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Commentary on Job 21 verses 7–16
All Job's three friends, in their last discourses, had been very copious in describing the miserable condition of a wicked man in this world. "It is true," says Job, "remarkable judgments are sometimes brought upon notorious sinners, but not always; for we have many instances of the great and long prosperity of those that are openly and avowedly wicked; though they are hardened in their wickedness by their prosperity, yet they are still suffered to prosper."
I. He here describes their prosperity in the height, and breadth, and length of it. "If this be true, as you say, pray tell me wherefore do the wicked live?" Job 21:7.
1.The matter of fact is taken for granted, for we see instances of it every day. (1.) They live, and are not suddenly cut off by the strokes of divine vengeance. Those yet speak who have set their mouths against the heavens. Those yet act who have stretched out their hands against God. Not only they live (that is, they are reprieved), but they live in prosperity, Sa1 25:6. Nay, (2.) They become old; they have the honour, satisfaction, and advantage of living long, long enough to raise their families and estates. We read of a sinner a hundred years old, Isa 65:20. But this is not all. (3.) They are mighty in power, are preferred to places of authority and trust, and not only make a great figure, but bear a great sway. Vivit imo, et in senatum venit - He not only lives, but appears in the senate. Now wherefore is it so? Note, It is worth while to enquire into the reasons of the outward prosperity of wicked people. It is not because God has forsaken the earth, because he does not see, or does not hate, or cannot punish their wickedness; but it is because the measure of their iniquities is not full. This is the day of God's patience, and, in some way or other, he makes use of them and their prosperity to serve his own counsels, while it ripens them for ruin; but the chief reason is because he will make it to appear there is another world which is the world of retribution, and not this.
2.The prosperity of the wicked is here described to be,
(1.)Complete and consummate. [1.] They are multiplied, and their family is built up, and they have the satisfaction of seeing it (Job 21:8): Their seed is established in their sight. This is put first, as that which gives both a pleasant enjoyment and a pleasing prospect. [2.] They are easy and quiet, Job 21:9. Whereas Zophar had spoken of their continual frights and terrors, Job says, Their houses are safe both from danger and from the fear of it (Job 21:9), and so far are they from the killing wounds of God's sword or arrows that they do not feel the smart of so much as the rod of God upon them. [3.] They are rich and thrive in their estates. Of this he gives only one instance, Job 21:10. Their cattle increase, and they meet with no disappointment in them; not so much as a cow casts her calf, and then their much must needs grow more. This is promised, Exo 23:26; Deu 7:14. [4.] They are merry and live a jovial life (Job 21:11, Job 21:12): They send forth their little ones abroad among their neighbours, like a flock, in great numbers, to sport themselves. They have their balls and music-meetings, at which their children dance; and dancing is fittest for children, who know not better how to spend their time and whose innocency guards them against the mischiefs that commonly attend it. Though the parents are not so very youthful and frolicsome as to dance themselves, yet they take the timbrel and harp; they pipe, and their children dance after their pipe, and they know no grief to put their instruments out of tune or to withhold their hearts from any joy. Some observe that this is an instance of their vanity, as well as of their prosperity. Here is none of that care taken of their children which Abraham took of his, to teach them the way of the Lord, Gen 18:19. Their children do not pray, or say their catechism, but dance, and sing, and rejoice at the sound of the organ. Sensual pleasures are all the delights of carnal people, and as men are themselves so they breed their children.
(2.)Continuing and constant (Job 21:13): They spend their days, all their days, in wealth, and never know what it is to want - in mirth, and never know what sadness means; and at last, without any previous alarms to frighten them, without any anguish or agony, in a moment they go down to the grave, and there are no bands in their death. If there were not another life after this, it were most desirable to die by the quickest shortest strokes of death. Since we must go down to the grave, if that were the furthest of our journey, we should wish to go down in a moment, to swallow the bitter pill, and not chew it.
II. He shows how they abuse their prosperity and are confirmed and hardened by it in their impiety, Job 21:14, Job 21:15.
1.Their gold and silver serve to steel them, to make them more insolent, and more impudent, in their wickedness. Now he mentions this either, (1.) To increase the difficulty. It is strange that any wicked people should prosper thus, but especially that those should prosper who have arrived at such a pitch of wickedness as openly to bid defiance to God himself, and tell him to his face that they care not for him; nay, and that their prosperity should be continued, though they bear up themselves upon that, in their opposition to God; with that weapon they fight against him, and yet are not disarmed. Or, (2.) To lessen the difficulty. God suffers them to prosper; but let us not wonder at it, for the prosperity of fools destroys them, by hardening them in sin, Pro 1:32; Psa 73:7-9.
2.See how light these prospering sinners make of God and religion, as if because they have so much of this world they had no need to look after another.
