Job 3:17

17 There the wicked cease from turmoil, and there the weary are at rest.

Job 3:17 in Other Translations

KJV
17 There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the weary be at rest.
ESV
17 There the wicked cease from troubling, and there the weary are at rest.
NLT
17 For in death the wicked cause no trouble, and the weary are at rest.
MSG
17 Where the wicked no longer trouble anyone and bone-weary people get a long-deserved rest?
CSB
17 There the wicked cease to make trouble, and there the weary find rest.

Job 3:17 Meaning and Commentary

Job 3:17

There the wicked cease [from] troubling
At death, and in the grave; such who have been like the troubled sea, that cannot rest, have always been either devising or doing mischief while living, in the grave can do neither; there is no work nor device there; such who are never easy, and cannot sleep unless they do mischief, when dead have no power to do any, and are quite still and inactive; such who have been troublers of good men, as profane persons by their ungodly lives, false teachers by their pernicious doctrines and blasphemies, cruel persecutors by their hard speeches, bitter calumnies and reproaches, and severe usage; those, when they die themselves, cease from giving further trouble, or when the righteous die, they can disturb them no more; yea, a good man at death is not only no more troubled by wicked men, but no more by his own wicked heart, nor any more by that wicked one Satan; there and then all these cease from giving him any further molestation:

and there the weary be at rest;
wicked men, either who here tire and weary themselves with committing sin, to which they are slaves and drudges, and especially with persecuting and troubling the saints, shall rest front such acts of sin and wickedness, of which they will be no more capable; or else good men, who are weary of sin, and long to be rid of it, to whom it is a burden, and under which they groan, and are weary of the troubles and afflictions they meet with in the world; and what with one thing and another are weary of their lives, and desire to depart and be with Christ; these at death and in the grave are at rest, their bodies from toil and labour, and from all painful disorder, and pressing afflictions, and from all the oppressions and vexations of wicked and ungodly men; their souls rest in the arms of Jesus, from sin and all consciousness of it, from the temptations of Satan, from all doubts and fears, and every spiritual enemy, by whom they can be no more annoyed: some render the words, "there rest the labours of strength" F21: such toils are over that break the strength of men; or "the labours of violence" F23, which are imposed upon them through violence, by cruel and imperious men; but at death and in the grave will cease and be no more, even labour of all sorts; see ( Revelation 14:13 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F21 (xk yeygy) "labores roboris", Michaelis.
F23 "Labores violentiae", Schmidt.

Job 3:17 In-Context

15 with princes who had gold, who filled their houses with silver.
16 Or why was I not hidden away in the ground like a stillborn child, like an infant who never saw the light of day?
17 There the wicked cease from turmoil, and there the weary are at rest.
18 Captives also enjoy their ease; they no longer hear the slave driver’s shout.
19 The small and the great are there, and the slaves are freed from their owners.

Cross References 2

  • 1. ver 26; Job 30:26; Ecclesiastes 4:2; Isaiah 14:3
  • 2. S ver 13; Job 17:16
Scripture quoted by permission.  Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®.  NIV®.  Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica.  All rights reserved worldwide.