Job 21:33

33 The soil in the valley is sweet to them; everyone follows after them, and a countless throng goes^[a] before them.

Job 21:33 in Other Translations

33 The clods of the valley shall be sweet unto him, and every man shall draw after him, as there are innumerable before him.

33 The clods of the valley are sweet to him; all mankind follows after him, and those who go before him are innumerable.

33 A great funeral procession goes to the cemetery. Many pay their respects as the body is laid to rest, and the earth gives sweet repose.

33 Gently lowered into expensive graves, with everyone telling lies about how wonderful they were.

33 The dirt on his grave is sweet to him. Everyone follows behind him, and those who go before him are without number.

Job 21:33 Meaning and Commentary

Job 21:33

The clods of the valley shall be sweet unto him
Where he lies interred, alluding to places of interment at the bottom of hills, and mountains, and under rocks, in plains and vales, see ( Genesis 35:8 ) ; and by this strong figure is signified, that the dead wicked man, lying in the clods of the valley in his grave, is in great repose, and in the utmost ease and quiet, feels no pains of body, nor has any uneasiness of mind concerning what befalls his posterity after his death, ( Job 14:21 ) ;

and every man shall draw after him, as [there are] innumerable before
him;
which either respects the pomp at his funeral procession, vast numbers being drawn and gathered together to gaze at it, as is common at grand funerals; and particularly, it may describe the multitude that go before the corpse, as well as those that follow after it; but rather as he is before represented as brought to his grave, and laid there, this clause is added, to denote the universality of death, it being common to all; thousands and ten thousands, even a number which no man can number, have gone before him by death into another world, as every man that comes after him must; and so this may prevent an objection to the grandeur of a wicked man, that after all he dies; but then death is no other than what is common to all men, to the vast multitudes that have gone before, and will be the case of all that come after, to the end of the world.

Job 21:33 In-Context

31 Who denounces their conduct to their face? Who repays them for what they have done?

32 They are carried to the grave, and watch is kept over their tombs.

33 The soil in the valley is sweet to them; everyone follows after them, and a countless throng goes before them.

34 “So how can you console me with your nonsense? Nothing is left of your answers but falsehood!”

Cross References

• 1. Job 3:22; Job 17:16; Job 24:24
• 2. S Job 3:19

Footnotes

• [a]. Or "them," / "as a countless throng went"