King James Version
Job 27
23 verses with commentary
Job Continues: I Will Maintain My Integrity
Moreover Job continued his parable, and said, continued: Heb. added to take up
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Moreover Job continued his parable</strong> (וַיֹּסֶף אִיּוֹב שְׂאֵת מְשָׁלוֹ). The verb <em>yasaph</em> (יָסַף) means to add or continue—Job persists in his defense despite his friends' failure to understand. <em>Mashal</em> (מָשָׁל, parable/proverb) indicates elevated discourse, poetic wisdom speech rather than mere conversation. This term appears for Balaam's oracles (Numbers 23:7), mar...
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XXVII.
(1) **Job continued** **his parable.**—The remainder of Job’s speech—now, for the first time, called his *parable*—consists of his determination not to renounce his righteousness (Job 27:2-6); his own estimate of the fate of the wicked (Job 27:7-23); his magnificent estimate of the nature of wisdom (Job 28); his comparison of his former life (Job 29) with that of his present experience (Job...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
11. Therefore, as such is my hard lot, I will at least have the melancholy satisfaction of venting my sorrow in words. The Hebrew opening words, "Therefore I, at all events," express self-elevation [Umbreit].
As God liveth, who hath taken away my judgment; and the Almighty, who hath vexed my soul; vexed: Heb. made my soul bitter
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KJV Study Commentary
Job makes a solemn oath: "As God liveth, who hath taken away my judgment; and the Almighty, who hath vexed my soul." The oath formula "as God liveth" (<em>chai-el</em>, חַי־אֵל) invokes God as witness and enforcer. The verb <em>sur</em> (סוּר, "taken away") means to remove or turn aside. Job claims God has denied him justice (<em>mishpat</em>, מִשְׁפָּט). The verb <em>marar</em> (מָרַר, "vexed") m...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(2) **As God liveth, who hath taken away my judgment.**—Job’s faith leads him to see that, though there may be no explanation for his sufferings, yet they are laid upon him by God for purposes of His own, which are veiled from him.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
12. Why dost thou deny me the comfort of care-assuaging sleep? Why scarest thou me with frightful dreams?
**Am I a sea--**regarded in Old Testament poetry as a violent rebel against God, the Lord of nature, who therefore curbs his violence (Jr 5:22).
**or a whale--**or some other sea monster (Is 27:1), that Thou needest thus to watch and curb me? The Egyptians watched the crocodile most carefu...
Read full commentary →All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils; the spirit: that is, the breath which God gave him
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KJV Study Commentary
Job vows: 'All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils; My lips shall not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit.' This oath of integrity shows Job won't confess false sins to end suffering. Truth matters more than relief from pain.
My lips shall not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>My lips shall not speak wickedness</strong> (אִם־תְּדַבֵּרְנָה שְׂפָתַי עָוְלָה)—the Hebrew <em>avlah</em> (עַוְלָה) denotes injustice, unrighteousness, or moral perversity. Job vows his mouth will not compromise truth. <strong>Nor my tongue utter deceit</strong> (וּלְשׁוֹנִי אִם־יֶהְגֶּה רְמִיָּה)—<em>remiyyah</em> (רְמִיָּה) means deceit, treachery, or falsehood. The parallel structure e...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
14. The frightful dreams resulting from elephantiasis he attributes to God; the common belief assigned all night visions to God.
God forbid that I should justify you: till I die I will not remove mine integrity from me.
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KJV Study Commentary
Job vows: 'God forbid that I should justify you: till I die I will not remove mine integrity from me.' The phrase chalilah li (חָלִילָה לִּי, God forbid) is a strong denial—'far be it from me.' The verb tsadaq (צָדַק, justify) means to declare righteous or vindicate. Job refuses to validate his friends' false accusations even to end the argument. The phrase 'till I die I will not remove mine integ...
