Wisdom & Poetry · Old Testament
Job 21
Job 21: why do the wicked live and grow old?
General context
Job answers Zophar. He asks the friends to hear him and let that be their consolations, to suffer him to speak and afterwards mock on. His complaint is not to man, he says, and when he remembers he trembles. He asks why the wicked live, become old and grow mighty. Their seed is established before their eyes, their houses are safe from fear, the rod of God is not on them; their cattle breed; their little ones go out like a flock and their children dance to timbrel and harp; they spend their days in wealth and in a moment go down to the grave. They tell God to depart and ask what the Almighty is that they should serve him. Job says their good is not in their hand and the counsel of the wicked is far from him. He asks how often the candle of the wicked is put out, says God lays up the man's iniquity for his children and that his eyes see his destruction, and asks what pleasure he has in his house once his months are cut off. He asks whether anyone can teach God knowledge. One man dies in full strength at ease, another in bitterness of soul, and both lie down alike in the dust under worms. Job says he knows the friends' thoughts and the devices they imagine against him, and that they ask where the house of the prince is. He tells them to ask travellers, whose tokens show that the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction, that no one repays him to his face, and that he is brought to the grave with every man drawing after him. He closes by asking how they can comfort him in vain when their answers hold falsehood.
Cited passages: Job 21:1, Job 21:2, Job 21:3, Job 21:4, Job 21:5, Job 21:6, Job 21:7, Job 21:8, Job 21:9, Job 21:11, Job 21:13, Job 21:14, Job 21:15, Job 21:16, Job 21:17, Job 21:18, Job 21:19, Job 21:20, Job 21:21, Job 21:22, Job 21:23, Job 21:25, Job 21:26, Job 21:27, Job 21:28, Job 21:30, Job 21:31, Job 21:32, Job 21:33, Job 21:34
Job 21 (KJV)
1But Job answered and said,
2Hear diligently my speech, and let this be your consolations.
3Suffer me that I may speak; and after that I have spoken, mock on.
4As for me, is my complaint to man? and if it were so, why should not my spirit be troubled?
5Mark me, and be astonished, and lay your hand upon your mouth.
6Even when I remember I am afraid, and trembling taketh hold on my flesh.
7Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, yea, are mighty in power?
8Their seed is established in their sight with them, and their offspring before their eyes.
9Their houses are safe from fear, neither is the rod of God upon them.
10Their bull gendereth, and faileth not; their cow calveth, and casteth not her calf.
11They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance.
12They take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ.
13They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave.
14Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways.
15What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what profit should we have, if we pray unto him?
16Lo, their good is not in their hand: the counsel of the wicked is far from me.
17How oft is the candle of the wicked put out! and how oft cometh their destruction upon them! God distributeth sorrows in his anger.
18They are as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carrieth away.
19God layeth up his iniquity for his children: he rewardeth him, and he shall know it.
20His eyes shall see his destruction, and he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
21For what pleasure hath he in his house after him, when the number of his months is cut off in the midst?
22Shall any teach God knowledge? seeing he judgeth those that are high.
23One dieth in his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet.
24His breasts are full of milk, and his bones are moistened with marrow.
25And another dieth in the bitterness of his soul, and never eateth with pleasure.
26They shall lie down alike in the dust, and the worms shall cover them.
27Behold, I know your thoughts, and the devices which ye wrongfully imagine against me.
28For ye say, Where is the house of the prince? and where are the dwelling places of the wicked?
29Have ye not asked them that go by the way? and do ye not know their tokens,
30That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction? they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath.
31Who shall declare his way to his face? and who shall repay him what he hath done?
32Yet shall he be brought to the grave, and shall remain in the tomb.
33The clods of the valley shall be sweet unto him, and every man shall draw after him, as there are innumerable before him.
34How then comfort ye me in vain, seeing in your answers there remaineth falsehood?
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Historical context
The narrator's line is But Job answered and said; Job replies to Zophar's second speech, and Eliphaz speaks next at 22.1. The description of the wicked prospering in verses 7 to 13 is Job's observation, set directly against Zophar's the triumphing of the wicked is short in 20.5 and Bildad's the light of the wicked shall be put out in 18.5; the narrator does not judge between them. The words Job puts in the mouths of the wicked, Depart from us and What is the Almighty, that we should serve him, are his report of their attitude, not a quotation of any person in the book. Verses 17 to 21 are printed as Job's own statements; they resemble the friends' claims in 18.6 and 20.10, and the text does not mark them as quotation or as irony, so how they fit Job's argument is left to the reader. I know your thoughts and ye say, Where is the house of the prince are Job's account of what the friends think; no friend has used those words in the recorded speeches. The day of destruction in verse 30 is not dated or described.
Cited passages: Job 21:1, Job 22:1, Job 21:7, Job 20:5, Job 18:5, Job 21:14, Job 21:15, Job 21:17, Job 21:19, Job 18:6, Job 20:10, Job 21:27, Job 21:28, Job 21:30
Literary context
The chapter opens with a request for the one thing the friends have not given, a hearing: Hear diligently my speech, and let this be your consolations, with the wry permission to mock on afterwards. The central question, Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, yea, are mighty in power, is answered by a picture that reverses everything the friends promised the righteous: established seed, safe houses, breeding cattle, dancing children, music, wealth, and a quick death. The features match Eliphaz's promises to Job in 5.24 to 26 and Bildad's in 8.6 and 7, but here they belong to those who say Depart from us. The pair of deaths in verses 23 to 26, one at ease and one in bitterness, ending They shall lie down alike in the dust, answers Zophar's insistence in 20.29 that the wicked man's portion is distinct. Job's Shall any teach God knowledge turns the friends' own appeal to God's greatness into a bar on their explanations. The final verse names their answers as falsehood, which sets up the harder accusations of the third round.
Cited passages: Job 21:2, Job 21:3, Job 21:7, Job 21:8, Job 21:9, Job 21:11, Job 21:13, Job 5:24, Job 5:25, Job 8:7, Job 21:14, Job 21:23, Job 21:25, Job 21:26, Job 20:29, Job 21:22, Job 21:34
Key moments
- Hear me, then mock on (Job 21:3). Job asks the friends to let him speak before they mock.
- Why do the wicked live? (Job 21:7). Job asks why the wicked grow old and mighty.
- Their children dance (Job 21:11). Job says the wicked send out their little ones like a flock.
- Depart from us (Job 21:14). Job reports the wicked telling God to depart.
- Who can teach God? (Job 21:22). Job asks whether anyone can teach God knowledge.
- Alike in the dust (Job 21:26). Job says the man at ease and the man in bitterness lie down alike.
- Falsehood in your answers (Job 21:34). Job says the friends' comfort is vain.
For reflection
Job says the man at ease and the man in bitterness lie down alike in the dust, and the friends say the wicked man's end is different. Which claim does the text, at this point, give the reader more evidence for, and what would count as evidence?
