Logos Bible Study

Job 27:13–23

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27:13This is the portion of the wicked man

allotted by God,24

the inheritance that evildoers receive

from the Almighty.

27:14If his children increase—it is for the sword!25

His offspring never have enough to eat.26

27:15Those who survive him are buried by the plague,27

and their28 widows do not mourn for them.

27:16If he piles up silver like dust

and stores up clothing like mounds of clay,

27:17what he stores up29 a righteous man will wear,

and an innocent man will inherit his silver.

27:18The house he builds is as fragile as a moth’s cocoon,30

like a hut31 that a watchman has made.

27:19He goes to bed wealthy, but will do so no more.32

When he opens his eyes, it is all gone.33

27:20Terrors overwhelm him like a flood;34

at night a whirlwind carries him off.

27:21The east wind carries him away, and he is gone;

it sweeps him out of his place.

27:22It hurls itself against him without pity35

as he flees headlong from its power.

27:23It claps36 its hands at him in derision

and hisses him away from his place.37

III. Job’s Search for Wisdom (28:1–28)

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Footnotes

  1. 24 The expression “allotted by God” interprets the simple prepositional phrase in the text: “with/from God.”
  2. 25 R. Gordis (Job, 294) identifies this as a breviloquence. Compare Ps 92:8 where the last two words also constitute the apodosis.
  3. 26 Heb “will not be satisfied with bread/food.”
  4. 27 The text says “will be buried in/by death.” A number of passages in the Bible use “death” to mean the plague that kills (see Jer 15:2; Isa 28:3; and 89 בְּ 2.a). In this sense it is like the English expression for the plague, “the Black Death.”
  5. 28 The has “their widows” to match the plural, and most commentators harmonize in the same way.
  6. 29 The text simply repeats the verb from the last clause. It could be treated as a separate short clause: “He may store it up, but the righteous will wear it. But it also could be understood as the object of the following verb, “[what] he stores up the righteous will wear.” The simply has, “All these things shall the righteous gain.”
  7. 30 Heb כָעָשׁ (kha’ash, “like a moth”), but this leaves room for clarification. Some commentators wanted to change it to “bird’s nest” or just “nest” (cf. ) to make the parallelism; see Job 4:14. But the word is not found. The has a double expression, “as moths, as a spider.” So several take it as the spider’s web, which is certainly unsubstantial (cf. , , ; see Job 8:14).
  8. 31 The Hebrew word is the word for “booth,” as in the Feast of Booths. The word describes something that is flimsy; it is not substantial at all.
  9. 32 The verb is the Niphal יֵאָסֵף (ye’asef), from אָסַף (’asaf, “to gather”). So, “he lies down rich, but he is not gathered.” This does not make much sense. It would mean “he will not be gathered for burial,” but that does not belong here. Many commentators accept the variant יֹאסִף (yo’sif) stood for יוֹסִיף (yosif, “will [not] add”). This is what the and the have. This leads to the interpretive translation that “he will do so no longer.”
  10. 33 Heb “and he is not.” One view is that this must mean that he dies, not that his wealth is gone. R. Gordis (Job, 295) says the first part should be made impersonal: “when one opens one’s eyes, the wicked is no longer there.” E. Dhorme (Job, 396) has it more simply: “He has opened his eyes, and it is for the last time.” But the other view is that the wealth goes overnight. In support of this is the introduction into the verse of the wealthy. The , , ESV, and take it that “wealth is gone.”
  11. 34 Many commentators want a word parallel to “in the night.” And so we are offered בַּיּוֹם (bayyom, “in the day”) for כַמַּיִם (khammayim, “like waters”) as well as a number of others. But “waters” sometimes stand for major calamities, and so may be retained here. Besides, not all parallel structures are synonymous.
  12. 35 The verb is once again functioning in an adverbial sense. The text has “it hurls itself against him and shows no mercy.”
  13. 36 If the same subject is to be carried through here, it is the wind. That would make this a bold personification, perhaps suggesting the force of the wind. Others argue that it is unlikely that the wind claps its hands. They suggest taking the verb with an indefinite subject: “he claps” means “one claps. The idea is that of people rejoicing when the wicked are gone. But the parallelism is against this unless the second line is changed as well. R. Gordis (Job, 296) has “men will clap their hands … men will whistle upon him.”
  14. 37 Or “hisses at him from its place” (ESV).

The NET Bible First Edition, Copyright 1996-2005 by Biblical Studies Press

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

“This is the portion of a wicked man with God,

and the heritage that oppressors receive from the Almighty:

If his children are multiplied, it is for the sword,

and his descendants have not enough bread.

Those who survive him the pestilence buries,

and his widows do not weep.

Though he heap up silver like dust,

and pile up clothing like clay,

he may pile it up, but the righteous will wear it,

and the innocent will divide the silver.

He builds his house like a moth’s,

like a booth that a watchman makes.

He goes to bed rich, but will do so no more;

he opens his eyes, and his wealth is gone.

Terrors overtake him like a flood;

in the night a whirlwind carries him off.

The east wind lifts him up and he is gone;

it sweeps him out of his place.

It hurls at him without pity;

he flees from its power in headlong flight.

It claps its hands at him

and hisses at him from its place.

Copyright 2001 Crossway Bibles

NIVNew International Version (2011)

“Here is the fate God allots to the wicked,

the heritage a ruthless man receives from the Almighty:

However many his children, their fate is the sword;

his offspring will never have enough to eat.

The plague will bury those who survive him,

and their widows will not weep for them.

Though he heaps up silver like dust

and clothes like piles of clay,

what he lays up the righteous will wear,

and the innocent will divide his silver.

The house he builds is like a moth’s cocoon,

like a hut made by a watchman.

He lies down wealthy, but will do so no more;

when he opens his eyes, all is gone.

Terrors overtake him like a flood;

a tempest snatches him away in the night.

The east wind carries him off, and he is gone;

it sweeps him out of his place.

It hurls itself against him without mercy

as he flees headlong from its power.

It claps its hands in derision

and hisses him out of his place.”

Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 Biblica, Inc.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

This is a wicked man’s lot from God,

the inheritance the ruthless receive from the Almighty.

Even if his children increase, they are destined for the sword;

his descendants will never have enough food.

Those who survive him will be buried by the plague,

yet their widows will not weep for them.

Though he piles up silver like dust

and heaps up fine clothing like clay—

he may heap it up, but the righteous will wear it,

and the innocent will divide up his silver.

The house he built is like a moth’s cocoon

or a shelter set up by a watchman.

He lies down wealthy, but will do so no more;

when he opens his eyes, it is gone.

Terrors overtake him like a flood;

a storm wind sweeps him away at night.

An east wind picks him up, and he is gone;

it carries him away from his place.

It blasts at him without mercy,

while he flees desperately from its force.

It claps its hands at him

and scoffs at him from its place.

Copyright 2017 Holman Bible Publishers

NLTNew Living Translation

“This is what the wicked will receive from God;

this is their inheritance from the Almighty.

They may have many children,

but the children will die in war or starve to death.

Those who survive will die of a plague,

and not even their widows will mourn them.

“Evil people may have piles of money

and may store away mounds of clothing.

But the righteous will wear that clothing,

and the innocent will divide that money.

The wicked build houses as fragile as a spider’s web,

as flimsy as a shelter made of branches.

The wicked go to bed rich

but wake to find that all their wealth is gone.

Terror overwhelms them like a flood,

and they are blown away in the storms of the night.

The east wind carries them away, and they are gone.

It sweeps them away.

It whirls down on them without mercy.

They struggle to flee from its power.

But everyone jeers at them

and mocks them.

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

“This is the portion of the wicked human being with God,

and they receive from Shaddai the inheritance of the ruthless.

If their children multiply, it is for the sword,

and his offspring do not have enough to eat.

Their survivors are buried through the plague,

and their widows do not weep.

If he heaps up silver like the dust

and fashions clothing like the clay,

he makes it ready, and the righteous will wear it,

and the innocent will divide the silver.

“He builds his house like the moth,

and like a booth that a watchman has made.

He goes to bed with wealth, but he will do so no more;

he opens his eyes, and it is gone.

Terrors overtake him like the water;

a storm wind carries him off in the night.

The east wind lifts him up, and he is gone,

and it sweeps him away from his place.

And it hurls at him, and it has no compassion;

he will quickly flee from its power.

It claps its hands over him,

and it hisses at him from its place.

Copyright 2012 Lexham Press

KJV 1900King James Version

This is the portion of a wicked man with God,

And the heritage of oppressors, which they shall receive of the Almighty.

If his children be multiplied, it is for the sword:

And his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread.

Those that remain of him shall be buried in death:

And his widows shall not weep.

Though he heap up silver as the dust,

And prepare raiment as the clay;

He may prepare it, but the just shall put it on,

And the innocent shall divide the silver.

He buildeth his house as a moth,

And as a booth that the keeper maketh.

The rich man shall lie down, but he shall not be gathered:

He openeth his eyes, and he is not.

Terrors take hold on him as waters,

A tempest stealeth him away in the night.

The east wind carrieth him away, and he departeth:

And as a storm hurleth him out of his place.

For God shall cast upon him, and not spare:

He would fain flee out of his hand.

Men shall clap their hands at him,

And shall hiss him out of his place.

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