(1.)See how ill affected they are to God and religion; they abandon them, and cast off the thoughts of them. [1.] They dread the presence of God; they say unto him, "Depart from us; let us never be troubled with the apprehension of our being under God's eye nor be restrained by the fear of him." Or they bid him depart as one they do not need, nor have any occasion to make use of. The world is the portion they have chosen, and take up with, and think themselves happy in; while they have that they can live without God. Justly will God say Depart (Mat 25:41) to those who have bidden him depart; and justly does he now take them at their word. [2.] They dread the knowledge of God, and of his will, and of their duty to him: We desire not the knowledge of thy ways. Those that are resolved not to walk in God's ways desire not to know them, because their knowledge will be a continual reproach to their disobedience, Joh 3:19.
(2.)See how they argue against God and religion (Job 21:15): What is the Almighty? Strange that ever creatures should speak so insolently, that ever reasonable creatures should speak so absurdly and unreasonably. The two great bonds by which we are drawn and held to religion are those of duty and interest; now they here endeavour to break both these bonds asunder. [1.] They will not believe it is their duty to be religious: What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? Like Pharaoh (Exo 5:2), Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice? Observe, First, How slightly they speak of God: What is the Almighty? As if he were a mere name, a mere cipher, or one they have nothing to do with and that has nothing to do with them. Secondly, How hardly they speak of religion. They call it a service, and mean a hard service. Is it not enough, they think, to keep up a fair correspondence with the Almighty, but they must serve him, which they look upon as a task and drudgery. Thirdly, How highly they speak of themselves: "That we should serve him; we who are rich and mighty in power, shall we be subject and accountable to him? No, we are lords," Jer 2:31. [2.] They will not believe it is their interest to be religious: What profit shall we have if we pray unto him? All the world are for what they can get, and therefore wisdom's merchandise is neglected, because they think there is nothing to be got by it. It is vain to serve God, Mal 3:13, Mal 3:14. Praying will not pay debts nor portion children; nay, perhaps serious godliness may hinder a man's preferment and expose him to losses; and what then? Is nothing to be called gain but the wealth and honour of this world? If we obtain the favour of God, and spiritual and eternal blessings, we have no reason to complain of losing by our religion. But, if we have not profit by prayer, it is our own fault (Isa 58:3, Isa 58:4), it is because we ask amiss, Jam 4:3. Religion itself is not a vain thing; if it be so to us, we may thank ourselves for resting in the outside of it, Jam 1:26.
III. He shows their folly herein, and utterly disclaims all concurrence with them (Job 21:19): Lo, their good is not in their hand, that is, they did not get it without God, and therefore they are very ungrateful to slight him thus. It was not their might, nor the power of their hand, that got them this wealth, and therefore they ought to remember God who gave it them. Nor can they keep it without God, and therefore they are very unwise to lose their interest in him and bid him to depart from them. Some give this sense of it: "Their good is in their barns and their bags, hoarded up there; it is not in their hand, to do good to others with it; and then what good does it do them?" "Therefore," says Job, "the counsel of the wicked is far from me. Far be it from me that I should be of their mind, say as they say, do as they do, and take my measures from them. Their posterity approve their sayings, though their way be their folly (Psa 49:13); but I know better things than to walk in their counsel."
Certainly God does not cease from benefiting the wicked, in order to show that he has no hate against them, so that they may not say, “Since God hates us, he will never open the door of repentance to us.” And while he severely and sternly acts with the righteous, he nevertheless offers his love to the unrighteous. The rewards to be granted in time for [righteous] virtues are the future signs of the good works they do.
Since you believe to be wise and to know the reason why I suffer these afflictions, now answer my question. Why does it happen that very often many impious persons reach an old age in their wealth?… Their fields produce large crops, and they are delighted by their children and enjoy a constant abundance. They fear no one and receive no blow sent them by God. Their plowing cow does not give birth to an immature fetus, that is, it does not generate an imperfect or dead fetus, and their wives have no miscarriages. And they remain in prosperity like a flock, that is, free from care.
49. Yes, O blessed man, thou hadst for long dilated on their joys, how dost thou now declare that ‘in a point of time they go down to the lower parts,’ saving that all length of time of the present life is then known to be but a ‘point,’ when it is cut short by the end? For when a person is brought to the last end, he no longer keeps aught of the past, seeing that all the periods of time have elapsed, he has nought in the future, in that there remain not to him the moments of a single hour. So the life, which could be thus narrowed, was but a ‘point’ of time. For as we have before said, we set down the style in a point, and lift it up; and so he as it were touched life by a point who received and lost it. By a ‘point’ it is possible that this also may be understood, that it often happens that they that were long borne with in wickedness, are seized by sudden death, that it should not even be granted them to bewail before death the things they have done wrong, but seeing that occasionally the life of the righteous also is cut short by a sudden end, we shall understand it better, if we take the words of their temporal life, in that whatever was capable of passing away was sudden. But the friends of blessed Job, who believed him to be unrighteous on this account that they saw him afflicted with scourges, rightly have the truth shown them by the voice of that holy man concerning the blooming and ruin of the wicked, in that prosperity in the present life is no witness to innocency, since many are brought back to everlasting life by scourges, and very many die without a scourge to be dragged to infinite woes.
