Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Job 21:27
Behold, I know your thoughts, and the devices [which] ye wrongfully imagine against me.
27. Job knows the covert meaning that lies under his friends’ talk of the fate of the wicked man.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
27 34. Finally, still pursuing his argument, Job turns to the insinuations of his friends against himself, which lie under their descriptions of the fate of the wicked. He knows what they mean when they say, Where is the house of the prince? But their conclusions were against the testimony of those who had travelled far and seen much. These testified that the wicked man was preserved in the day of destruction; that he came to an honoured grave, and the clods of the valley lay softly on him; and that his example, so far from being shunned, was followed by the mass of men, as there were multitudes that preceded him in the way he walked.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Behold, I know your thoughts – That is, I see that you are not satisfied, and that you are disposed still to maintain your former position. You will be ready to ask, Where are the proofs of the prosperity of the wicked? Where are the palaces of the mighty? Where are the dwelling places of ungodly men!
And the devices which ye wrongfully imagine against me – The course of sophistical argument which you pursue, the tendency and design of which is to prove that I am a wicked man. You artfully lay down the position, that the wicked must be, and are in fact, overwhelmed with calamities, and then you infer, that because I am overwhelmed in this manner, I must be a wicked man.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 27. I know your thoughts] Ye still think that, because I am grievously afflicted, I must therefore be a felonious transgressor.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
I know your thoughts; I perceive what you think, and will object, and say for your own defence.
The devices, or, evil thoughts; for so this word is oft used, as Pro 12:2; 14:17; Job 24:8; Isa 32:7.
Wrongfully imagine, or wrest, or violently force. For they strained both Jobs words, and their own thoughts, which were biassed by their prejudice and passion against Job.
Against me; for I know very well that your discourses, though they be of wicked men in the general, yet are particularly levelled at me.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
27. Their wrongful thoughtsagainst Job are stated by him in Job21:28. They do not honestly name Job, but insinuatehis guilt.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Behold, I know your thoughts,…. God only truly, really, and in fact, knows the thoughts of men; this is his peculiar prerogative, he only is the searcher of the hearts and the trier of the reins of the children of men. Christ, the eternal Logos, or Word, by his being a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart, appears to be truly God. No man knows the things of a than, or the thoughts of his heart, but himself, and such to whomsoever he reveals them; but a wise and understanding man, a careful observer of men and things, may make some shrewd guesses at the thoughts of others, by hints and half words, or sentences expressed by them; by the show of their countenance, which is the index of the mind, and by the gestures and motions of their bodies; by these they may in a good measure judge whether they like or dislike, approve or, disapprove, of what is said to them: and thus Job knew the thoughts of his friends, that they were different from his, that the sentiments of their minds did not agree with his; and though he had so clearly proved his point, yet he saw by their looks and gestures that what he had said was not satisfactory to them; that they did not think it a sufficient confutation of their arguments, and a full answer to their objections:
and the devices [which] ye wrongfully imagine against me; that he was an hypocrite, a wicked man, guilty of crimes, and which they were devising to produce against him, and charge and load him with, as Eliphaz does in the following chapter; he knew they meant him in all that they had said concerning wicked men, and their afflictions, and what would be their portion at death, and after it; and though they did not name his name, they might as well have done it, since he was the man they struck at in all, particularly it, Job 20:5.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
27 Behold I know your thoughts
And the stratagems, with which ye overpower me!
28 When ye say: Where is the house of the tyrant,
And where the pavilions of the wicked – :
29 Have ye not asked those who travel,
Their memorable things ye could surely not disown:
30 That the wicked was spared in the day of calamity,
In the day of the outburst of wrath they were led away.
31 Who liketh to declare to him his way to his face?
And hath he done aught, who will recompense it to him?
Their thoughts which he sees through, are their secret thoughts that he is such an evil-doer reaping the reward of his deeds. (which occurs both of right measures, good wise designs, Pro 5:2; Pro 8:12, and of artful devices, malicious intrigues, Pro 12:2; Pro 14:17, comp. the definition of , Pro 24:8) is the name he gives to the delicately developed reasoning with which they attack him; (comp. Arab. tahammasa , to act harshly, violently, and overbearingly) is construed with in the sense of forcing, apart from the idea of overcoming. In Job 21:28, which is the antecedent to Job 21:29, beginning with (as Job 19:28), he refers to words of the friends like Job 8:22; Job 15:34; Job 18:15, Job 18:21. is prop. the noble man, whose heart impels ( , Arab. nadaba ) him to what is good, or who is ready and willing, and does spontaneously that which is good (Arab. naduba ), vid., Psychol. S. 165; then, however, since the notion takes the reverse way of generosus, the noble man (princely) by birth and station, with which the secondary notion of pride and abuse of power, therefore of a despot or tyrant, is easily as here (parall. , comp. , Isa 53:9, with the same word in the parallel) combined (just so in Isa 13:2, and similarly at least above, Job 12:21, – an anomaly of name and conduct, which will be for the future put aside, according to Isa 32:5). It is not admissible to understand the double question as antithetical, with Wolfson, after Pro 14:11; for the interrogative is not appropriate to the house of the , in the proper sense of the word. Job 21:28, is not an externally but internally multiplying plur.; perhaps the poet by byt intends a palace in the city, and by a tent among the wandering tribes, rendered prominent by its spaciousness and the splendour of the establishment.
