Job 7:9
New International Version
As a cloud vanishes and is gone, so one who goes down to the grave does not return.

New Living Translation
Just as a cloud dissipates and vanishes, those who die will not come back.

English Standard Version
As the cloud fades and vanishes, so he who goes down to Sheol does not come up;

Berean Standard Bible
As a cloud vanishes and is gone, so he who goes down to Sheol does not come back up.

King James Bible
As the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away: so he that goeth down to the grave shall come up no more.

New King James Version
As the cloud disappears and vanishes away, So he who goes down to the grave does not come up.

New American Standard Bible
“When a cloud vanishes, it is gone; In the same way one who goes down to Sheol does not come up.

NASB 1995
“When a cloud vanishes, it is gone, So he who goes down to Sheol does not come up.

NASB 1977
“When a cloud vanishes, it is gone, So he who goes down to Sheol does not come up.

Legacy Standard Bible
A cloud vanishes, and it is gone, So he who goes down to Sheol does not come up.

Amplified Bible
“As a cloud vanishes and is gone, So he who goes down to Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead) does not come up.

Christian Standard Bible
As a cloud fades away and vanishes, so the one who goes down to Sheol will never rise again.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
As a cloud fades away and vanishes, so the one who goes down to Sheol will never rise again.

American Standard Version
As the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away, So he that goeth down to Sheol shall come up no more.

Contemporary English Version
I will disappear in the grave or vanish from sight like a passing cloud.

English Revised Version
As the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away, so he that goeth down to Sheol shall come up no more.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
As a cloud fades away and disappears, so a person goes into the grave and doesn't come back again.

International Standard Version
As a cloud fades away and vanishes, the one who descends to the afterlife doesn't return.

Majority Standard Bible
As a cloud vanishes and is gone, so he who goes down to Sheol does not come back up.

NET Bible
As a cloud is dispersed and then disappears, so the one who goes down to the grave does not come up again.

New Heart English Bible
As the cloud is consumed and vanishes away, so he who goes down to Sheol shall come up no more.

Webster's Bible Translation
As the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away: so he that goeth down to the grave shall come up no more.

World English Bible
As the cloud is consumed and vanishes away, so he who goes down to Sheol will come up no more.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
A cloud has been consumed, and it goes, "" So he who is going down to Sheol does not come up.

Young's Literal Translation
Consumed hath been a cloud, and it goeth, So he who is going down to Sheol cometh not up.

Smith's Literal Translation
The cloud will end and will go away: thus he shall go down to hades and shall not come up.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
As a cloud is consumed, and passeth away: so he that shall go down to hell shall not come up.

Catholic Public Domain Version
Just as a cloud is consumed and passes away, so he who descends to hell will not ascend.

New American Bible
As a cloud dissolves and vanishes, so whoever goes down to Sheol shall not come up.

New Revised Standard Version
As the cloud fades and vanishes, so those who go down to Sheol do not come up;
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
As the cloud fades away and disappears, so he who descends to Sheol shall not ascend any more.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
As a cloud disappears and departs, in this way he who has descended to Sheol does not go up
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
As the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away, So he that goeth down to the grave shall come up no more.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
I am as a cloud that is cleared away from the sky: for if a man go down to the grave, he shall not come up again:

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Job Continues: Life Seems Futile
8The eye that beholds me will no longer see me. You will look for me, but I will be no more. 9As a cloud vanishes and is gone, so he who goes down to Sheol does not come back up. 10He never returns to his house; his place remembers him no more.…

Cross References
Psalm 39:13
Turn Your gaze away from me, that I may again be cheered before I depart and am no more.”

Psalm 103:15-16
As for man, his days are like grass—he blooms like a flower of the field; / when the wind passes over, it vanishes, and its place remembers it no more.

James 4:14
You do not even know what will happen tomorrow! What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

Ecclesiastes 12:7
before the dust returns to the ground from which it came and the spirit returns to God who gave it.

Isaiah 40:6-8
A voice says, “Cry out!” And I asked, “What should I cry out?” “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flowers of the field. / The grass withers and the flowers fall when the breath of the LORD blows on them; indeed, the people are grass. / The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.”

1 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,

2 Samuel 14:14
For we will surely die and be like water poured out on the ground, which cannot be recovered. Yet God does not take away a life, but He devises ways that the banished one may not be cast out from Him.

Hebrews 9:27
Just as man is appointed to die once, and after that to face judgment,

Psalm 78:39
He remembered that they were but flesh, a passing breeze that does not return.

Psalm 90:5-6
You sweep them away in their sleep; they are like the new grass of the morning— / in the morning it springs up new, but by evening it fades and withers.

1 Corinthians 15:42-44
So will it be with the resurrection of the dead: What is sown is perishable; it is raised imperishable. / It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. / It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

Isaiah 38:11
I said, “I will never again see the LORD, even the LORD, in the land of the living; I will no longer look on mankind with those who dwell in this world.

