Job 21:34
New International Version
“So how can you console me with your nonsense? Nothing is left of your answers but falsehood!”

New Living Translation
“How can your empty clichés comfort me? All your explanations are lies!”

English Standard Version
How then will you comfort me with empty nothings? There is nothing left of your answers but falsehood.”

Berean Standard Bible
So how can you comfort me with empty words? For your answers remain full of falsehood.”

King James Bible
How then comfort ye me in vain, seeing in your answers there remaineth falsehood?

New King James Version
How then can you comfort me with empty words, Since falsehood remains in your answers?”

New American Standard Bible
“So how dare you give me empty comfort? For your answers remain nothing but falsehood!”

NASB 1995
“How then will you vainly comfort me, For your answers remain full of falsehood?”

NASB 1977
“How then will you vainly comfort me, For your answers remain full of falsehood?”

Legacy Standard Bible
How then will you vainly comfort me, Indeed when your answers remain full of falsehood?”

Amplified Bible
“How then can you vainly comfort me with empty words, Since your answers remain untrue?”

Christian Standard Bible
So how can you offer me such futile comfort? Your answers are deceptive. Third Series of Speeches

Holman Christian Standard Bible
So how can you offer me such futile comfort? Your answers are deceptive.

American Standard Version
How then comfort ye me in vain, Seeing in your answers there remaineth only falsehood?

Contemporary English Version
But empty, meaningless words are the comfort you offer me.

English Revised Version
How then comfort ye me in vain, seeing in your answers there remaineth only falsehood?

GOD'S WORD® Translation
How can you comfort me with this nonsense when your answers continue to betray me?"

Good News Translation
And you! You try to comfort me with nonsense! Every answer you give is a lie!

International Standard Version
How then, can you console me so worthlessly? What is left of your answers is treachery."

Majority Standard Bible
So how can you comfort me with empty words? For your answers remain full of falsehood.”

NET Bible
So how can you console me with your futile words? Nothing is left of your answers but deception!"

New Heart English Bible
So how can you comfort me with nonsense, seeing that in your answers there remains only falsehood?"

Webster's Bible Translation
How then comfort ye me in vain, seeing in your answers there remaineth falsehood?

World English Bible
So how can you comfort me with nonsense, because in your answers there remains only falsehood?”
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
And how do you comfort me [with] vanity, "" And trespass has been left in your answers?”

Young's Literal Translation
And how do ye comfort me with vanity, And in your answers hath been left trespass?

Smith's Literal Translation
And how will ye comfort me in vain, and your answers remained treachery?
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
How then do ye comfort me in vain, whereas your answer is shewn to be repugnant to truth ?

Catholic Public Domain Version
Therefore, how long will you console me in vain, when your answer is shown to be repugnant to truth?

New American Bible
How empty the consolation you offer me! Your arguments remain a fraud.

New Revised Standard Version
How then will you comfort me with empty nothings? There is nothing left of your answers but falsehood.”
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
How then can you comfort me in vain, seeing that your abominable answers are multiplied before me?

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
And how will you comfort me with futility, and have the answers of the reprobate given profit before me?”
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
How then comfort ye me in vain? And as for your answers, there remaineth only faithlessness?

Brenton Septuagint Translation
How then do ye comfort me in vain? whereas I have no rest from your molestation.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Job: God will Punish the Wicked
33The clods of the valley are sweet to him; everyone follows behind him, and those before him are without number. 34So how can you comfort me with empty words? For your answers remain full of falsehood.”

Cross References
Ecclesiastes 2:11
Yet when I considered all the works that my hands had accomplished and what I had toiled to achieve, I found everything to be futile, a pursuit of the wind; there was nothing to be gained under the sun.

Ecclesiastes 1:14
I have seen all the things that are done under the sun, and have found them all to be futile, a pursuit of the wind.

Ecclesiastes 2:15
So I said to myself, “The fate of the fool will also befall me. What then have I gained by being wise?” And I said to myself that this too is futile.

Ecclesiastes 2:17
So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. For everything is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

Ecclesiastes 2:23
Indeed, all his days are filled with grief, and his task is sorrowful; even at night, his mind does not rest. This too is futile.

Ecclesiastes 3:19-20
For the fates of both men and beasts are the same: As one dies, so dies the other—they all have the same breath. Man has no advantage over the animals, since everything is futile. / All go to one place; all come from dust, and all return to dust.

Psalm 39:5-6
You, indeed, have made my days as handbreadths, and my lifetime as nothing before You. Truly each man at his best exists as but a breath. Selah / Surely every man goes about like a phantom; surely he bustles in vain; he heaps up riches not knowing who will haul them away.

Psalm 73:3-12
For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. / They have no struggle in their death; their bodies are well-fed. / They are free of the burdens others carry; they are not afflicted like other men. ...

Psalm 49:10-13
For it is clear that wise men die, and the foolish and the senseless both perish and leave their wealth to others. / Their graves are their eternal homes—their dwellings for endless generations—even though their lands were their namesakes. / But a man, despite his wealth, cannot endure; he is like the beasts that perish. ...

