# Job 21 đ: Job on the Prosperity of the Wicked
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[[-Job Overview]] | [[Job 20]] | [[Job 22]]
> [!info] Table of Contents
> [[#đ Scripture Text (NET)]]
> [[#đ Verse-by-Verse Commentary]]
> [[#đ¤ Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights]]
> [[#đ§ Chapter Summary]]
> [[#âď¸ Christ in This Chapter]]
> [[#đ Key Principles / đ Life Application]]
> [[#đŹ Discussion Questions]]
> [[#âď¸ Key Verses to Remember]]
> [[#đ Related Passages/Cross Reference]]
> [[#đ Devotional Reflection]]
> [[#đ Internal Notes]]
## đ Scripture Text (NET)
(The NET Bible: New English Translation. Biblical Studies Press, 2005)
### Jobâs Reply to Zophar
[[#Verse 01.]]Â Then Job answered:
[[#Verse 02.]] âListen carefully to my words;
let this be the consolation you offer me.
[[#Verse 03.]] Bear with me and I will speak,
and after I have spoken you may mock.
[[#Verse 04.]] Is my complaint against a man?
If so, why should I not be impatient?
[[#Verse 05.]] Look at me and be appalled;
put your hands over your mouths.
[[#Verse 06.]] For, when I think about this, I am terrified
and my body feels a shudder.
## The Wicked Prosper
[[#Verse 07.]]Â âWhy do the wicked go on living,
grow old, even increase in power?
[[#Verse 08.]] Their children are firmly established in their presence,
their offspring before their eyes.
[[#Verse 09.]] Their houses are safe and without fear;
and no rod of punishment from God is upon them.
[[#Verse 10.]] Their bulls breed without fail;
their cows calve and do not miscarry.
[[#Verse 11.]] They allow their children to run like a flock;
their little ones dance about.
[[#Verse 12.]] They sing to the accompaniment of tambourine and harp,
and make merry to the sound of the flute.
[[#Verse 13.]] They live out their years in prosperity
and go down to the grave in peace.
[[#Verse 14.]]Â So they say to God, âTurn away from us!
We do not want to know your ways.
[[#Verse 15.]] Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him? What would we gain if we were to pray to him?â
[[#Verse 16.]]Â But their prosperity is not their own doing.
The counsel of the wicked is far from me!
## How Often Do the Wicked Suffer?
[[#Verse 17.]] âHow often is the lamp of the wicked extinguished?
How often does their misfortune come upon them?
How often does God apportion pain to them in his anger?
[[#Verse 18.]] How often are they like straw before the wind,
and like chaff swept away by a whirlwind?
[[#Verse 19.]] You may say, âGod stores up a manâs punishment for his children!â Instead let him repay the man himself so that he may be humbled!
[[#Verse 20.]]Â Let his own eyes see his destruction;
let him drink of the anger of the Almighty.
[[#Verse 21.]] For what is his interest in his home
after his death,
when the number of his months
has been broken off?
[[#Verse 22.]] Can anyone teach God knowledge,
since he judges those that are on high?
## Death Levels Everything
[[#Verse 23.]]Â âOne man dies in his full vigor,
completely secure and prosperous,
[[#Verse 24.]] his body well nourished,
and the marrow of his bones moist.
[[#Verse 25.]] And another man dies in bitterness of soul,
never having tasted anything good.
[[#Verse 26.]]Â Together they lie down in the dust,
and worms cover over them both.
## Futile Words, Deceptive Answers
[[#Verse 27.]]Â âYes, I know what you are thinking,
the schemes by which you would wrong me.
[[#Verse 28.]]Â For you say, âWhere now is the noblemanâs house, and where are the tents in which the wicked lived?â
[[#Verse 29.]]Â Have you never questioned those who travel the roads?
Do you not recognize their accountsâ
[[#Verse 30.]]Â that the evil man is spared from the day of his misfortune, that he is delivered from the day of Godâs wrath?
[[#Verse 31.]]Â No one denounces his conduct to his face;
no one repays him for what he has done.
