King James Version
Job 21
34 verses with commentary
Job's Reply: Why Do the Wicked Prosper?
But Job answered and said,
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
Job's response introduces a crucial shift in the dialogue. The Hebrew <em>anah</em> (עָנָה, "answered") signals Job's deliberate engagement with his friends' arguments. Job's imperative "Hear diligently my speech" (<em>shim'u shamo'a millati</em>) uses an emphatic construction demanding careful attention. This marks a transition from lament to reasoned argument. Job will now systematically dismant...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
XXI.
(1) **But Job answered.**—Having, in Job 19, declared his belief in a retribution to come, Job now proceeds to traverse more directly Zophar’s last contention, and to show that even in this life there is not the retribution which he maintained there was.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**7. sore boils--**malignant boils; rather, as it is singular in the Hebrew, a "burning sore." Job was covered with one universal inflammation. The use of the potsherd [Job 2:8] agrees with this view. It was that form of leprosy called black (to distinguish it from the white), or elephantiasis, because the feet swell like those of the elephant. The Arabic judham (De 28:35), where "sore botch" is r...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 21
Chapter Outline
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)
**Verses 1-6**
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 pr...
Read full commentary →Hear diligently my speech, and let this be your consolations.
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KJV Study Commentary
Job requests <em>consolations</em> (תַּנְחוּמֹתֵיכֶם, <em>tanchumotekem</em>), exposing the failure of his friends' comfort. The verb <em>nasa</em> (נָשָׂא, "suffer") means to bear or carry—Job asks them to simply bear with him, to endure his speech. True comfort requires patient listening, not premature answers. The Reformed tradition recognizes that the ministry of presence often supersedes the ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(2) **Hear diligently my speech.**—“Listen to my words, and let *that *be the consolation you give me.”
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**8. a potsherd--**not a piece of a broken earthen vessel, but an instrument made for scratching (the root of the Hebrew word is "scratch"); the sore was too disgusting to touch. "To sit in the ashes" marks the deepest mourning (Jon 3:6); also humility, as if the mourner were nothing but dust and ashes; so Abraham (Ge 18:27).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 21
Chapter Outline
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)
**Verses 1-6**
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 pr...
Read full commentary →Suffer me that I may speak; and after that I have spoken, mock on.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Suffer me that I may speak</strong> (שְׂאוּנִי וְאָנֹכִי אֲדַבֵּר, se'uni ve-anokhi adabber)—Job demands a hearing from his accusers. The verb <em>nasa</em> (שָׂא) means to bear, carry, or endure, suggesting Job is asking his friends to bear with him patiently. This introduces his devastating counterargument to their retribution theology.<br><br><strong>After that I have spoken, mock on</s...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Job 2:9-13. Job Reproves His Wife.
**9. curse God--**rather, "renounce" God. (See on Job 1:5) [Umbreit]. However, it was usual among the heathens, when disappointed in their prayers accompanied with offerings to their gods, to reproach and curse them.
**and die--**that is, take thy farewell of God and so die. For no good is to be got out of religion, either here or hereafter; or, at least, not ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 21
Chapter Outline
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)
**Verses 1-6**
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 pr...
Read full commentary →As for me, is my complaint to man? and if it were so, why should not my spirit be troubled? troubled: Heb. shortened?
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KJV Study Commentary
Job clarifies his complaint: 'As for me, is my complaint to man? and if it were so, why should not my spirit be troubled?' This distinguishes between complaints about humans versus theological questions for God. Job's trouble is existential, not merely social.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(4) **Is my complaint to man?**—“It is not to man that I complain. I do not ask for your sympathy, and, therefore, why should ye resent an offence that is not given? If, however, I did ask it, might not my spirit with good reason be impatient? But, on the contrary, my complaint is to God; and, concerning the ways of God, I venture to ask why it is that His justice is so tardy; and this is a proble...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**10. the foolish women--**Sin and folly are allied in Scripture (1Sa 25:25; 2Sa 13:13; Psa 14:1).
