Job Challenges Retribution Theology
Job 21:1-34
Job.21.1 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויען: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- איוב: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- ויאמר: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Job 6:1 (verbal): Uses the same speech-introduction formula (“And Job answered and said”), beginning Job’s first extended reply to Eliphaz.
- Job 12:1 (structural): Another occurrence introducing a major reply (this time to Bildad); marks a turn in the dialogue as Job speaks at length.
- Job 13:1 (verbal): Same verbal formula introducing continued argumentation by Job as he presses his case against his friends’ assertions.
- Job 29:1 (thematic): Speech introduction that launches Job’s reminiscence of former prosperity—another structural marker dividing cycles of speeches.
- Job 31:1 (structural): Introduces Job’s final lengthy self-vindication and oath-like ethical testimony; serves the same dialogical function of framing Job’s address.
Alternative generated candidates
- Then Job answered and said:
- Then Job answered and said:
Job.21.2 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- שמעו: VERB,qal,impv,2,m,pl
- שמוע: VERB,qal,infc
- מלתי: NOUN,f,sg,abs+PRON,1,sg
- ותהי: VERB,qal,perf,3,f,sg
- זאת: DEM,f,sg
- תנחומתיכם: NOUN,f,pl,abs+2mp
Parallels
- Job 2:11-13 (structural): Friends come to sit with Job and 'comfort' him; provides the immediate narrative setting for Job's appeal to be heard and for the theme of consolation.
- Job 16:2 (verbal): Job calls his friends 'miserable comforters,' a direct response to their attempts at consolation that echoes and reframes the ironic tone of 'let this be your consolation' in 21:2.
- Job 6:24 (thematic): Job pleads 'Teach me, and I will hold my tongue'—an earlier plea to hear and instruct him that parallels the appeal in 21:2 to listen to his speech as a form of consolation or reckoning.
- 2 Corinthians 1:4 (thematic): Paul describes God as the one who 'comforts us in all our affliction, that we may comfort those who are in any affliction,' offering a theological contrast to human consolations debated in Job.
Alternative generated candidates
- Hear now my speech, and let this be your consolation.
- Listen to my speech; hear my words, and let this be your consolation.
Job.21.3 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- שאוני: VERB,qal,imp,2,m,pl
- ואנכי: PRON,1,sg
- אדבר: VERB,qal,impf,1,sg
- ואחר: CONJ
- דברי: NOUN,m,pl,abs+PRON,1,c,sg
- תלעיג: VERB,qal,imperfect,2,m,pl
Parallels
- Job 6:24 (verbal): Both verses address the dynamics of speech and hearing in the dialogue: Job (or his interlocutor) asks to be instructed/listened to before replying; similar Hebrew verb patterns about speaking and silence connect the lines.
- Job 13:5 (structural): Both verses negotiate proper conduct in the debate—Job/participant frames an expected response (here: 'bear with me, I will speak; then mock') while 13:5 urges silence from the friends—showing the book’s recurring concern with when to speak or hold silence.
- Matthew 5:11 (thematic): Jesus’ beatitude about being reviled and persecuted for righteousness parallels the theme of being mocked or reproached after speaking/truth-telling—endurance of ridicule as a consequence of one’s testimony.
- 1 Peter 4:14-16 (thematic): Peter exhorts believers who suffer reproach for confessing Christ to endure and not be ashamed—echoing Job’s experience of being mocked after speaking and the theological reflection on suffering under reproach.
Alternative generated candidates
- Bear with me a little, and let me speak; and after I have spoken you may deride.
- Hear me, and I will speak; and afterward you may jeer at my words.
Job.21.4 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- האנכי: PRON,1,sg
- לאדם: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- שיחי: NOUN,m,sg,suff
- ואם: CONJ
- מדוע: ADV
- לא: PART_NEG
- תקצר: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
- רוחי: NOUN,f,sg,abs+1cs
Parallels
- Job 16:2 (verbal): Job accuses his friends of being 'miserable comforters'—a direct verbal and topical echo of the complaint that his friends' words provide no real comfort.
- Job 13:3-5 (thematic): Job insists on speaking to God and rebukes his friends for their empty talk ('O that ye would altogether hold your peace!'), reflecting the same resistance to their attempted consolation.
- Job 6:14 (thematic): Speaks to the expected duty of a friend to show pity to the afflicted; Job 21:4 likewise contrasts that expectation with the friends' inadequate consolation.
- Psalm 88:18 (thematic): A lament over the loss or absence of friends and comfort ('You have taken from me friend and neighbor'), paralleling Job's complaint that his companions' words fail to truly sustain him.
Alternative generated candidates
- Am I a man of words?—and if I were, why should my wind be cut short?
- Am I a man of mockery or a laughingstock? Why should my spirit be cut short?
