Will it go down to the bars of Sheol? Shall we descend together into the dust?”
Job has just called the grave his house and made his bed in the darkness. Then he asks where his hope has gone. This closing line pictures that hope sinking with him into the dust. Does hope really end at the grave?
What "Sheol" means
The ESV leaves the Hebrew word untranslated here: Sheol. Earlier in the chapter, and in older translations of this verse, the same word appears as "grave" and "pit."
F. B. HoleJob ends this speech with a very mournful complaint about how hopeless his outlook is. As to his poor body, only corruption and the worm were before him, while his soul would be in the unseen world. In verse 13 the word is translated "grave," and in verse 16 "pit." Both are the Hebrew sheol, the equivalent of the Greek hades, used in the New Testament. This moving lament might well have touched the hearts of his friends.
Hope going down with him
Job does not just say he will die. The verse asks who will go down together into the dust. The ESV puts that as a question; other translations read it as a statement.
Arno Clemens GaebeleinAnd what is his hope now? How dark and evil his thoughts! The grave is to be his house, the darkness his bed. Corruption his father, the worm his mother and his sister. He and his hope will go down to the bars of the pit, and rest together in the dust. But we shall soon hear another confession from his lips.
Death as the thing he wanted
His friends suspected hidden sin behind his suffering. If they were right, death would be the last thing he could want. The opposite was true.
William KellySuppose the suspicion of his friends — one might call it a charge — had been true. Then one thing above all others would have been terrible to him. Need I say that it would be death? So far from this, however, there was nothing that Job so much desired as death. It was useless to talk to him about any change for him on earth. It was useless to talk to him about his family, or about recovering the disasters that had swallowed everything up. None of these things would have given the smallest comfort to the heart of Job. But if he could only die — if he could only come near enough to God to plead before Him — even now he did not doubt what he would find there.
What the gloom proves about his conscience
Job's wish to die is more than despair. It puts him to a test that words alone could never settle.
William KellyCertainly there is nothing that could test a man more thoroughly than that. A bad conscience would have shrunk from death. Death strips away every disguise and brings destruction to the soul. Job did the opposite. His earnest desire to depart and be with God proved not only that he was genuine, but also showed the state of his conscience. We see his confidence in God then, even while he spreads out his sorrows, with no other thought than death before him.
The hope Job could not yet see
Job asked who could see his hope. His only answer was the dust. Believers have a different answer.
William KellyHe had made up his mind for death, and for the total collapse of every plan he had cherished. Where, then, was his hope? Yes, his hope — who sees it? He sees nothing but going down to the grave, where they would rest together on the dust. What a blessed contrast to such gloomy words of a saint is the strong encouragement we have! We have fled for refuge to take hold of the hope set before us. That hope is an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast. It enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where the forerunner has entered for us — Jesus.
Summary
- Word. Sheol here is the unseen world — Job speaks of where his soul goes, not just where his body rots.
- Grave. He expects the grave, and expects his hope to share it; the two go down together into the dust.
- Wish. Far from dreading death, Job wanted it. A bad conscience shrinks from death, so his wish proved that no hidden guilt lay behind his suffering.
- Faith. Even with nothing but death in view, he still counted on getting near enough to God to plead his case. He did not doubt what he would find there.
- Anchor. Job's hope sank into the dust. The Christian's hope is an anchor of the soul, sure and steadfast. It is fixed where Jesus has already gone ahead for us.