(Note: Although the tents regularly consist of two divisions, one for the men and another for the women, the translation “magnificent pavilion” ( Prachtgezelt), disputed by Hirz., is perfectly correct; for even in the present day a Beduin, as he approaches an encampment, knows the tent of the sheikh immediately: it is denoted by its size, often also by the lances planted at the door, and also, as is easily imagined, by the rich arrangement of cushions and carpets. Vid., Layard’s New Discoveries, pp. 261 and 171.)
Job thinks the friends reason a priori since they inquire thus; the permanent fact of experience is quite different, as they can learn from , travellers, i.e., here: people who have travelled much, and therefore are well acquainted with the stories of human destinies. The Piel , proceeding from the radical meaning to gaze fixedly, is an enantio’seemon, since it signifies both to have regard to, Job 34:19, and to disown, Deu 32:27; here it is to be translated: their ye cannot nevertheless deny, ignore (as Arab. nakira and ankara ). are tokens, here: remarkable things, and indeed the remarkable histories related by them; Arab. ayatun (collective plur. ayun ), signs, is also similarly used in the signification of Arab. ibrat , example, historical teaching.
That the , Job 21:30, as in Job 21:28, introduces the view of the friends, and is the antecedent clause to Job 21:31: quod ( si ) vos dicitis, in tempora cladis per iram divinam immissae servari et nescium futuri velut pecudem eo deduci improbum (Bttcher, de fin. 76), has in the double an apparent support, which is not to be denied, especially in regard to Job 38:23; it is, however, on account of the omission of the indispensable in this instance, an explanation which does violence to the words. The , on the contrary, introduces that which the accounts of the travellers affirm. Further, the in indicates here not the terminus ad quem , but as in , in the evening, the terminus quo. And the verb , cohibere , signifies here to hold back from danger, as Job 33:18, therefore to preserve uninjured. Ew. translates Job 21:30 erroneously: “in the day when the floods of wrath come on.” How tame would this , “to be led near,” be! This Hoph. signifies elsewhere to be brought and conducted, and occurs in Job 21:32, as in Isa 55:12 and elsewhere, of an honourable escort; here, in accordance with the connection: to be led away out of the danger (somewhat as Lot and his family by the escort of angels). At the time, when streams of wrath ( , the overflowing of vexation = outburst of wrath, like the Arab. abrt , the overflowing of the eye = tears) go forth, they remain untouched: they escape them, as being under a special, higher protection.
(Note: This interpretation, however, is unsatisfactory, because it does not do justice to the twofold , which seems, according to Job 38:23, to be intended to indicate the terminus ad quem ; perhaps Job 21:29 and Job 21:30 are to be transposed. If Job 21:30 followed Job 21:28, it would retain its natural sense as belonging to the view of the friends: “For the wicked is reserved for the day of calamity, and to a day of wrath they are led” ( as Isa 53:7; Jer 11:19). Then also adds a suitable echo of the contradiction in Job’s mouth. Bttch. rightly calls attention to the consonance of with , and of with .)
Job 21:31 is commonly taken as a reflection on the exemption of the evil-doer: God’s mode of action is exalted above all human scrutiny, although it is not reconcilable with the idea of justice, Job 9:12; Job 23:13. But the , who will recompense it to him, which, used of man in relation to God, has no suitable meaning, and must therefore mean: who, after God has left the evil-doer unpunished – for which, however, would be an unsuitable expression – shall recompense him, the evil-doer? is opposed to it. Therefore, against Ew., Hirz., and Hlgst., it must with most expositors be supposed that Job 21:31 is a reflection referable not to God, but to the evil-doer: so powerful is the wicked generally, that no one can oppose his pernicious doings and call him to account for them, much less that any one would venture to repay him according to his desert when he has brought anything to a completion ( , intentionally thus seriously expressed, as elsewhere of God, e.g., Isa 38:15). In the next strophe, that which is gathered from the accounts of travellers is continued, and is then followed by a declamatory summing up.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| Punishment of the Wicked. | B. C. 1520. |
27 Behold, I know your thoughts, and the devices which ye wrongfully imagine against me. 28 For ye say, Where is the house of the prince? and where are the dwelling places of the wicked? 29 Have ye not asked them that go by the way? and do ye not know their tokens, 30 That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction? they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath. 31 Who shall declare his way to his face? and who shall repay him what he hath done? 32 Yet shall he be brought to the grave, and shall remain in the tomb. 33 The clods of the valley shall be sweet unto him, and every man shall draw after him, as there are innumerable before him. 34 How then comfort ye me in vain, seeing in your answers there remaineth falsehood?
In these verses,
I. Job opposes the opinion of his friends, which he saw they still adhered to, that the wicked are sure to fall into such visible and remarkable ruin as Job had now fallen into, and none but the wicked, upon which principle they condemned Job as a wicked man. “I know your thoughts,” says Job (v. 27); “I know you will not agree with me; for your judgments are tinctured and biassed by your piques and prejudices against me, and the devices which you wrongfully imagine against my comfort and honour: and how can such men be convinced?” Job’s friends were ready to say, in answer to his discourse concerning the prosperity of the wicked, “Where is the house of the prince? v. 28. Where is Job’s house, or the house of his eldest son, in which his children were feasting? Enquire into the circumstances of Job’s house and family, and then ask, Where are the dwelling-places of the wicked? and compare them together, and you will soon see that Job’s house is in the same predicament with the houses of tyrants and oppressors, and may therefore conclude that doubtless he was such a one.”
