Job 21

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Job 21

1 But Job answered and said,

2 Hear diligently my speech, and let this be your consolations.

3 Suffer me that I may speak; and after that I have spoken, mock on.

4 As for me, is my complaint to man? and if it were so, why should not my spirit be troubled?

5 Mark me, and be astonished, and lay your hand upon your mouth.

6 Even when I remember I am afraid, and trembling taketh hold on my flesh.

7 Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, yea, are mighty in power?

8 Their seed is established in their sight with them, and their offspring before their eyes.

9 Their houses are safe from fear, neither is the rod of God upon them.

10 Their bull gendereth, and faileth not; their cow calveth, and casteth not her calf.

11 They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance.

12 They take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ.

13 They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave.

14 Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways.

15 What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what profit should we have, if we pray unto him?

16 Lo, their good is not in their hand: the counsel of the wicked is far from me.

17 How oft is the candle of the wicked put out! and how oft cometh their destruction upon them! God distributeth sorrows in his anger.

18 They are as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carrieth away.

19 God layeth up his iniquity for his children: he rewardeth him, and he shall know it.

20 His eyes shall see his destruction, and he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty.

21 For what pleasure hath he in his house after him, when the number of his months is cut off in the midst?

22 Shall any teach God knowledge? seeing he judgeth those that are high.

23 One dieth in his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet.

24 His breasts are full of milk, and his bones are moistened with marrow.

25 And another dieth in the bitterness of his soul, and never eateth with pleasure.

26 They shall lie down alike in the dust, and the worms shall cover them.

27 Behold, I know your thoughts, and the devices which ye wrongfully imagine against me.

28 For ye say, Where is the house of the prince? and where are the dwelling places of the wicked?

29 Have ye not asked them that go by the way? and do ye not know their tokens,

30 That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction? they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath.

31 Who shall declare his way to his face? and who shall repay him what he hath done?

32 Yet shall he be brought to the grave, and shall remain in the tomb.

33 The clods of the valley shall be sweet unto him, and every man shall draw after him, as there are innumerable before him.

34 How then comfort ye me in vain, seeing in your answers there remaineth falsehood?

Notes

Cross Reference

Concordance

Commentary

Rashi

Verse 2

<html>Job’s answer and this shall be your consolations The fact that you will keep your peace and listen to me this will be my consolation from you.</html>

Verse 3

<html>Bear with me Heb. שאוני, endure me.</html>

Verse 4

<html>Am I speaking to man Why should you make an issue of my complaint? Am I complaining to a man like me that he should listen to me? Why then should I not be short of breath to cry out from my straits?</html>

Verse 5

<html>Turn to me to listen. and be silent Be astonished at my words. and place your hand upon your mouth because you will not know what to answer.</html>

Verse 6

<html>Now when I remember the thing I wish to say, “Why do the wicked live?” I become frightened for I see the wicked men of the Flood.</html>

Verse 9

<html>peace from fear Demons had no power over them.</html>

Verse 10

<html>His bull impregnates a female. and does not fail He does not eject into her inferior sperm, which would be cast out of her body without impregnating her. Every expression of געילה means casting out, and so it is in the language of the Mishnah (Avodah Zarah 75a), One must purge them (מגעילן) with boiling water. Similarly (II Sam. 1:21), “for there the shield of the mighty was rejected (נגעל).” Its anointing was cast out, and it was as though it had not been anointed with oil, for they were accustomed to anointing the leather shields in order that it be smooth and cause the spear or javelin that strikes it to glide off. It is like (Isa. 21:5), “princes, anoint a shield.” his cow bears young She gives birth to her young at the proper time. and does not abort before its time.</html>

Verse 11

<html>They send forth their infants like sheep etc. At the time of his birth, he would go and dance immediately, and if he would meet a demon, he would battle with him, and his mother would say to him, “Bring me a pair of scissors and I will cut your umbilical cord,” in Haggadath Bereishith, “Go and light a candle for me,” in Gen. Rabbah (36:1).</html>

Verse 12

<html>They raise They would raise their voice in song with the tambourine and the harp. The flute (עוגב) is only an expression of sensual laughter (עגבות) (aboyement in French, barking.) So I heard.</html>

Verse 13

<html>and in a moment they descend to the grave When his dying day arrived, he would die in a moment, easily, without suffering. they descend Heb. יחתו, they descend, which is in Targum נחיתוּ.</html>

Verse 15

<html>and what will it avail us What benefit do we have if we pray to Him? We do not need Him for the drops of rain, because “a cloud would ascend from the earth” (Gen. 2:6).</html>

Verse 16

<html>Behold, is not their prosperity in their hand This is a question: Is not all their prosperity in their hand? The counsel of the wicked has distanced itself from me Job was boasting that he saw them [the wicked] and was not counted among them.</html>

Verse 17

<html>How long? May the lamp of the wicked be snuffed out This refers back to the above, to (verse 7) “Why do the wicked live on?” How long will You lengthen this time [the lifetime of the wicked]? Then he continues and curses them, “May the lamp of the wicked be snuffed out…” lots Heb. חבלים, the lot that they deserve.</html>

