Job 8:12
New International Version
While still growing and uncut, they wither more quickly than grass.

New Living Translation
While they are still flowering, not ready to be cut, they begin to wither more quickly than grass.

English Standard Version
While yet in flower and not cut down, they wither before any other plant.

Berean Standard Bible
While the shoots are still uncut, they dry up quicker than grass.

King James Bible
Whilst it is yet in his greenness, and not cut down, it withereth before any other herb.

New King James Version
While it is yet green and not cut down, It withers before any other plant.

New American Standard Bible
“While it is still green and not cut down, Yet it withers before any other plant.

NASB 1995
“While it is still green and not cut down, Yet it withers before any other plant.

NASB 1977
“While it is still green and not cut down, Yet it withers before any other plant.

Legacy Standard Bible
While it is still green and not cut down, Yet it dries up before any other plant.

Amplified Bible
“While it is still green (in flower) and not cut down, Yet it withers before any other plant [when without water].

Christian Standard Bible
While still uncut shoots, they would dry up quicker than any other plant.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
While still uncut shoots, they would dry up quicker than any other plant.

American Standard Version
Whilst it is yet in its greenness, and not cut down, It withereth before any other herb.

Contemporary English Version
and if the water dries up, they die sooner than grass.

English Revised Version
Whilst it is yet in its greenness, and not cut down, it withereth before any other herb.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Even if they were fresh and not cut, they would wither quicker than grass.

Good News Translation
If the water dries up, they are the first to wither, while still too small to be cut and used.

International Standard Version
While they are still green and not yet ready to be harvested, they wither before any plant.

Majority Standard Bible
While the shoots are still uncut, they dry up quicker than grass.

NET Bible
While they are still beginning to flower and not ripe for cutting, they can wither away faster than any grass!

New Heart English Bible
While it is yet in its greenness, not cut down, it withers before any other reed.

Webster's Bible Translation
Whilst it is yet in its greenness, and not cut down, it withereth before any other herb.

World English Bible
While it is yet in its greenness, not cut down, it withers before any other reed.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
While it [is] in its budding—uncropped, "" Even before any herb it withers.

Young's Literal Translation
While it is in its budding -- uncropped, Even before any herb it withereth.

Smith's Literal Translation
While yet in its greenness it shall not break off, and it will dry up before grass.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
When it is yet in flower, and is not plucked up with the hand, it withereth before all herbs.

Catholic Public Domain Version
When it is still in flower, and has not been pulled up by hand, it withers before all other plants.

New American Bible
While it is yet green and uncut, it withers quicker than any grass.

New Revised Standard Version
While yet in flower and not cut down, they wither before any other plant.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
While they are yet in their greenness, and not cut down, they wither before any other herb.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
While it is in its growth it is not picked, and before all grass it dries up
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
Whilst it is yet in its greenness, and not cut down, It withereth before any other herb.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
When it is yet on the root, and though it has not been cut down, does not any herb wither before it has received moisture?

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Bildad: Job Should Repent
11Does papyrus grow where there is no marsh? Do reeds flourish without water? 12While the shoots are still uncut, they dry up quicker than grass. 13Such is the destiny of all who forget God; so the hope of the godless will perish.…

Cross References
Psalm 1:3-4
He is like a tree planted by streams of water, yielding its fruit in season, whose leaf does not wither, and who prospers in all he does. / Not so the wicked! For they are like chaff driven off by the wind.

Isaiah 40:7-8
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.”

Matthew 13:6
But when the sun rose, the seedlings were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.

Jeremiah 17:5-6
This is what the LORD says: “Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind, who makes mere flesh his strength and turns his heart from the LORD. / 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.

John 15:6
If anyone does not remain in Me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers. Such branches are gathered up, thrown into the fire, and burned.

Isaiah 5:24
Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes the straw, and as dry grass shrivels in the flame, so their roots will decay and their blossoms will blow away like dust; for they have rejected the instruction of the LORD of Hosts and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

Ezekiel 17:9-10
So you are to tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Will it flourish? Will it not be uprooted and stripped of its fruit so that it shrivels? All its foliage will wither! It will not take a strong arm or many people to pull it up by its roots. / Even if it is transplanted, will it flourish? Will it not completely wither when the east wind strikes? It will wither on the bed where it sprouted.’”