**receive evil--**bear willingly (La 3:39).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 21
Chapter Outline
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)
**Verses 1-6**
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 pr...
Read full commentary →Mark me, and be astonished, and lay your hand upon your mouth. Mark: Heb. Look unto me
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Mark me, and be astonished</strong> (פְּנוּ־אֵלַי וְהָשַׁמּוּ, penu-elay vehashamu)—The verb <em>panah</em> (פָּנָה) means to turn or face, demanding undivided attention. <em>Shamem</em> (שָׁמֵם) conveys horror, devastation, or appalled shock. Job isn't asking for sympathy but for his friends to confront the reality that will shatter their theology.<br><br><strong>Lay your hand upon your m...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**11. Eliphaz--**The view of Rawlinson that "the names of Job's three friends represent the Chaldean times, about 700 B.C.," cannot be accepted. Eliphaz is an Idumean name, Esau's oldest son (Ge 36:4); and Teman, son of Eliphaz (Ge 36:15), called "duke." Eusebius places Teman in Arabia-Petræa (but see on Job 6:19). Teman means "at the right hand"; and then the south, namely, part of Idumea; capita...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 21
Chapter Outline
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)
**Verses 1-6**
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 pr...
Read full commentary →Even when I remember I am afraid, and trembling taketh hold on my flesh.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Even when I remember I am afraid</strong> (וְאִם־זָכַרְתִּי וְנִבְהָלְתִּי, ve'im-zakharti venivhalti)—The verb <em>zakar</em> (זָכַר) means to remember or call to mind, while <em>bahal</em> (בָּהַל) conveys being terrified or dismayed. What terrifies Job isn't his suffering but the theological implications of what he observes: God permits the wicked to prosper.<br><br><strong>Trembling ta...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**12. toward heaven--**They threw ashes violently upwards, that they might fall on their heads and cover them--the deepest mourning (Jos 7:6; Ac 22:23).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 21
Chapter Outline
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)
**Verses 1-6**
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 pr...
Read full commentary →Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, yea, are mighty in power?
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KJV Study Commentary
Job challenges conventional wisdom: 'Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, yea, are mighty in power?' This question dismantles retribution theology. The verb chayah (חָיָה, live) emphasizes ongoing life. Ataq (עָתַק, become old) means to advance in years, and gabar (גָּבַר, mighty) means to be strong or prevail. Job observes empirical reality: the wicked often prosper, live long, and exercise ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**13. seven days ... nights--**They did not remain in the same posture and without food, &c., all this time, but for most of this period daily and nightly. Sitting on the earth marked mourning (La 2:10). Seven days was the usual length of it (Ge 50:10; 1Sa 31:13). This silence may have been due to a rising suspicion of evil in Job; but chiefly because it is only ordinary griefs that find vent ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 7-16**
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 sinne...
Read full commentary →Their seed is established in their sight with them, and their offspring before their eyes.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Their seed is established in their sight with them</strong> (זַרְעָם נָכוֹן לִפְנֵיהֶם, zar'am nakhon lifneihem)—Job begins cataloging the prosperity of the wicked. <em>Zera</em> (זֶרַע) means seed or offspring, representing posterity and legacy. <em>Nakhon</em> (נָכוֹן) means established, firm, or secure. The phrase "in their sight" emphasizes that the wicked see their descendants prosper...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(8) **Their seed is established in their sight.**—Not only are they mighty in power themselves, but they leave their power to their children after them (comp. Psalm 17:14). This contradicts what Eliphaz had said (Job 15:34), what Bildad had said (Job 18:19), and what Zophar had said (Job 20:10).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 7-16**
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 sinne...
