Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Job 27:13
This [is] the portion of a wicked man with God, and the heritage of oppressors, [which] they shall receive of the Almighty.
13 23. The utter destruction of the wicked man is exhibited in three turns: his children and descendants are destined for the sword, and become the prey of famine and pestilence ( Job 27:13-15); his wealth and possessions pass into the hands of the righteous, and his home perishes ( Job 27:16-18); and he himself is cut off suddenly by awful calamities at the hand of God, and amidst the execrations of men ( Job 27:19-23).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
This is the portion of a wicked man with God – There has been much diversity of view in regard to the remainder of this chapter. The difficulty is, that Job seems here to state the same things which had been maintained by his friends, and against which he had all along contended. This difficulty has been felt to be very great, and is very great. It cannot be denied, that there is a great resemblance between the sentiments here expressed and those which had been maintained by his friends, and that this speech, if offered by them, would have accorded entirely with their main position. Job seems to abandon all which he had defended, and to concede all which he had so warmly condemned. One mode of explaining the difficulty has been suggested in the Analysis of the chapter. It was proposed by Noyes, and is plausible, but, perhaps, will not be regarded as satisfactory to all. Dr. Kennicott supposes that the text is imperfect, and that these verses constituted the third speech of Zophar. His arguments for this opinion are:
(1) That Eliphaz and Bildad had each spoken three times, and that we are naturally led to expect a third speech from Zophar; but, according to the present arrangement, there is none.
(2) That the sentiments accord exactly with what Zophar might be expected to advance, and are exactly in his style; that they are expressed in his fierce manner of accusation, and are in the very place where Zophars speech is naturally expected.
But the objections to this view are insuperable. They are:
(1) The entire lack of any authority in the manuscripts, or ancient versions, for such an arrangement or supposition. All the ancient versions and manuscripts make this a part of the speech of Job.
(2) If this had been a speech of Zophar, we should have expected a reply to it, or an allusion to it, in the speech of Job which follows. But no such reply or allusion occurs.
(3) If the form which is usual on the opening of a speech, And Zophar answered and said, had ever existed here, it is incredible that it should have been removed. But it occurs in no manuscript or version; and it is not allowable to make such an alteration in the Scripture by conjecture.
Wemyss, in his translation of Job, accords with the view of Kennicott, and makes these verses Job 27:13-23 to be the third speech of Zophar. For this, however, he alleges no authority, and no reasons except such as had been suggested by Kennicott. Coverdale, in his translation of the Bible (1553 a.d.), has inserted the word saying at the close of Job 27:12, and regards what follows to the end of the chapter as an enumeration or recapitulation of the false sentiments which they had maintained, and which Job regards as the vain things Job 27:12 which they had maintained. In support of this view the following reasons may be alleged:
(1) It avoids all the difficulty of transposition, and the necessity of inserting an introduction, as we must do, if we suppose it to be a speech of Zophar.
(2) It avoids the difficulty of supposing that Job had here contradicted the sentiments which he had before advanced, or of conceding all that his friends had maintained.
(3) It is in accordance with the practice of the speakers in this book, and the usual practice of debaters, who enumerate at considerable length the sentiments which they regard as erroneous and which they design to oppose.
(4) It is the most simple and natural supposition, and, therefore, most likely to be the true one. Still, it must be admitted, that the passage is attended with difficulty; but the above solution is, it seems to me, the most plausible.
This is the portion – This is what he receives; to wit, what he states in the following verses, that his children would be cut off.