Job.21.5 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- פנו: VERB,qal,imp,2,m,pl
- אלי: PREP+PRON,1,sg
- והשמו: VERB,hiph,imp,2,m,pl
- ושימו: VERB,qal,imp,2,m,pl
- יד: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- על: PREP
- פה: ADV
Parallels
- Job 40:4 (verbal): Same gesture and phrase — 'I lay my hand upon my mouth' (or 'I put my hand over my mouth') appears here, a close verbal parallel to Job 21:5's command to 'put your hand on your mouth.'
- Psalm 39:2–3 (thematic): Speaks of keeping silent and restraining the tongue ('I was mute with silence; I held my peace'), echoing Job 21:5's injunction to be silent and cover the mouth.
- Psalm 46:10 (thematic): The imperative 'Be still (or be silent), and know that I am God' parallels the call in Job 21:5 for silence and attentive awe before the speaker/subject.
- Habakkuk 2:20 (thematic): 'But the LORD is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him' — a communal command to be silent before the divine, thematically akin to Job's demand for silence and restraint of speech.
Alternative generated candidates
- Mark me, and be astonished; lay your hand upon your mouth.
- Turn toward me, set your hand upon your mouth.
Job.21.6 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ואם: CONJ
- זכרתי: VERB,qal,perf,1,na,sg
- ונבהלתי: VERB,niphal,perf,1,?,sg
- ואחז: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,sg
- בשרי: NOUN,m,sg,suff
- פלצות: NOUN,f,sg,abs
Parallels
- Habakkuk 3:16 (verbal): Both texts depict a bodily reaction of trembling and convulsion at a fearful memory or vision (Habakkuk: 'my belly trembled... my lips quivered... my bones tremble'), matching Job's 'I am terrified and trembling seizes my flesh.'
- Psalm 77:3-4 (thematic): Speaks of remembering and being deeply disturbed—'when I remember, I am troubled; my spirit faints'—parallel to Job's link between remembrance and horror/trembling.
- Psalm 55:5 (verbal): Expresses the same physical/emotional state: 'Fear and trembling are come upon me, and horror hath overwhelmed me,' echoing Job's fear and bodily trembling on remembering.
- Lamentations 3:19-20 (thematic): The speaker recalls affliction and misery and is bowed down in spirit—parallels Job's motif that remembrance of suffering provokes intense inward distress and bodily reaction.
Alternative generated candidates
- When I remember I am dismayed, and trembling seizes my flesh.
- Even if I remember and am alarmed, and my flesh trembles from dread,
Job.21.7 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- מדוע: ADV
- רשעים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- יחיו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- עתקו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- גם: ADV
- גברו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- חיל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Psalm 73:12 (verbal): Uses nearly the same observation — the wicked prosper and increase in wealth, echoing Job’s question about why the wicked live and grow powerful.
- Jeremiah 12:1 (thematic): The prophet likewise questions God about the prosperity of the wicked: “Why does the way of the wicked prosper?” — the same moral perplexity as Job’s complaint.
- Ecclesiastes 8:14 (thematic): Expresses the paradox that sometimes the righteous suffer and the wicked prosper, reflecting the same theme of unjust success that Job raises.
- Psalm 49:16–17 (thematic): Addresses the phenomenon of men becoming rich (including the wicked) and warns against envying such prosperity, engaging the same problem Job describes.
- Job 24:1 (structural): Within the same book Job continues the investigation of social injustice and the unchecked success of evildoers, making this passage a close structural parallel to 21:7.
Alternative generated candidates
- Why do the wicked live, grow old, increase in power?
- why do the wicked live, grow old, and increase in power?
Job.21.8 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- זרעם: NOUN,m,sg,abs,PRON,3,pl
- נכון: ADJ,m,sg,abs
- לפניהם: PREP,3,m,pl
- עמם: PREP+PRON,3,m,pl
- וצאצאיהם: CONJ+NOUN,m,pl,abs+3mp
- לעיניהם: PREP+PRON,3,m,pl
Parallels
- Jeremiah 12:1-2 (thematic): Complains about the prosperity and security of the wicked—God has 'planted' them, they 'take root' and 'bear fruit,' echoing Job's observation that the wicked's offspring are established before them.
- Psalm 73:3-12 (thematic): Asaph's lament over the ease and prosperity of the wicked (they increase in riches and are 'at ease'), paralleling Job's depiction of the wicked whose children are secure before them.
- Ecclesiastes 8:14 (thematic): Observes under the sun that the righteous may perish while the wicked endure and leave a future/heritage—a related reflection on the apparent security and continuity of the wicked's offspring.
- Psalm 112:2 (verbal): Speaks of the offspring/seed being established for the upright ('His offspring will be mighty in the land'), offering a close verbal and thematic parallel in language about children being established—here applied positively to the righteous (a contrast to Job's focus on the wicked).
Alternative generated candidates
- Their offspring are established before them, and their children stand in their sight.
- Their offspring are established before them; their children stand in their sight.