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(5) **God forbid that I should justify you.**—To admit the wickedness with which his friends charged him would have been to justify them—to say that they were right and he was wrong. This he resolves not to do.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**15. Umbreit translates, "So that I could wish to strangle myself--**dead by my own hands." He softens this idea of Job's harboring the thought of suicide, by representing it as entertained only in agonizing dreams, and immediately repudiated with horror in Job 7:16, "Yet that (self-strangling) I loathe." This is forcible and graphic. Perhaps the meaning is simply, "My soul chooses (even) strangl...
Read full commentary →My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go: my heart shall not reproach me so long as I live. so long: Heb. from my days
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KJV Study Commentary
Job continues: 'My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go: my heart shall not reproach me so long as I live.' The verb chazaq (חָזַק, hold fast) means to be strong, to seize firmly—the same verb describing Job holding his integrity (2:3). The phrase 'will not let it go' (lo arpennah, לֹא אַרְפֶּנָּה) emphasizes tenacious grip. 'My heart shall not reproach me' (lo-yechareph levavi, לֹא־י...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(6) **My heart shall not reproach me.**—Or, *doth not reproach me for any of my days.*
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**16. Let me alone--**that is, cease to afflict me for the few and vain days still left to me.
Let mine enemy be as the wicked, and he that riseth up against me as the unrighteous.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Let mine enemy be as the wicked, and he that riseth up against me as the unrighteous</strong> (יְהִי כָרָשָׁע אֹיְבִי וּמִתְקוֹמְמִי כְּעַוָּל). This imprecatory statement seems shocking until properly understood—Job isn't cursing his enemies to become wicked, but declaring that only the wicked would be his true enemies. The Hebrew construction equates his enemy (<em>oyeb</em>, אֹיֵב) with...
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(7) **Let mine enemy be as the wicked.**—While, however, he admits that the wicked is often a prosperous man, he declares that he has no envy for him, but would have only his adversaries to be like him.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
17. (Psa 8:4; 144:3). Job means, "What is man that thou shouldst make him [of so much importance], and that thou shouldst expend such attention [or, heart-thought] upon him" as to make him the subject of so severe trials? Job ought rather to have reasoned from God's condescending so far to notice man as to try him, that there must be a wise and loving purpose in trial. David uses the same words, i...
Read full commentary →For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God taketh away his soul?
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KJV Study Commentary
Job asks rhetorically, "What is the hope of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God taketh away his soul?" The Hebrew <em>chaneph</em> (חָנֵף, "hypocrite") denotes a godless, profane person—one who may maintain religious appearance without genuine faith. The verb <em>batsa'</em> (בָּצַע, "gained") means to cut off or gain profit, often with connotations of unjust gain. Job recognizes that t...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(8) **What is the hope?**—Better, *What is the hope of the godless, though he get him gain, when God taketh away his soul?*
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
18. With each new day (Psa 73:14). It is rather God's mercies, not our trials, that are new every morning (La 3:23). The idea is that of a shepherd taking count of his flock every morning, to see if all are there [Cocceius].
Will God hear his cry when trouble cometh upon him?
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Will God hear his cry when trouble cometh upon him?</strong> (הַצַעֲקָתוֹ יִשְׁמַע אֵל כִּי־תָבוֹא עָלָיו צָרָה). The rhetorical question expects a negative answer—the wicked man's cry (<em>tsa'aqah</em>, צְעָקָה, desperate outcry) will not be heard when <em>tsarah</em> (צָרָה, distress/trouble) overtakes him. Job describes the fate of the wicked in contrast to his own persistent prayer de...
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19. How long (like a jealous keeper) wilt thou never take thine eyes off (so the Hebrew for "depart from") me? Nor let me alone for a brief respite (literally, "so long as I take to swallow my spittle"), an Arabic proverb, like our, "till I draw my breath."
Will he delight himself in the Almighty? will he always call upon God?
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Will he delight himself in the Almighty?</strong> (עַל־שַׁדַּי יִתְעַנָּג)—the verb <em>ta'anag</em> (תַּעֲנַג) means to take exquisite delight, pleasure, or joy. <em>Shaddai</em> (שַׁדַּי, the Almighty) emphasizes God's self-sufficiency and sovereignty. Job questions whether the wicked finds joy in God Himself apart from blessings received. <strong>Will he always call upon God?</strong> (...
