Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Job 21:21
For what pleasure [hath] he in his house after him, when the number of his months is cut off in the midst?
For what pleasure hath he … – That is, what happiness shall he have in his family? This, it seems to me, is designed to be a reference to their sentiments, or a statement by Job of what they maintained. They held, that a man who was wicked, could have none of the comfort which he anticipated in his children, for he would himself be cut off in the midst of life, and taken away.
When the number of his months is cut off in the midst? – When his life is cut off – the word months here being used in the sense of life, or years. This they had maintained, that a wicked man would be punished, by being cut off in the midst of his way; compare Job 14:21.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 21. For what pleasure hath he in his house after him] What may happen to his posterity he neither knows nor cares for, as he is now numbered with the dead, and numbered with them before he had lived out half his years. Some have translated the verse thus: “Behold how speedily God destroys the house of the wicked after him! How he shortens the number of his months!”
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
What pleasure hath he in his house after him? or, for what desire, or care, or study hath he for or concerning (as beth is oft used)
his house, i.e. his children? When he is dead and gone, he cares not what becomes of his children, as irreligion commonly makes men unnatural; he is not concerned nor affected with their felicity or misery. See Job 14:21. And therefore God doth punish both him and his children whilst he lives, Job 21:19,20. Or thus, What delight can he take in the thoughts of the glory and happiness of his posterity, when he finds that he is dying a violent and untimely death? So this is a further proof that this man is neither happy in himself, nor with reference to his posterity.
When the number of his months is cut off in the midst; when that number of months, which by his constitution and the course of nature he might have lived, is diminished and cut off by the hand of violence.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
21. The argument of the friends,in proof of Job 21:20, Whatpleasure can he have from his house (children) when he isdead(“after him,” Ec3:22).
when the number, c.Or,rather, “What hath he to do with his children?” &c. (sothe Hebrew in Ecc 3:1Ecc 8:6). It is thereforenecessary that “his eyes should see his and theirdestruction” (see Job 14:21).
cut offrather, whenthe number of his allotted months is fulfilled (Job14:5). From an Arabic word, “arrow,” which wasused to draw lots with. Hence “arrow”inevitable destiny[UMBREIT].
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
For what pleasure [hath] he in his house after him,…. As, on the one hand, the prosperity of his children after his decease gives him no pleasure and delight, so, on the other hand, the calamities and distresses of his family for his sins and theirs give him no pain or uneasiness; he knows nothing that befalls them, and it is no part of his concern; and let what will befall them, he cares not for it; he feels it not, he is not sensible of it; and therefore to object that signifies nothing; see Job 14:21; or, “what business has he with his house after death?” the affairs d of his family do not at all concern him, one way or another; he is not affected with them; he can neither consider their happiness as a blessing nor their calamities as a punishment to him:
when the number of his months is cut off in the midst? the years, the months, and the days of the lives of men, are numbered and determined by the Lord, Job 14:5; which, when finished, the thread of life is cut off in the midst, from the rest of the months, which a man or his friends might have expected he would have lived; or rather, “when his number of the months is fully up” e; when the calculation of them is complete, and the full number of them is perfected; the sense is, what cares a wicked man for what befalls his family after his death, when he has lived out the full term of life in great outward happiness and prosperity; has lived to be full of days, of months, and years, to a full age, even to an age that may be truly called old age?
d So Schultens. e “integro numero calculis ducti sunt”, Cocceius; “cumulatam sortem habuerint”, Schultens.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
21. Pleasure sometimes bears a wider meaning of “concern,” “interest,” (Job 32:3; Isa 58:3,) “business.” What interest has he in his house (family) after he is dead? Their misery cannot trouble him, because he knows nothing about it. (Job 14:21; Ecc 9:5.)
Is cut off midst The root idea of is found in , an arrow, and is kindred with the Arable housas, “speed,” “swiftness of course,” and here points to the completion of life; and (if) the number of his months flows away, or is completed. Zockler and Dillmann, with substantially the same idea, read: “Whilst the number of his months is allotted to him.” All he is concerned about is, that he may live out the measure of his days. A stroke of the brush depicts the supreme selfishness of the wicked.
Second strophe The unequal distribution of earthly bliss extends to the deathbed, and ceases only in the grave, without, however, furnishing any indication of moral character, Job 21:22-26.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Job 21:21 For what pleasure [hath] he in his house after him, when the number of his months is cut off in the midst?
Ver. 21. For what pleasure hath he in his house after him? ] Hoc est, Omnia impiorum, etiam post mortem eorum, maledicta erunt, saith Brentius; All that belongs to the wicked shall be accursed, even after death, though some are so desperately set upon wickedness that they will have their swing, whatsoever come of it, either to themselves or their children after them. Sic fere sunt improbi, so unnatural they are, many of them, that, so they may satisfy their own sinful and sensual desires, let their posterity sink or swim, let them shift as they can, they care not, (Sueton. de Tiberio). Dives in hell seemed somewhat careful for his brethren; but self’love moved him to it; for he knew well that if they were damned he should be double damned, because they had sinned by his example and encouragement.
When the number of his months shall be cut off in the midst
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
For what: Job 14:21, Ecc 2:18, Ecc 2:19, Luk 16:27, Luk 16:28
the number: Job 14:5, Psa 55:23, Psa 102:24
Reciprocal: Deu 21:7 – General Psa 17:14 – leave Psa 102:23 – shortened Rom 5:1 – we have
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Job 21:21. What pleasure hath he in his house after him? As for what befalls his children when he is dead, he concerns not himself; he is not affected with their felicity or misery, irreligion commonly making men unnatural. And therefore God punishes both him and his children while he lives, Job 21:19-20. Or, the meaning may be, what delight can he take in the thoughts of the glory and happiness of his posterity, when he finds he is dying a violent and untimely death? Thus, this is a further proof, that this man is neither happy in himself, nor with reference to his posterity. When the number, &c. When that number of months, which, by his constitution, and the course of nature, he might have lived, is diminished, and cut off by the hand of violence.