Job.21.9 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- בתיהם: NOUN,m,pl,abs+PRON,3,m,pl
- שלום: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- מפחד: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ולא: CONJ
- שבט: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אלוה: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- עליהם: PREP,3,m,pl
Parallels
- Psalm 73:3-7 (thematic): The psalmist laments the prosperity and ease of the wicked—no suffering or fear—and his envy of their peace, echoing Job’s observation that their houses are at peace and God’s rod is not upon them.
- Jeremiah 12:1 (thematic): A rhetorical complaint asking why the wicked live, grow old, and increase in power—closely parallel to Job’s challenge about the apparent impunity and security of the wicked.
- Ecclesiastes 8:14 (thematic): Notes the perversity that sometimes the righteous suffer while the wicked prosper, reflecting Job’s theme that God’s chastening does not always fall on the wicked as expected.
- Amos 6:1-3 (thematic): Condemns those ‘at ease’ in Zion who lounge in prosperity and complacency—parallel to Job’s picture of secure households untouched by God’s rod.
- Psalm 37:35-36 (thematic): Describes seeing a wicked man flourishing in prosperity (though ultimately cut off), engaging the same tension Job raises about the present security of the wicked even when justice seems delayed.
Alternative generated candidates
- Their houses are safe and without fear, and the rod of God is not upon them.
- Their houses are safe from fear, and the rod of God is not upon them.
Job.21.10 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- שורו: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- עבר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ולא: CONJ
- יגעל: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- תפלט: VERB,qal,impf,3,f,sg
- פרתו: NOUN,f,sg,poss3ms
- ולא: CONJ
- תשכל: VERB,qal,impf,3,f,sg
Parallels
- Job 12:6 (verbal): Job 12:6 similarly remarks that the tents of robbers prosper and those who provoke God are secure—language and theme of the wicked living in ease closely echo Job 21:10’s picture of livestock and household unharmed.
- Psalm 73:3-12 (thematic): Asaph complains that the wicked have no pains, are healthy and increase in riches—an extended meditation on the same phenomenon of the prosperous, untroubled wicked pictured in Job 21:10.
- Psalm 37:1-2,7,16-20 (thematic): These verses note the apparent success and ease of the wicked and contrast their end with the righteous—a pastoral response to the same problem of wicked prosperity raised in Job 21:10.
- Jeremiah 12:1-2 (thematic): Jeremiah questions why the wicked live and grow mighty, echoing Job’s complaint about the security and fruitfulness of the godless (the same perplexity about undeserved prosperity as in Job 21:10).
- Ecclesiastes 8:14 (thematic): Ecclesiastes observes that sometimes the righteous suffer while the wicked prosper—an independent reflection on the same paradox of apparent injustice that Job highlights with the image of unscathed cattle.
Alternative generated candidates
- Their bull mates without failing; their cow calves and does not miscarry.
- Their bull breeds without fail; their cow bears and does not miscarry.
Job.21.11 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ישלחו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- כצאן: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- עויליהם: NOUN,m,pl,abs+3,m,pl
- וילדיהם: CONJ+NOUN,m,pl,abs+3,m,pl
- ירקדון: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
Parallels
- Job 21:9 (verbal): Immediate parallel within the same speech: describes the wicked’s secure households and established children—closely tied to v.11’s image of children frolicking around their parents.
- Psalm 73:3-12 (thematic): Asaph’s lament about the prosperity and ease of the wicked (fat bodies, carefree life) echoes Job’s depiction of the wicked whose children play and enjoy security.
- Amos 6:4-6 (thematic): Condemns complacent, pleasure‑seeking elites who lounge, feast, and make music—a parallel portrayal of social ease and revelry associated with the prosperous wicked.
- Jeremiah 5:27-28 (thematic): Speaks of houses full of wealth and people grown fat and complacent, refusing justice—a prophetic critique analogous to Job’s picture of secure households and carefree children.
Alternative generated candidates
- They send forth their children like a flock, and their little ones dance about.
- They send out their little ones like a flock; their children skip about.
Job.21.12 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ישאו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- כתף: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- וכנור: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- וישמחו: VERB,qal,perf,3,pl
- לקול: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- עוגב: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Amos 6:5 (verbal): Speaks of those who “sing idle songs to the sound of the harp,” linking harp-music and carefree revelry—paralleling Job’s image of rejoicing with harp and pipe.
- Amos 5:23 (verbal): God rejects “the sound of your songs” and “the melody of your harps,” offering a moral counterpoint to Job’s depiction of the wicked’s musical rejoicing.
- Psalm 150:3-5 (verbal): A catalogue of instruments (trumpet, harp, lyre, pipe, cymbals) used in joyful praise—shares the same musical vocabulary (harp, pipe) and the theme of celebration.
- Exodus 15:20-21 (thematic): Miriam and the women celebrate deliverance with timbrel, song, and dance—an earlier OT instance of communal rejoicing with musical instruments like in Job 21:12.
