With kings and counsellors of the earth, which built desolate places for themselves;
Job in his affliction longed for death as rest alongside the kings and counsellors who built grand and costly tombs for themselves. Death is a quiet sleep in the grave, a state of darkness, silence and perfect unconsciousness with no thought or activity. That grave is not heaven or hell, for the dead do not pass at death into bliss before God but lie still in the dust beyond trouble and oppression. There all earthly rank is levelled, so rulers and common people, rich and poor, share the same stillness with no power to act. From that extinction there is no escape except by God's power, and Job could face it calmly because he knew his living Redeemer would call him forth at the appointed time.
Context and Wording
The book is poetry outside its opening narrative and its closing statement, and this line belongs to the second of its five parts, chapters 3 through 31, which hold the arguments or colloquies between Job and his three friends on the cause and object of human suffering. It comes in Job's response under severe affliction, when, though a model of patience, he was inwardly disturbed and spoke in despair and rebellion, longing for death as rest with kings and counsellors. The book sets forth the perplexing problems of overruling providence and of sin and suffering that have perplexed humanity through all ages, with God disciplining Job and bringing him through the fire of affliction while his three friends charge him with sin and declare his sufferings are because of sin. That history teaches readers today not to misjudge fellow human beings in the same way.
The desolate places built for themselves are great places, even costly tombs built for themselves by those kings and counsellors.
Death as Unconscious Rest
The verse places kings and counsellors of the earth among the dead in sheol, or hades, the grave, where Job longed to join them and lie still at rest. Even those who built great places for themselves share this condition, and their former rank, possessions, and earthly works do not keep them active or conscious after death. That resting place gathers the rich and the poor and people of every rank and character to the same stillness until the resurrection. The dead there are silent and in darkness, asleep and at rest, awaiting the change and rising from their sleep. The whole person loses life in death.
Death is pictured as quiet sleep and rest, silent and in darkness, without conscious awareness. It is one secret, silent resting-place for all the dead where there is no device, wisdom, or knowledge, a state of profound silence and perfect unconsciousness from which man can only be rescued by a resurrection. The dead are like an untimely birth or infants who never saw light and never had consciousness, which shows that the dead have no conscious life. Job pictured this rest among kings and counselors who had built desolate places for themselves, and the surrounding verses describe the dead as quiet and at rest.
That place of the dead is not heaven or hell. The dead are not living in heaven, and death is not a passage to heaven. It stands in wide contrast to paradise, which is a place of life, joy, peace, and perfect bliss before the throne of God in heaven, the dwelling-place of God and the future home of the saints.
In that rest the dead are beyond the reach of trouble, oppression, and former enmity. They lie down in the dust to pass their appointed time in deep repose shared by all, regardless of rank, awaiting their change in the grave and rising from their sleep. Job calmly faced death and laid down in that unconsciousness because he knew his Redeemer lives and would call him forth at the set time, showing that the resurrection is the only door of escape from eternal extinction and the only hope of life beyond the grave.
Equality and Resurrection Hope
The grave is a common level where earthly rank no longer sets people apart. Death brings rulers and ordinary people alike to the same place, with kings and their counsellors lying still and at rest among the dead. Rich and poor and people of every rank and character share that stillness together until the resurrection, and that place is not heaven or hell but sleep and rest. Those who once held power have no power or activity there.
Former status and possessions do not keep the great active or conscious after death. Rank and earthly works do not exempt even kings and counsellors from death, nor do they make death a passage to heaven. Those who built great places for themselves share the rest of the grave with all the dead, since the whole person loses life in death.
Death takes the place formerly occupied by life and leaves the dead as though they had not been. Sheol, or hades, is one secret, silent resting-place for all the dead, a condition of darkness and silence with no device, wisdom, or knowledge, a state of profound silence and perfect unconsciousness. From that condition man can only be rescued by a resurrection, for recovery depends on God's resurrection power to bring the dead back to existence. In wide contrast to paradise, which is a place of life, joy, peace, and perfect bliss before the throne of God in heaven, the dwelling-place of God and the future home of the saints, the grave is quiet unconscious rest where the dead lie down to pass their appointed time. The resurrection is therefore the only door of escape from eternal extinction and the only hope of life beyond the grave.
Kings and counsellors alike are at peace in that rest. Job calmly faced death and laid down in that unconsciousness because he knew his Redeemer lives and would call him forth at the set time.
