Bible Strands
Job 18:17
The memory of him perishes from the earth, and he has no name in the land.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Bildad addresses Job within a poetic discourse detailing the fate of the wicked. The verse appears between descriptions of the condemned man's roots drying up and his expulsion from light into darkness.
The words — `זִכְרוֹ` (zikhro) means "his memory" and `אָבַד` (avad) means "it perishes." The text states that this memory is removed from the earth and the man leaves no name in the land.
The thread — This theme of erased reputation runs through Psalms 34:16, where God wipes out the memory of evildoers, and Psalms 109:13, which prays for a wicked man's name to be blotted out. Proverbs 10:7 contrasts this by noting the righteous leave a blessing while the wicked name rots.
Why it lands — The text declares that a life defined by wickedness results in total historical and social erasure. It asks the reader to recognize that lasting legacy depends on alignment with divine order rather than transient power.
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
His remembrance shall perish from the earth, and he shall have no name in the street.
Cross-references
- Psalms 34:16 But the face of the LORD is against those who do evil, to wipe out all memory of them from the earth.
- Proverbs 10:7 The memory of the righteous is a blessing, but the name of the wicked will rot.
- Psalms 109:13 May his descendants be cut off; may their name be blotted out from the next generation.
- Proverbs 2:22 but the wicked will be cut off from the land, and the unfaithful will be uprooted.
- Job 13:12 Your maxims are proverbs of ashes; your defenses are defenses of clay.
- Psalms 83:4 saying, “Come, let us erase them as a nation; may the name of Israel be remembered no more.”