Job27
King James Version · Public Domain
1Moreover Job continued his parable, and said,
2As God liveth, who hath taken away my judgment; and the Almighty, who hath vexed my soul;
3All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils;
4My lips shall not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit.
5God forbid that I should justify you: till I die I will not remove mine integrity from me.
6My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go: my heart shall not reproach me so long as I live.
7Let mine enemy be as the wicked, and he that riseth up against me as the unrighteous.
8For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God taketh away his soul?
9Will God hear his cry when trouble cometh upon him?
10Will he delight himself in the Almighty? will he always call upon God?
11I will teach you by the hand of God: that which is with the Almighty will I not conceal.
12Behold, all ye yourselves have seen it; why then are ye thus altogether vain?
13This is the portion of a wicked man with God, and the heritage of oppressors, which they shall receive of the Almighty.
14If his children be multiplied, it is for the sword: and his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread.
15Those that remain of him shall be buried in death: and his widows shall not weep.
16Though he heap up silver as the dust, and prepare raiment as the clay;
17He may prepare it, but the just shall put it on, and the innocent shall divide the silver.
18He buildeth his house as a moth, and as a booth that the keeper maketh.
19The rich man shall lie down, but he shall not be gathered: he openeth his eyes, and he is not.
20Terrors take hold on him as waters, a tempest stealeth him away in the night.
21The east wind carrieth him away, and he departeth: and as a storm hurleth him out of his place.
22For God shall cast upon him, and not spare: he would fain flee out of his hand.
23Men shall clap their hands at him, and shall hiss him out of his place.
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Job 27.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: Job protests his sincerity. (1–6). The hypocrite is without hope. (7–10). The miserable end of the wicked. (11–23).
vv1-6
Job's friends now suffered him to speak, and he proceeded in a grave and useful manner. Job had confidence in the goodness both of his cause and of his God; and cheerfully committed his cause to him. But Job had not due reverence when he spake of God as taking away his judgment, and vexing his soul. To resolve that our hearts shall not reproach us, while we hold fast our integrity, baffles the designs of the evil spirit.
vv7-10
Job looked upon the condition of a hypocrite and a wicked man, to be most miserable. If they gained through life by their profession, and kept up their presumptuous hope till death, what would that avail when God required their souls? The more comfort we find in our religion, the more closely we shall cleave to it. Those who have no delight in God, are easily drawn away by the pleasures, and easily overcome by the crosses of this life. (Job 27:11-23)
vv11-23
Job's friends, on the same subject, spoke of the misery of wicked men before death as proportioned to their crimes; Job considered that if it were not so, still the consequences of their death would be dreadful. Job undertook to set this matter in a true light. Death to a godly man, is like a fair gale of wind to convey him to the heavenly country; but, to a wicked man, it is like a storm, that hurries him away to destruction. While he lived, he had the benefit of sparing mercy; but now the day of God's patience is over, and he will pour out upon him his wrath. When God casts down a man, there is no flying from, nor bearing up under his anger. Those who will not now flee to the arms of Divine grace, which are stretched out to receive them, will not be able to flee from the arms of Divine wrath, which will shortly be stretched out to destroy them. And what is a man profited if he gain the whole world, and thus lose his own soul?
Key Words
אִיּוֹב: Ijob, the patriarch famous for his patience
יָסַף: to add or augment (often adverbial, to continue to do a thing)
נָשָׂא: to lift, in a great variety of applications, literal and figurative, absolute and relative
מָשָׁל: properly, a pithy maxim, usually of metaphorical nature; hence, a simile (as an adage, poem, discourse)
אָמַר: to say (used with great latitude)
אֵל: strength; as adjective, mighty; especially the Almighty (but used also of any deity)
חַי: alive; hence, raw (flesh); fresh (plant, water, year), strong; also (as noun, especially in the feminine singular and masculine plural) life (or living thing), whether literally or figuratively
סוּר: to turn off (literal or figurative)
מִשְׁפָּט: properly, a verdict (favorable or unfavorable) pronounced judicially, especially a sentence or formal decree (human or (participant's) divine law, individual or collective), including the act, the place, the suit, the crime, and the penalty; abstractly, justice, including a participant's right or privilege (statutory or customary), or even a style
שַׁדַּי: the Almighty
Cross References
Job 27Parallels God taking/requiring the soul of the rich, complacent fool who gained much worldly wealth.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole
Directly echoes Eliphaz's words about "delighting" in the Almighty, which Job claims he truly does.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Zophar's exact vocabulary of the wicked man's "portion" and "heritage" from God is taken up by Job.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Alludes to the "breath" and "spirit of God" breathed into man's nostrils at creation.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Affirms that God will not hear the cry or prayer of the hypocrite or wicked.
Supported by JFB
Job echoes Bildad's earlier imagery of the wicked building a fragile house like a moth's web.
Supported by JFB
Explains the elevated, poetic "parable" form that Job uses to declare dark, weighty wisdom.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Typologically foreshadows Christ whose judgment/justice was taken away in His humiliation.
Supported by JFB
Parallels the devastating judgment where priests fall by the sword and their widows cannot make lamentation.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Employs identical imagery of heaping up silver "as the dust" and fine raiment "as the clay."
Supported by JFB
Parallels God's own description of Job holding fast his integrity despite being ruined without cause.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Parallels Christ's question on what it profits a man to gain the world yet lose his soul.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Verbal link using a temporary, flimsy "booth" built by a keeper in a vineyard.
Supported by JFB