Job 21

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 21:15

What is the Almighty, that we should serve him ?.... "Who is he" F20 מה "quis est?" V. L. ? as some render it; or what is there in him, in his nature, in his excellencies and perfections, that should oblige us to serve him? One would think the attribute of "Almighty", they own and acknowledge, is sufficient to engage to it, since he is the lawgiver that is able to save and to destroy, even to destroy with an everlasting destruction, both body and soul in hell, who obey him not; but... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 21:16

Lo, their good is not in their hand ,.... Though it is in their possession for the present, it is not in the power of their hands to keep, nor to carry it with them when they die; God, that gave it, can take it away when he pleases; and therefore it might be profitable to them to serve him and pray unto him: or "their good is not by their hand"; they do not obtain their happiness by their works, as in the Tigurine version; and to the same sense Mr. Broughton, "lo, their wealth cometh... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 21:17

How oft is the candle of the wicked put out ?.... Job here returns, as Jarchi observes, to his former account of the constant and continued prosperity of wicked men; and puts questions tending to prove the same. Bildad had said, that the light and candle of the wicked would be put out, Job 18:5 . Job, referring to this, asks how often this is the case; meaning, by the candle of the wicked, not his soul or spirit, which cannot be put out, or become extinct, as to be no more; nor the light... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 21:18

They are as stubble before the wind ,.... Or how oft "are they as stubble?" &c.; or how oft does God do the above things, "so that they are", or "become, as stubble before the wind" F21 יהיו כתבן "ut sint velut palea", Tigurine version; so Broughton, "quoties sunt", Junius & Tremellius; "quoties fiunt", Piscator, Michaelis. , and as chaff that the storm carrieth , or "steals away" F24 גנבתו "furatus est eam", Montanus; "suffuratur", Vatablus; "furatur", Drusius,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 21:19

God layeth up his iniquity for his children ,.... This is a prevention of an objection which Job foresaw his friends would make, and therefore takes it up and answers to it; you will say, that, be it so, that the wicked are for the most part prosperous, and their prosperity continues; God does not punish them now for their sins in their own persons, yet he will punish them in their children, for whom he reserves the punishment of their iniquity: this way go many of the Jewish commentators ... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 21:20

His eyes shall see his destruction ,.... Or "should see his destruction" F2 יראו עינו כריו "videret ejus oculi exitium suum", Beza, Cocceius. ; calamities coming upon himself and upon his children; or otherwise it will not affect him: but when a man has a personal experience of affliction as punishments of his sin, or with his own eyes sees his children in distressed circumstances on his account, this must sensibly affect him, and be a sore punishment to him; as it was to... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 21:21

For what pleasure hath he in his house after him ,.... As, on the one hand, the prosperity of his children after his decease gives him no pleasure and delight, so, on the other hand, the calamities and distresses of his family for his sins and theirs give him no pain or uneasiness; he knows nothing that befalls them, and it is no part of his concern; and let what will befall them, he cares not for it; he feels it not, he is not sensible of it; and therefore to object that signifies... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 21:22

Shall any teach God knowledge ?.... Who is a God of knowledge, and knows all things, that teaches men knowledge; will any one take upon him to teach him the path of judgment, and the way of understanding, how he shall govern the world, and dispose of men and things in it? see Isaiah 40:13 . Will anyone be so bold and audacious as to pretend to direct and instruct him whom he shall afflict, and whom not, and when he shall do it, and in what manner? should not these things be left to him,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 21:23

One dieth in his full strength ,.... Man is born a weak feeble creature, and it is by degrees, and through various stages of infancy, childhood, and youth, that he arrives to his full strength in manhood; and, when he does, sometimes so it is, that his strength is not weakened in the course of his life by a train of disorders and diseases, as it is in some; but death seizes and carries him off in the prime of his days, and in the fulness of his strength; for no strength of man, even the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 21:24

His breasts are full of milk ,.... As this is not literally true of men, some versions read the words otherwise; his bowels or intestines are full of fat, as the Vulgate Latin and Septuagint; and others, his sides or ribs are full of fat, as the Syriac and Arabic; the words for "side" and "fat" being near in sound to those here used; and so it describes a man fit and plump, and fleshy, when death lays hold upon him, and not wasted with consumptions and pining sickness, as in the case of... read more

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