Job 21:7 NIV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Job 21:7-16

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... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 21:7

Wherefore do the wicked live ,.... Which question is put either to God himself, as not knowing ow to account for it, or to reconcile it to his divine perfections; that he, a holy, just, and righteous Being, should suffer such wretches to live upon his earth, who had been, and still were, continually sinning against him, transgressing his law, and trampling under foot his power and authority; when he, a man that feared the Lord, as God himself had borne witness of him, laboured under such... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 21:7

Wherefore do the wicked live - You have frequently asserted that the wicked are invariably punished in this life; and that the righteous are ever distinguished by the strongest marks of God's providential kindness; how then does it come that many wicked men live long and prosperously, and at last die in peace, without any evidence whatever of God's displeasure? This is a fact that is occurring daily; none can deny it; how then will you reconcile it with your maxims? read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 21:1-34

Job answers Zophar, as he had answered Bildad, in a single not very lengthy chapter. After a few caustic introductory remarks (verses 2-4), he takes up the challenge which Zophar had thrown out, respecting the certain punishment, in this life, of the wicked ( Job 20:4-29 ), and maintains, "in language of unparalleled boldness'' (Cook), the converse of the proposition. The wicked, he says, live, grow old, attain to great power, have a numerous and flourishing offspring, prosper, grow... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 21:1-34

Job to Zophar: Audi alteram partem. I. THE SPIRIT OF JOB 'S REPLY . 1 . Intense earnestness. Indicated by the respectful invitation addressed to his friends to attend to his discourse, the nervous reduplication of the verb "hear," and the assurance that such behaviour on their part would more effectually console him than all their eloquent and laboured harangues. Job's character of eminent sanctity, Job's condition of extreme wretchedness, and Job's condemnation by the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 21:1-34

Diverse interpretations of life. The friends of Job remain entrenched in the one firm position, as they think it, which they have from the first taken up. No appeals on his part have availed to soften their hearts, or induce a reconsideration of the rigid theory of suffering which they have adopted. But he now, no longer confining himself to the assertion of his personal innocence, makes an attack upon their position. He dwells upon the great enigma of life—the prosperity of the wicked... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 21:7

Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, yea, are mighty in power? Job asks for an explanation of the facts which his own experience has impressed upon him. He has seen that "the wicked live" quite as long as the righteous, that in many cases they attain to a ripe old age, and become among the powerful of the earth. The great "pyramid kings" of Egypt, whose cruel oppressions were remembered down to the time of Herodotus (Herod; 2.124-128), reigned respectively, according to Egyptian... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 21:7-15

The perverse misapplication of the Divine goodness. Job is ready with his answer. Although Zophar has correctly represented the judgments that come upon the wicked, and the evils to which wickedness not unfrequently lead, yet many cases of departure from this rule are to be observed. Job therefore proposes a counter-question," Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, yea, are mighty in power? "He then depicts the prosperity which again and again marks the career of the wicked, to whom the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 21:7-21

The prosperity of the wicked. Job here gives his version of the old familiar theme. It is not as the three friends supposed. These neat maxims do not fit in with the facts of life as Job has seen them. The prosperity of the wicked is a real though a mysterious fact, one that cannot be gainsaid. I. THE FACTS AS WITNESSED IN LIFE . 1 . An established family. Job's home is desolate. The seed of the wicked is established in their sight. They have their children about... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Job 21:7

Wherefore do the wicked live? - Job comes now to the main design of his argument in this chapter, to show that it is a fact, that the wicked often have great prosperity; that they are not treated in this life according to their character; and that it is not a fact that men of eminent wickedness, as his friends maintained, would meet, in this life, with proportionate sufferings. He says, that the fact is, that they enjoy great prosperity; that they live to a great age; and that they are... read more

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Job 21:7-16

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 21:7

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 21:7

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 21:1-34

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 21:1-34

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 21:1-34

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 21:7

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 21:7-15

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 21:7-21

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Job 21:7

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