Job 21:26

26 They 1lie down alike in the dust, and 2the worms cover them.

Job 21:26 Meaning and Commentary

Job 21:26

They shall lie down alike in the dust
Such as have lived and died in great outward prosperity, or in more unhappy circumstances; these are levelled by death, and brought into the same state and condition; are laid on dusty beds, where there is no difference between them, their rest together is in the dust; here they dwell, and here they lie and sleep until they are awaked in the morning of the resurrection:

and the worms shall cover them;
these are the companions alike unto them, and sweetly feed on the one as on the other; the earth is their bed, and worms are their covering; even such who used to lie on beds of down, and were covered with coverings of silk, have now the same bed and covering as those who used to lie on beds of straw, and scarce any thing to cover them; worms are spread under them, and are spread upon them; they are both their bed and their covering, ( Isaiah 14:11 ) .

Job 21:26 In-Context

24 his pails full of milk and the marrow of his bones moist.
25 Another dies in bitterness of soul, never having tasted of prosperity.
26 They lie down alike in the dust, and the worms cover them.
27 "Behold, I know your thoughts and your schemes to wrong me.
28 For you say, 'Where is the house of the prince? Where is the tent in which the wicked lived?'

Cross References 2

  • 1. Job 20:11; [Ecclesiastes 9:2]
  • 2. Isaiah 14:11
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.