Job 21:11 — Word Study
WLCיְשַׁלְּח֣וּ כַ֭צֹּאן עֲוִילֵיהֶ֑ם וְ֝יַלְדֵיהֶ֗ם יְרַקֵּדֽוּן׃
BSAThey send forthshâlach▸ [dispatch, let go] their little onesʻăvîyl [young children, offspring] like a flocktsôʼn [sheep, a group of young] their childrenyeled [youth, young ones] skip aboutrâqad▸ [dance, jump with joy]
| Greek | English | Parsing |
|---|---|---|
| יְשַׁלְּח֣וּ | they send forth | Verb, Piel, imperfect third person masculine plural |
| כַ֭צֹּאן | like flock | Preposition, noun common both singular absolute |
| עֲוִילֵיהֶ֑ם | young boys their | Noun common masculine plural construct, suffix |
| וְ֝יַלְדֵיהֶ֗ם | and children their | Conjunction, noun common masculine plural construct, suffix |
| יְרַקֵּדֽוּן׃ | they leap about ! | Verb piel imperfect third person masculine plural, suffix |
Every word in the verse. Click a row to open it in the panel on the left.
| BSB | They send forth their little ones like a flock; their children skip about, |
| KJV | They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance. |
| ASV | They send forth their little ones like a flock, And their children dance. |
| YLT | They send forth as a flock their sucklings, And their children skip, |
| WEB | They send out their little ones like a flock. Their children dance. |
| BBE | They send out their young ones like a flock, and their children have pleasure in the dance, |
Translations agree on the key imagery of children playing and being sent forth — see How Translations Differ.
The sentence has a main clause followed by descriptive phrases, creating a vivid image of the scene.
8 commentators on this verse
Gill, Jamieson, Poole, Trapp & more — read them ›
clause
verbשָׁלַח
The sentence as the grammar sees it Open the tree ›
Every word here is used elsewhere in the Old Testament.
Bars are logarithmic — אֵת, the commonest word in the Hebrew Bible, stands about 11,000 times, so a linear scale would leave everything else invisible. Click a row to open that word.
Deep Study — Job 21:11
Sections marked generated are written from the data on this page rather than by a named author. Everything else — the lexicon entries, the cross references, the manuscript readings, the counts — is quoted from its source unchanged.
Context — The Fate of the Wickedgenerated
Job 21:11 describes how the wicked send their children out to play, illustrating their carefree existence. This verse is part of a larger argument where Job contrasts the apparent prosperity of the wicked with the suffering of the righteous. The imagery of children skipping about like a flock emphasizes innocence and joy, which stands in stark contrast to the themes of suffering and justice found elsewhere in the book.
Cross References
| Reference | Text (BSB) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Psalm 107:41 | But He lifts the needy from affliction and increases their families like flocks. |
| 2 | Psalm 127:3–5 | Children are indeed a heritage from the LORD, and the fruit of the womb is His reward. |
The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — 2 references, hung on the phrase they belong to
The Key Word — יְשַׁלְּח֣וּ, ye.sha.le.Chugenerated
The verb שָׁלַח (shalach) means 'to send' and is used here in the Piel stem, indicating an active sending forth. The imperfect tense suggests ongoing action, showing that this is a regular occurrence for the wicked.
The word encompasses a range of meanings, including sending away or letting go. In this context, it conveys the idea of allowing children to go out freely, akin to how one might dispatch a flock of sheep.
How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated
This study reads the verse in the Berean Standard Bible, so the BSB is the wording every comparison below is made against.
Sentence Structuregenerated
The main verb יְשַׁלְּח֣וּ governs the sentence, indicating what the subject does. The structure emphasizes the action of sending forth, with the children described in a following phrase.
The sentence structure reflects Hebrew's tendency to use a single main verb with additional descriptive phrases, creating a vivid picture of the scene.
Septuagint Backgroundgenerated
The Septuagint translates כַ֭צֹּאן as πρόβατα (sheep), which aligns with the Hebrew meaning but carries a more general connotation of livestock. This choice reflects a broader understanding of the metaphorical use of flocks.
The Greek word προσπαίζουσιν for יְרַקֵּדֽוּן suggests a lively, playful action, similar to the Hebrew, but may imply a more formal sense of dancing or performing.
In plain words — the whole versegenerated
Job 21:11 shows how the wicked send their children out to play, comparing them to a flock of sheep. This imagery highlights the carefree and joyful life of the wicked, contrasting with the suffering of the righteous.
Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated
It means that the wicked allow their children to play freely, indicating a life without worry or fear.
This verse illustrates the apparent prosperity of the wicked, which Job grapples with throughout the book, questioning the justice of their carefree existence.