And the heritage of oppressors – What tyrants and cruel people must expect to receive at the hand of God.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 13. This is the portion of a wicked man] Job now commences his promised teaching; and what follows is a description of the lot or portion of the wicked man and of tyrants. And this remuneration shall they have with God in general, though the hand of man be not laid upon them. Though he does not at all times show his displeasure against the wicked, by reducing them to a state of poverty and affliction, yet he often does it so that men may see it; and at other times he seems to pass them by, reserving their judgment for another world, that men may not forget that there is a day of judgment and perdition for ungodly men, and a future recompense for the righteous.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
This is the portion of a wicked man; that which is mentioned in the following verses; in which Job delivers either,
1. The opinion of his friends, in whose person he utters them, and afterwards declares his dissent from them. Or rather,
2. His own opinion, and how far he agreeth with them; for his sense differs but little from what Zophar said, Job 20:29.
With God; either laid up with God, or in his counsel and appointment; or which he shall have from God, as the next words explain it.
Of oppressors; who are mighty, and fierce, and terrible, and mischievous to mankind, as this word implies, whom therefore men cannot destroy, but God will.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
13. (See on Job27:11).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
This [is] the portion of a wicked man with God,…. Not to be punished in this life, but after death. This is what Job undertook to teach his friends, and is the purport of what follows in this chapter. A wicked man is not only one that has been so from the womb, and is openly and notoriously a wicked man, but one also that is so secretly, under a mask of sobriety, religion, and godliness, and is an hypocrite, for of such Job speaks in the context; and the portion of such a man is not what he has in this life, which is oftentimes a very affluent one as to the things of this world, but what he has after death, which is banishment from the presence of God, the everlasting portion of his people, a part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, the wrath of God to the uttermost, the second death, and a dwelling with devils and wicked men, such as himself, even a portion with hypocrites, which of all is the most dreadful and miserable, Mt 24:51; and this is “with God”, is appointed by him; for God has appointed the wicked, the vessels of wrath, fitted by their sins for destruction to the day of evil, to everlasting ruin and destruction; and it is prepared by him for them, as for the devil and his angels, and for them it is reserved among his treasures, even blackness of darkness, damnation, wrath, and vengeance:
and the heritage of oppressors, [which] they shall receive of the Almighty; these are such who are either oppressors of the poor in their natural and civil rights, taking from or denying to them what of right is their due; or oppressors of the saints in their religious rights and privileges, furious persecutors of them; and who, being powerful, are terrible, as the word signifies: there is an “heritage”, or an inheritance for those, which is entailed upon them, and will descend unto them, as the firstborn of their father the devil, as children of disobedience, and so of wrath, and like an inheritance will endure: and this they “shall receive”; it is future, it is wrath to come, and it is certain there is no escaping it; it is their due desert, and they shall receive it; it is in the hands of the almighty God, and he will render it to them, and they shall most assuredly inherit it.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
13 This is the lot of the wicked man with God,
And the heritage of the violent which they receive from the Almighty:
14 If his children multiply, it is for the sword,
And his offspring have not bread enough.
15 His survivors shall be buried by the pestilence,
And his widows shall not weep.
16 If he heapeth silver together as dust,
And prepareth garments for himself as mire:
17 He prepareth it, and the righteous clothe themselves,
And the innocent divide the silver among themselves.
18 He hath built as a moth his house,
And as a hut that a watchman setteth up.
We have already had the combination for in Job 20:29; it is a favourite expression in Proverbs, and reminds one of in Homer, and , , , in the parables Matt 13. Psik ( Pasek) stands under , to separate the wicked man and God, as in Pro 15:29 (Norzi). , exclusively peculiar to the book of Job in the Old Testament (here and Job 29:21; Job 38:40; Job 40:4), is rendered capable of an independent position by means of = , Arab. ma . The sword, famine, and pestilence are the three punishing powers by which the evil-doer’s posterity, however numerous it may be, is blotted out; these three, , , and , appear also side by side in Jer 15:2; , instead of , diris mortibus , is (as also Jer 18:21) equivalent to in the same trio, Jer 14:12; the plague is personified (as when it is called by an Arabian poet umm el – farit , the mother of death), and Vavassor correctly observes: Mors illos sua sepeliet, nihil praeterea honoris supremi consecuturos . Bttcher ( de inferis, 72) asserts that can only signify pestilentiae tempore , or better, ipso mortis momento ; but since occurs by the passive elsewhere in the sense of ab or per, e.g., Num 36:2; Hos 14:4, it can also by denote the efficient cause. Olshausen’s correction , they will not be buried when dead (Jer 16:4), is still less required; “to be buried by the pestilence” is equivalent to, not to be interred with the usual solemnities, but to be buried as hastily as possible.