- Luke 7:32 (thematic): Jesus’ saying “we piped to you, and you did not dance” uses pipe/music and dance imagery to describe human responsiveness—resonant with the pipe-and-rejoicing motif in Job.
Alternative generated candidates
- They make song to the tambour and harp, and rejoice to the sound of the pipe.
- They lift the timbrel and the lyre, and rejoice to the sound of the harp.
Job.21.13 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- יכלו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- בטוב: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ימיהם: NOUN,m,pl,cons,3,m,pl
- וברגע: CONJ+PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- שאול: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יחתו: VERB,qal,impf,3,pl
Parallels
- Job 27:13-23 (structural): Same book and theme: description of the wicked enjoying prosperity but ultimately perishing—stresses the apparent ease of their days and their sudden end.
- Psalm 37:35-36 (thematic): Observation that the wicked flourish like a green tree but then are gone—emphasizes sudden disappearance and the transience of their prosperity.
- Psalm 73:12-17 (thematic): Asserts that the wicked seem secure and prosper in their days, yet the psalmist later understands their ultimate end—contrast between present prosperity and final ruin.
- Ecclesiastes 8:10-11 (thematic): Notes that the wicked may live long and die peacefully despite their deeds, highlighting the puzzling short-term prosperity and the unexpected timing of death.
- Psalm 49:12-20 (thematic): Reflects on the fate of the proud and wealthy who seem secure in life but die like beasts—underscores the futility of trusting in worldly prosperity and the inevitability of death.
Alternative generated candidates
- They spend their days in prosperity, and in a moment go down to Sheol.
- They spend their days in prosperity, and in a moment of death they are cut down.
Job.21.14 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויאמרו: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,pl
- לאל: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- סור: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- ממנו: PREP+PRON,3,m,sg
- ודעת: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- דרכיך: NOUN,f,pl,abs+PRON,2,m,sg
- לא: PART_NEG
- חפצנו: VERB,qal,perf,1,_,pl
Parallels
- Proverbs 1:29-30 (verbal): Speaks of people who 'hate knowledge' and 'would not accept my counsel,' closely matching Job's 'we desire not the knowledge of thy ways'—rejection of divine instruction.
- Psalm 81:11-12 (verbal): Describes Israel's refusal to listen to God and God's response of giving them over to their stubbornness—parallels the attitude and consequence implied by 'Depart from us'.
- Isaiah 30:10-11 (allusion): Condemns those who tell seers and prophets 'Do not prophesy to us what is right'—a refusal of God's ways and truth analogous to asking God to depart.
- Hosea 4:6 (thematic): 'My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge' highlights the destructive result of rejecting divine knowledge, thematically linked to the unwillingness to know God's ways in Job.
- Jeremiah 6:10 (thematic): Speaks of a people whose ears are closed and who will not receive instruction—echoes the stubborn refusal in Job 21:14 to accept knowledge of God's ways.
Alternative generated candidates
- They say to God, 'Depart from us; we do not desire the knowledge of your ways.'
- They say to God, “Depart from us; we do not desire the knowledge of your ways.”
Job.21.15 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- מה: PRON,int
- שדי: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- כי: CONJ
- נעבדנו: VERB,qal,impf,1,NA,pl
- ומה: CONJ+PRON,int
- נועיל: VERB,qal,impf,1,NA,pl
- כי: CONJ
- נפגע: VERB,niphal,perf,3,NA,sg
- בו: PREP+PRON,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Malachi 3:14 (verbal): A nearly identical complaint—'What do we gain by serving God?'—using the same rhetorical question about the profit of devotion.
- Psalm 73:13 (thematic): Expresses the same sense of futility in keeping one's heart pure when the wicked prosper—questions the benefit of righteousness.
- Ecclesiastes 8:14 (thematic): Complains that the righteous sometimes suffer while the wicked prosper, echoing Job's challenge about the apparent profitlessness of serving God.
- Jeremiah 12:1 (thematic): A royal lament that asks why the way of the wicked prospers and implicitly questions the value of faithfulness to God.
Alternative generated candidates
- 'What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? And what profit do we have if we pray to him?'
- What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? What profit do we receive if we entreat the Most High?
Job.21.16 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- הן: PART
- לא: PART_NEG
- בידם: PREP+PRON,3,m,pl
- טובם: NOUN,m,sg,abs,3,mp
- עצת: NOUN,f,sg,cstr
- רשעים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- רחקה: ADJ,f,sg
- מני: PREP+PRON,1,_,sg
Parallels
- Job 21:7 (thematic): Same speech/context in Job: both verses question why the wicked prosper and live long, continuing the theme of the apparent success of the wicked.
- Psalm 1:1 (verbal): Direct verbal/thematic parallel: the blessed person 'does not sit in the company of the wicked' / 'does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,' echoing Job's distancing from wicked counsel.
- Psalm 73:3-12 (thematic): Asaph's lament about envying the prosperity and ease of the wicked parallels Job's observation that the wicked enjoy goods and prosper despite their ways.