The comparison to a flock emphasizes innocence and the idea of children being cared for, suggesting a life of ease and protection.
It shows that the wicked live without concern for moral consequences, allowing their children to play and enjoy life without fear.
Reflection Questionsgenerated
- What does the carefree life of the wicked teach us about justice and morality?
- How can we ensure that our children grow up in a safe and joyful environment?
- In what ways do we see contrasts between the lives of the wicked and the righteous today?
- How does this imagery of children playing resonate with your understanding of childhood innocence?
The early church on this verse — how the Fathers read it
Gregory the Dialogist comments on this verse, noting how it illustrates the carefree nature of the wicked and their children.
Ver. 11. Their little ones go forth like flocks, and their children revel in sports. 48. That as there are greater stores bestowed on them to have the possession of, so great numbers may spring up to keep them safe.Early Church Fathers on Job 21 →
Commentators on this verse — 8 expositors, verse by verse
Each of these wrote on Job 21:11 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.
John Gill1697–1771Gill's Exposition of the Entire BibleThey send forth their little ones like a flock,.... Of sheep, which are creatures very increasing, and become very numerous, Psalms 144:13; to which a large increase of families may be compared,
Read John Gill on Job 21 →Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's CommentaryThey send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance. Send forth - namely, out of doors, to their happy sports under the skies, like a joyful flock sent to the pastures. Little ones - like lambkins.
Read Robert Jamieson on Job 21 →Matthew Poole1624–1679Matthew Poole's Commentary on the Holy BibleLike a flock of sheep or goats, as the word signifies; in great numbers, and with sweet concord; which is a singular delight to them and to their parents.
Read Matthew Poole on Job 21 →John Trapp1601–1669Trapp's Complete Commentary on the Old and New TestamentsJob 21:11 They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance.Ver. 11. They send forth their little ones like a flock] Sunt qui de eorum vitulis intelligunt recens natis, saith Mercer. Some understand it to be young calves, but better of young children, which have here their name from a root which signifieth wickedness, naughtiness, to show what little ones are, not innocents, as we call them, not pueri quasi puri; νηπιος, is both a fool and a child. The first blanket wherein a child is wrapped, is woven of sin, shame, blood, and filth, Ezekiel 16:4; Ezekiel 16:6. Hence infants were circumcised, and their foreskin cast away, to show that they themselves had deserved to…
Read John Trapp on Job 21 →Charles John Ellicott1819–1905Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(11, 12) They send forth their little ones . . .—In striking contrast to the fate of Job’s own children, and in contradiction to what Eliphaz had said (Job 15:29-33).
Read Charles John Ellicott on Job 21 →AdamClarkeAdam Clarke's Commentary on the BibleVerse 11. They send forth their little ones] It is not very clear whether this refers to the young of the flocks or to their children. The first clause may mean the former, the next clause the latter; while the young of their cattle are in flocks, their numerous children are healthy and vigorous, and dance for joy.
Read AdamClarke on Job 21 →CambridgeThe Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges11. Their children, numerous like the flock and happy like the lambs, skip in their glee and sport.
Read Cambridge on Job 21 →Albert Barnes1798–1870Barnes' Notes on the BibleThey send forth their little ones - Their numerous and happy children they send forth to plays and pastimes. Like a flock - In great numbers. This is an exquisitely beautiful image of prosperity.
Read Albert Barnes on Job 21 →The verse in English, compared — 17 translations, and where they part company
Every translation on this page is a decision someone had to make and commit to. Read down a column and you see one translator's judgement; read across a row and you see the range the Greek actually allows. The BSB is the wording the rest of this page is measured against, so it is listed first.
Modern formal
They send forth their little ones like a flock; their children skip about,
They send out their little ones like a flock. Their children dance.
They send forth their little ones like a flock; their children skip about,
They allow their children to run like a flock; their little ones dance about.
Tyndale line
They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance.
They send forth their little ones like a flock, And their children dance.
They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance.
They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance.
They send forth their children like sheepe, and their sonnes dance.
Strictly literal
They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance.
They send forth as a flock their sucklings, And their children skip,
They send forth their sucklings as a flock, || And their children skip,
They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children skip about [with joy].
They send out their little ones like a flock, and their children dance.
From the Latin
Their little ones go out like a flock, and their children dance and play.
Simplified
They send out their little ones like lambs to play; their children dance around.
They send out their young ones like a flock, and their children have pleasure in the dance,
Counted from the translations carried on this site, not from a survey of every English Bible. A rendering shared by many versions is usually inherited rather than independently arrived at — the Tyndale line in particular runs through most of them.
