Job 8:12
10 Will they not teach you and tell you, and speak from their understanding?
11 Does papyrus grow where there is no marsh? Do reeds flourish without water?
While the shoots are still uncut, they dry up quicker than grass.
13 Such is the destiny of all who forget God; so the hope of the godless will perish.
14 His confidence is fragile; his security is in a spider’s web.
This was said to Israel at a particular time, so it is wise to read it together with the surrounding text. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- While the shoots are still uncut, they dry up quicker than grass.
- KJV
- Whilst it is yet in his greenness, and not cut down, it withereth before any other herb.
- WEB
- While it is yet in its greenness, not cut down, it withers before any other reed.
- ASV
- Whilst it is yet in its greenness, [and] not cut down, It withereth before any [other] herb.
- DARBY
- Whilst it is yet in its greenness [and] not cut down, it withereth before any [other] grass.
- BLB
- It is still in its greenness—it is not cut down, and before all grass, it withers.
- ÅB
- Enda står det friskt og grønt og blir ikke skåret; da visner det før alt annet gress.
- OTB
- Mens de fortsatt er grønne og uklippet,
visner de raskere enn noen annen plante. - B1930
- Ennu står det friskt og grønt og blir ikke skåret; da visner det før alt annet gress.
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Jeremiah 17:6
He will be like a shrub in the desert; he will not see when prosperity comes. He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives.
Read in contextPsalms 129:6–7
May they be like grass on the rooftops, which withers before it can grow,
Read in contextJames 1:10–11
But the one who is rich should exult in his low position, because he will pass away like a flower of the field.
Read in contextMatthew 13:20
The seed sown on rocky ground is the one who hears the word and at once receives it with joy.
Read in context1 Peter 1:24
For, “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall,
Read in context