Job27
New American Standard
1Job again took up his discourse and said,
2“As God lives, who has taken away my right, And the Almighty, who has embittered my soul,
3For as long as life is in me, And the breath of God is in my nostrils,
4My lips certainly will not speak unjustly, Nor will my tongue mutter deceit.
5Far be it from me that I should declare you right; Until I die, I will not give up my integrity.
6I have kept hold of my righteousness and will not let it go. My heart does not rebuke any of my days.
7“May my enemy be as the wicked, And my opponent as the criminal.
8For what is the hope of the godless when he makes an end of life, When God requires his life?
9Will God hear his cry When distress comes upon him?
10Or will he take pleasure in the Almighty? Will he call on God at all times?
11I will instruct you in the power of God; What is with the Almighty I will not conceal.
12Behold, all of you have seen it; Why then do you talk of nothing?
13“This is the portion of a wicked person from God, And the inheritance which tyrants receive from the Almighty:
14Though his sons are many, they are destined for the sword; And his descendants will not be satisfied with bread.
15His survivors will be buried because of the plague, And their widows will not be able to weep.
16Though he piles up silver like dust, And prepares garments as plentiful as the clay,
17He may prepare it, but the righteous will wear it And the innocent will divide the silver.
18He has built his house like the spider’s web, Or a hut which the watchman has made.
19He lies down rich, but never again; He opens his eyes, and it no longer exists.
20Terrors overtake him like a flood; A storm steals him away in the night.
21The east wind carries him away, and he is gone; For it sweeps him away from his place.
22For it will hurl at him without mercy; He will certainly try to flee from its power.
23People will clap their hands at him, And will whistle at him from their places.
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