John 5:28-29
Do not be amazed at this, for the hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear His voice / and come out—those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-14
Brothers, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you will not grieve like the rest, who are without hope. / For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, we also believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in Him.

Psalm 146:4
When his spirit departs, he returns to the ground; on that very day his plans perish.


Treasury of Scripture

As the cloud is consumed and vanishes away: so he that goes down to the grave shall come up no more.

the cloud.

Job 37:11
Also by watering he wearieth the thick cloud: he scattereth his bright cloud:

he.

Job 10:21
Before I go whence I shall not return, even to the land of darkness and the shadow of death;

Job 14:10-14
But man dieth, and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he? …

Job 16:22
When a few years are come, then I shall go the way whence I shall not return.

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Job 7
1. Job excuses his desire of death.
12. He complains of his own restlessness, and reasons with God.














As a cloud vanishes and is gone
The imagery of a cloud is a powerful metaphor in the Hebrew Bible, often symbolizing transience and the fleeting nature of life. In Hebrew, the word for cloud, "עָנָן" (anan), evokes the idea of something that is visible yet intangible, present yet ephemeral. Just as a cloud can appear substantial but quickly dissipates, so too is human life portrayed as temporary and fragile. This metaphor serves to remind us of the brevity of our earthly existence, urging a reflection on the eternal and the divine. The cloud's disappearance is a call to humility, recognizing that our lives are but a vapor in the grand tapestry of God's creation.

so he who goes down to Sheol
The term "Sheol" in Hebrew, "שְׁאוֹל" (Sheol), refers to the abode of the dead, a shadowy place where the departed reside. In the ancient Near Eastern context, Sheol was understood as a realm of silence and forgetfulness, distinct from the vibrant life experienced on earth. This phrase underscores the finality of death in the human experience, as understood in the Old Testament. It reflects a worldview where death is a one-way journey, emphasizing the seriousness of life choices and the urgency of living righteously before God. The descent to Sheol is a sobering reminder of mortality, prompting believers to seek God's wisdom and grace while they have the opportunity.

does not come back
The finality expressed in "does not come back" highlights the irreversible nature of death. In Hebrew thought, once a person descended to Sheol, there was no return to earthly life. This phrase serves as a poignant reminder of the limits of human power and the sovereignty of God over life and death. It challenges believers to consider the eternal implications of their lives and to place their hope in the resurrection promise revealed more fully in the New Testament. The certainty of not returning from Sheol calls for a life lived in faithfulness to God, trusting in His ultimate plan for redemption and eternal life through Jesus Christ. This assurance of resurrection and eternal life is a cornerstone of Christian hope, transforming the understanding of death from a final end to a transition into eternal communion with God.

(9) As the cloud is consumed.--It is a fine simile that man is as evanescent as a cloud; and very apt is the figure, because, whether it vanishes on the surface of the sky or is distributed in rain, nothing more completely passes away than the summer cloud. It is an appearance only, which comes to nought.

Verse 9. - As the aloud is consumed and vanisheth away. In mountainous countries one sees clouds clinging to a mountain-side, which do not float away, but gradually shrink, and at last wholly disappear. They are "consumed" in the strictest sense of the word - the hot rays of the sun drink them up. So he that goeth down to the grave; rather, to Sheol; i.e. to the lower world, the abode of the departed. What exactly was Job's idea of this world it is impossible to say, or whether it involved the continued separate identity of individual souls and their continued consciousness. In Isaiah's conception both seem certainly to have been involved (Isaiah 14:9-18), and perhaps in Jacob's (Genesis 37:35); but Job s creed on the subject can only be conjectured. It is certain, however, that both the Egyptians and the early Babylonians held the continuance after death of individual souls, their separate existence, and their consciousness (see the author's 'History of Ancient Egypt,' vol. 1. pp. 317-319; and 'Religions of the Ancient World,' pp. 62-65). Shall come up no more. The Egyptian belief was that the soul would ultimately return to the body from which death separated it, and rein-habit it. But this belief was certainly not general among the nations of antiquity.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
As a cloud
עָ֭נָן (‘ā·nān)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 6051: A cloud, the nimbus, thunder-cloud

vanishes
כָּלָ֣ה (kā·lāh)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 3615: To be complete, at an end, finished, accomplished, or spent

and is gone,
וַיֵּלַ֑ךְ (way·yê·laḵ)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1980: To go, come, walk

so
כֵּ֥ן (kên)
Adverb
Strong's 3651: So -- thus

he who goes down
יוֹרֵ֥ד (yō·w·rêḏ)
Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine singular
Strong's 3381: To come or go down, descend

to Sheol
שְׁ֝א֗וֹל (’ō·wl)
Noun - common singular
Strong's 7585: Underworld (place to which people descend at death)

will never
לֹ֣א (lō)
Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

rise again.
יַעֲלֶֽה׃ (ya·‘ă·leh)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 5927: To ascend, in, actively


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OT Poetry: Job 7:9 As the cloud is consumed and vanishes (Jb)
Job 7:8
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