II. He lays down his own judgment to the contrary, and, for proof of it, appeals to the sentiments and observations of all mankind. So confident is he that he is in the right that he is willing to refer the cause to the next man that comes by (v. 29): “Have you not asked those that go by the way–any indifferent person, any that will answer you? I say not, as Eliphaz (ch. v. 1), to which of the saints, but to which of the children of men will you turn? Turn to which you will, and you will find them all of my mind, that the punishment of sinners is designed more for the other world than for this, according to the prophecy of Enoch, the seventh from Adam, Jude 14. Do you not know the tokens of this truth, which all that have made any observations upon the providences of God concerning mankind in this world can furnish you with?” Now,
1. What is it that Job here asserts? Two things:– (1.) That impenitent sinners will certainly be punished in the other world, and, usually, their punishment is put off until then. (2.) That therefore we are not to think it strange if they prosper greatly in this world and fall under no visible token of God’s wrath. Therefore they are spared now, because they are to be punished then; therefore the workers of iniquity flourish, that they may be destroyed for ever, Ps. xcii. 7. The sinner is here supposed, [1.] To live in a great deal of power, so as to be not only the terror of the mighty in the land of the living (Ezek. xxxii. 27), but the terror of the wise and good too, whom he keeps in such awe that none dares declare his way to his face, v. 31. None will take the liberty to reprove him, to tell him of the wickedness of his way, and what will be in the end thereof; so that he sins securely, and is not made to know either shame or fear. The prosperity of fools destroys them, by setting them (in their own conceit) above reproofs, by which they might be brought to that repentance which alone will prevent their ruin. Those are marked for destruction that are let alone in sin, Hos. iv. 17. And, if none dares declare his way to his face, much less dare any repay him what he has done and make him refund what he has obtained by injustice. He is one of those great flies which break through the cobwebs of the law, that hold only the little ones. This emboldens sinners in their sinful ways that they can brow-beat justice and make it afraid to meddle with them. But there is a day coming when those shall be told of their faults who now would not bear to hear of them, those shall have their sins set in order before them, and their way declared to their face, to their everlasting confusion, who would not have it done here, to their conviction, and those who would not repay the wrongs they had done shall have them repaid to them. [2.] To die, and be buried in a great deal of pomp and magnificence, Job 21:32; Job 21:33. There is no remedy; he must die; that is the lot of all men; but every thing you can think of shall be done to take off the reproach of death. First, He shall have a splendid funeral–a poor thing for any man to be proud of the prospect of; yet with some it passes for a mighty thing. Well, he shall be brought to the grave in state, surrounded with all the honours of the heralds’ office and all the respect his friends can then pay to his remains. The rich man died, and was buried, but no mention is made of the poor man’s burial, Luke xvi. 22. Secondly, He shall have a stately monument erected over him. He shall remain in the tomb with a Hic jacet–Here lies, over him, and a large encomium. Perhaps it is meant of the embalming of his body to preserve it, which was a piece of honour anciently done by the Egyptians to their great men. He shall watch in the tomb (so the word is), shall abide solitary and quiet there, as a watchman in his tower. Thirdly, The clods of the valley shall be sweet to him; there shall be as much done as can be with rich odours to take off the noisomeness of the grave, as by lamps to set aside the darkness of it, which perhaps was referred to in the foregoing phrase of watching in the tomb. But it is all a jest; what is the light, or what the perfume, to a man that is dead? Fourthly, It shall be alleged, for the lessening of the disgrace of death, that it is the common lot: He has only yielded to fate, and every man shall draw after him, as there are innumerable before him. Note, Death is the way of all the earth: when we are to cross that darksome valley we must consider, 1. That there are innumerable before us; it is a tracked road, which may help to take off the terror of it. To die is ire ad plures–to go to the great majority. 2. That every man shall draw after us. As there is a plain track before, so there is a long train behind; we are neither the first nor the last that pass through that dark entry. Every one must go in his own order, the order appointed of God.
2. From all this Job infers the impertinency of their discourses, v. 34. (1.) Their foundation is rotten, and they went upon a wrong hypothesis: “In your answers there remains falsehood; what you have said stands not only unproved but disproved, and lies under such an imputation of falsehood as you cannot clear it from.” (2.) Their building was therefore weak and tottering: “You comfort me in vain. All you have said gives me no relief; you tell me that I shall prosper again if I turn to God, but you go upon this presumption, that piety shall certainly be crowned with prosperity, which is false; and therefore how can your inference from it yield me any comfort?” Note, Where there is not truth there is little comfort to be expected.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
5. So, your argument that I am wicked because I suffer is false. (Job. 21:27-34)
TEXT 21:2734
27 Behold, I know your thoughts,
And the devices wherewith ye would wrong me.
28 For ye say, Where is the house of the prince?
And where is the tent wherein the wicked dwelt?
29 Have ye not asked wayfaring men?
And do ye not know their evidences,
30 That the evil man is reserved to the day of calamity?
That they are led forth to the day of wrath?
31 Who shall declare his way to his face?
And who shall repay him what he hath done?
32 Yet shall he be borne to the grave,
And men shall keep watch over the tomb.