Job 27:15 (common to our poet and the psalm of Asaph, 78:64, which likewise belongs to the Salomonic age) is also to be correspondingly interpreted: the women that he leaves behind do not celebrate the usual mourning rites (comp. Gen 23:2), because the decreed punishment which, stroke after stroke, deprives them of husbands and children, prevents all observance of the customs of mourning, and because the shock stifles the feeling of pity. The treasure in gold which his avarice has heaped up, and in garments which his love of display has gathered together, come into the possession of the righteous and the innocent, who are spared when these three powers of judgment sweep away the evil-doer and his family. Dust and dirt (i.e., of the streets, ) are, as in Zec 9:3, the emblem of a great abundance that depreciates even that which is valuable. The house of the ungodly man, though a palace, is, as the fate of the fabric shows, as brittle and perishable a thing, and can be as easily destroyed, as the fine spinning of a moth, (according to the Jewish proverb, the brother of the ), or even the small case which it makes from remnants of gnawed articles, and drags about with it; it is like a light hut, perhaps for the watchman of a vineyard (Isa 1:8), which is put together only for the season during which the grapes are ripening.
(Note: The watchman’s hut, for the protection of the vineyards and melon and maize fields against thieves, herds, or wild beasts, is now called either arshe and mantara ( ) if it is only slightly put together from branches of trees, or cheme ( ) if it is built up high in order that the watcher may see a great distance. The cheme is the more frequent; at harvest it stands in the midst of the threshing-floors ( bejadir ) of a district, and it is constructed in the following manner: – Four poles ( awamd ) are set up so as to form the corners of a square, the sides of which are about eight feet in length. Eight feet above the ground, four cross pieces of wood ( ‘awrid) are tightly bound to these with cords, on which planks, if they are to be had, are laid. Here is the watcher’s bed, which consists of a litter. Six or seven feet above this, cross-beams are again bound to the four poles, on which boughs, or reeds ( qasab ), or a mat ( hasra , ) forms a roof ( sath, ), from which the cheme has its name; for the Piel -forms , , and signify, “to be stretched over anything after the manner of a roof.” Between the roof and the bed, three sides of the che=me are hung round with a mat, or with reeds or straws ( qashsh , ) bound together, in order both to keep off the cold night-winds, and also to keep the thieves in ignorance as to the number of the watchers. A small ladder, sullem ( ), frequently leads to the bed-chamber. The space between the ground and this chamber is closed only on the west side to keep off the hot afternoon sun, for through the day the watcher sits below with his dog, upon the ground. Here is also his place of reception, if any passers-by visit him; for, like the village shepherd, the field-watcher has the right of showing a humble hospitality to any acquaintances. When the fruits have been gathered in, the cheme is removed. The field-watchman is now called natur (Arab. natur ), and the verb is natar , , “to keep watch,” instead of which the quadriliteral notar , (from the plur. Arab. nwatr , “the watchers”), has also been formed. In one part of Syria all these forms are written with (d) instead of fo da , and pronounced accordingly. The in this passage is similarly related to the in Son 1:6; Son 8:11-12. – Wetzst.)