- Proverbs 4:14-15 (thematic): Wisdom instruction to avoid the path and counsel of the wicked parallels Job's declaration that the counsel of the wicked is far from him—both stress separation from wicked advice.
Alternative generated candidates
- Behold, their good is not in their hand; the counsel of the wicked is far from me.
- See, their prosperity is not in their hand; the counsel of the wicked is far from me.
Job.21.17 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- כמה: ADV
- נר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- רשעים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- ידעך: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- ויבא: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,sg
- עלימו: PREP+PRON,3,m,pl
- אידם: NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON,3,m,pl
- חבלים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- יחלק: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- באפו: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs+pr:3,m
Parallels
- Proverbs 13:9 (verbal): Uses the same image: “The light of the righteous rejoices, but the lamp of the wicked will be put out” — direct verbal parallel to the ‘lamp of the wicked’ being extinguished.
- Proverbs 24:20 (verbal): Another Proverbs proverb: “For the evildoer has no future; the lamp of the wicked will be extinguished,” echoing Job’s image of the wicked’s lamp going out.
- Ecclesiastes 8:14 (thematic): Speaks to the apparent injustice of outcomes — righteous suffering and wicked prospering — the same problem Job raises about the timing and reality of punishment.
- Jeremiah 12:1 (thematic): A prophetic lament that asks why the way of the wicked prospers, paralleling Job’s rhetorical questioning of why the wicked are not immediately punished.
- Psalm 37:35–36 (thematic): Observes the temporary prosperity of the wicked and then their end — ‘I have seen the wicked in great power… until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I understood their end’ — resonant with Job’s concern about the fate of the wicked.
Alternative generated candidates
- How often is the lamp of the wicked put out?—and does calamity come upon them? Are they bound in the ropes and taken by the snare?
- How often is the lamp of the wicked put out, and calamity comes upon them—God’s fierce anger seizes and breaks them?
Job.21.18 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- יהיו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- כתבן: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- לפני: PREP
- רוח: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- וכמץ: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- גנבתו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- סופה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
Parallels
- Psalm 1:4 (verbal): The wicked are likened to chaff driven away by the wind — a direct verbal/image parallel to being written before the wind and swept away by a storm.
- Proverbs 10:25 (thematic): ‘When the tempest passes, the wicked is no more’ — storm/temporal judgment removes the wicked, echoing Job’s image of a storm carrying away remembrance.
- Exodus 32:32-33 (verbal): Moses speaks of being blotted out of the book the LORD has written; God replies he will blot sinners out — parallels the motif of names written and then erased.
- Psalm 69:28 (69:29 MT) (verbal): A plea that enemies be blotted out of the book of the living — closely related language of being written/removed from a record of life or memory.
Alternative generated candidates
- They are like straw before the wind, like chaff that the storm carries away.
- They are like straw before the wind, like chaff that the storm carries away.
Job.21.19 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- אלוה: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יצפן: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- לבניו: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs+PRON,3,m,sg
- אונו: NOUN,m,sg,suff
- ישלם: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- אליו: PREP+PRON,3,m,sg
- וידע: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Psalm 31:19-20 (verbal): Speaks of God "laying up" / hiding good things for his faithful and hiding them in his presence — echoing the language of God storing/hiding for his children.
- Job 34:11 (verbal): Within the same book the principle appears that God repays a person according to his works, directly paralleling the motif of divine recompense.
- Deuteronomy 32:35 (quotation): Contains the divine declaration 'Vengeance is mine; I will repay,' paralleling the idea of God repaying persons (the verb 'to repay').
- Romans 12:19 (quotation): New Testament citation of the Deuteronomic maxim 'Vengeance is mine; I will repay,' reiterating the theme that God will repay individuals.
Alternative generated candidates
- God stores up for his sons their calamity; he repays them, and he knows it.
- God will lay up their iniquity for their children; he will repay it to them, and they will know it.
Job.21.20 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- יראו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- עיניו: NOUN,f,pl,suff
- כידו: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- ומחמת: CONJ+PREP+NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- שדי: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ישתה: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Isaiah 51:17 (verbal): Uses the image of drinking the LORD’s cup of fury—parallels Job’s language of drinking the Almighty’s wrath (cup/ drinking as divine punishment).
- Jeremiah 25:15 (verbal): God commands Jeremiah to take the winecup of His fury and make nations drink it—same metaphor of divine wrath as a cup to be drunk.
- Revelation 14:10-11 (quotation): The wicked are said to ‘drink of the wine of the wrath of God’—a New Testament echo/explicit use of the OT motif found in Job 21:20.
- Psalm 73:18-19 (thematic): Describes the sudden destruction and fearful end of the wicked that they themselves will witness—parallels Job’s statement that ‘his eyes shall see his destruction.’
Alternative generated candidates
- Their eyes behold their destruction; they drink the fury of the Almighty.