Job in his affliction longed for death as rest alongside the kings and counsellors who built grand and costly tombs for themselves. Death is a quiet sleep in the grave, a state of darkness, silence and perfect unconsciousness with no thought or activity. That grave is not heaven or hell, for the dead do not pass at death into bliss before God but lie still in the dust beyond trouble and oppression. There all earthly rank is levelled, so rulers and common people, rich and poor, share the same stillness with no power to act. From that extinction there is no escape except by God's power, and Job could face it calmly because he knew his living Redeemer would call him forth at the appointed time.
Context and Wording
The book is poetry outside its opening narrative and its closing statement, and this line belongs to the second of its five parts, chapters 3 through 31, which hold the arguments or colloquies between Job and his three friends on the cause and object of human suffering. It comes in Job's response under severe affliction, when, though a model of patience, he was inwardly disturbed and spoke in despair and rebellion, longing for death as rest with kings and counsellors. The book sets forth the perplexing problems of overruling providence and of sin and suffering that have perplexed humanity through all ages, with God disciplining Job and bringing him through the fire of affliction while his three friends charge him with sin and declare his sufferings are because of sin. That history teaches readers today not to misjudge fellow human beings in the same way.
The desolate places built for themselves are great places, even costly tombs built for themselves by those kings and counsellors.
Death as Unconscious Rest
The verse places kings and counsellors of the earth among the dead in sheol, or hades, the grave, where Job longed to join them and lie still at rest. Even those who built great places for themselves share this condition, and their former rank, possessions, and earthly works do not keep them active or conscious after death. That resting place gathers the rich and the poor and people of every rank and character to the same stillness until the resurrection. The dead there are silent and in darkness, asleep and at rest, awaiting the change and rising from their sleep. The whole person loses life in death.
Death is pictured as quiet sleep and rest, silent and in darkness, without conscious awareness. It is one secret, silent resting-place for all the dead where there is no device, wisdom, or knowledge, a state of profound silence and perfect unconsciousness from which man can only be rescued by a resurrection. The dead are like an untimely birth or infants who never saw light and never had consciousness, which shows that the dead have no conscious life. Job pictured this rest among kings and counselors who had built desolate places for themselves, and the surrounding verses describe the dead as quiet and at rest.
That place of the dead is not heaven or hell. The dead are not living in heaven, and death is not a passage to heaven. It stands in wide contrast to paradise, which is a place of life, joy, peace, and perfect bliss before the throne of God in heaven, the dwelling-place of God and the future home of the saints.
In that rest the dead are beyond the reach of trouble, oppression, and former enmity. They lie down in the dust to pass their appointed time in deep repose shared by all, regardless of rank, awaiting their change in the grave and rising from their sleep. Job calmly faced death and laid down in that unconsciousness because he knew his Redeemer lives and would call him forth at the set time, showing that the resurrection is the only door of escape from eternal extinction and the only hope of life beyond the grave.
Equality and Resurrection Hope
The grave is a common level where earthly rank no longer sets people apart. Death brings rulers and ordinary people alike to the same place, with kings and their counsellors lying still and at rest among the dead. Rich and poor and people of every rank and character share that stillness together until the resurrection, and that place is not heaven or hell but sleep and rest. Those who once held power have no power or activity there.
Former status and possessions do not keep the great active or conscious after death. Rank and earthly works do not exempt even kings and counsellors from death, nor do they make death a passage to heaven. Those who built great places for themselves share the rest of the grave with all the dead, since the whole person loses life in death.
Death takes the place formerly occupied by life and leaves the dead as though they had not been. Sheol, or hades, is one secret, silent resting-place for all the dead, a condition of darkness and silence with no device, wisdom, or knowledge, a state of profound silence and perfect unconsciousness. From that condition man can only be rescued by a resurrection, for recovery depends on God's resurrection power to bring the dead back to existence. In wide contrast to paradise, which is a place of life, joy, peace, and perfect bliss before the throne of God in heaven, the dwelling-place of God and the future home of the saints, the grave is quiet unconscious rest where the dead lie down to pass their appointed time. The resurrection is therefore the only door of escape from eternal extinction and the only hope of life beyond the grave.
Kings and counsellors alike are at peace in that rest. Job calmly faced death and laid down in that unconsciousness because he knew his Redeemer lives and would call him forth at the set time.