33 The clods of the valley shall be sweet unto him,
And all men shall draw after him,
As there were innumerable before him.
34 How then comfort ye me in vain,
Seeing in your answer there remaineth only falsehood?
COMMENT 21:2734
Job. 21:27Job has thus far claimed that there is no evident connection between happiness and virtueJob. 21:19-21; Job. 21:23-26. The friends will simply not face the truth of the blunt realities of lifeEcc. 8:14; Job. 21:34 b. He knows that his friends meant him while they were claiming that the wicked are destroyed; Job is destroyed; therefore, Job is wickedJob. 4:7. His suffering is the price paid for his sins. He says that they have violently wronged him (word translated wrong is stronger than our English word).
Job. 21:28Nadib means a rich prince. Here the implication is a wealthy but wicked prince who has exploited the poorJob. 20:19. Gods vengeance has swept his house awayJob. 8:15; Job. 8:22; Job. 18:15; Job. 18:21; Job. 15:34.
Job. 21:29Any wayfarer (those who travel the roads, not necessarily a world traveler) could tell Jobs friends that their claims are not universally the caseLam. 1:12; Lam. 2:15; Psa. 80:13; Psa. 89:42; Pro. 9:15. The daily experience (signs or monuments) of many will refute their claims. Why do they persist in their a priori evaluation of the wicked and the righteous, when the evidence refutes their claims?
Job. 21:30Those who travel the roads report that wicked men are delivered (lit. brought away from, A. V. preservedbut the English meaning is not that of the Hebrew) and led to safety on many occasionsJob. 20:28; Deu. 32:35; Isa. 26:20; Jer. 18:17; Eze. 7:19; Zep. 1:15; Zep. 1:18; and Pro. 11:4.[241]
[241] F. H. Andersen, Job, InterVarsity Press, 1976, p. 201.
Job. 21:31The reference here is to the successful, powerful despot, not God as some assume. Who would publicly rebuke a tyrant: The way (halaklife style; way of life) represents the behavior pattern of the wicked but successful man.
Job. 21:32There is abundant evidence that wicked men are honored in both life and death. They are so respected that men watch over their tombs. Perhaps there is reference to Near Eastern custom that effigy of important dead persons watch over their own tombs. Whether this be so or not, Job is claiming that often the wicked are buried in pomp and much circumstance. How different from his own situation.
Job. 21:33Burial was often in a ravine or valleyDeu. 34:6. After the rains, the clods would become as hard as rocks and so continue to mark the grave. He has no beautiful mausoleum only clods to identify the spot where the earth entombs his once strong body. Perhaps the metaphor speaks of a funeral procession. The wicked often have a peaceful death and posthumous fame.
Job. 21:34Thus Jobs speech completes the second cycle. He dismisses the arguments of his friends as vain in view of the rocks of reality. Their answers are perfidy (Heb. maalsacrilegious attack on God). The things they have been saying on Gods behalf are all lies when tested against experience.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
Second division THE REPORT OF TRAVELLERS IS, THAT THE PUNISHMENT OF THE WICKED IS HELD IN ABEYANCE, Job 21:27-34.
Strophe a If, instead of judging by appearances in this present life the friends had made more extensive research, they would have found that the wicked are held in reserve for future punishment. The element of delayed punishment not only serves to unlock the enigma of retribution, but to relieve Job from dire suspicion, since suffering here is a criterion of virtue rather than of vice, Job 21:27-30.
27. Job’s argument properly closed with the preceding verse; but having perceived (so Kitto thinks) by their interchange of looks that they were not satisfied, he resumes with, “ Behold, I know your thoughts,” and proceeds to produce a new species of testimony, which they, learned men as they were, could not deny.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Job Rebukes his Friends for their One-Sidedness.
v. 27. Behold, I know your thoughts, v. 28. For ye say, Where is the house of the prince, v. 29. Have ye not asked them that go by the way, v. 30. that the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction, v. 31. Who shall declare his way to His face? v. 32. Yet shall he be brought to the grave, v. 33. The clods of the valley shall be sweet unto him, v. 34. How, then, comfort ye me in vain, seeing in your answers there remaineth falsehood,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Job 21:27-34. Behold, I know your thoughts By the day of destruction, and the day of wrath, mentioned in the 30th verse, I believe it will appear, from the context, can be meant no other than the future day of judgment; which, to the wicked and ungodly, is every where represented in Scripture as a day of wrath, a day of destruction and perdition. See 2Th 1:9. 2Pe 3:7. And it is remarkable, that Job, when he declares to his friends that he had been all along withheld from sinning by a pious awe of the Divine Justice, (meaning, as I apprehend, the thoughts of a future judgment) uses a like expression, chap. Job 31:23. Destruction from God was a terror to me; aid, the very same word as is used here. To understand it of a temporal destruction, is to suppose Job to cut the neck of his own argument, and to fall in directly with the reasoning of his friends; for thus it would stand, (Job 21:27.) Behold, I know your thoughts, and the devices which you wrongfully imagine against me; i.e. “I know what you would insinuate, by the speeches which you make; such as this which follows: (Job 21:28.) Where is the house of the prince, and where are the dwelling-places of the wicked? As if you should say, What is become of the house of Job, who lived like a prince? or, what, in general, is the portion of the wicked? Does not a great and sure destruction overtake them?” This is evidently the meaning of the question: the answer follows immediately, Job 21:29. “Ask those who go by the way, and do ye not know their tokens? that the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction, &c.” Now, if this were meant of a temporal destruction, it directly confirms the insinuation of the friends; and the inference would be