away, So he that goeth down to Sheol shall come up no more.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

[As] the cloud  is consumed  and vanisheth away:  so he that goeth down  to the grave  shall come up  no [more]. 

What does Job 7:9 Mean?

Study Notes

grave
Heb. "Sheol." Habakkuk 2:5 .
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 7:1-21 - Longing For The Evening
The servant eagerly longs for the lengthening shadow, which tells him that his day of labor is at an end, and we may allow ourselves to anticipate the hour of our reward and deliverance.
In plaintive words, which have so often been on the lips of heavy sufferers, Job tells the story of his sorrow and bitterness. The sufferer addresses God directly-almost suggesting at first that God was persecuting him without cause. Let those who have been disposed to think God unmindful and hard in His dealings, ponder these words. Even this saint of patience has trodden that path before them, and he came out right at last. But a softer tone follows; Job realizes that he has sinned, pleads to be forgiven, and asks that the word of forgiving love may not tarry, lest it be too late. The psalmist uses expressions similar to Job 7:17-18, but with a more wholesome application, Psalms 8:4; Psalms 144:3.
Notice that wonderful name for God-the watcher of men, Job 7:20, r.v. Not to discover their sins, but to learn their sorrows and needs with the intent of helping them with His saving strength. [source]

Chapter Summary: Job 7

1  Job excuses his desire of death
12  He complains of his own restlessness, and reasons with God

What do the individual words in Job 7:9 mean?

Disappears [As] the cloud and vanishes away so he who goes down to the grave not does come up
כָּלָ֣ה עָ֭נָן וַיֵּלַ֑ךְ כֵּ֥ן יוֹרֵ֥ד שְׁ֝א֗וֹל לֹ֣א יַעֲלֶֽה

כָּלָ֣ה  Disappears 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: כָּלָה  
Sense: to accomplish, cease, consume, determine, end, fail, finish, be complete, be accomplished, be ended, be at an end, be finished, be spent.
עָ֭נָן  [As]  the  cloud 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: עָנָן  
Sense: cloud, cloudy, cloud-mass.
וַיֵּלַ֑ךְ  and  vanishes  away 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: הָלַךְ  
Sense: to go, walk, come.
כֵּ֥ן  so 
Parse: Adverb
Root: כֵּן 
Sense: so, therefore, thus.
יוֹרֵ֥ד  he  who  goes  down 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine singular
Root: יָרַד  
Sense: to go down, descend, decline, march down, sink down.
שְׁ֝א֗וֹל  to  the  grave 
Parse: Noun, common singular
Root: שְׁאֹול  
Sense: sheol, underworld, grave, hell, pit.
יַעֲלֶֽה  does  come  up 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: סָלַק 
Sense: to go up, ascend, climb.