Job 21:14-24

14 "They say to God, '1Depart from us! We do not even desire the knowledge of Your ways.
15 'Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him, And 2what would we gain if we entreat Him?'
16 "Behold, their prosperity is not in their hand; The 3counsel of the wicked is far from me.
17 "How often is 4the lamp of the wicked put out, Or does their 5calamity fall on them? Does God apportion destruction in His anger?
18 "Are they as 6straw before the wind, And like 7chaff which the storm carries away?
19 "You say, '8God stores away a man's iniquity for his sons.' Let God repay him so that he may know it.
20 "Let his 9own eyes see his decay, And let him 10drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
21 "For what does he care for his household after him, When the number of his months is cut off?
22 "Can anyone 11teach God knowledge, In that He 12judges those on high?
23 "One 13dies in his full strength, Being wholly at ease and satisfied;
24 His sides are filled out with fat, And the 14marrow of his bones is moist,

Job 21:14-24 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JOB 21

This chapter contains Job's reply to Zophar's preceding discourse, in which, after a preface exciting attention to what he was about to say, Job 21:1-6; he describes by various instances the prosperity of wicked men, even of the most impious and atheistical, and which continues with them as long as they live, contrary to what Zophar had asserted in Job 20:5, Job 21:7-15; as for himself, he disapproved of such wicked men as much as any, and owns that destruction comes upon them sooner or later, and on their posterity also, Job 21:16-21; but as God is a God of knowledge, and needs no instruction from any, and is a sovereign Being, he deals with men in different ways; some die in great ease, and peace, and prosperity, and others in bitterness and distress, but both are alike brought to the dust, Job 21:22-26; and whereas he was aware of their censures of him, and their objections to what he had said, he allows that the wicked are reserved to the day of destruction, which is future, and in the mean while lie in the grave, where all must follow; yet they are not repaid or rewarded in this life, that remains to be done in another world, Job 21:27-33; and concludes, that their consolation with respect to him was vain, and falsehood was in their answers, Job 21:34.

Cross References 14

  • 1. Job 22:17
  • 2. Job 22:17; Job 34:9
  • 3. Job 22:18
  • 4. Job 18:5, 6
  • 5. Job 31:2, 3
  • 6. Job 13:25; Psalms 83:13
  • 7. Psalms 1:4; Psalms 35:5; Isaiah 17:13; Hosea 13:3
  • 8. Exodus 20:5; Jeremiah 31:29; Ezekiel 18:2
  • 9. Numbers 14:28-32; Jeremiah 31:30; Ezekiel 18:4
  • 10. Psalms 60:3; Isaiah 51:17; Jeremiah 25:15; Revelation 14:10
  • 11. Job 35:11; Job 36:22; Isaiah 40:14; Romans 11:34
  • 12. Job 4:18; Job 15:15; Psalms 82:1
  • 13. Job 20:11; Job 21:13
  • 14. Proverbs 3:8

Footnotes 9

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