Job 36:14

Old Testament Wisdom/Poetry ASV (1901)

What does Job 36:14 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “They die in youth, And their life [perisheth] among the unclean.” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

They die in youth, And their life [perisheth] among the unclean.
Job 36:14 — American Standard Version

Context — Job 36

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
14They die in youth, And their life [perisheth] among the unclean.

What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“They die in youth, etc.] They, or “their soul” f1241; which, though that dies not, being immaterial and immortal; yet being the principal part of man, is put for the whole person, and which being taken away, the body dies. All men must die, but all do not die at an age; there is a common term of human life, (<199010>Psalm 90:10); some few exceed it, multitudes arrive not to it; such who die before it may be said to die in youth; it seems to signify premature and untimely death: the word signifies an “excussion”, or violent shaking out; and the Vulgate Latin version is, “in a tempest”; in a tempest of divine wrath, and in a storm in their consciences, (<182720>Job 27:20). Jarchi interprets it…”
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Jamieson, Fausset & Brown
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“Rather (Deu 23:17), Their life is (ended) as that of (literally, "among") the unclean, prematurely and dishonorably. So the second clause answers to the first. A warning that Job make not common cause with the wicked (Job 34:36).”
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Barnes' Notes
Albert Barnes (1798–1870) · Notes on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“They die in youth - Margin, “Their soul dieth.” The word “soul” or “life” in the Hebrew is used to denote oneself. The meaning is, that they would soon be cut down, and share the lot of the openly wicked. If they amended their lives they might be spared, and continue to live in prosperity and honor; if they did not, whether openly wicked or hypocrites. they would be early cut off. And their life is amnong the unclean - Margin, “Sodomites.” The idea is, that they would be treated in the same way as the most abandoned and vile of the race. No special favor would be shown to them because they were “professors” of religion, nor would this fact be a shield against the treatment which they…”
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Wesley's Explanatory Notes
John Wesley (1703–1791) · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament and Old Testament notes · 18th-century historical commentary
“Die - They provoke God to cut them off before their time. Unclean - Or, Sodomites; to whose destruction, he may allude. They shall die by some exemplary stroke of Divine vengeance. Yea, and after death, their life is among the unclean, the unclean spirits, the devil and his angels, for ever excluded from the new Jerusalem, into which no unclean thing shall enter. Job 36:15”
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Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge
R. A. Torrey and contributors · The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge · Cross-reference reference work
“They die: Heb. Their soul dieth, Job 15:32, Job 21:23-25, Job 22:16; Gen 38:7-10; Lev 10:1, Lev 10:2; Psa 55:23 unclean: or, sodomites, Gen 19:5, Gen 19:24, Gen 19:25; Deu 23:17 Job 36:15”
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Related study paths

Sources and verification