[[#Verse 32.]]Â And when he is carried to the tombs,
and watch is kept over the funeral mound,
[[#Verse 33.]] The clods of the torrent valley are sweet to him;
behind him everybody follows in procession,
and before him goes a countless throng.
[[#Verse 34.]]Â So how can you console me with your futile words?
Nothing is left of your answers but deception!â
## đ Verse-by-Verse Commentary
###### Overall.
###### Verse 01.
###### Verse 02.
###### Verse 03.
###### Verse 04.
###### Verse 05.
###### Verse 06.
###### Verse 07.
###### Verse 08.
###### Verse 09.
###### Verse 10.
###### Verse 11.
###### Verse 12.
###### Verse 13.
###### Verse 14.
###### Verse 15.
###### Verse 16.
###### Verse 17.
###### Verse 18.
###### Verse 19.
###### Verse 20.
###### Verse 21.
###### Verse 22.
###### Verse 23.
###### Verse 24.
###### Verse 25.
###### Verse 26.
###### Verse 27.
###### Verse 28.
###### Verse 29.
###### Verse 30.
###### Verse 31.
###### Verse 32.
###### Verse 33.
###### Verse 34.
## đ¤ Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights
1. Chapter 21 ends the second cycle and is Job's most direct challenge to his friends' theology.
2. Job says the wicked's children dance and sing with tambourine, lyre, and flute (21:11-12).
3. Job's description of the wicked's safe homes (21:9) directly contradicts Bildad (18:15).
4. Job asks how often the lamp of the wicked actually goes out (21:17), answering Bildad's claim in 18:5-6.
5. Job observes that one person dies in full vigor and another dies in bitterness, yet both lie in the dust (21:23-26).
6. Job's friends had claimed God stores up punishment for the children of the wicked, and Job argues the wicked themselves should feel it (21:19-20).
7. Job says travelers could tell his friends that the wicked are often spared (21:29-30).
8. Job notes that the wicked often receive honorable funerals with guarded tombs (21:32-33).
9. Job calls his friends' answers "falsehood" (21:34).
10. Job's honesty in this chapter reflects the struggle also found in Psalm 73.
## đ§ Chapter Summary
> [!note] đą Still growing. This section is on its way.
## âď¸ Christ in This Chapter
Christ is the One who shows that present prosperity is not the final word. In His story of the rich man and Lazarus, the comfortable man suffers after death and the suffering man is comforted (Luke 16:19-25), answering Job's complaint that the wicked often prosper (21:7).
## đ Key Principles / đ Life Application
> [!note] đą Still growing. This section is on its way.
## đŹ Discussion Questions
1. Job says the wicked often live long and prosper (21:7-13). Why is that observation honest and important?
2. The wicked say, "Who is the Almighty that we should serve Him?" (21:15). How does that attitude show up today?
3. Job says his complaint is not against a man (21:4). How can we bring our honest complaints to God in a way that honors Him?
## âď¸ Key Verses to Remember
- đ verse 4: Job says his complaint is not against a mere man.
- đ verse 7: Job asks why the wicked live, grow old, and grow powerful.
- đ verse 15: The wicked ask who the Almighty is that they should serve Him.
## đ Related Passages/Cross Reference
- đ [[Luke 16#Verse 19.|Luke 16:19-25]] - The rich man and Lazarus.
- đ [[Psalm 73#Verse 03.|Psalm 73:3-17]] - Envy of the wicked until entering God's sanctuary.
- đ [[Jeremiah 12#Verse 01.|Jeremiah 12:1]] - Why does the way of the wicked prosper?
- đ [[Malachi 03#Verse 14.|Malachi 3:14-18]] - God distinguishes between the righteous and the wicked.
- đ [[Ecclesiastes 08#Verse 14.|Ecclesiastes 8:14]] - The righteous and wicked sometimes receive what the other deserves.
## đ Devotional Reflection
đ SOAP: [[Job 21 - SOAP|God Wants Real Conversation]]
## đ Internal Notes