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
(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 only a few truisms; it is not surprising, therefore, that when it came to the turn of Zophar he had nothing more to say, and Job was left virtually master of the field. It is, however, a little remarkable that, supposing these words to be rightly ascribed to Job, he should precisely adopt those with which Zophar had concluded (Job. 20:29). Perhaps Job is willing to show how completely he is prepared to accept the facts of his friends, although he will not admit their inferences. He, like them, is quite ready to allow that the prosperity of the wicked must be seeming rather than real, and that it must eventually come to nought.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
13. In chapters 21 and 24 Job had, in glowing terms, portrayed the prosperity of the wicked; he now (Job 27:13-23) guards his statement by conceding that wickedness is punished, though not uniformly. His argument before seemed to deny punishment in this present life. Now that he has silenced his adversaries he desires to leave the argument in a condition more satisfactory, lest the wicked be emboldened to sin without restraint. He employs against the friends the very terms they had used, gathering them up like so many weapons, which in their disastrous defeat they had left on the field, Job 20:29. Delitzsch suggests “that Job holds up the end of the evildoer before the friends that they may infer from it that he is not an evildoer, whereas the friends held it up before Job that he might infer from it that he is an evildoer.” A.B. Davidson and others regard “the passage in question as a kind of summary by Job of the views of the friends on providence, which views he characterizes as , (Job 27:12,) “utter vanity,” and quite insufficient to explain the facts. Having run over these views (Job 27:13-23) he proceeds to controvert them.” Such an estimate is, however, erroneous, since Job distinctly declares (Job 27:11-12) his determination to set forth his own views. The speech stands forth in its rugged grandeur, self-declaratory of its Jobesque origin, and is in itself a refutation of those who would sacrilegiously ascribe it to the feeblest of the three, the passionate, parrot-like Zophar.
Portion heritage The passage is taken almost verbatim from Zophar; Job 20:29.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Job 27:13 This [is] the portion of a wicked man with God, and the heritage of oppressors, [which] they shall receive of the Almighty.
Ver. 13. This is the portion of a wicked man with God ] q.d. So ye say, and so I say too; for herein I will not deny to comply and to chime in with you. Zophar had said the same in effect, and used the selfsame expressions that Job here doth, Job 20:29 . See the notes there. But must Job therefore be a hypocrite, though he continue to hope, and pray, and delight in God amidst all his miseries? Job 27:8-10 . Negatur. He had spoken much before of the wicked man’s prosperity; now, to prevent mistakes, he discourseth largely of his punishment, and how ill he beareth it.
And the heritage of oppressors, &c.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
This is the portion, &c. Zophar thus takes up the words with which he had concluded his second address (Job 20:29).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Job 27:13-23
Job 27:13-23
HERE JOB SPOKE OF THE ULTIMATE FATE OF THE WICKED
“This is the portion of a wicked man with God,
And the heritage of oppressors, which they received from the Almighty:
If his children be multiplied, it is for the sword;
And his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread.
Those that remain of him shall be buried in death,
And his widows shall make no lamentation.
Though he heap up silver as the dust,
And prepare raiment as the clay;
He may prepare it, but the just shall put it on,
And the innocent shall divide the silver.
He buildeth his house as the moth,
And as a booth that the keeper maketh.
He lieth down rich, but he shall not be gathered to his fathers;
He openeth his eyes, and he is not.
Terrors overtake him like waters;
A tempest stealeth him away in the night.
The east wind carrieth him away, and he departeth;
And it sweepeth him out of his place.
For God shall hurl at him, and not spare:
He would fain flee out of his hand.
Men shall clap their hands at him,
And shall hiss him out of his place.”
A good heading for this whole paragraph would be the clause in Job 27:8, “When God taketh away his soul.” Every word that Job said about the wicked in this paragraph is true; the one missing note that prevents any supposition that Zophar is the speaker is any insinuation that all of these judgments fall upon the wicked immediately upon the commission of their wicked deeds. We are warned in the word that stands at the head of the passage that such things befall the wicked when God taketh away their soul (Job 27:8). It is the ultimate fate of the wicked that is spoken of here.
