Job 21

1 And Job answereth and saith: --

2 Hear ye diligently my word, And this is your consolation.

3 Bear with me, and I speak, And after my speaking -- ye may deride.

4 I -- to man [is] my complaint? and if [so], wherefore May not my temper become short?

5 Turn unto me, and be astonished, And put hand to mouth.

6 Yea, if I have remembered, then I have been troubled. And my flesh hath taken fright.

7 Wherefore do the wicked live? They have become old, Yea, they have been mighty in wealth.

8 Their seed is established, Before their face with them, And their offspring before their eyes.

9 Their houses [are] peace without fear, Nor [is] a rod of God upon them.

10 His bullock hath eaten corn, and doth not loath. His cow bringeth forth safely, And doth not miscarry.

11 They send forth as a flock their sucklings, And their children skip,

12 They lift [themselves] up at timbrel and harp, And rejoice at the sound of an organ.

13 They wear out in good their days, And in a moment [to] Sheol go down.

14 And they say to God, `Turn aside from us, And the knowledge of Thy ways We have not desired.

15 What [is] the Mighty One that we serve Him? And what do we profit when we meet with Him?'

16 Lo, not in their hand [is] their good, (The counsel of the wicked Hath been far from me.)

17 How oft is the lamp of the wicked extinguished, And come on them doth their calamity? Pangs He apportioneth in His anger.

18 They are as straw before wind, And as chaff a hurricane hath stolen away,

19 God layeth up for his sons his sorrow, He giveth recompense unto him -- and he knoweth.

20 His own eyes see his destruction, And of the wrath of the Mighty he drinketh.

21 For what [is] his delight in his house after him, And the number of his months cut off?

22 To God doth [one] teach knowledge, And He the high doth judge?

23 This [one] dieth in his perfect strength, Wholly at ease and quiet.

24 His breasts have been full of milk, And marrow his bones doth moisten.

25 And this [one] dieth with a bitter soul, And have not eaten with gladness.

26 Together -- on the dust they lie down, And the worm doth cover them over.

27 Lo, I have known your thoughts, And the devices against me ye do wrongfully.

28 For ye say, `Where [is] the house of the noble? And where the tent -- The tabernacles of the wicked?'

29 Have ye not asked those passing by the way? And their signs do ye not know?

30 That to a day of calamity is the wicked spared. To a day of wrath they are brought.

31 Who doth declare to his face his way? And [for] that which he hath done, Who doth give recompence to him?

32 And he -- to the graves he is brought. And over the heap a watch is kept.

33 Sweet to him have been the clods of the valley, And after him every man he draweth, And before him there is no numbering.

34 And how do ye comfort me [with] vanity, And in your answers hath been left trespass?

Job 21 Commentary

Chapter 21

Job entreats attention. (1-6) The prosperity of the wicked. (7-16) The dealings of God's providence. (17-26) The judgement of the wicked is in the world to come. (27-34)

Verses 1-6 Job comes closer to the question in dispute. This was, Whether outward prosperity is a mark of the true church, and the true members of it, so that ruin of a man's prosperity proves him a hypocrite? This they asserted, but Job denied. If they looked upon him, they might see misery enough to demand compassion, and their bold interpretations of this mysterious providence should be turned into silent wonder.

Verses 7-16 Job says, Remarkable judgments are sometimes brought upon notorious sinners, but not always. Wherefore is it so? This is the day of God's patience; and, in some way or other, he makes use of the prosperity of the wicked to serve his own counsels, while it ripens them for ruin; but the chief reason is, because he will make it appear there is another world. These prospering sinners make light of God and religion, as if because they have so much of this world, they had no need to look after another. But religion is not a vain thing. If it be so to us, we may thank ourselves for resting on the outside of it. Job shows their folly.

Verses 17-26 Job had described the prosperity of wicked people; in these verses he opposes this to what his friends had maintained about their certain ruin in this life. He reconciles this to the holiness and justice of God. Even while they prosper thus, they are light and worthless, of no account with God, or with wise men. In the height of their pomp and power, there is but a step between them and ruin. Job refers the difference Providence makes between one wicked man and another, into the wisdom of God. He is Judge of all the earth, and he will do right. So vast is the disproportion between time and eternity, that if hell be the lot of every sinner at last, it makes little difference if one goes singing thither, and another sighing. If one wicked man die in a palace, and another in a dungeon, the worm that dies not, and the fire that is not quenched, will be the same to them. Thus differences in this world are not worth perplexing ourselves about.

Verses 27-34 Job opposes the opinion of his friends, That the wicked are sure to fall into visible and remarkable ruin, and none but the wicked; upon which principle they condemned Job as wicked. Turn to whom you will, you will find that the punishment of sinners is designed more for the other world than for this, ( Jude 1:14 Jude 1:15 ) . The sinner is here supposed to live in a great deal of power. The sinner shall have a splendid funeral: a poor thing for any man to be proud of the prospect of. He shall have a stately monument. And a valley with springs of water to keep the turf green, was accounted an honourable burial place among eastern people; but such things are vain distinctions. Death closes his prosperity. It is but a poor encouragement to die, that others have died before us. That which makes a man die with true courage, is, with faith to remember that Jesus Christ died and was laid in the grave, not only before us, but for us. That He hath gone before us, and died for us, who is alive and liveth for us, is true consolation in the hour of death.

Chapter Summary

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.