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SUMMARY
Job 21:13 presents a profound challenge to the simplistic retributive theology held by Job's friends, asserting that the wicked often live lives of unhindered prosperity and ease, culminating in a swift and peaceful death. This verse serves as a stark empirical counter-argument, forcing a deeper contemplation of divine justice, the enigmatic nature of God's providence, and the complex reality of suffering and prosperity in the world, moving beyond superficial cause-and-effect explanations.
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Job 21:13 employs several potent literary devices to convey its challenging message and underscore the perplexing reality it describes. The most prominent is Irony, as Job presents a lived reality that is the exact opposite of what his friends' conventional theology predicts. The wicked, who should suffer and face a dreadful end, instead "spend their days in wealth," and rather than a drawn-out, painful death, they "in a moment go down to the grave." This ironic observation serves to dismantle the simplistic framework of divine retribution. Closely related is Juxtaposition, where the extended period of "days in wealth" (implying a long, comfortable life) is sharply contrasted with the suddenness of "in a moment go down to the grave." This stark contrast highlights the unexpected and seemingly unjust nature of their fate from a human perspective, emphasizing the disjunction between human expectations of justice and observable reality. Furthermore, the verse uses Understatement in its description of death; simply "go down to the grave" for the wicked, rather than vivid descriptions of torment or public humiliation, further emphasizes the lack of visible, immediate divine punishment that Job's friends expected.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Job 21:13 serves as a profound theological challenge, forcing a confrontation with the mystery of divine justice and the apparent inequities of the world. It shatters the comfortable, simplistic notion that God's justice always operates on a visible, immediate, and perfectly equitable basis within earthly life. Job's observation that the wicked often prosper and die peacefully compels a deeper understanding of God's sovereignty, reminding us that His ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts deeper than our thoughts. This verse does not deny divine justice but rather questions its timing and manifestation, pointing to a justice that transcends human comprehension and immediate observation. It implicitly points to a future, ultimate accountability that may not be fully realized in this life, thus inviting a robust faith in God's ultimate righteousness despite present appearances.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Job 21:13 offers a crucial lens through which to view the world and our faith, particularly in a society that often equates material prosperity with divine favor and suffering with divine displeasure. This verse serves as a powerful corrective, calling us not to be dismayed or disillusioned by the apparent success of those who disregard God, nor to hastily judge the suffering of others as a direct sign of their sin. Instead, it encourages a robust trust in God's ultimate righteousness and sovereignty, even when present circumstances defy our expectations of immediate divine retribution. It reminds us that earthly wealth and ease are fleeting, and true justice often operates on a timeline and in ways that are beyond human comprehension. Our focus should remain on faithfulness, integrity, and obedience to God, regardless of external circumstances, knowing that God's final judgment is sure, and His wisdom is unfathomable, ultimately bringing all things into perfect alignment.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
Does Job 21:13 mean that God doesn't care about justice, or that the wicked will never be punished?
Answer: No, Job 21:13 does not imply that God is indifferent to justice or that the wicked will escape punishment. Instead, it highlights that divine justice does not always manifest immediately or visibly in this earthly life, nor does it always conform to human expectations of swift retribution. Job's observation is a realistic portrayal of the world, where the wicked often prosper and die peacefully, which deeply perplexed him and his friends. The book of Job, and indeed the entirety of Scripture, consistently affirms God's perfect justice and His ultimate judgment of all humanity. Verses like Romans 2:6 and Revelation 20:12 confirm that a final, comprehensive accounting awaits everyone. Job's point is not to deny future judgment but to challenge the simplistic idea that all justice is meted out in this life, thereby encouraging a deeper trust in God's sovereign timing and methods, which often transcend human understanding.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
Job 21:13, with its unsettling observation of the wicked's prosperity and peaceful end, finds its ultimate resolution and reinterpretation in the person and work of Jesus Christ. While Job grappled with the apparent injustice of the present world, the New Testament reveals a divine plan where justice is not merely delayed but perfectly executed through the cross and resurrection. Jesus, the perfectly righteous one, did not "spend His days in wealth" but rather "had nowhere to lay His head" (Matthew 8:20) and endured immense suffering, culminating in a public, agonizing death—the very opposite of the "moment" into the grave described for the wicked in Job. Yet, through His suffering, Christ bore the judgment for all sin, both of the righteous and the wicked, offering a path to true spiritual wealth and eternal life for those who believe (2 Corinthians 8:9). Furthermore, Christ's resurrection ensures that death is not the final word, and His promised return guarantees a day when all hidden things will be revealed, and perfect justice will be meted out to every individual (Acts 17:31). Thus, the temporary prosperity of the wicked, which so perplexed Job, pales in comparison to the eternal judgment they will face, while the suffering of the righteous is transformed into glory through their union with Christ, who conquered both sin and death, providing the ultimate answer to the dilemma posed by Job.