Job21
American Standard Version · Public Domain
1Then Job answered and said,
2Hear diligently my speech; And let this be your consolations.
3Suffer me, and I also will speak; And after that I have spoken, mock on.
4As for me, is my complaint to man? And why should I not be impatient?
5Mark me, and be astonished, And lay your hand upon your mouth.
6Even when I remember I am troubled, And horror taketh hold on my flesh.
7Wherefore do the wicked live, Become old, yea, wax mighty in power?
8Their seed is established with them in their sight, And their offspring before their eyes.
9Their houses are safe from fear, Neither is the rod of God upon them.
10Their bull gendereth, and faileth not; Their cow calveth, and casteth not her calf.
11They send forth their little ones like a flock, And their children dance.
12They sing to the timbrel and harp, And rejoice at the sound of the pipe.
13They spend their days in prosperity, And in a moment they go down to Sheol.
14And they say unto God, Depart from us; For we desire not the knowledge of thy ways.
15What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? And what profit should we have, if we pray unto him?
16Lo, their prosperity is not in their hand: The counsel of the wicked is far from me.
17How oft is it that the lamp of the wicked is put out? That their calamity cometh upon them? That God distributeth sorrows in his anger?
18That they are as stubble before the wind, And as chaff that the storm carrieth away?
19Ye say, God layeth up his iniquity for his children. Let him recompense it unto himself, that he may know it:
20Let his own eyes see his destruction, And let him drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
21For what careth he for his house after him, When the number of his months is cut off?
22Shall any teach God knowledge, Seeing he judgeth those that are high?
23One dieth in his full strength, Being wholly at ease and quiet:
24His pails are full of milk, And the marrow of his bones is moistened.
25And another dieth in bitterness of soul, And never tasteth of good.
26They lie down alike in the dust, And the worm covereth them.
27Behold, I know your thoughts, And the devices wherewith ye would wrong me.
28For ye say, Where is the house of the prince? And where is the tent wherein the wicked dwelt?
29Have ye not asked wayfaring men? And do ye not know their evidences,
30That the evil man is reserved to the day of calamity? That they are led forth to the day of wrath?
31Who shall declare his way to his face? And who shall repay him what he hath done?
32Yet shall he be borne to the grave, And men shall keep watch over the tomb.
33The clods of the valley shall be sweet unto him, And all men shall draw after him, As there were innumerable before him.
34How then comfort ye me in vain, Seeing in your answers there remaineth only falsehood?
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Job 21.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: Job entreats attention. (1–6). The prosperity of the wicked. (7–16). The dealings of God's providence. (17–26). The judgement of the wicked is in the world to come. (27–34).
vv1-6
Job comes closer to the question in dispute. This was, Whether outward prosperity is a mark of the true church, and the true members of it, so that ruin of a man's prosperity proves him a hypocrite? This they asserted, but Job denied. If they looked upon him, they might see misery enough to demand compassion, and their bold interpretations of this mysterious providence should be turned into silent wonder.
vv7-16
Job says, Remarkable judgments are sometimes brought upon notorious sinners, but not always. Wherefore is it so? This is the day of God's patience; and, in some way or other, he makes use of the prosperity of the wicked to serve his own counsels, while it ripens them for ruin; but the chief reason is, because he will make it appear there is another world. These prospering sinners make light of God and religion, as if because they have so much of this world, they had no need to look after another. But religion is not a vain thing. If it be so to us, we may thank ourselves for resting on the outside of it. Job shows their folly.
vv17-26
Job had described the prosperity of wicked people; in these verses he opposes this to what his friends had maintained about their certain ruin in this life. He reconciles this to the holiness and justice of God. Even while they prosper thus, they are light and worthless, of no account with God, or with wise men. In the height of their pomp and power, there is but a step between them and ruin. Job refers the difference Providence makes between one wicked man and another, into the wisdom of God. He is Judge of all the earth, and he will do right. So vast is the disproportion between time and eternity, that if hell be the lot of every sinner at last, it makes little difference if one goes singing thither, and another sighing. If one wicked man die in a palace, and another in a dungeon, the worm that dies not, and the fire that is not quenched, will be the same to them. Thus differences in this world are not worth perplexing ourselves about.
Key Words
אִיּוֹב: Ijob, the patriarch famous for his patience
עָנָה: properly, to eye or (generally) to heed, i.e. pay attention; by implication, to respond; by extension to begin to speak; specifically to sing, shout, testify, announce
אָמַר: to say (used with great latitude)
שָׁמַע: to hear intelligently (often with implication of attention, obedience, etc.; causatively, to tell, etc.)
מִלָּה: a word; collectively, a discourse; figuratively, a topic
זֶה: the masculine demonstrative pronoun, this or that
תַּנְחוּם: compassion, solace
נָשָׂא: to lift, in a great variety of applications, literal and figurative, absolute and relative
דָבַר: perhaps properly, to arrange; but used figuratively (of words), to speak; rarely (in a destructive sense) to subdue
אַחַר: properly, the hind part; generally used as an adverb or conjunction, after (in various senses)
Cross References
Job 21Classic parallel on the vexing question of the wicked's health, peace, and temporal prosperity.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Job directly mocks the friends' empty claims of offering 'the consolations of God'.
Supported by JFB
The expressive physical gesture of putting a hand over the mouth to command awe-struck silence.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Job directly quotes and challenges Bildad's dogmatic assertion that the lamp of the wicked is put out.
Supported by JFB
Direct continuation of Job's bitter complaint about the persistent mockings of his friends.
Supported by JFB
Like those saying 'Depart from us', the Gadarenes plead with Christ to leave their coasts.
Supported by JFB
Pharaoh's defiant question matches the arrogant spirit of the wicked asking, 'Who is the Almighty?'
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Job utilizes his own earlier imagery of being chased like dry stubble or windblown chaff.
Supported by JFB
The vivid metaphor of drinking the bitter cup of the wrath of the Almighty.
Supported by JFB
Echoes Job's previous argument that the dead do not know the fate of their children.
Supported by JFB
An identical idiomatic usage of laying a hand on the mouth to enforce absolute silence.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Jeremiah's famous expostulation with God regarding the prosperous way of the wicked.
Refutes Bildad's claim that the wicked shall have neither son nor nephew remaining.
Supported by JFB
Contrasts with the friends' claim that terrifying sounds and sudden ruin constantly haunt the wicked.
Supported by JFB
Mentions the traditional stringed and wind instruments, the harp and the organ (pipe).
Supported by JFB
As Job notes painless deaths, the Psalmist observes the wicked have no bands in death.
Supported by JFB
The faithless, transactional view of religion that demands, 'What profit is it that we serve Him?'
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Illustrates the shortening or crushing of spirit caused by heavy oppression and deep anguish.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The righteous are similarly described as being astonished at the severe trials of the innocent.
Supported by JFB
Expresses that the wicked are reserved for the sovereignly appointed day of doom.
Supported by JFB