a man in general (singly or collectively) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
worm
רִמָּ֑הri.Mah
H7415
a maggot (as rapidly bred) · noun, common feminine singular absolute
son
וּבֶןu.ven-
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular construct
man
אָ֝דָ֗ם'a.Dam
H120
ruddy i.e. a human being (an individual or the species · noun, common masculine singular absolute
worm
תּוֹלֵעָֽהto.le.'Ah
H8438
the crimson-grub · noun, common feminine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Psalms 22:6 But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.
Isaiah 41:14 Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the LORD, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
Genesis 18:27 And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes:
Job 4:19 How much less in them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, which are crushed before the moth?
Job 7:17 What is man, that thou shouldest magnify him? and that thou shouldest set thine heart upon him?
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Job 25:1–end
Bildad is to be commended here for two things: - 1. For speaking no more on the subject about which Job and he differed. Perhaps he began to think Job was in the right, and then it was justice to say no more concerning it, as one that contended for truth, not for victory, and therefore, for the finding of truth, would be content to lose the victory; or, if he still thought himself in the right, yet he knew when he had said enough, and would not wrangle endlessly for the last word. Perhaps indeed one reason why he and the rest of them let fall this debate was because they perceived that Job and they did not differ so much in opinion as they thought: they owned that wicked people might prosper…
(Job 4:19-21; Job 15:16).
worm . . . worm--Two distinct Hebrew words. The first, a worm bred in putridity; alluding to man's corruption. The second a crawling worm; implying that man is weak and grovelling.
Next: Job Chapter 26
John Gill on Job 25:6
How much less man, that is a worm?.... Whose original is of the earth, dwells in it, and is supported by it, and creeps into it again; who is impure by nature and by practice, weak and impotent to do anything that is spiritually good, or to defend himself from his spiritual enemies; and is mean and despicable, as even the best of men are, in their own eyes, and in the eyes of the world: and, if the best of men are comparable to such creatures, and our Lord himself, in human nature, was content to be called a worm, and no man; what must the worst of men be, or man be in and of himself, without the grace of God and righteousness of Christ, by which he can be only clean and righteous? see Isaia…
Eliphaz had said that it is nearly impossible to be innocent or pure (4:17-19; 15:14-16), and then only after suffering (22:21-23). Bildad claimed that only the totally blameless could hope to be pure (8:20).
The Church Fathers
How much more is man rottenness, and the son of man a worm? As if it were in plain words; 'If those very persons also cannot be void of contagion, who amidst the darkness of the present life shine bright by virtuous attainments, with what guilt of wickedness are they bound, who still live after the flesh? If those persons cannot be free from sin, who are already walking in the way of heavenly desires, what they who still lie under the loads of sinful habits? who whilst they are abandoned to the gratifications of their fleshly part, still bear the yoke of rottenness? Hence Peter saith; And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? Hence it is said by Isaiah, Upon the land of My people shalt come up thorns and briars; how much more upon all the houses of joy in the joyous city. For by 'the land of His People,' the Lord meaneth the mind of all of the Elect. Upon which He tells of 'thorns and briars coming up;' because He sees that not even that very mind is free from the prickles of bad habits. But 'the house of joy in the joyous city' is the mind of the wicked, which whilst it neglects to regard the punishments that are destined to come, in the gratification of the flesh going away from itself, revels in empty mirth. Thus he saith; Upon the land of My people shalt come up thorns and briars, how much more upon all the houses of joy in the joyous city. As if He said in plain words; If evil habits sink low even the minds of those, who for desire of the heavenly country put themselves to pain, what guilty courses are they brought under, who without any apprehension abandon themselves in the gratification of the flesh? But it is a point to be noticed in his discourse how Bildad observed the order of our creation and of our birth, in that he calls 'man' not 'a worm,' but 'rottenness,' but 'the son of man' 'a worm.' For the first parent of the human race was 'man,' not 'the son of man;' from whom whosoever came forth, was not only 'man,' but 'the son of man' as well. As then from man springs the son of man, so from rottenness springs the worm. Whence man is lightly called 'rottenness,' but the son of man 'a worm.' For the first man was 'rottenness' not 'a worm,' in that though by death he turned to 'rottenness,' yet he did not come by a birth out of rottenness. But he that is the son of man is called 'a worm,' because he is…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Son of man — (1.) Denotes mankind generally, with special reference to their weakness and frailty (Job 25:6; Ps. 8:4; 144:3; 146:3; Isa. 51:12, etc.). (2.) It is a title frequently given to the prophet Ezekiel,…
Worm — (1.) Heb. sas (Isa. 51:8), denotes the caterpillar of the clothes-moth. (2.) The manna bred worms (tola’im), but on the Sabbath there was not any worm (rimmah) therein (Ex. 16:20, 24). Here these…
Depravity Of Man · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Humility · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Insects · Mentioned in scripture: Earthworm — Mentioned in scripture: Earthworm
Man · INSIGNIFI — INSIGNIFI
Worm · FIGURATIVE — FIGURATIVE
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Rashi on Job 25:5
He removes the moon Heb. עד, like (28:8), “neither did a lion pass (עדה) over it.” The meaning is that even the moon will be removed from its [source of] light in the future and it will not shine, as it is written (Isa. 24:23): “And the moon shall be ashamed etc.” And the stars will not be pure in His eyes in the future. How much less can man, who is a worm, be just with God!
and will not shine Heb. יאהיל, like (Isa. 13:10), “shall not allow their light to illuminate (יהלו),” and this “alef” serves the same function as (I Sam. 2:33), “and to sadden (ולאדיב) your heart,” in which the “alef” is superfluous. Another explanation: יַאֲהִיל, you will not have shadow. When it does not shine, no sh…