- Their eyes will see their own destruction, and they will drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
Job.21.21 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- כי: CONJ
- מה: PRON,int
- חפצו: NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON,3,m,sg
- בביתו: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON,3,m,sg
- אחריו: PREP,3,m,sg
- ומספר: CONJ+VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- חדשיו: NOUN,m,pl,abs+suff3ms
- חצצו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
Parallels
- Psalm 49:10-12 (thematic): Speaks of the death of the wicked and the futility of their wealth — riches cannot deliver in the day of wrath, and flesh returns to the grave, echoing Job’s question about what profit remains to a man’s house when his months are ended.
- Psalm 73:12-19 (thematic): Begins with the observation that the wicked prosper and seem secure, then contrasts their ultimate ruin — parallels Job’s complaint that the prosperous wicked leave no lasting benefit when their days are cut off.
- Job 20:4-11 (verbal): Zophar’s description of the short-lived prosperity of the wicked and the swift cutting off of their vigor mirrors Job 21’s interrogation of what remains to a man’s house after his months are ended.
- Job 27:13-23 (structural): Job’s own extended depiction of the fate of the wicked (their calamity and lack of posterity) develops the same theme voiced in 21:21 about the ultimate nullity of their holdings when life is terminated.
- Ecclesiastes 6:3-5 (thematic): Describes a man who dies leaving his wealth to others who did not labor for it and whose life was cut short — resonates with Job’s image of a house after a man and his months being cut off.
Alternative generated candidates
- For what do they care for their house after them, when the number of their months is cut off?
- For what do they care for their house after them? Their months are numbered and cut off from them.
Job.21.22 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- הלאל: PART
- ילמד: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- דעת: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- והוא: CONJ+PRON,3,m,sg
- רמים: ADJ,m,pl
- ישפוט: VERB,qal,imprf,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Isaiah 40:13 (verbal): Rhetorical question asking who can counsel or teach the LORD; closely parallels Job’s question about teaching God knowledge/instructing the Most High.
- 1 Corinthians 2:16 (quotation): Paul echoes the OT rhetorical question (“Who has known the mind of the Lord…?”) — a New Testament citation that parallels Job’s claim that humans cannot instruct God.
- Romans 11:34 (quotation): Another Pauline citation of the OT rhetorical question about knowing or counseling God; parallels Job’s challenge to the idea that anyone can teach God knowledge.
- Job 12:13 (thematic): Within Job this verse affirms that wisdom, counsel, and understanding belong to God — thematically linked to Job 21:22’s denial that humans can teach or instruct the Almighty.
Alternative generated candidates
- Will God not teach them knowledge? He who is high will make judgment.
- Will not the Almighty teach them knowledge? Will not the Most High judge them?
Job.21.23 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- זה: PRON,dem,m,sg
- ימות: VERB,qal,juss,3,m,sg
- בעצם: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,cons
- תמו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- כלו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- שלאנן: PREP+PRON,poss,pl
- ושליו: CONJ+PRON,poss,ms
Parallels
- Psalm 73:4-5 (verbal): Describes the wicked as free of pangs and healthy until death—language and idea closely echo Job’s remark that one dies in full vigor and at ease.
- Jeremiah 12:1 (thematic): A plaintive question about why the way of the wicked prospers while the righteous suffer, paralleling Job’s observation that the apparently wicked die secure and prosperous.
- Ecclesiastes 8:14 (thematic): States the perplexing reversal that the wicked sometimes receive good things (and the righteous evil), reflecting the same problem of the wicked dying in ease that Job highlights.
- Amos 6:1-7 (thematic): Condemns those who are 'at ease' and secure—lying on beds of ivory and feeling safe—echoing Job’s picture of dying in comfort and security, though here the prophet warns of coming judgment.
Alternative generated candidates
- One dies in full vigor, wholly secure and tranquil.
- One dies in full vigor, complete and secure in peace and calm.
Job.21.24 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- עטיניו: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- מלאו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- חלב: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ומח: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- עצמותיו: NOUN,f,pl,abs+3ms
- ישקה: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Job 21:7 (structural): Immediate context: Job questions why the wicked live long and prosper; this verse continues the portrait of the prosperous/wicked body filled with abundance.
- Psalm 73:4-7 (thematic): Asaph's complaint that the wicked are 'fat and sleek,' suffer no pain, and live in prosperity parallels Job's image of bodily abundance (full of milk/marrow) as a sign of prospering wickedness.
- Amos 6:3-6 (thematic): Denounces complacent luxury—lying on beds, eating choice meats, drinking wine—echoing the motif of corpulent, well-fed bodies that the Job text uses to depict the comfortably prosperous.
- Jeremiah 12:1 (thematic): A prophetic lament asking why the way of the wicked prospers, closely matching Job's rhetorical stance and the depiction of the wicked enjoying bodily plenty.
Alternative generated candidates
- His breasts are full of milk, and the marrow of his bones is moist.
- His breasts are full of milk, and the marrow of his bones is moist.