Read full commentary →Their houses are safe from fear, neither is the rod of God upon them. safe: Heb. peace from
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Their houses are safe from fear</strong> (בָּתֵּיהֶם שָׁלוֹם מִפָּחַד, bateihem shalom mipachad)—The word <em>shalom</em> (שָׁלוֹם) means peace, safety, or wholeness. <em>Pachad</em> (פַּחַד) denotes terror or dread. Job observes that the wicked live in security, free from the anxiety that haunts the righteous sufferer. This directly contradicts his friends' claims that the wicked live in ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(9) **Their houses are safe from fear.**—On the contrary, Zophar had just said that “a fire not blown should consume him” (Job 20:26), and Bildad (in Job 18:15) that “destruction should dwell in his tabernacle, and brimstone be scattered on his habitation.”
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
CHAPTER 3
THE POEM OR DEBATE ITSELF (Job 3:2-42:6). FIRST SERIES IN IT (Job 3:1-14:22). JOB FIRST (Job 3:1-26).
Job 3:1-19. Job Curses the Day of His Birth and Wishes for Death.
**1. opened his mouth--**The Orientals speak seldom, and then sententiously; hence this formula expressing deliberation and gravity (Psa 78:2). He formally began.
**cursed his day--**the strict Hebrew word for "cursi...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 7-16**
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 sinne...
Read full commentary →Their bull gendereth, and faileth not; their cow calveth, and casteth not her calf.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Their bull gendereth, and faileth not</strong> (שׁוֹרוֹ עִבַּר וְלֹא יַגְעִל, shoro ibbar velo yag'il)—Job continues describing wicked prosperity with agricultural imagery. The verb <em>abar</em> (עָבַר) means to impregnate or cover (the cow), while <em>ga'al</em> (גָעַל) means to fail, abort, or miscarry. Perfect livestock reproduction represented divine blessing (Exodus 23:26, Deuteronom...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**2. spake--**Hebrew, "answered," that is, not to any actual question that preceded, but to the question virtually involved in the case. His outburst is singularly wild and bold (Jr 20:14). To desire to die so as to be free from sin is a mark of grace; to desire to die so as to escape troubles is a mark of corruption. He was ill-fitted to die who was so unwilling to live. But his trials were great...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 7-16**
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 sinne...
Read full commentary →They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance.
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KJV Study Commentary
The wicked's children flourish: 'They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance.' Job contradicts his friends—the wicked's children DO prosper, dancing joyfully like frolicking lambs. This challenges simplistic retribution theology. If wickedness always brought swift judgment, the wicked's children would suffer. Job observes reality: the righteous sometimes suffer while t...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’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).
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**3. the night in which--**rather "the night which said." The words in italics are not in the Hebrew. Night is personified and poetically made to speak. So in Job 3:7, and in Psa 19:2. The birth of a male in the East is a matter of joy; often not so of a female.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 7-16**
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 sinne...
Read full commentary →They take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ.
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KJV Study Commentary
The wicked enjoy music: 'They take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ.' Musical instruments (timbrel/tambourine, harp, organ/pipe) represent joy and celebration. The wicked experience genuine happiness, not constant dread his friends claimed. Job's observation challenges theodicy that assumes all joy indicates righteousness. The wicked DO enjoy temporal pleasures—judgment ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**4. let not God regard it--**rather, more poetically, "seek it out." "Let not God stoop from His bright throne to raise it up from its dark hiding-place." The curse on the day in Job 3:3, is amplified in Job 3:4, 5; that on the night, in Job 3:6-10.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 7-16**
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 sinne...
Read full commentary →They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave. in wealth: or, in mirth
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KJV Study Commentary
The wicked die peacefully: 'They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave.' Job observes that the wicked often live prosperously and die quickly (painlessly) rather than suffering prolonged death. The Hebrew 'rega' (moment) suggests instantaneous, peaceful death. This contradicts his friends' claims that the wicked always suffer terribly. Job's empirical observation challen...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(13) **In a moment.**—They go down to death without being made to feel the lingering tortures that Job had to undergo.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**5. Let ... the shadow of death--**("deepest darkness," Is 9:2).
**stain it--**This is a later sense of the verb [Gesenius]; better the old and more poetic idea, "Let darkness (the ancient night of chaotic gloom) resume its rights over light (Ge 1:2), and claim that day as its own."