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(10) **Will he delight himself?**—It is only the godly who can say, “Whom have I in heaven but Thee, and there is none upon earth that I desire in comparison with Thee;” and again, “I will praise Thy name, because it is so *comfortable;*” but this man hath no promise that he can plead, and therefore no assurance of access at all times to the presence of God.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**20. I have sinned--**Yet what sin can I do against ("to," Job 35:6) thee (of such a nature that thou shouldst jealously watch and deprive me of all strength, as if thou didst fear me)? Yet thou art one who hast men ever in view, ever watchest them--O thou Watcher (Job 7:12; Da 9:14) of men. Job had borne with patience his trials, as sent by God (Job 1:21; 2:10); only his reason cannot reconcile ...
Read full commentary →I will teach you by the hand of God: that which is with the Almighty will I not conceal. by: or, being in the hand, etc
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>I will teach you by the hand of God</strong> (אוֹרֶה אֶתְכֶם בְּיַד־אֵל)—the phrase <em>beyad-El</em> (בְּיַד־אֵל, by God's hand) indicates authority and instrumentality. Job claims to teach divine truth, positioning himself as God's spokesman against his friends' faulty theology. The verb <em>yarah</em> (יָרָה) means to instruct or direct, the root of Torah.<br><br><strong>That which is w...
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(11) **I will teach you.**—Better, *I will teach you of the hand of God; *or, what is in the power of God.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**21. for now--**very soon.
**in the morning--**not the resurrection; for then Job will be found. It is a figure, from one seeking a sick man in the morning, and finding he has died in the night. So Job implies that, if God does not help him at once, it will be too late, for he will be gone. The reason why God does not give an immediate sense of pardon to awakened sinners is that they think they...
Read full commentary →Behold, all ye yourselves have seen it; why then are ye thus altogether vain?
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Behold, all ye yourselves have seen it</strong> (הֵן־אַתֶּם כֻּלְּכֶם חֲזִיתֶם)—the emphatic 'you yourselves' (<em>attem kullekhem</em>, אַתֶּם כֻּלְּכֶם) stresses that Job's friends have witnessed the same realities he describes. The verb <em>chazah</em> (חָזָה) means to see, perceive, or behold—often used of prophetic vision. <strong>Why then are ye thus altogether vain?</strong> (וְלָמָ...
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(12*)* **Behold, all ye yourselves have seen it.**—That is, “You have seen me so proclaim the great power of God.”
This is the portion of a wicked man with God, and the heritage of oppressors, which they shall receive of the Almighty.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>This is the portion of a wicked man with God</strong> (זֶה חֵלֶק־אָדָם רָשָׁע עִם־אֵל)—<em>cheleq</em> (חֵלֶק, portion) refers to one's allotted inheritance or destiny. The wicked man's 'portion with God' is divine judgment. <strong>The heritage of oppressors, which they shall receive of the Almighty</strong> (וְנַחֲלַת עָרִיצִים מִשַּׁדַּי יִקָּחוּ)—<em>nachalah</em> (נַחֲלָה, heritage/in...
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(13) **This is the portion of a wicked man.**—Some have thought that the remainder of this chapter, if not Job 28 also, constitutes the missing third speech of Zophar, and that the usual words, “Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said,” have dropped out; but whatever may so be gained in symmetry seems to be lost in dramatic effect. We have seen that Bildad had but little to say, and that was...
Read full commentary →If his children be multiplied, it is for the sword: and his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>If his children be multiplied, it is for the sword</strong>—Job describes the futility of the wicked person's legacy. The Hebrew verb רָבָה (<em>ravah</em>, multiply) ironically inverts the covenant blessing of Genesis 1:28; what should be blessing becomes curse. <strong>For the sword</strong> (לְמוֹ־חֶרֶב, <em>lemo-cherev</em>) indicates violent death awaits numerous offspring—quantity pr...