unavoidable; therefore Job must needs be wicked. The sense I contend for must, therefore, be the true one; in confirmation whereof I will shew how aptly it agrees with the context, and with Job’s design in this speech. The great difficulty of the passage lies at the 29th verse; and commentators have been at a loss to give a satisfactory account, why the travellers, those who go by the way, should be consulted about the question here proposed, and what are the marks or tokens here referred to. The true key to it seems to be this: it was the custom of the ancients to bury near the high roads, in the most public and conspicuous places, and to erect a pillar or monument over the dead to preserve their memory. These pillars, if they had any inscription at all upon them, recorded, no doubt, the name and titles of the person, and, perhaps, some of the happiest circumstances of his life. Moreover, these inscriptions usually addressed the traveller with a Siste, viator; Stop, traveller, or to that purpose. These then, I apprehend, are the marks or tokens to which Job directs his friends, and which he would have them either to consult themselves, or to ask the travellers about; whence they would be naturally led to make the inference in the next verse. For, as they might observe several monuments among the rest, erected for such as had been notoriously wicked in their lives, yet had run out a long course of prosperity, and been buried at last with great pomp; it was with reason he bids them infer from hence, that the punishment for such as these was reserved to a more solemn season, which was the proper time of retribution, and not the mixed uncertain state of this life: “Ask the traveller (says he,) who goes by the highway, or consult the tombs and monuments there; and from thence you may learn this important lesson, That the wicked is reserved to a future day of judgment; they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath: reserved in the grave, and in sheol, as in a prison, from whence they shall be brought forth like criminals, to receive their sentence, or be drawn to execution.” The very terms plainly lead us to this sense. See Isa 53:7 and the note on chap. Job 19:24. Job pursues the same way of reasoning in the following part of his speech, and shews that the wicked mighty man is so far from being punished in this world, that he does what he pleases without any to controul him, or so much as to open their lips against him, Job 21:31. That, nevertheless, such a one shall at last go down to the grave in peace, and be buried with great pomp, Job 21:32. The Hebrew is emphatical, Even he shall be brought to the grave, and over the tomb he shall watch; i.e. in his statue or effigy: “A stately monument (says Bishop Patrick) shall be raised to preserve his memory, and represent him as if he were still living.” It follows, Job 21:33. The clods of the valley shall be sweet unto him; and every man shall draw after him, as there are innumerable before him; i.e. according to Bishop Patrick’s paraphrase, “There he lies quietly in the earth, and none disturb his ashes: he suffers nothing but what all men shall do after him, as innumerable have done before him.” “See then (continues he, in the 34th verse) how ill you discharge the office of comforters, whose answers have so little truth in them; for you maintain that prosperity is the inseparable companion of piety; when every body can tell you, that none flourish more than the wicked, and that calamities are common to all mankind.” Thus this passage, clearly and satisfactorily explained, affords us another plain testimony of Job’s belief of a future judgment, and another state of life. See Peters, p. 241. Houbigant renders the 33rd verse, He shall suck the turf of the valley; and after him all men shall be drawn, as innumerable have been before him.
REFLECTIONS.1st, Before Job enters on the point in hand, he begs,
1. An attentive hearing, and that pride and prejudice might not reject the conviction of the truths which he urged. Hear diligently my speech, as those who desire simply to investigate the truth, and wish, if mistaken, to be undeceived; and let this be your consolations; you will yourselves find the comfort of having used all proper means of coming to the knowledge of the truth; or this is all the consolation I expect from you, a fair and candid hearing. Suffer me that I may speak, without interruption, and after that I have spoken, mock on, continue to insult me, if this be your resolution in spite of all my arguments. Note; A patient hearing, at least, is due to every man. It is high injustice to condemn without permitting the accused to speak in their own defence.
2. It was not to them that he at first complained, nor would they be his judges, and therefore they need not have taken up the matter so hardly against him. Is my complaint to man? no; but to God, who knew the bitterness of his sufferings, and from whom alone he could hope for redress; and if it were so, why should not my spirit be troubled? when all his prayers and tears had yet met no relief, but rather provoked the rash censures of his friends, who condemned him for hypocrisy. Note; If God were not kinder to us than our dearest friends, we should sometimes have hard measure.
3. He bids them behold his case; and surely it deserved their pity. Mark me, my words, my sufferings, and be astonished at the strangeness of my afflictions; and lay your hand upon your mouth, pretend not to fathom the ways of God’s unsearchable providence, and forbear to judge of men’s characters by their outward lot in this world. Even when I remember the days that are past, the afflictions that had befallen himself, or the instances of the prosperity of the wicked that he was about to mention, I am afraid, and trembling taketh hold on my flesh. What I feel, though it shakes not my confidence or my integrity, yet it greatly distresses me; and what I see of the ways of God’s providence with the wicked, astonishes me. I wonder and adore, waiting in affecting suspense the awful issue. Note; (1.) There are mysterious dispensations of Providence, which sometimes stagger the faith and hope of good men. (2.) We must wait till the great day of God for the final vindication of his ways to man.