**a cloud--**collectively, a gathered mass of dark clouds.
**the blackness of the day terrify it--**literally...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 7-16**
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 sinne...
Read full commentary →Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways.
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KJV Study Commentary
Job quotes the wicked: 'Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways.' This reveals the mystery: those who reject God often prosper. Job isn't endorsing this attitude but acknowledging the reality that challenges simplistic retribution theology.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(14) **Therefore they say unto God.**—Should be, *Yet they said unto God, Depart from us, *&c.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**6. seize upon it--**as its prey, that is, utterly dissolve it.
**joined unto the days of the year--**rather, by poetic personification, "Let it not rejoice in the circle of days and nights and months, which form the circle of years."
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 7-16**
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 sinne...
Read full commentary →What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what profit should we have, if we pray unto him?
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KJV Study Commentary
The wicked ask, "What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what profit should we have, if we pray unto him?" The interrogative <em>mah</em> (מָה, "what") can express dismissiveness—not seeking information but expressing contempt. The verb <em>abad</em> (עָבַד, "serve") denotes worship and work. The noun <em>ya'al</em> (יַעַל, "profit") asks about utility and benefit. Job quotes the wicke...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**7. solitary--**rather, "unfruitful." "Would that it had not given birth to me."
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 7-16**
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 sinne...
Read full commentary →Lo, their good is not in their hand: the counsel of the wicked is far from me.
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KJV Study Commentary
Job distances himself from wicked counsel: 'Lo, their good is not in their hand: the counsel of the wicked is far from me.' Though observing the wicked's prosperity, Job doesn't endorse their philosophy. Their 'good' (prosperity) doesn't rest in their control—God sovereignly grants it. Job rejects their counsel even while acknowledging their temporal success. This demonstrates wisdom: learn from o...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(16) L**o, their good **(*i.e., *their prosperity) **is not in their own hand.**—And that constitutes the mystery of it, for it is God who gives it to them; or the words may be a hypothetical answer to his statement, thus, “Lo, thou repliest, their prosperity is not,” &c.; and then the words, “the counsel of the wicked is far from me,” are Job’s indignant repudiation of all knowledge of their reas...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**8. them ... curse the day--**If "mourning" be the right rendering in the latter clause of this verse, these words refer to the hired mourners of the dead (Jr 9:17). But the Hebrew for "mourning" elsewhere always denotes an animal, whether it be the crocodile or some huge serpent (Is 27:1), such as is meant by "leviathan." Therefore, the expression, "cursers of day," refers to magicians, who were...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 7-16**
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 sinne...
Read full commentary →How oft is the candle of the wicked put out! and how oft cometh their destruction upon them! God distributeth sorrows in his anger. candle: or, lamp
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KJV Study Commentary
Job's rhetorical question: 'How oft is the candle of the wicked put out? and how oft cometh their destruction upon them?' challenges the friends' certainty. Job observes that wicked destruction is not as frequent as claimed, undermining simplistic cause-and-effect theology.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(17) **How oft is the candle of the wicked put out?**—This and the following verse are either a concession on the part of Job, as much as to say, “I admit that it is as you say with the wicked;” or else they should be read interrogatively, “How often is it that we do see this? “
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**9. dawning of the day--**literally, "eyelashes of morning." The Arab poets call the sun the eye of day. His early rays, therefore, breaking forth before sunrise, are the opening eyelids or eyelashes of morning.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 17-26**
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 betwee...
Read full commentary →They are as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carrieth away. carrieth: Heb. stealeth
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KJV Study Commentary
Do the wicked suffer like chaff: 'God distributeth sorrows in his anger.' Job continues questioning—does God actually distribute sorrows to the wicked as frequently as claimed? The imagery of chaff blown by wind and stubble carried by storm suggests how the wicked should be swept away. Job asks: does this actually happen consistently? His honest questioning doesn't deny God's justice but challenge...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 17-26**
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 betwee...