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CHAPTER 8
**FIRST SERIES--**FIRST SPEECH OF BILDAD, MORE SEVERE AND COARSE THAN THAT OF ELIPHAZ.
Job 8:1-22. The Address of Bildad.
**2. like a ... wind?--**disregarding restraints, and daring against God.
Those that remain of him shall be buried in death: and his widows shall not weep.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Those that remain of him shall be buried in death</strong>—the Hebrew בַּמָּוֶת יִקָּבֵרוּ (<em>bammavet yiqqaveru</em>) literally means "in death they shall be buried," emphasizing that death itself is their grave—no honorable burial, no memorial. The plague or pestilence personified as "death" consumes survivors. <strong>His widows shall not weep</strong> reverses normal mourning customs...
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(15) **Those that remain of him shall be buried in death.**—That is, as the context shows, it shall be obscure, and excite no sympathy; their very death shall be as it were a burial, and shall consign them to oblivion.
**His widows.**—That is, those commonly hired for the purpose of making lamentation for the dead, or the widows of those that remain of him.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
3. The repetition of "pervert" gives an emphasis galling to Job (Job 34:12). "Wouldst thou have God," as thy words imply, "pervert judgment," by letting thy sins go unpunished? He assumes Job's guilt from his sufferings.
Though he heap up silver as the dust, and prepare raiment as the clay;
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Though he heap up silver as the dust</strong>—the verb צָבַר (<em>tsavar</em>, heap up/accumulate) suggests massive hoarding, piling wealth like dirt. The comparison to dust (עָפָר, <em>afar</em>) indicates both quantity and ultimately worthlessness—what seems precious becomes common as dust. <strong>Prepare raiment as the clay</strong> uses כּוּן (<em>kun</em>, prepare/establish) for clot...
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**4. If--**Rather, "Since thy children have sinned against Him, and (since) He has cast them away (Hebrew, by the hand of) for their transgressions, (yet) if thou wouldst seek unto God, &c., if thou wert pure, &c., surely [even] now He would awake for thee." Umbreit makes the apodosis to, "since thy children," &c., begin at "He has cast them away." Also, instead of "for," "He gave them...
Read full commentary →He may prepare it, but the just shall put it on, and the innocent shall divide the silver.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>He may prepare it, but the just shall put it on</strong>—the verb כּוּן (<em>kun</em>, prepare) from v. 16 continues, but now with ironic reversal: the wicked prepares, but צַדִּיק (<em>tsaddiq</em>, the righteous/just) inherits. The righteous "puts on" (לָבַשׁ, <em>lavash</em>) the garments, and <strong>the innocent shall divide the silver</strong>—נָקִי (<em>naqi</em>, innocent/clean) us...
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**5. seek unto God betimes--**early. Make it the first and chief anxiety (Psa 78:34; Ho 5:15; Is 26:9; Pr 8:17; 13:24).
He buildeth his house as a moth, and as a booth that the keeper maketh.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>He buildeth his house as a moth</strong>—the Hebrew עָשׁ (<em>ash</em>, moth) creates a startling image. The moth's "house" is its cocoon, easily destroyed and temporary. Some translations render this "moth-eaten house," but the point is fragility—elaborate construction with no permanence. <strong>As a booth that the keeper maketh</strong> uses סֻכָּה (<em>sukkah</em>, temporary shelter), ...
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**6. He would awake for thee--**that is, arise to thy help. God seemed to be asleep toward the sufferer (Psa 35:23; 7:6; Is 51:9).
**make ... prosperous--**restore to prosperity thy (their) righteous habitation. Bildad assumes it to have been heretofore the habitation of guilt.
The rich man shall lie down, but he shall not be gathered: he openeth his eyes, and he is not.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>The rich man shall lie down, but he shall not be gathered</strong>—the verse describes sudden reversal. The verb שָׁכַב (<em>shakhav</em>, lie down) can mean sleeping or dying; here it suggests going to bed wealthy. <strong>But he shall not be gathered</strong> uses אָסַף (<em>asaf</em>, gather/be gathered), often referring to being gathered to one's ancestors in honorable death (Genesis 2...
