Job 21:6 ESV

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Job 21:1-34

Job’s reply to Zophar (21:1-34)There are two main reasons for Job’s impatient speech. One is the frustration of arguing with a person whom he cannot see or hear. The other is the constant pain that torments him. If the friends can understand this and stop their mockery for a moment, Job will answer Zophar’s statement calmly (21:1-6). The wicked are not always swiftly destroyed as Zophar claims. Many enjoy long lives of peace, prosperity and happiness (7-13). The wicked fight against God yet... read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Job 21:5-15

Job 21:5-15. Mark me, and be admonished, &c.— The coldest reader cannot be insensible of the beauties of the poetry in this speech of Job. We will not, therefore, attempt to point them out, but attend to the thread of reasoning. As Job well knew that the account he was about to give of the prosperity of wicked men, however necessary to his argument, would have something shocking in it to the ears of those to whom it was addressed; the delicacy with which he introduces it is inimitable: Mark... read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Job 21:6

6. remember—Think on it. Can you wonder that I broke out into complaints, when the struggle was not with men, but with the Almighty? Reconcile, if you can, the ceaseless woes of the innocent with the divine justice! Is it not enough to make one tremble? [UMBREIT]. read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Job 21:1-6

Job’s request to be heard 21:1-6The best consolation his friends could have provided was to listen quietly to Job’s reply. So Job requested this (Job 21:2). He reminded his companions that his complaint was with God, not people. He was impatient because God would not reply. read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Job 21:1-34

6. Job’s second reply to Zophar ch. 21After the first cycle of speeches, Job responded to a point each of his friends had made, namely, that God consistently blesses the righteous and blasts the unrighteous. After this second cycle of speeches, Job again replied to a point each accuser had made: that the wicked suffer destruction in this life."This speech is unusual for Job on several counts. It is the only one in which he confines his remarks to his friends and does not fall into either a... read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Job 21:1-34

Job’s Sixth SpeechZophar, like the other friends, had insisted on the certain retribution for sin which befalls the wicked in this life. Now at length these views draw from Job a direct contradiction. It is his manner to wait till the three friends have spoken before he demolishes their case.1-21. Job declares that as a matter of common observation bad men often go prosperously through life without any sign of God’s displeasure.4. To man] RM ’of man.’ It is of God that Job complains. And if,... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Dictionary of Texts - Job 21:1-34

Job 21:7 ; Job 21:9 'Napoleon,' observes Lord Rosebery, 'is often only thinking aloud in the bitterness of his heart,' in his conversation on religion, 'as when he says that he cannot believe in a just God punishing and rewarding, for good people are always unfortunate and scoundrels are always lucky: "look at Talleyrand, he is sure to die in his bed".' Quoting this and similar passages from Job in the fourth chapter of his Service of Man, Mr. Cotter Morison adds: 'Probably few religious... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Bible Commentary - Job 21:1-34

XVIII.ARE THE WAYS OF THE LORD EQUAL?Job 21:1-34Job SPEAKSWITH less of personal distress and a more collected mind than before Job begins a reply to Zophar. His brave hope of vindication has fortified his soul and is not without effect upon his bodily state. The quietness of tone in this final address of the second colloquy contrasts with his former agitation and the growing eagerness of the friends to convict him of wrong. True, he has still to speak of facts of human life troublous and... read more

Arno Clemens Gaebelein

Arno Gaebelein's Annotated Bible - Job 21:1-34

CHAPTER 21 Job’s Reply 1. Hear my solemn words--then mock on (Job 21:1-6 ) 2. His testimony concerning the experiences of the wicked (Job 21:7-26 ) 3. Your answers are nothing but falsehoods (Job 21:27-34 ) Job 21:1-6 . This answer shows that Job gets the upper hand over his accusing friends in this controversy. In a masterly way he meets their arguments. He wants them to hear diligently, and if they choose, after he has spoken, they may mock on. He is not complaining to man, or making... read more

L.M. Grant

L. M. Grant's Commentary on the Bible - Job 21:1-34

JOB SILENCES ZOPHAR (vv.1-34). The callous cruelty of Zophar's speech would surely cause some men to be bitterly angry, but while Job was incensed by such treatment, he did not lose his temper. He was well in control of himself in spite of so deeply feeling the anguish of his sufferings as well as the unfeeling criticism of his friends. After Job's speaking in this chapter, Zophar has nothing more to say. THE SOLEMNITY OF DEALING WITH GOD (vv.1-16) Rather than replying in the same... read more