Verse Lens · Concise explanation
Job 34:15 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 15. 15All flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto dust.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Job 34:15 closes the thought unit with the words “All flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto dust.” Elihu states “All flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto dust” as one poetic claim in Elihu Defends God's Justice and Sustaining Rule.
Read It With
- Job 34:10–34:15
Read Job 34:15 with 34:10–34:15. Read alone, “All flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto dust” could lose its speaker, the question or claim it develops, and the unit's outcome. The complete movement establishes: Elihu denies divine wickedness, asserts repayment according to deeds, and says the world's life depends on God's sustaining breath.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Elihu continues from Job 34:1–34:9: Elihu addresses the wise, repeats Job's integrity claim and complaint of a false judgment, then charges Job with scorning and associating with wicked speech. Job 34:10–34:15 now develops the next distinct movement: Elihu denies divine wickedness, asserts repayment according to deeds, and says the world's life depends on God's sustaining breath. Within that relationship, Job 34:15 closes the thought unit through “All flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto dust.”
Read Job 34:10–15 together
Why these verses belong together: Job 34:10–34:15 follows the pinned KJV paragraphing and holds together one sustained speech movement: “Elihu Defends God's Justice and Sustaining Rule.” The next unit begins with a new stanza, question sequence, scene, speaker response, or rhetorical turn.
Verse 10. 10 Therefore hearken unto me, ye men of understanding: far be it from God, that he should do wickedness; and from the Almighty, that he should commit iniquity.
Verse 11. 11 For the work of a man shall he render unto him, and cause every man to find according to his ways.
Verse 12. 12 Yea, surely God will not do wickedly, neither will the Almighty pervert judgment.
Verse 13. 13 Who hath given him a charge over the earth? or who hath disposed the whole world?
Verse 14. 14 If he set his heart upon man, if he gather unto himself his spirit and his breath;
Verse 15. 15 All flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto dust.
What Remains True
Elihu denies divine wickedness, asserts repayment according to deeds, and says the world's life depends on God's sustaining breath. Enduring righteousness requires evidence, fair hearing, accountable power, and concrete protection for people whose dignity, labor, safety, or livelihood is at stake. Job 34:15 carries that bounded truth through “All flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto dust.”
How It Can Shape Life
- Carry Job 34:10–34:15 into practice through specific evidence, fair process, accountable use of power, and material protection for affected people; do not substitute insinuation, status, or spiritual language for investigation and repair. Preserve this unit-specific boundary in the action: The affirmation of divine justice is central, but Elihu's deed-for-deed formula does not by itself explain Job's undeserved suffering. The verse-specific evidence to retain is “All flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto dust.”
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Job 34:10–34:15 — Elihu Defends God's Justice and Sustaining RuleSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Exact location: Job 34:10–34:15, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Job
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a complete apparatus or interpretation.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Job.xml, OSIS 34:10–34:15
Open the fixed Hebrew Job file ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible First Edition Notes: Job
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006; current official PDF
Supports: Verse-level controls for Job's difficult Hebrew, syntax, older KJV language, textual issues, speech boundaries, and alternatives in Job 34:10–34:15.
Exact location: Official NET Job PDF, exact translator, study, and textual notes attached to Job 34:10–34:15
Open the official NET Job PDF ↗