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(19) **But he shall not be gathered.**—Some ancient versions read, “but he shall do so no more;” but the “gathering” may refer to his wealth. “He openeth his eyes, and it (*i.e., *his wealth) is not;” or it may mean that as soon as he opens his eyes, hoping to enjoy his riches, he shall be no more, but be suddenly cut off. This sense appears to accord with the following verses.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**7. thy beginning--**the beginning of thy new happiness after restoration.
**latter end--**(Job 42:12; Pr 23:18).
Terrors take hold on him as waters, a tempest stealeth him away in the night.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Terrors take hold on him as waters</strong>—the noun בַּלָּהוֹת (<em>ballahot</em>, terrors/calamities) with the verb נָשַׂג (<em>nasag</em>, overtake/seize) depicts overwhelming dread. The simile "as waters" (כַּמַּיִם, <em>kamayim</em>) suggests a flood drowning the victim—uncontrollable, inescapable destruction. <strong>A tempest stealeth him away in the night</strong> uses סוּפָה (<em>...
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8-9. The sages of the olden time reached an age beyond those of Job's time (see on Job 42:16), and therefore could give the testimony of a fuller experience.
The east wind carrieth him away, and he departeth: and as a storm hurleth him out of his place.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>The east wind carrieth him away, and he departeth: and as a storm hurleth him out of his place.</strong> Job describes the wicked person's sudden destruction through vivid meteorological imagery. The <strong>east wind</strong> (קָדִים, <em>qadim</em>) in Palestine refers to the scorching sirocco that blows from the Arabian desert—hot, dry, and destructive. This wind withers vegetation (Gen...
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8-9. The sages of the olden time reached an age beyond those of Job's time (see on Job 42:16), and therefore could give the testimony of a fuller experience.
For God shall cast upon him, and not spare: he would fain flee out of his hand. he: Heb. in fleeing he would flee
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For God shall cast upon him, and not spare</strong> (וְיַשְׁלֵךְ עָלָיו וְלֹא יַחְמֹל, <em>ve-yashlekh alav velo yachmol</em>)—The verb <em>shalak</em> (שָׁלַךְ) means "to hurl, throw violently," used of God casting down enemies (Exodus 15:1). The phrase "not spare" uses <em>chamal</em> (חָמַל), meaning to pity or have compassion. Job describes divine wrath as relentless missiles against t...
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(22) **For God shall cast upon him.**—The Authorised Version supplies *God *as the subject; but we obtain very good sense by understanding it of the man who constantly fled from his power now being only too glad of the opportunity of avenging himself on him, while he or others clap their hands at him, and hiss him from his place.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
Text Courtesy of BibleS...
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**10. teach thee--**Job 6:24 had said, "Teach me." Bildad, therefore, says, "Since you want teaching, inquire of the fathers. They will teach thee."
**utter words--**more than mere speaking; "put forth well-considered words."
**out of their heart--**from observation and reflection; not merely, from their mouth: such, as Bildad insinuates, were Job's words. Job 8:11-13 embody in poetic and sent...
Read full commentary →Men shall clap their hands at him, and shall hiss him out of his place.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Men shall clap their hands at him</strong> (יִשְׂפְּקוּ־עָלָיו כַפּוֹ, <em>yispeku-alav kappo</em>)—The verb <em>saphaq</em> (שָׂפַק) means "to clap" or "strike together," expressing scornful derision. Clapping can signify joy (Psalm 47:1) or mockery (Lamentations 2:15, Nahum 3:19). Here it's contempt. The phrase <strong>shall hiss him out of his place</strong> (וְיִשְׁרֹק עָלָיו מִמְּקֹמו...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**11. rush--**rather, "paper-reed": The papyrus of Egypt, which was used to make garments, shoes, baskets, boats, and paper (a word derived from it). It and the flag, or bulrush, grow only in marshy places (such as are along the Nile). So the godless thrives only in external prosperity; there is in the hypocrite no inward stability; his prosperity is like the rapid growth of water plants.