2nd, Job’s friends had insisted upon it, that there was no such thing as prosperous iniquity; at least, that it was momentary. Experience, says Job, contradicts your assertion; the wicked live and die in ease and affluence, yea, are hardened by it; yet God often permits this, without being chargeable either with want of wisdom or justice in his government of the world.
1. He describes their prosperity, Wherefore do the wicked live, if it be as you say? how do they become old, and are not cut off with any remarkable judgments, yea, are mighty in power? so far from being destitute or desolate, they bear the sway in the world. How is this consistent with your assertions? yet there are undeniable instances of what I advance. Their families are built up, and they live to see them well settled. Their substance is protected, and no rod of affliction falls upon them. Their worldly affairs in the minutest instances prosper. Their children are numerous as a flock, their houses are full of joy and mirth, and they devote to dance and song the jocund day. The hours pass along in pleasure and sensual indulgence, and without a groan they go down to the grave, in a moment, without any of the miseries that Zophar had described; or, quietly stupid and insensible, without apparent fear or terror. Note; (1.) No man is to be judged of by his outward prosperity; we must take in eternity to make a right estimate of man’s estate. (2.) Worldly wealth abused, to gratify sensual appetite, is a curse instead of a blessing.
2. He suggests the ill effects of their prosperity; it hardened their hearts against God, and led them to infidelity. Therefore, because possessed of such wealth, and living, in consequence thereof, in a round of vanity and worldly lusts, they say unto God, Depart from us; they wish to leave him far above out of their sight, that no remembrance of him should disturb their conscience, and interrupt their joys; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways. The paths of godliness appear forbidding and melancholy, compared with pleasure’s flowery way; and they wish for no unwelcome interruption, from grave lessons and religion’s needful restraints. Their lives make it their interest that God should not interfere with the concerns of men; and therefore, though perhaps not in words expressed, the sentiments of their hearts are, What is the Almighty; or who is he, that we should serve him? Perhaps there is no God; or, if there be, he cares not about the petty affairs of men: the terrors of his arm are but the bugbears of priests, to frighten the minds of the superstitious; and what profit should we have if we pray unto him? a talk useless and unnecessary, whence nothing can be gained. So thinks the blinded sinner, lost in indulgence, and enslaved by divers foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in perdition and destruction. Note; (1.) A pleasure-loving world is ever jealous of the incroachments of religion, and wishes to be ignorant, lest, coming for a moment to the light, they should not be able, with such quietness of conscience, to return to the pursuit of their vanities. (2.) Irreligion is the parent of infidelity: we easily persuade ourselves to believe what we desire. (3.) Though a wicked and careless world sees no profit in prayer, a child of God by blessed experience finds that his richest acquisitions are made upon his knees.
3. Job puts in a caveat, not to be misinterpreted, as if in this description of the wicked he concurred with, or approved of, their ways. No; he knew their slippery steps. Lo, their good is not in their hand. They have their portion in this life alone, and no hope hereafter; but the counsel of the wicked is far from me; I neither say as they say, nor do as they do. Note; When we are speaking with those whom we know to be captious, we had need be the more explicit, that we may not be misunderstood.
3rdly, Having described the prosperity of the ungodly, he maintains,
1. The continuance of it. How oft is the candle of the wicked, his prosperity, put out? does it not often burn to the last? How oft cometh their destruction upon them? is not the very contrary seen to be very frequently the case? Doth God distribute sorrows in his anger? no; he lives at ease, and knows no affliction. How oft, as his friends had suggested, are they as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carrieth away? experience shews the reverse to be true. Note; Though many instances of God’s interposition against the wicked appear,more commonly, perhaps, they live and die undisturbed in their possessions.
2. He answers an objection, that, though themselves do not suffer, God layeth up iniquity for his children; but admitting it, that would not at all prove the conclusions which Job’s friends would draw; for they require that God should reward him in this life, and he should know it. His eyes should see the destruction, and he should drink of the wrath of the Almighty, in his own person, according to their principles; for else, what pleasure, or what business hath he in his house after him? after death, when their joys or sorrows cannot affect him, when the number of his months is cut off in the midst, and he goes down to the grave.
Perhaps this whole passage may bear a different view, as a concession, that oftentimes the wicked might suffer, but it was not always the case, and that were sufficient to invalidate their arguments. Note; (1.) A wicked parent entails the curse of God upon his family. (2.) There is a cup of trembling filled with the wine of the wrath of God, which will shortly be put into the hand of the ungodly.
3. He maintains the sovereignty of God in all these dispensations. Shall any teach God knowledge? pretend to direct his procedure, seeing he judgeth those that are high, who must shortly appear at his bar, when righteous judgment will be administered. Till then it were presumption to judge of men’s characters by their outward circumstances; for here men equally wicked have very different ends: one goes down to the grave in the midst of prosperity, ease, and affluence; another, after lingering long in misery. Or it may intimate the different kinds of death that men meet; some by a sudden and unexpected stroke, others wasted by sickness and long decay: but in the dust all difference will be at an end, and the worms alike cover all. Note; (1.) God is not only sovereign but just; he doth indeed what he will; but what he wills is always holy, just, and good. (2.) The strongest health is no protection from the stroke of sudden death: it becomes us every moment to be prepared. (3.) If we have ease and appetite, while others groan in pain and loath their food, let us be thankful, and improve the mercy before the evil days come. (4.) However the wicked die, they will meet in one place; whether they go from the palace or the dunghill, they will lie down in flames, and the worm that never dies shall alike prey upon them.