Job.21.25 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- וזה: CONJ+PRON,dem,m,sg,abs
- ימות: VERB,qal,juss,3,m,sg
- בנפש: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- מרה: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ולא: CONJ
- אכל: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- בטובה: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
Parallels
- Job 27:8-10 (verbal): Both passages speak of the fate of the wicked/hypocrite — their hope will perish and they die without enjoying good, using similar language about the nullified hope of the ungodly.
- Job 20:4-11 (thematic): Zophar’s description of the end of the wicked emphasizes sudden ruin, loss of strength and possessions, and the futility of their gains—echoing the idea of dying in bitterness and not eating in pleasure.
- Ecclesiastes 6:2-3,6-7 (thematic): Ecclesiastes depicts a man who has wealth and children yet cannot enjoy them and dies unsatisfied—paralleling the motif of dying without tasting the good of one’s labors.
- Psalm 73:18-19 (thematic): Asaph’s reflection that the prosperous wicked are ultimately set in slippery places and cast down to destruction aligns with Job’s contrast between present appearance and final bitter end.
Alternative generated candidates
- Another dies in bitterness of soul, and never tasted good.
- Yet another dies in bitterness of soul, never tasting good.
Job.21.26 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- יחד: ADV
- על: PREP
- עפר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ישכבו: VERB,qal,imf,3,m,pl
- ורמה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- תכסה: VERB,qal,impf,2,ms
- עליהם: PREP,3,m,pl
Parallels
- Job 7:21 (verbal): Same imagery of lying down in the dust and being attended by worms—Job’s earlier lament about death and corporeal decay echoes 21:26 closely.
- Isaiah 66:24 (thematic): Speaks of viewing corpses whose ‘worm does not die’—connects the motif of bodies left to decay and worms as agents of corruption.
- Ecclesiastes 12:7 (thematic): Declares that the dust returns to the earth—parallels Job’s emphasis on human mortality and returning to dust at death.
- Psalm 49:14-15 (thematic): Describes the honored and the foolish alike going to the grave and being consumed—echoes Job’s theme that death reduces all to dust and corruption.
- Isaiah 14:19-20 (thematic): Images of being cast out of the grave and not being gathered with the dead resonate with Job’s depiction of bodily decay and exposure after death.
Alternative generated candidates
- They lie down together in the dust, and the worm covers them.
- Together they lie down in the dust, and the worm covers them.
Job.21.27 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- הן: PART
- ידעתי: VERB,qal,perf,1,?,sg
- מחשבותיכם: NOUN,f,pl,const,2mp
- ומזמות: CONJ+NOUN,f,pl,abs
- עלי: PREP+PRON,1,sg
- תחמסו: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,pl
Parallels
- Psalm 94:11 (verbal): Explicitly states that the LORD knows human thoughts—parallels Job's claim about others' inner designs against him.
- Psalm 139:1-4 (thematic): Affirms God's intimate knowledge of a person's thoughts and words, echoing the theme of awareness of inner intentions found in Job.
- Proverbs 24:12 (verbal): Speaks of God weighing hearts and knowing what men imagine—language and idea closely related to Job's knowledge of others' plots.
- 1 Corinthians 4:5 (thematic): Asserts that the Lord will reveal hidden motives and thoughts—New Testament parallel to the disclosure and judgment of inward designs referenced in Job.
Alternative generated candidates
- Behold, I know your thoughts and the devices with which you would wrong me.
- Truly I know your thoughts and the schemes you devise against me.
Job.21.28 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- כי: CONJ
- תאמרו: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,pl
- איה: ADV,interr
- בית: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- נדיב: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ואיה: ADV,interr
- אהל: NOUN,m,sg,construct
- משכנות: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- רשעים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
Parallels
- Psalm 37:35-36 (thematic): Both question the apparent success and lasting security of the wicked—observing the wicked 'in great power' yet asking about their ultimate fate.
- Psalm 73:3, 12 (thematic): Expresses the same perplexity over the prosperity of the wicked and the apparent absence of retribution, similar to Job’s challenge about where their house or tent is.
- Jeremiah 12:1 (verbal): A direct, plaintive question to God—'Why does the way of the wicked prosper?'—paralleling Job’s interrogative tone concerning the condition and dwelling of the wicked.
- Ecclesiastes 8:14 (thematic): Reflects the same paradox: the righteous suffer while the wicked enjoy long life and success, echoing Job’s astonishment at the wicked’s apparent security.
Alternative generated candidates
- For you say, 'Where is the house of the noble? Where is the tent in which the wicked lodged?'
- For you will say, “Where now is the house of the noble? Where is the tent of the wicked?”
Job.21.29 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- הלא: PART
- שאלתם: VERB,qal,perf,2,m,pl
- עוברי: NOUN,m,pl,cs
- דרך: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- ואתתם: CONJ+PRON,2,m,pl
- לא: PART_NEG
- תנכרו: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,pl
Parallels
- Job 12:8 (verbal): Uses the same rhetorical strategy of 'ask'—Job urges inquiry of other witnesses (animals/creatures/passersby) to confirm common, observable facts about the world.
