How much less in them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, which are crushed before the moth?
How much less than angels and heavenly servants are human beings living in fragile bodies made of earth and founded in dust, easily broken and returning to dust. The whole person, mind and all, dwelling in that clay house is mortal and has no immortality or eternal life in himself now, for dwelling does not mean a separate deathless soul lives on apart from the body, and life everlasting remains a future gift to be given at the revelation of Christ. With Job 14 and Job 17 and Psalm 88 it shows the grave to be the silent dark place of sleep and rest and secrecy, where the dead lie together in the dust in corruption and worms and decay. It belongs to Eliphaz's charge that Job was suffering for sin under God's discipline, whose sayings were true in general but misapplied to Job and must be tested by plainer declarations elsewhere, since affliction is no proof of God's displeasure and no cause for discouragement. As frail worms of the dust, destroyed from morning to evening and perishing without wisdom, men are rebuked for presuming to command in the Lord's name what He has not commanded, such as a Sunday law for rest and worship, and are reminded that their earthly stay is only brief and insecure and that here they know and speak of divine things only in part.
Language and Setting
The utterance belongs to Eliphaz within the debate between Job and his three friends concerning Job's afflictions. In that debate the friends charge Job with sin and declare his sufferings to be because of sin, while God is disciplining Job and bringing him through the fire of affliction.
The friends' statements were generally true but misapplied to Job. They cannot be taken as reliable merely because they stand in the book, but must be tested against inspired declarations elsewhere in Scripture. Affliction therefore does not prove that God is displeased with the sufferer nor give cause for discouragement.
The houses of clay whose foundation is in the dust, crushed before the moth, picture human beings living in fragile earthly bodies founded in dust. Those bodies are easily destroyed and return to dust, crushed from morning to evening and perishing without regard. The how-much-less sets this lowliness against the higher order, for God puts no trust in His servants and charges His angels with folly, how much less then frail man in his clay house.
The saying comes in connection with night visions. It belongs to the book's setting forth of overruling providence, sin and suffering.
Mortality and Death
The mortal one of the previous verse is the thinking, intelligent part of man, because only that part can be just or unjust. That same conscious man dwells in a house of clay, a fragile earthly body whose foundation is in dust. Man as a whole, mind included, is therefore mortal and does not have inherent immortality or eternal life now. The word dwell does not prove that an intelligent, immortal being lives outside the body, and the whole human being is earthly and mortal rather than an immortal soul dwelling separately inside a body. The phrase temple of clay pictures the body as a frail earthly dwelling, and the claim that a spirit is held in it and leaves it at death to live in peace and happiness and meet the living is false and is no evidence for that teaching.
By contrast, the image distinguishes the bodily dwelling from the person said to dwell in it, as when the house of clay is Christ's body which expired on the cross. Human beings dwelling in bodies formed from dust and easily crushed show frailty and mortality, supporting the description of sheol as the silent, dark state of the dead. They dwell in fragile houses of clay with foundation in dust and are crushed easily, proving that sheol is a place of silence, secrecy, sleep, rest, darkness, corruption and worms where the dead rest together in the dust. With Job 14 and Job 17 and Psalm 88 this proves that sheol is the place of death, where human beings lie in the dust and are subject to decay and death, frail, mortal and returning to dust.
Because present man is mortal, the verse creates desire for something better and proves that eternal life remains a future hope to be given at the revelation of Christ.
Exhortation and Application
Mortal man cannot be more just than God nor more pure than his Maker, for trust is not put even in heavenly servants and folly is charged even to angels, how much less to human beings dwelling in fragile houses of clay founded in dust and crushed before the moth. Such inhabitants are frail worms of the dust, destroyed from morning to evening, perishing forever without any regarding it, their excellency going away as they die even without wisdom. This lowliness rebukes those who presume to command in the name of the Lord what God has not commanded, as in undertaking to make a Sunday law for rest and worship when in wisdom no express command was given to keep the first day, since men cannot do successfully what God refrains from doing.
While in this limited house of clay, people know and speak of divine things only in part, like children, until perfection comes and what is partial passes away. Dwelling in houses of clay means an earthly stay that is temporary, only for a day or a month or a year at the Lord's behest, so worry about the earthly nest is needless. This house of clay covers earthly life and its possessions, which cannot be claimed as lasting or secure, for human beings are fragile and mortal, dwelling in bodies made of clay and grounded in dust that can be crushed with ease.
The verse belongs among the words of Job's three friends who charge Job with sin and declare his sufferings are because of sin, while God is disciplining Job and bringing him through the fire of affliction. It belongs to the setting forth of overruling providence, sin and suffering, and shows how humanity is prone to misjudge its fellows in affliction.