Read full commentary →God layeth up his iniquity for his children: he rewardeth him, and he shall know it. his iniquity: that is, the punishment of his iniquity
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KJV Study Commentary
Job quotes his friends' theology: "God layeth up his [the wicked man's] iniquity for his children." The Hebrew <em>tsaphan</em> (צָפַן, "layeth up") means to treasure or store, suggesting God reserves punishment. The phrase "he rewardeth him, and he shall know it" uses <em>shalam</em> (שָׁלַם, "rewardeth")—to recompense or repay. Job is critiquing vicarious punishment theology: why should the wick...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(19) **God layeth up his iniquity **(i.e., the punishment of it) **for his children, **may be the hypothetical reply of the antagonists in the mouth of Job, and the second clause his own retort: “Let him repay it to himself that he may know it.”
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 17-26**
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 betwee...
Read full commentary →His eyes shall see his destruction, and he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
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KJV Study Commentary
The sinner should experience judgment: 'Let him drink of the wrath of the Almighty.' Job wants the wicked themselves to experience divine wrath, not escape through death or have only their children suffer. The cup metaphor for divine wrath appears throughout Scripture (Psalm 75:8, Revelation 14:10). Job's desire for just judgment isn't vindictive but reflects proper moral sense that evil should be...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(20) **His eyes** **shall see his destruction.**—This may be understood as the continuation of Job’s suggested amendment of the Divine government. “His own eyes should see his destruction, and he should drink of the wrath, &c. For what concern or interest hath he in his house after him when the number of his months is cut off, &c. “
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**12. Why did the knees prevent me?--**Old English for "anticipate my wants." The reference is to the solemn recognition of a new-born child by the father, who used to place it on his knees as his own, whom he was bound to rear (Ge 30:3; 50:23; Is 66:12).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 17-26**
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 betwee...
Read full commentary →For what pleasure hath he in his house after him, when the number of his months is cut off in the midst?
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KJV Study Commentary
The dead don't care about posterity: 'For what pleasure hath he in his house after him, when the number of his months is cut off?' Once dead, the wicked don't experience their children's fate—they're beyond caring. This strengthens Job's argument: if judgment falls only on children after the father's death, where's justice? The wicked escape experiencing consequences. Job demands that justice be e...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**13. lain ... quiet ... slept--**a gradation. I should not only have lain, but been quiet, and not only been quiet, but slept. Death in Scripture is called "sleep" (Psa 13:3); especially in the New Testament, where the resurrection-awakening is more clearly set forth (1Co 15:51; 1Th 4:14; 5:10).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 17-26**
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 betwee...
Read full commentary →Shall any teach God knowledge? seeing he judgeth those that are high.
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KJV Study Commentary
Job asks rhetorically: 'Shall any teach God knowledge? seeing he judgeth those that are high.' The verb lamad (לָמַד, teach) means to instruct or train. Da'at (דַּעַת, knowledge) refers to knowledge or understanding. Job's question is profound: who can instruct infinite wisdom? The phrase 'he judgeth those that are high' (hu ramim yishpot, הוּא רָמִים יִשְׁפֹּט) emphasizes God's authority over the...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(22) **Shall any teach God knowledge? **may be regarded as the hypothetical reply of the antagonist. If the reader prefers to understand these latter verses in any other way, it is open to him to do so, but in our judgment it seems better to understand them thus. The supposed alternative hypothetical argument seems to throw much light upon them.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**14. With kings ... which built desolate places for themselves--**who built up for themselves what proved to be (not palaces, but) ruins! The wounded spirit of Job, once a great emir himself, sick of the vain struggles of mortal great men, after grandeur, contemplates the palaces of kings, now desolate heaps of ruins. His regarding the repose of death the most desirable end of the great ones of e...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 17-26**
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 betwee...