James 1:11
For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its flower falls and its beauty is lost. So too, the rich man will fade away in the midst of his pursuits.

Hosea 13:15
Although he flourishes among his brothers, an east wind will come—a wind from the LORD rising up from the desert. His fountain will fail, and his spring will run dry. The wind will plunder his treasury of every precious article.

Matthew 21:19
Seeing a fig tree by the road, He went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. “May you never bear fruit again!” He said. And immediately the tree withered.

Psalm 37:2
For they wither quickly like grass and wilt like tender plants.

Luke 8:6
Some fell on rocky ground, and when it came up, the seedlings withered because they had no moisture.

Isaiah 40:24
No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner have their stems taken root in the ground, than He blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like stubble.

Mark 4:6
But when the sun rose, the seedlings were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.

Isaiah 64:6
Each of us has become like something unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all wither like a leaf, and our iniquities carry us away like the wind.


Treasury of Scripture

Whilst it is yet in his greenness, and not cut down, it wither before any other herb.

Psalm 129:6,7
Let them be as the grass upon the housetops, which withereth afore it groweth up: …

Jeremiah 17:6
For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.

Matthew 13:20
But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;

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Job 8
1. Bildad shows God's justice in dealing with men according to their works.
8. He alleges antiquity to prove the certain destruction of the hypocrite.
20. He applies God's just dealing to Job.














While the shoots are still uncut
The imagery of "shoots" in this verse is significant in the Hebrew context, often symbolizing new growth or potential. The Hebrew word for "shoots" can be linked to the idea of nascent life or beginnings. In the context of Job, Bildad is using this metaphor to illustrate the fragility and transience of life without a firm foundation in God. The "uncut" shoots suggest a state of incompletion or vulnerability, emphasizing that without divine intervention or righteousness, even the beginnings of prosperity or life can be precarious. This serves as a reminder of the need for spiritual grounding and the futility of relying solely on earthly or superficial beginnings.

they dry up
The phrase "they dry up" conveys a sense of withering or perishing, which is a common biblical metaphor for judgment or the consequences of sin. In Hebrew, the concept of drying up often relates to the absence of water, symbolizing the absence of God's sustaining presence. This imagery is powerful in the arid climate of the ancient Near East, where water is life. Bildad's use of this metaphor suggests that without God's favor, life can quickly become barren and desolate. It serves as a cautionary note about the spiritual consequences of turning away from God, highlighting the necessity of remaining connected to the divine source of life.

quicker than grass
Grass in the biblical context is frequently used to represent transience and the fleeting nature of human life. The comparison to grass, which is known for its rapid growth and equally rapid demise, underscores the brevity and fragility of life without God. In the Hebrew scriptures, grass often symbolizes the ephemeral nature of human endeavors and the inevitability of mortality. Bildad's analogy here is a stark reminder of the swift passage of time and the urgency of aligning one's life with God's eternal purposes. It calls believers to reflect on the temporary nature of worldly pursuits and to seek the enduring sustenance that only faith in God can provide.

Verse 12. - Whilst it is yet in his greenness, and not out down. It grows and flourishes in a rich greenness up to a certain point; no one touches it; but the water fails from the root, and it fades, collapses, and is gone. It withereth before any other herb. The ground may be all green around it with ordinary grass and other herbs, since they only need a little moisture - the water-plant will collapse unless it has its full supply.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
While
עֹדֶ֣נּוּ (‘ō·ḏen·nū)
Adverb | third person masculine singular
Strong's 5750: Iteration, continuance, again, repeatedly, still, more

the shoots
בְ֭אִבּוֹ (ḇə·’ib·bōw)
Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 3: Freshness, fresh green

are still uncut,
לֹ֣א (lō)
Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

they dry up
יִיבָֽשׁ׃ (yî·ḇāš)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 3001: To be ashamed, confused, disappointed, to dry up, wither

quicker than
וְלִפְנֵ֖י (wə·lip̄·nê)
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-l | Noun - common plural construct
Strong's 6440: The face

grass.
חָצִ֣יר (ḥā·ṣîr)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 2682: Green grass, herbage


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OT Poetry: Job 8:12 While it is yet in its greenness (Jb)
Job 8:11
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