The sentence as the grammar sees it — from the MACULA Hebrew treebank
This is not our own analysis: it is the scholarly syntax tree for the verse, showing how the clause actually holds together.
Boxes are the grammarian's groupings — clause, noun phrase, prepositional phrase.
The four witnesses to this verse — Masoretic, Septuagint, Samaritan, Qumran
The Masoretic Text and the Septuagint largely agree on the wording of this verse, with four out of five words matching. The differences in word order and articles in the Septuagint reflect its own syntactical choices rather than any significant variation in meaning.
יְשַׁלְּח֣וּ כַ֭צֹּאן עֲוִילֵיהֶ֑ם וְ֝יַלְדֵיהֶ֗ם יְרַקֵּדֽוּן׃
4 of the 5 words are matched. This is the word-by-word correspondence, not the Septuagint's own sentence — its word order and its articles are its own.
Four traditions, not one. “On the leather” means the letters physically survive on the scroll, as against letters an editor has supplied to fill a hole in it — a restoration is a scholar’s reading, not a reading of the manuscript. Words in [square brackets] are supplied; the notes count them apart from what survives.
The map of this verse — what each word keeps company with
This is a map of two things, both counted rather than judged. Company kept: which words stand within three words of each of these, anywhere in the Hebrew Bible — the thicker the line, the more often the pair meet compared with chance. Built from: the words a word is made out of, taken from its own Strong’s entry. It is not a map of meaning: nothing here claims two words mean the same thing. Click any circle to see the numbers behind it.
Lexicons — every word in Job 21:11
One dossier per word, with every reference work grouped by kind — Hebrew lexicons, morphology, Bible dictionaries, topical chains and the English of the translators themselves. The verse sits at the head of each block with the word under study lit, so you never lose your place. The panel above gives the short answer; this is the long one, and it is the part of the page worth indexing.
Every entry below is the lexicographer's own text. On the Hebrew: Brown-Driver-Briggs entire and its gloss set, Strong's Hebrew Dictionary, and Tyndale House's Translators Brief lexicon. Where a cell says a work has no entry, that work genuinely has none for this word.
The Hebrew word שָׁלַח (shalach) is a primitive root meaning 'to send' with a wide range of applications. It can refer to sending away, stretching out (especially a hand), or letting go. The entries indicate various forms, including sending off, casting out, and setting free. Notably, it can also imply divorce or being sent away in a marital context.
שָׁלַח 814 vb. send
Qal
send: human subj.
send: subj. י׳ (God)
stretch out, esp. acc. hand
rarely send away: human subj.
let loose
Niph. letters were sent
Pi.
send off, away, human subj.
send away, subj. י׳
give over
cast out
send out, forth
let go, set free
shoot forth branches
let down
shoot
Phrases
Pu. be sent off (started on journey); be put away, divorced, of wife; be impelled(?)
Hiph. and I (י׳) will send
base
H7971 שָׁלַח send .. send: human subj.
. send: subj. י׳ (God)
. stretch out, esp. acc. hand
. rarely send away: human subj.
. let loose
. letters were sent
. . send off, away, human subj.
. . send away, subj. י׳
. give over
. cast out
. send out, forth
. let go, set free
. shoot forth branches
. let down
. shoot
. Phrases
. be sent off (started on journey); be put away, divorced, of wife; be impelled(?)
. and I (י׳) will send
7971 shalach shaw-lakh'
a primitive root; to send away, for, or out (in a great
variety of applications):--X any wise, appoint, bring (on the
way), cast (away, out), conduct, X earnestly, forsake, give
(up), grow long, lay, leave, let depart (down, go, loose),
push away, put (away, forth, in, out), reach forth, send
(away, forth, out), set, shoot (forth, out), sow, spread,
stretch forth (out).
שָׁלַח (sha.lach) — to send: depart.
: depart/send
1) to send, send away, let go, stretch out
1a) (Qal)
1a1) to send
1a2) to stretch out, extend, direct
1a3) to send away
1a4) to let loose
1b) (Niphal) to be sent
1c) (Piel)
1c1) to send off or away or out or forth, dismiss, give over, cast out
1c2) to let go, set free
1c3) to shoot forth (of branches)
1c4) to let down
1c5) to shoot
1d) (Pual) to be sent off, be put away, be divorced, be impelled
1e) (Hiphil) to send
שָׁלַח (sha.lach) — to send: let go.
: let_go/free
1) to send, send away, let go, stretch out
1a) (Qal)
1a1) to send
1a2) to stretch out, extend, direct
1a3) to send away
1a4) to let loose
1b) (Niphal) to be sent
1c) (Piel)
1c1) to send off or away or out or forth, dismiss, give over, cast out
1c2) to let go, set free
1c3) to shoot forth (of branches)
1c4) to let down
1c5) to shoot
V-Piel-Imperf-3mp — Verb · Piel · imperfect third person masculine pluralHVpi3mp
forth: "Forth," adverb (from "for"), signifies movement
(1) forward,
(2) out of,
(3) beyond a certain boundary.