Read full commentary →One dieth in his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet. his: Heb. his very, or, the strength of, his perfection
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KJV Study Commentary
Death comes to all conditions: 'One dieth in his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet.' Job observes that death doesn't discriminate based on righteousness—the comfortable and prosperous die just like the suffering. The Hebrew 'tom' (full/perfect) describes peak condition. Physical health doesn't guarantee long life or indicate divine favor. Death's universality relativizes the friends' u...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(23) **One dieth.**—Job enlarges on the inequality of human fate, showing that death is the only equaliser.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**15. filled their houses with silver--**Some take this to refer to the treasures which the ancients used to bury with their dead. But see Job 3:26.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 17-26**
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 betwee...
Read full commentary →His breasts are full of milk, and his bones are moistened with marrow. breasts: or, milk pails
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KJV Study Commentary
Some die in prosperity: 'His breasts are full of milk, and his bones are moistened with marrow.' Job describes someone in peak health ('breasts full' suggests abundant nourishment, 'bones moistened with marrow' indicates vigor) who dies nonetheless. Health isn't protection from death. This further undermines using physical condition as divine favor indicator. The healthy and unhealthy alike face m...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(24) **His breasts.**—This is an uncertain word, occurring only here. Some understand it literally of *milk-pails, *others of the lacteals of the human body, which certainly suits the parallelism better.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**16. untimely birth--**(Psa 58:8); preferable to the life of the restless miser (Ec 6:3-5).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 17-26**
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 betwee...
Read full commentary →And another dieth in the bitterness of his soul, and never eateth with pleasure.
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KJV Study Commentary
Others die in bitterness: 'And another dieth in the bitterness of his soul, and never eateth with pleasure.' The contrast is stark—one dies in prosperity and ease, another in bitterness never having enjoyed life. Both experience death. Life's circumstances vary radically, but death comes to all. This observation should humble interpretive certainty about suffering indicating divine displeasure.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**17. the wicked--**the original meaning, "those ever restless," "full of desires" (Is 57:20, 21).
**the weary--**literally, "those whose strength is wearied out" (Re 14:13).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 17-26**
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 betwee...
Read full commentary →They shall lie down alike in the dust, and the worms shall cover them.
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KJV Study Commentary
All lie down together: 'They shall lie down alike in the dust, and the worms shall cover them.' Death as the great equalizer—prosperous and bitter, healthy and sick, all become dust and worm food. This graphic imagery emphasizes mortality's leveling effect. Physical death eliminates all earthly distinctions. This should humble both prosperity's pride and suffering's despair—neither lasts forever.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(26) **They shall lie down alike in the dust.**—Not only, therefore, is the inequality of their life a stumbling-block, but so also is the equality which obliterates all distinction between them in death.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**18. There the prisoners rest--**from their chains.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 17-26**
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 betwee...
Read full commentary →Behold, I know your thoughts, and the devices which ye wrongfully imagine against me.
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KJV Study Commentary
Job knows his friends' thoughts: 'Behold, I know your thoughts, and the devices which ye wrongfully imagine against me.' Job reads his friends accurately—he understands their theological framework and its false application to him. The 'devices' suggest schemes or plans—they're actively constructing arguments against him. The adverb 'wrongfully' (Hebrew 'chamas'—violence/wrong) suggests their theol...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**19. servant--**The slave is there manumitted from slavery.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 27-34**
Job opposes the opinion of his friends, That the wicked are sure to fall into visible and remarkable ruin, and none but the wicked; upon which principle they condemned Job as wicked. Turn to whom you will, you will find that the punishment of sinners is designed more for the other world than for this, Jude 1:14, 15. The sinner is here supposed to live in a great deal of power....
Read full commentary →For ye say, Where is the house of the prince? and where are the dwelling places of the wicked? the dwelling: Heb. the tent of the tabernacles
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KJV Study Commentary
Job anticipates their response: 'For ye say, Where is the house of the prince? and where are the dwelling places of the wicked?' Job knows they'll point to his losses as evidence of wickedness. The rhetorical question format shows their confidence—'Where are the wicked? See, destroyed like Job!' Job anticipates their argument to preemptively refute it. His lost house doesn't prove his wickedness.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(28) **Of the prince**—*i.e., of the generous, virtuous, princely man?*—the antithesis to the wicked man. “Behold I know your thoughts, for ye say, How can we tell who is virtuous and who is wicked? and consequently we know not to which catalogue you belong.” They had all along been insinuating that, though he seemed to be righteous, he was really wicked.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Job 3:20-26. He Complains of Life because of His Anguish.