4thly,
1. Job intimates his thorough knowledge of his friends’ design in their former speeches. He saw that they concluded him to be a hypocrite, though wrongfully, and that merely because his dwelling was desolate, as they argued was the constant case with the wicked. Note; Men’s looks and inuendoes often speak as plainly as any language can.
2. He refers them to any traveller for confutation of their assertions, who could give them sure proofs and tokens that wicked men were very commonly in prosperity. This is not the place of recompence, but the next world; there they will receive according to their deeds; and every good man, a traveller to glory, would inform them, if they asked, that the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction; they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath; certain and eternal wrath is their portion hereafter, though now they are great and prosper. Here they are too high to be reproved, and too mighty to be restrained by the arm of human justice; but there they will be convicted and condemned, without the power of resistance. Here, notwithstanding their wickedness, they go in pomp to the grave; a gorgeous sepulchral monument and attendant crowds do them honour even in the dust, to make the clods of the valley sweet unto them; but they shall awake to shame and everlasting contempt. And thus, in death at least, which is the common lot, the wicked will meet their desert, and every man must draw after him, as there are innumerable before him. Note; Death is a beaten road, which, sooner or later, every man must tread. Semel calcanda est via Lethi.
3. He concludes from hence the futility and falsehood of their answers, and the vanity of their pretended consolations. They accused him as a hypocrite, and promised him comfort on his repentance, as if his sufferings, the effect of his sins, would be then removed; whereas he hath proved, that sufferings are not the necessary punishment of guilt here below, seeing that the wicked very commonly prosper; nor was he conscious of the least of those accusations which they suggested.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
(27) Behold, I know your thoughts, and the devices which ye wrongfully imagine against me. (28) For ye say, Where is the house of the prince? and where are the dwelling places of the wicked? (29) Have ye not asked them that go by the way? and do ye not know their tokens, (30) That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction? they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath. (31) Who shall declare his way to his face? and who shall repay him what he hath done? (32) Yet shall he be brought to the grave, and shall remain in the tomb. (33) The clods of the valley shall be sweet unto him, and every man shall draw after him, as there are innumerable before him. (34) How then comfort ye me in vain, seeing in your answers there remaineth falsehood?
In those verses Job makes his conclusion from what he had said; and though he foresees that those three friends would not join issue with him, yet he sets it down as an unquestionable truth, that the prosperity of the wicked becomes a sure argument that there is a day of account to follow; and as the sinner prospers in his iniquity, notwithstanding the eye of GOD is all along upon him, so assuredly there shall be a time when his miseries shall overtake him, when the day of retribution shall come. Hence, therefore, Job leaves them to infer, that the afflictions of the afflicted shall be recompensed, and the issue of their sorrows shall be, they shall have peace at the last. We cannot but admire the reasoning of Job in an age so remote from the gospel, when we find his belief bears so striking a conformity to all that the blessed religion of the LORD JESUS CHRIST hath assured, and established, concerning the final termination of the righteous and of sinners. Rom 2:7-10 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Job 21:27 Behold, I know your thoughts, and the devices [which] ye wrongfully imagine against me.
Ver. 27. Behold, I know your thoughts ] sc. By your words; as it is no hard matter for a wise man to do, Pro 20:5 ; for otherwise, God only knoweth the heart, 1Pe 1:24 Psa 139:3 , it is his royalty. But when men discover their thoughts by their discourses, looks, gestures, &c., we may say, as Job doth here, “I know your thoughts”; and that by the wicked wretch described by you myself is intended; this I am well aware of, though you hover in generals, and speak in a third person. Bartolus writeth of Dr Gabriel Nele, that by the only motion of the lips, without any utterance, he understood any man’s thoughts. The like some say they can do by looks. The Italians have a proverb, That a man with his words close, and his countenance loose, may travel undiscovered all the world over.
And the devices which you wonderfully imagine against me
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Job 21:27-34
Job 21:27-34
UNIVERSAL EXPERIENCE CONTRADICTS HIS FRIENDS’ THEORY
“Behold, I know your thoughts,
And the devices wherewith ye would wrong me.
For ye say, Where is the house of the prince?
And where is the tent wherein the wicked dwelt?
Have ye not asked wayfaring men?
And do ye not know their evidences,
That the evil man is reserved to the day of calamity?
That they are led forth to the day of wrath?
Who shall declare his way to his face?
And who shall repay him what he hath done?
Yet shall he be borne to the grave,
And men shall keep watch over the tomb.
The clods of the valley shall be sweet unto him,
And all men shall draw after him.
How then comfort ye me in vain,
Seeing in your answers there remaineth only falsehood?”
“Behold, I know your thoughts, and the devices wherewith ye would wrong me” (Job 21:27). “I see you are disposed to maintain your position … You say the wicked are overwhelmed with calamities; and, from this, you infer that I am wicked.”
“Where is the house of the prince” (Job 21:28)? “The context here requires us to understand `the prince’ as a reference to a wicked ruler.” The second clause is their inference that even his palace shall be destroyed.
The next two or three verses are somewhat ambiguous, and scholars read them differently; but we paraphrase Job’s reply to his friend’s argument which he here anticipated.
