What Does Job 34:19 Mean?
How much less to him who does not lift up the face of princes, nor regards the rich above the poor? For they all are the work of his hands.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
How much less to him that accepteth not the persons of princes, nor regardeth the rich more than the poor? for they all are the work of his hands.THE KEY
The prince and the poor person stand on the same ground before God because both are the work of his hands.
THE MEANING
God does not elevate a prince’s face or regard a rich person above a poor one; every person is the work of his hands. Their standing before God rests in that shared making, not in rank or wealth.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A prince or wealthy person deserves more of God’s regard because of their position.
THE ROOT
לֹא־נָשָׂא פְּנֵי־שָׂרִים
lo nasa penei-sarim
GROWS FROM
נשא
nasa
to lift, carry, or bear
“does not lift up the face of princes” in this verse is lo nasa penei-sarim. The phrase literally pictures not lifting the faces of princes, the familiar image of raising someone’s face as a sign of favor. The verse’s language makes status feel like an attempted elevation, then says that elevation does not alter anyone’s place as God’s handiwork.
ALSO GROWS
massa: load, burden; something carried
מַשָּׂא
The same root can describe carrying a burden as well as lifting; here, lifting a face is a favor that is withheld from status.
nasi: leader, prince; one who is elevated
נָשִׂיא
This related title echoes the princes in the verse: being elevated in human rank does not make a face more deserving of favor.
מַעֲשֵׂה יָדָיו
ma'aseh yadaiv
GROWS FROM
עשה
asah
to do or make
“work of his hands” in this verse is ma'aseh yadaiv. “Work” here belongs to the word family for making and doing: each person is named through the maker’s work, not through their own rank or wealth. That shared making is the stated reason no person is regarded above another.
ALSO GROWS
asah: to make, do
עָשָׂה
The verb points to the act behind the verse’s “work”: every person shares the same source in God’s making.
ma'asim: works, deeds
מַעֲשִׂים
This plural form carries the same making into a wider scope, echoed in Psalm 145:9’s reference to all God’s works.
THE PATTERN
God’s regard does not rise or fall with wealth or rank, so status cannot justify partial treatment.
For the LORD your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, the great God, the mighty, the awe-inspiring, who does not lift up the face of any and does not take a bribe.Then Peter opened his mouth and said, In truth I have laid hold of this, that God lifts no one's face.My brothers, do not hold the self-commitment to our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One, the Lord of glory, by receiving faces.THE THREAD
The LORD is good to all, and his compassions are over all his works.Job’s מַעֲשֵׂה (ma’aseh, work) and the Psalm’s מַעֲשָׂיו (ma’asav, his works) share the root עשה (asah, make or do). Job grounds impartial regard in shared making; the Psalm extends God’s goodness to all that comes from that making.
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