**20. Wherefore giveth he light--**namely, God; often omitted reverentially (Job 24:23; Ec 9:9). Light, that is, life. The joyful light ill suits the mourners. The grave is most in unison with their feelings.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 27-34**
Job opposes the opinion of his friends, That the wicked are sure to fall into visible and remarkable ruin, and none but the wicked; upon which principle they condemned Job as wicked. Turn to whom you will, you will find that the punishment of sinners is designed more for the other world than for this, Jude 1:14, 15. The sinner is here supposed to live in a great deal of power....
Read full commentary →Have ye not asked them that go by the way? and do ye not know their tokens,
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KJV Study Commentary
Job appeals to experience: 'Have ye not asked them that go by the way? and do ye not know their tokens?' Job challenges his friends to ask travelers who've observed widely. Don't rely only on local, limited observation—ask those who've traveled and seen more. Their 'tokens' (evidence/testimony) would confirm Job's observations about wicked prosperity and righteous suffering. Broader experience cha...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(29) **Their tokens**—*i.e., the marks and evidences of their experience, and the conclusions at which they had arrived.*
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 27-34**
Job opposes the opinion of his friends, That the wicked are sure to fall into visible and remarkable ruin, and none but the wicked; upon which principle they condemned Job as wicked. Turn to whom you will, you will find that the punishment of sinners is designed more for the other world than for this, Jude 1:14, 15. The sinner is here supposed to live in a great deal of power....
Read full commentary →That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction? they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath. wrath: Heb. wraths
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KJV Study Commentary
The wicked are spared in judgment: 'That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction? they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath.' Job's question expects affirmation—travelers confirm that the wicked aren't immediately judged but 'reserved' for future judgment day. This introduces eschatological perspective. Divine justice is certain but not always immediate. The wicked face ultimate jud...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(30-33) **That the wicked. . . .**—These verses contain the result of their experience.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 27-34**
Job opposes the opinion of his friends, That the wicked are sure to fall into visible and remarkable ruin, and none but the wicked; upon which principle they condemned Job as wicked. Turn to whom you will, you will find that the punishment of sinners is designed more for the other world than for this, Jude 1:14, 15. The sinner is here supposed to live in a great deal of power....
Read full commentary →Who shall declare his way to his face? and who shall repay him what he hath done?
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KJV Study Commentary
None confront the wicked: 'Who shall declare his way to his face? and who shall repay him what he hath done?' Job observes that the wicked often face no earthly accountability—none confront them ('declare to his face') or ensure recompense. This describes the powerful wicked who escape human justice. Yet Job's question anticipates divine justice—if humans don't repay, God will. Final accountabilit...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**23. whose way is hid--**The picture of Job is drawn from a wanderer who has lost his way, and who is hedged in, so as to have no exit of escape (Ho 2:6; La 3:7, 9).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 27-34**
Job opposes the opinion of his friends, That the wicked are sure to fall into visible and remarkable ruin, and none but the wicked; upon which principle they condemned Job as wicked. Turn to whom you will, you will find that the punishment of sinners is designed more for the other world than for this, Jude 1:14, 15. The sinner is here supposed to live in a great deal of power....