Verse 19

<html>Should God lay away his violence for his sons This is a question. Is this just, that this one should sin all his life and die in peace, and his violence and his wickedness the Holy One, blessed be He, should lay away for his sons, to punish them? Let Him requite him so that he should know it is a praise to the Holy One, blessed be He, that He Himself requite the wicked man his recompense so that he understand that he dealt wickedly.</html>

Verse 20

<html>Let his eyes see his ruin Heb. כידו, his ruin, but I cannot find a comparison in the Bible. However, according to the context of the verse, it appears to mean ruin, and so, many did not find a comparison to it. (כידו An expression of אֵידוֹ, his ruin. The “aleph” is substituted by a “chaff.”)</html>

Verse 21

<html>For what does He care about his house after him since the number of his months has been cut off For what does he care (saklirir in Old French) or desire in his house after his death, to worry in his lifetime about the retribution destined to befall them, since the number of his months has been cut off and they will end before the evil that the Omnipresent promised them, viz. (Gen. 6:3) “therefore his days shall be 120 years.” This is what I said to you (verse 5), “Turn to me and be silent.”</html>

Verse 22

<html>Can anyone teach knowledge for God Is there anyone among you who is in the place of God, who can teach the knowledge of what this standard is [i.e., the standard of God’s judgment]? But He judges high-handedly Heb. והוא רמים ישפוט. [He punishes the exalted.] Those like me, and the righteous and the esteemed, He chastises, judges, and requites, like (below 24:18), “and he will not turn in the way of the vineyards,” stated in regard to Noah and Methuselah in the Aggadah of [chapter] Chelek (Sanh. 108a). Another explanation: Can anyone teach God knowledge? That is, do I have to teach Him knowledge to judge fairly? He Himself knows that it is so, but He passes high- handed judgments with His loftiness and His greatness, and He does not care to be exact. I heard this one but not the first one.</html>

Verse 23

<html>This one The wicked man. dies (Is punished.) in his full strength in the appearance of his perfection, lacking nothing. tranquil Heb. שַׁלְאֲנָן, like שַׁאֲנָן.</html>

Verse 24

<html>His pails are full of milk Heb. עטיניו. This is the language of the Mishnah (Menahoth 86a): “He packs it (עוטנו) in the olive press.” They gather the olives together, and their oil forms globules and gathers in its midst in order to be ready when he presses it in the press, and that vessel in which they gather it in order for its oil to gather within it is called “ma’atan.” Here too, his milk and his moisture and fat are called “atinav.”</html>

Verse 25

<html>And this one dies with a bitter spirit Those that are exalted and holy to Him—them He requites immediately.</html>

Verse 26

<html>Together on the earth they lie After their death, it is not recognizable to the people who is good and who is bad, because this one is like that one; they lie on the earth together.</html>

Verse 27

<html>Lo, I know your thoughts and the devices that you wrongfully think against me You do wrong to think injustice.</html>

Verse 28

<html>For etc. Because of the evil that has befallen me, you say, “Look, where is the house of this man who was a prince, and where is the tent and the dwellings of the other wicked men?” That is to say that he is like them. Because of his wickedness, his house was lost. (Now why do you rely on your tranquility?)</html>

Verse 29

<html>Have you not asked etc. All these parables you are composing about me. and their signs which they made known to you, you shall not make strange to yourselves by not paying attention to them, like (Gen. 42:7), “But he made himself a stranger (ויתנכר) to them.”</html>

Verse 30

<html>That They told you that… the wicked man is reserved for the day of calamity The wicked man is withheld and spared from evil and reserved for the day that is appointed for his calamity, like (below 38:23), “That I have saved for a time of trouble.” I laid them away and spared them to let them know until the day of battle and war.</html>

Verse 31

<html>Who will tell His way to His face Who is the great king who will tell His way to His face and will not fear Him? How exalted He is! That is the Holy One, blessed be He, Who did. and who will requite Him Who will requite Him with the recompense for His wickedness?</html>

Verse 32

<html>But he will be borne to the grave He will ultimately be borne to the grave. and he will hasten to be beside the stacks of grain when he is buried in the fields beside the stacks of grain.</html>

Verse 33

<html>clods balast in French (which the sailors bring into the holds of the ships in order to weigh them down.) as there were innumerable ones before him Those who draw after the same way. All these devices you think against me.</html>

Verse 34

<html>Now how do you comfort me with futility Since only betrayal remains of your replies, the replies of wisdom are forgotten and lost from you, and of your replies, [those] left in your hands are only replies of betrayal. betrayal This word (מעל) is a noun, which is why it is voweled with a kamatz, and the accent is on the first syllable.</html>

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Table of Contents

Job 21

Job 21

Notes

Cross Reference

Concordance

Commentary

Rashi

Verse 2

Verse 3

Verse 4

Verse 5

Verse 6

Verse 9

Verse 10

Verse 11

Verse 12

Verse 13

Verse 15

Verse 16

Verse 17

Verse 19

Verse 20

Verse 21

Verse 22

Verse 23

Verse 24

Verse 25

Verse 26

Verse 27

Verse 28

Verse 29

Verse 30

Verse 31

Verse 32

Verse 33

Verse 34