For young students, especially, who may be disturbed by critical shenanigans in their rearrangements and re-labeling of portions of Job, we include here the words of Kelly, who spoke of the problems centered in this part of Job, affirming that, “We are left with a difficulty which is insoluble on the basis of the information which we now have. But it must be affirmed that this difficulty in no way detracts either from an understanding of the Book of Job, or from a full appreciation of it.”
“I will teach you concerning the hand of God” (Job 27:11). “The second person pronoun (you) here is plural; and it is a feeble expedient of critics to change this to a singular in order to make it something that Zophar said to Job.” It is clearly addressed by Job to all of his friends.
“Job in these verses agrees with his opponents that the prosperity of the wicked is not the dominant trend in the world; but there is no denial here that the wicked may indeed prosper for a season.”
The greatest error of Job’s friends was their belief that sufferings, hardships, and disasters falling upon any person constituted proof of that person’s wickedness. Any error of such colossal dimensions would condemn Jesus Christ himself. Look what happened to him! The sad fact is that, even today, the same gross error is found in the thinking of many people. Throughout Job, it must be remembered that it is this particular error, rather than any other, that Job so bitterly opposed.
E.M. Zerr:
Job 27:13. This refers to statements yet to be made concerning the lot of wicked men who are successful for a time.
Job 27:14. The wicked man may be blessed with many children, but they will be liable to die by the sword. Another thing that often comes to the children of wicked men is hunger, in spite of the previous prosperity of their fathers.
Job 27:15. Widows shall not weep. That is, some unexpected and sudden calamity will cause the death of the men and the widows will not be on hand at the time to weep personally or in direct connection with the calamity.
Job 27:16-17. We wish to avoid confusion as to the fate of the wicked. Job had claimed only that such characters often were prosperous and happy; he never did claim they would always be so. Therefore, they are liable for the lot here described.
Job 27:18. The house of a wicked man will be as uncertain of continuance as the life of a moth, and as temporary as a booth made for some brief use.
Job 27:19. He is not means the rich man will open his eyes soon to find that he is not a rich man any more.
Job 27:20. Waters used figuratively means floods of trouble. The wicked rich man is destined to be overthrown by the terrors of disappointment.
Job 27:21. The east wind is connected with a storm.. Smith’s Bible Dictionary says this about the east wind: “The east wind crosses the sandy wastes of Arabia Deserta before reaching Palestine, and was hence termed ‘the wind of the wilderness.’ Job 1:19; Jer 13:24. It blows with violence, and is hence supposed to be used generally for any violent wind. Job 27:21; Job 38; Job 24; Psa 48:7; Isa 27:8; Ezekie 27:26.” But if something can be destroyed by even such a wind it is very uncertain.
Job 27:22-23. When the wicked rich man comes to his deserved lot he will be spurned by good men who fear God.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
the portion: Job 20:29, Job 31:3, Psa 11:6, Ecc 8:13, Isa 3:11, 2Pe 2:9
the heritage: Job 15:20-35, Job 20:19-29, Psa 12:5, Pro 22:22, Pro 22:23, Mal 3:5, Jam 5:4-6
Reciprocal: Exo 22:24 – your wives Est 9:10 – ten sons Job 20:5 – the triumphing Job 31:2 – General Psa 37:9 – evildoers Psa 103:6 – executeth Pro 11:18 – wicked Pro 14:11 – house Pro 21:12 – wisely
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Job 27:13. This is the portion of a wicked man Namely, that which is mentioned in the following verses; with God Either laid up with God, namely, in his counsel and appointment; or, which he shall have from God, as the next words explain it; and the heritage of oppressors Who are mighty, fierce, terrible, and mischievous, as the word , gnaritzim, implies; whom, therefore, men cannot destroy, but God will.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
27:13 This [is] the {k} portion of a wicked man with God, and the heritage of oppressors, [which] they shall receive of the Almighty.
(k) Thus will God order the wicked, and punish him even to his posterity.