Read full commentary →Yet shall he be brought to the grave, and shall remain in the tomb. grave: Heb. graves remain: Heb. watch in the heap
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KJV Study Commentary
The wicked receive honor: 'Yet shall he be brought to the grave, and shall remain in the tomb.' Even the wicked receive honorable burial—they're 'brought' (accompanied ceremonially) to the grave and 'remain' (are remembered) in the tomb. Instead of disgrace, they receive honor even in death. This compounds the injustice Job observes—the wicked prosper in life and are honored in death. Only eschato...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(32) **And shall remain in the tomb.**—The word rendered tomb is rendered *shock of corn *in Job 5:26, and is not found in the sense of tomb elsewhere. It is doubtful, therefore, whether this is its meaning here. The verse may mean: “He shall be borne to the grave, and men shall watch over his sheaves,” *i.e., *his possessions; or “He shall be borne to the grave with as much deference as when he u...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**24. my sighing cometh before I eat--**that is, prevents my eating [Umbreit]; or, conscious that the effort to eat brought on the disease, Job must sigh before eating [Rosenmuller]; or, sighing takes the place of good (Psa 42:3) [Good]. But the first explanation accords best with the text.
**my roarings are poured out like the waters--**an image from the rushing sound of water streaming.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 27-34**
Job opposes the opinion of his friends, That the wicked are sure to fall into visible and remarkable ruin, and none but the wicked; upon which principle they condemned Job as wicked. Turn to whom you will, you will find that the punishment of sinners is designed more for the other world than for this, Jude 1:14, 15. The sinner is here supposed to live in a great deal of power....
Read full commentary →The clods of the valley shall be sweet unto him, and every man shall draw after him, as there are innumerable before him.
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KJV Study Commentary
The wicked's tomb is guarded: 'And he shall remain in the tomb.' Job may refer to guarded monuments ensuring the wicked's memory endures honorably. Or this might mean their corpses rest peacefully rather than being desecrated. Either way, even death doesn't bring the justice his friends claim—the wicked rest honored while the righteous like Job suffer shamefully in life. Ultimate justice requires ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(33) **The clods of the valley shall be sweet unto him.**—Death is robbed of its repulsiveness and horror, seeing that all will be glad to join in his funeral procession, and after him all men will draw (in endless procession), and before him they will be without number.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**25. the thing which I ... feared is come upon me--**In the beginning of his trials, when he heard of the loss of one blessing, he feared the loss of another; and when he heard of the loss of that, he feared the loss of a third.
**that which I was afraid of is come unto me--**namely, the ill opinion of his friends, as though he were a hypocrite on account of his trials.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 27-34**
Job opposes the opinion of his friends, That the wicked are sure to fall into visible and remarkable ruin, and none but the wicked; upon which principle they condemned Job as wicked. Turn to whom you will, you will find that the punishment of sinners is designed more for the other world than for this, Jude 1:14, 15. The sinner is here supposed to live in a great deal of power....
Read full commentary →How then comfort ye me in vain, seeing in your answers there remaineth falsehood? falsehood: Heb. transgression?
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KJV Study Commentary
Job concludes his response: 'How then comfort ye me in vain, seeing in your answers there remaineth falsehood?' The verb nacham (נָחַם, comfort) means to console or encourage. Hevel (הֶבֶל, vain) means emptiness, breath, or futility—the same word translated 'vanity' in Ecclesiastes. Ma'al (מַעַל, falsehood) denotes treachery, unfaithfulness, or deceit. Job indicts his friends' counsel as worthless...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(34) There remaineth falsehood.—Or, *all that is left of them is transgression, *that is to say, it is not only worthless, but yet more, it is even harmful and wrong.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**26. I was not in safety ... yet trouble came--**referring, not to his former state, but to the beginning of his troubles. From that time I had no rest, there was no intermission of sorrows. "And" (not, "yet") a fresh trouble is coming, namely, my friends' suspicion of my being a hypocrite. This gives the starting-point to the whole ensuing controversy.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 27-34**
Job opposes the opinion of his friends, That the wicked are sure to fall into visible and remarkable ruin, and none but the wicked; upon which principle they condemned Job as wicked. Turn to whom you will, you will find that the punishment of sinners is designed more for the other world than for this, Jude 1:14, 15. The sinner is here supposed to live in a great deal of power....
Read full commentary →