Verse Lens · Concise explanation
Job 4:21 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 21. 21Doth not their excellency which is in them go away? they die, even without wisdom.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Job 4:21 closes the thought unit with the words “Doth not their excellency which is in them go away? they die, even without wisdom.” Eliphaz states “Doth not their excellency which is in them go away? they die, even without wisdom” as one poetic claim in Eliphaz Reports a Terrifying Night Oracle.
Eliphaz reports a night word as if secrecy were authority
This verse is one part of that explanation in Job 4:12–4:21. The complete section carries the connected meaning and how it should shape life.
Read It With
- Job 4:12–4:21
Read Job 4:21 with 4:12–4:21. Read alone, “Doth not their excellency which is in them go away? they die, even without wisdom” could lose its speaker, the question or claim it develops, and the unit's outcome. The complete movement establishes: Eliphaz describes a secret nocturnal revelation that stresses human impurity, creaturely fragility, and mortality before God.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Eliphaz continues from Job 4:7–4:11: Eliphaz argues from experience that the innocent do not perish while those who sow trouble reap destruction, illustrating the claim with broken lions. Job 4:12–4:21 now develops the next distinct movement: Eliphaz describes a secret nocturnal revelation that stresses human impurity, creaturely fragility, and mortality before God. Within that relationship, Job 4:21 closes the thought unit through “Doth not their excellency which is in them go away? they die, even without wisdom.”
Read Job 4:12–21 together
Why these verses belong together: Job 4:12–4:21 follows the pinned KJV paragraphing and holds together one sustained speech movement: “Eliphaz Reports a Terrifying Night Oracle.” The next unit begins with a new stanza, question sequence, scene, speaker response, or rhetorical turn.
Verse 12. 12 Now a thing was secretly brought to me, and mine ear received a little thereof.
Verse 13. 13 In thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falleth on men,
Verse 14. 14 Fear came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones to shake.
Verse 15. 15 Then a spirit passed before my face; the hair of my flesh stood up:
Verse 16. 16 It stood still, but I could not discern the form thereof: an image was before mine eyes, there was silence, and I heard a voice, saying,
Verse 17. 17 Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his maker?
Verse 18. 18 Behold, he put no trust in his servants; and his angels he charged with folly:
Verse 19. 19 How much less in them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, which are crushed before the moth?
Verse 20. 20 They are destroyed from morning to evening: they perish for ever without any regarding it.
Verse 21. 21 Doth not their excellency which is in them go away? they die, even without wisdom.
What Remains True
Eliphaz describes a secret nocturnal revelation that stresses human impurity, creaturely fragility, and mortality before God. Responsible wisdom states material textual, translation, structural, or attribution alternatives openly before building doctrine or practice. Job 4:21 carries that bounded truth through “Doth not their excellency which is in them go away? they die, even without wisdom.”
Continue in Context
Read the complete section for the connected explanation and how it should shape life. This verse is a doorway into that passage, not a saying that stands alone.
Read Job 4:12–4:21 — Eliphaz Reports a Terrifying Night OracleSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
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 4:12–4:21, 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 4:12–4:21
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 4:12–4:21.
Exact location: Official NET Job PDF, exact translator, study, and textual notes attached to Job 4:12–4:21
Open the official NET Job PDF ↗