Isaiah 44:20
He feeds on ashes. His deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?”

Isaiah 59:4
No one calls for justice; no one pleads his case honestly. They rely on empty pleas; they tell lies; they conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity.

Jeremiah 16:19
O LORD, my strength and my fortress, my refuge in the day of distress, the nations will come to You from the ends of the earth, and they will say, “Our fathers inherited nothing but lies, worthless idols of no benefit at all.

Matthew 15:9
They worship Me in vain; they teach as doctrine the precepts of men.’”

Mark 7:7
They worship Me in vain; they teach as doctrine the precepts of men.’

Romans 1:21-22
For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts. / Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools,


Treasury of Scripture

How then comfort you me in vain, seeing in your answers there remains falsehood?

comfort

Job 16:2
I have heard many such things: miserable comforters are ye all.

seeing

Job 13:4
But ye are forgers of lies, ye are all physicians of no value.

Job 32:3
Also against his three friends was his wrath kindled, because they had found no answer, and yet had condemned Job.

Job 42:7
And it was so, that after the LORD had spoken these words unto Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends: for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath.

falsehood.

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Answers Comfort Console Deceit Empty Faithlessness Falsehood Full Nonsense Profit Trespass Vain Vainly Vanity Words
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Answers Comfort Console Deceit Empty Faithlessness Falsehood Full Nonsense Profit Trespass Vain Vainly Vanity Words
Job 21
1. Job shows that even in the judgment of man he has reason to be grieved
7. Sometimes the wicked prosper, though they despise God
16. Sometimes their destruction is manifest
21. The happy and unhappy are alike in death
27. The judgment of the wicked is in another world














So how can you comfort me
The phrase begins with a rhetorical question that Job poses to his friends. The Hebrew root for "comfort" is "נחם" (nacham), which implies consolation or relief. In the context of Job's suffering, this word underscores the inadequacy of his friends' attempts to provide solace. Historically, comforters were expected to bring genuine empathy and understanding, yet Job finds their efforts lacking. This highlights the importance of true compassion and the limitations of human wisdom in the face of profound suffering.

with your empty words?
The term "empty" translates from the Hebrew "הבל" (hebel), often used in Ecclesiastes to denote vanity or meaninglessness. Job accuses his friends of offering words that are devoid of substance or truth. This critique reflects a broader biblical theme where words without genuine insight or divine truth are considered futile. The historical context of wisdom literature often contrasts human understanding with divine revelation, emphasizing that true wisdom comes from God.

There is nothing left of your answers
Here, Job dismisses the responses of his friends as lacking any value or truth. The phrase "nothing left" suggests a complete absence of worth or effectiveness. In the Hebrew context, "answers" (תשובות, teshuvot) implies responses or solutions. Job's assertion points to the failure of human reasoning to address the mysteries of divine justice and suffering. This aligns with the conservative Christian perspective that human answers are insufficient without reliance on God's wisdom.

but falsehood!
The word "falsehood" comes from the Hebrew "כזב" (kazab), meaning deceit or lies. Job accuses his friends of speaking untruths, whether intentionally or through ignorance. This accusation is significant in the biblical narrative, where truth is a central attribute of God's character. The historical and scriptural context emphasizes the danger of false teachings and the need for discernment. In Job's experience, his friends' failure to speak truthfully reflects a broader human tendency to misunderstand God's ways, reinforcing the need for divine revelation and guidance.

(34) There remaineth falsehood.--Or, all that is left of them is transgression, that is to say, it is not only worthless, but yet more, it is even harmful and wrong.

Verse 34. - How then comfort ye me in vain, seeing in your answers there remaineth falsehood? Your position, that the godly always prosper, while the wicked are afflicted and brought low, being an absolutely false one, your attempts to console and comfort me are wholly vain and futile. Why continue them? Most commentators consider the second colloquy here to end, and a pause to occur, before Eliphaz resumes the argument.



Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
So how
וְ֭אֵיךְ (wə·’êḵ)
Conjunctive waw | Interjection
Strong's 349: How?, how!, where

can you comfort me
תְּנַחֲמ֣וּנִי (tə·na·ḥă·mū·nî)
Verb - Piel - Imperfect - second person masculine plural | first person common singular
Strong's 5162: To sigh, breathe strongly, to be sorry, to pity, console, rue, to avenge

with empty words?
הָ֑בֶל (hā·ḇel)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 1892: Emptiness, vanity, transitory, unsatisfactory

For your answers
וּ֝תְשֽׁוּבֹתֵיכֶ֗ם (ū·ṯə·šū·ḇō·ṯê·ḵem)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - feminine plural construct | second person masculine plural
Strong's 8666: A recurrence, a reply

remain
נִשְׁאַר־ (niš·’ar-)
Verb - Nifal - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 7604: To swell up, be, redundant

[full of] falsehood.”
מָֽעַל׃ (mā·‘al)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 4604: An unfaithful or treacherous act


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OT Poetry: Job 21:34 So how can you comfort me (Jb)
Job 21:33
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