How could you say a thing like that? Ask anyone who has traveled, and knows the way of the world, what happens to an evil ruler. The evil flatterers that surround him would not dare accuse him of any wrong-doing; and when he dies, his body will be ceremoniously carried to a magnificent tomb; a monument will be erected, and an honor guard will stand by the grave!
“Who shall declare his way to his face … repay him what he hath done” (Job 21:31)? Job’s knowledge of what goes on in the houses of rulers was perfect. The answer to the question raised here is: “Nobody, but nobody, would dare suggest to any ancient ruler that he was anything less than absolutely perfect.” It is nothing less than astounding that Job’s friends were either ignorant of this, or pretended to be ignorant. “None would dare oppose a wicked ruler to his face for fear of the consequences.” “Wicked rulers are not only spared by God but left unrebuked by men.”
“In your answers there remaineth only falsehood” (Job 21:34). “All that Job’s friends say was but a dishonest attempt to prove him wicked.” This may appear as a harsh judgment to some; but it should never be forgotten that, in this astounding narrative, Job’s friends were cardinal agents of Satan himself, determined to destroy one of the noblest men who ever lived.
The discerning reader knows what is going on here. “Job is not wicked, or stubborn, or arrogant. He is honest and tenacious. From the very depth of a suffering body and a distressed mind, he cries out for understanding,” still trusting God, in spite of the blind stupidity and/or evil intent of his friends. Job is still perplexed by the mysteries of God’s dealing with men; “But, by now, the reader knows that such enigmas do not prevent Job from trusting in his inexplicable God.”
E.M. Zerr:
Job 21:27-28. The arrogant questions of the friends implied that Job was wicked though he was prosperous. But now where are the dwelling places he once had?
Job 21:29. Job would have his accusers take information from almost anyone. They would be able to speak from observation and form a better conclusion than the “friends.”
Job 21:30. The New Testament teaches this same truth in 2Pe 2:9. Since all are to get their just dues at last, the wicked will not be punished in this life.
Job 21:31-32. The pronouns refer to the wicked man. He is not to be punished in this life, therefore no one can confront him face to face with his doom. No, he will go to his grave the same as other men and remain there until the day of accounts.
Job 21:33. Clods of the valley is a poetic reference to the grave. It is the same valley referred to by David in Psa 23:4 except that he meant the ordeal of death itself, while Job meant the narrow vale of the grave where the body will rest after death. In comparison with the afflictions of the body while in this life, the cold earth will be a place of sweet rest.
Job 21:34. In view of Job’s belief in the final plans of the Lord, he considered the so-called comfort offered to him by his friends as a false one.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
I know: Job 4:8-11, Job 5:3-5, Job 8:3-6, Job 15:20-35, Job 20:5, Job 20:29, Luk 5:22
ye wrongfully: Job 32:3, Job 42:7, Psa 59:4, Psa 119:86, 1Pe 2:19
Reciprocal: Job 9:29 – General Job 13:4 – ye are forgers Job 16:17 – Not for Job 19:7 – I cry Job 20:19 – Because Job 22:5 – not thy Job 22:20 – our substance Job 33:32 – General Job 36:4 – my Joh 9:3 – Neither 1Co 13:5 – thinketh Jam 2:4 – judges
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Job 21:27-28. Behold, I know your thoughts I perceive what you think and will object for your own defence; and the devices Hebrew, , umezimmoth, machinationes pravas, the evil thoughts, or, wicked designs and contrivances; which ye wrongfully imagine , thachmosu, wrest, or violently force, for they strained both Jobs words and their own thoughts, which were biased by prejudice and passion; against me For I well know that your discourses, though they be concerning wicked men in the general, yet are particularly levelled at me, that is, I know what you would insinuate by the speeches which you make, such as this which follows: Where is the house of the prince? Of Job, or his eldest son, whose house God had lately overthrown; it is nowhere: it is lost and gone. And where are the dwelling-places of the wicked? , reshagnim, in the plural, of wicked persons in general. Are not their habitations overthrown? Do not they come to ruin? So the meaning of the question is: that it was apparent from common observation, that eminent judgments, even in this life, were sooner or later the portion of all ungodly men.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The lifelong prosperity of some wicked 21:27-34
By urging his friends to ask travelers (Job 21:29), Job was accusing them of holding a provincial viewpoint, one formed out of limited exposure to life.
"If Job’s friends inquired of well-traveled people, they would learn that in every part of the world, wicked people seem to escape the calamities that fall on the righteous." [Note: Ibid.]
Though some writers have taken Job 21:31 as a quotation of the view of Job’s friends, it is probably Job’s own view. "The day" is probably a reference to the final time God will judge the wicked.
This speech explains Job’s position, which certainly squares with reality better than the one his adversaries advocated. Frequently the wicked do prosper throughout their lives. God does not always cut off evil people prematurely. For example, even though Manasseh was Judah’s worst king, he reigned the longest. Even through Mussolini and Hitler died violent deaths, Lenin and Stalin died in their own beds as old men. Furthermore, "All that desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution" (2Ti 3:12). Job accused his friends of being wrong.
At the end of this second cycle, the advantage in the debate was obviously with Job. Any objective observer of what was going on at that city dump would have had to admit that Job’s arguments made more sense than those of his three friends.
"If you want to be an encouragement to hurting people, try to see things through their eyes. Be humble enough to admit that there might be other points of view." [Note: Ibid., p. 47.]