Bible Strands
Job 1:20
Then Job stood up, tore his robe, and shaved his head. He fell to the ground and worshiped,
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Job reacts to a messenger’s report of total family and property loss by standing, tearing his robe, shaving his head, falling to the ground, and worshiping. This occurs immediately after the collapse of his house and the death of his children.
The words — The Hebrew וַ/יִּקְרַע (va/i.yik.Ra') means "and he tore," describing the physical rending of his מְעִל֔/וֹ (me.'i.L/o), his robe. The verb וַ/יָּ֖גָז (va/i.Ya.goz) literally translates to "and he shaved," applied to his רֹאשׁ֑/וֹ (ro.Sh/o), his head.
The thread — This physical response to sudden loss parallels Jacob tearing his clothes and mourning in Genesis 37:34 and David lying in sackcloth on the ground in 2 Samuel 12:16. The New Testament later reframes this posture of grief as spiritual humility in 1 Peter 5:6.
Why it lands — The text records Job’s physical actions before his spoken declaration, showing mourning and worship as simultaneous responses. It requires the reader to observe that reverence and grief can coexist without contradiction.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped,
Cross-references
- 1 Peter 5:6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, so that in due time He may exalt you.
- 2 Samuel 12:16 David pleaded with God for the boy. He fasted and went into his house and spent the night lying in sackcloth on the ground.
- Genesis 37:34 Then Jacob tore his clothes, put sackcloth around his waist, and mourned for his son many days.
- Genesis 37:29 When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not there, he tore his clothes,
- Ezra 9:3 When I heard this report, I tore my tunic and cloak, pulled out some hair from my head and beard, and sat down in horror.
- Deuteronomy 9:18 Then I fell down before the LORD for forty days and forty nights, as I had done the first time. I did not eat bread or drink water because of all the sin you had committed in doing what was evil in the sight of the LORD and provoking Him to anger.
- Matthew 26:39 Going a little farther, He fell facedown and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me. Yet not as I will, but as You will.”
- 2 Chronicles 7:3 When all the Israelites saw the fire coming down and the glory of the LORD above the temple, they bowed down on the pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped and gave thanks to the LORD: “For He is good; His loving devotion endures forever.”