How much less than angels and heavenly servants are human beings living in fragile bodies made of earth and founded in dust, easily broken and returning to dust. The whole person, mind and all, dwelling in that clay house is mortal and has no immortality or eternal life in himself now, for dwelling does not mean a separate deathless soul lives on apart from the body, and life everlasting remains a future gift to be given at the revelation of Christ. With Job 14 and Job 17 and Psalm 88 it shows the grave to be the silent dark place of sleep and rest and secrecy, where the dead lie together in the dust in corruption and worms and decay. It belongs to Eliphaz's charge that Job was suffering for sin under God's discipline, whose sayings were true in general but misapplied to Job and must be tested by plainer declarations elsewhere, since affliction is no proof of God's displeasure and no cause for discouragement. As frail worms of the dust, destroyed from morning to evening and perishing without wisdom, men are rebuked for presuming to command in the Lord's name what He has not commanded, such as a Sunday law for rest and worship, and are reminded that their earthly stay is only brief and insecure and that here they know and speak of divine things only in part.
Language and Setting
The utterance belongs to Eliphaz within the debate between Job and his three friends concerning Job's afflictions. In that debate the friends charge Job with sin and declare his sufferings to be because of sin, while God is disciplining Job and bringing him through the fire of affliction.
The friends' statements were generally true but misapplied to Job. They cannot be taken as reliable merely because they stand in the book, but must be tested against inspired declarations elsewhere in Scripture. Affliction therefore does not prove that God is displeased with the sufferer nor give cause for discouragement.
The houses of clay whose foundation is in the dust, crushed before the moth, picture human beings living in fragile earthly bodies founded in dust. Those bodies are easily destroyed and return to dust, crushed from morning to evening and perishing without regard. The how-much-less sets this lowliness against the higher order, for God puts no trust in His servants and charges His angels with folly, how much less then frail man in his clay house.
The saying comes in connection with night visions. It belongs to the book's setting forth of overruling providence, sin and suffering.
Mortality and Death
The mortal one of the previous verse is the thinking, intelligent part of man, because only that part can be just or unjust. That same conscious man dwells in a house of clay, a fragile earthly body whose foundation is in dust. Man as a whole, mind included, is therefore mortal and does not have inherent immortality or eternal life now. The word dwell does not prove that an intelligent, immortal being lives outside the body, and the whole human being is earthly and mortal rather than an immortal soul dwelling separately inside a body. The phrase temple of clay pictures the body as a frail earthly dwelling, and the claim that a spirit is held in it and leaves it at death to live in peace and happiness and meet the living is false and is no evidence for that teaching.
By contrast, the image distinguishes the bodily dwelling from the person said to dwell in it, as when the house of clay is Christ's body which expired on the cross. Human beings dwelling in bodies formed from dust and easily crushed show frailty and mortality, supporting the description of sheol as the silent, dark state of the dead. They dwell in fragile houses of clay with foundation in dust and are crushed easily, proving that sheol is a place of silence, secrecy, sleep, rest, darkness, corruption and worms where the dead rest together in the dust. With Job 14 and Job 17 and Psalm 88 this proves that sheol is the place of death, where human beings lie in the dust and are subject to decay and death, frail, mortal and returning to dust.
Because present man is mortal, the verse creates desire for something better and proves that eternal life remains a future hope to be given at the revelation of Christ.
Exhortation and Application
Mortal man cannot be more just than God nor more pure than his Maker, for trust is not put even in heavenly servants and folly is charged even to angels, how much less to human beings dwelling in fragile houses of clay founded in dust and crushed before the moth. Such inhabitants are frail worms of the dust, destroyed from morning to evening, perishing forever without any regarding it, their excellency going away as they die even without wisdom. This lowliness rebukes those who presume to command in the name of the Lord what God has not commanded, as in undertaking to make a Sunday law for rest and worship when in wisdom no express command was given to keep the first day, since men cannot do successfully what God refrains from doing.
While in this limited house of clay, people know and speak of divine things only in part, like children, until perfection comes and what is partial passes away. Dwelling in houses of clay means an earthly stay that is temporary, only for a day or a month or a year at the Lord's behest, so worry about the earthly nest is needless. This house of clay covers earthly life and its possessions, which cannot be claimed as lasting or secure, for human beings are fragile and mortal, dwelling in bodies made of clay and grounded in dust that can be crushed with ease.
The verse belongs among the words of Job's three friends who charge Job with sin and declare his sufferings are because of sin, while God is disciplining Job and bringing him through the fire of affliction. It belongs to the setting forth of overruling providence, sin and suffering, and shows how humanity is prone to misjudge its fellows in affliction.