Bible Strands
Job 18:15
Fire resides in his tent; burning sulfur rains down on his dwelling.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — A speaker in Job 18 pronounces judgment on a man whose shelter is targeted for destruction, placing this declaration between his forced removal to the "king of terrors" and the subsequent drying of his roots and branches.
The words — יְזֹרֶה (yezo'reh) literally means "it is scattered," and גָפְרִית (gofrit) translates to "sulfur," providing the concrete imagery for the verse.
The thread — This imagery of sulfur and fire recurring in divine judgment appears in Psalms 11:6, Deuteronomy 29:23, and Isaiah 34:9.
Why it lands — The text states that fire will inhabit the tent and sulfur will fall on the dwelling before interpreters apply it to the certainty of divine retribution against the wicked.
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
It shall dwell in his tabernacle, because it is none of his: brimstone shall be scattered upon his habitation.
Cross-references
- Psalms 11:6 On the wicked He will rain down fiery coals and sulfur; a scorching wind will be their portion.
- Deuteronomy 29:23 All its soil will be a burning waste of sulfur and salt, unsown and unproductive, with no plant growing on it, just like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the LORD overthrew in His fierce anger.
- Isaiah 34:9 Edom’s streams will be turned to tar, and her soil to sulfur; her land will become a blazing pitch.
- Genesis 19:24 Then the LORD rained down sulfur and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the LORD out of the heavens.
- Job 18:12 His strength is depleted, and calamity is ready at his side.
- Job 20:18 He must return the fruit of his labor without consuming it; he cannot enjoy the profits of his trading.
- Jeremiah 22:13 “Woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness, and his upper rooms without justice, who makes his countrymen serve without pay, and fails to pay their wages,
- Habakkuk 2:6 Will not all of these take up a taunt against him, speaking with mockery and derision: ‘Woe to him who amasses what is not his and makes himself rich with many loans! How long will this go on?’
- Zechariah 5:4 I will send it out, declares the LORD of Hosts, and it will enter the house of the thief and the house of him who swears falsely by My name. It will remain inside his house and destroy it, down to its timbers and stones.”
- Revelation 19:20 But the beast was captured along with the false prophet, who on its behalf had performed signs deceiving those who had the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. Both the beast and the false prophet were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur.