with a false opinion? That is certainly an element in his motivation. But there is more to it than that. There is a hidden implicate of this argument about the fate of the wicked that affects him personally. If the wicked are not punished, it can only mean that there is no correlation between deed and consequence. But then, if recompense is not meted out for the wicked, why should we expect it to be granted to the righteous? By force of his moral conviction of his innocence, Job reached by chap.