In a few instances in the Old Testament it is the translation of the preposition `al, properly "above," "upon" (2Ki 11:15; 2Ch 23:14; Am 7:17 the King James Version), and of chuts, "without" (Ge 39:13; Jud 19:25). "Forth" is often used as an expletive of various verbs, as "break (forth)," "bring (forth)," "call (forth)," etc. In the Gospel of John it is the translation of exo, "without," as "Lazarus, come forth" (11:43; so 15:6; 19:4 the King James Version…
צֹאן (tso'n) refers to small cattle, specifically sheep and goats, and is used to denote a flock or flocks. It can also be used metaphorically to describe a multitude. The term appears in contexts such as Psalm 144:13, where it emphasizes the collective nature of these animals.
צֹאן 273 n.coll.f. small cattle, sheep and goats, flock, flocks
base
H6629 צֹאן small cattle, sheep and goats, flock, flocks
6629 tso'n tsone
or tsaown (Psalm 144:13) {tseh-one'}; from an unused root
meaning to migrate; a collective name for a flock (of sheep or
goats); also figuratively (of men):--(small) cattle, flock
(+ -s), lamb (+ -s), sheep((-cote, -fold, -shearer, -herds)).
צֹאן (tson) — flock.
1) small cattle, sheep, sheep and goats, flock, flocks
1a) small cattle (usually of sheep and goats)
1b) of multitude (simile)
1c) of multitude (metaphor)
צֹאן (tson) — Sheep (Gate).
This name means sheep and goats
Also named: probatikos (προβατικός "Sheep Gate" G4262)
Prep | N-cs — Preposition · noun common both singular absoluteHRd/Ncbsa
See CATTLE.
עֲוִיל (aviyl) refers to a young boy or child. It is derived from a root meaning 'babe' and is used to describe a young male. The entries consistently emphasize its meaning related to youth without significant disagreement.
[עֲוִיל] n.m. young boy
base
H5759 עֲוִיל
5759 `aviyl av-eel'
from 5764; a babe:--young child, little one.
see HEBREW for 05764
עֲוִיל (a.vil) — boy.
young male or man or boy, boy
N-mp | Suff — Noun common masculine plural construct · suffixHNcmpc/Sp3mp
יֶ֫לֶד (yeled) refers to a child, son, or youth, encompassing meanings like offspring and young man. It can also figuratively denote apostate Israelites. The word is derived from a root meaning something born, indicating its connection to birth and lineage.
יֶ֫לֶד 89 n.m. child, son, boy, youth
base
H3206 יֶ֫לֶד child, son, boy, youth
3206 yeled yeh'-led
from 3205; something born, i.e. a lad or offspring:--boy,
child, fruit, son, young man (one).
see HEBREW for 03205
יֶ֫לֶד (ye.led) — youth.
1) child, son, boy, offspring, youth
1a) child, son, boy
1b) child, children
1c) descendants
1d) youth
1e) apostate Israelites (fig.)
Conj | N-mp | Suff — Conjunction · noun common masculine plural construct · suffixHC/Ncmpc/Sp3mp
רָקַד (raqad) is a Hebrew verb meaning to skip about or leap. It encompasses various forms including dancing and jumping, with specific uses in different stems: Qal for skipping, Piel for dancing, and Hiphil for causing others to skip. The entries highlight a joyful or lively movement, but do not provide specific verse references.
רָקַד vb. skip about
Qal skip about
Pi. dance, leap
Hiph. he (י׳) made them skip like calves
base
H7540 רָקַד skip about
7540 raqad raw-kad'
a primitive root; properly, to stamp, i.e. to spring about
(wildly or for joy):--dance, jump, leap, skip.
רָקַד (ra.qad) — to skip about.
1) to skip about
1a) (Qal) to skip about
1b) (Piel) to dance, leap
1c) (Hiphil) to make to skip
V-Piel-Imperf-3mp | Suff — Verb piel imperfect third person masculine plural · suffixHVpi3mp/Sn
a-bout': The use of this word as a preposition, in the sense of "around," is confined to the Old Testament. In the New Testament, generally an adverb, for Greek hos or "hosei." The Revised Version (British and American) adopts it in several idiomatic translations of mello, referring to what is about to be, i.e. on the point of occurring, or immediately impending, amending the King James Version, in Ac 5:35; 27:2; Re 12:4, etc.