- Psalm 73:3-12 (thematic): Asaph's lament about the prosperity and ease of the wicked echoes Job's appeal to observable reality that the wicked often prosper, generating the speaker's puzzlement and protest.
- Ecclesiastes 8:14 (thematic): Solomon observes the same paradox: some righteous receive what the wicked deserve and vice versa, a theme that Job supports by appealing to the testimony of passersby.
- Jeremiah 12:1-4 (thematic): Jeremiah's complaint over the flourishing of the wicked and apparent divine passivity parallels Job's challenge—both voice bewilderment at empirical evidence of the wicked's success.
Alternative generated candidates
- Have you not asked travelers and made them tell you, and do you not know their signs?
- Did you not ask those who pass along the road? Do you not learn from their accounts?
Job.21.30 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- כי: CONJ
- ליום: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- איד: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יחשך: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- רע: ADJ,m,sg,abs
- ליום: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- עברות: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- יובלו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
Parallels
- Romans 2:5 (verbal): Uses near-identical language of 'storing up wrath' for 'the day of wrath'—paralleling the idea that evil is reserved for a future day of judgment.
- Nahum 1:2 (verbal): Speaks of God keeping/harboring wrath for his enemies—verbal and thematic overlap with reservation of calamity for the wicked.
- Zephaniah 1:15 (thematic): Describes 'a day of wrath' characterized by distress, gloom, and destruction—echoing the imagery of a designated day of calamity for wrongdoers.
- Isaiah 13:9 (thematic): Announces 'the day of the LORD' coming with wrath and fierce anger against the wicked—themes of an appointed day of judgment parallel Job's line.
- Malachi 4:1 (thematic): Foretells a coming day that will burn up the arrogant and evildoers—theme of an appointed, decisive day of punishment for the wicked.
Alternative generated candidates
- That suddenly they are brought to the day of darkness and crushed in a day of disaster.
- For they are reserved for the day of calamity; the day of wrath will overtake them.
Job.21.31 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- מי: PRON,interr,sg
- יגיד: VERB,hif,impf,3,m,sg
- על: PREP
- פניו: NOUN,m,pl,cons+3,m,sg
- דרכו: NOUN,f,sg,abs+PRON,3,m,sg
- והוא: CONJ+PRON,3,m,sg
- עשה: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- מי: PRON,interr,sg
- ישלם: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- לו: PRON,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Job 9:12 (verbal): Rhetorical question within Job asking who can restrain or challenge God—'Who can say to him, "What are you doing?"'—closely parallels the language and theme of inability to tell God his way.
- Job 42:2 (thematic): Affirms God's absolute sovereignty and that no purpose of his can be frustrated—echoes the idea that no one can demand an accounting or alter God's ways.
- Isaiah 40:13 (thematic): Rhetorical question—'Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD?'—expresses the same theme that no human can instruct or declare God's counsel or way.
- Romans 11:34 (quotation): Paul's citation ('Who has known the mind of the Lord?') echoes the OT rhetorical tradition (cf. Isaiah 40:13) that humans cannot be counselors to God, paralleling Job's question about declaring God's way.
- Psalm 115:3 (thematic): 'Our God is in the heavens; he does whatever he pleases.' Emphasizes God's freedom of action and that humans cannot hold him to account, a theme central to Job 21:31.
Alternative generated candidates
- Who declares to his face his road, and who repays him what he has done?
- Who can show him his way before God, when he has done it? Who will call him to account?
Job.21.32 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- והוא: CONJ+PRON,3,m,sg
- לקברות: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs
- יובל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ועל: CONJ+PREP
- גדיש: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ישקוד: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Genesis 25:8 (verbal): Uses the same formula 'was gathered to his people' describing a patriarch's death and burial (Abraham), a verbal parallel to Job's statement about going to the graves.
- Genesis 35:29 (verbal): Isaac 'was gathered to his people'—another direct use of the traditional formula for dying and being buried among one's kin, matching Job's language and theme.
- Genesis 49:33 (verbal): Jacob 'breathed his last and was gathered to his people'—the same phrasing for death and burial, echoing the imagery of being taken to the graves.
- Job 14:13 (thematic): Within Job, a meditation on being hidden in Sheol and the grave—thematically linked to Job 21:32's focus on burial and the fate of the dead.
- Ecclesiastes 12:7 (thematic): Speaks of the body returning to dust and the spirit returning to God, paralleling Job 21:32's concern with death, burial, and the final disposition of the body.
Alternative generated candidates
- For he is borne to the grave, and watch is kept over the heap.
- He is carried to the grave, and is laid in the burial mound.
Job.21.33 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- מתקו: NOUN,m,sg,suff
- לו: PRON,3,m,sg
- רגבי: NOUN,m,pl,cs
- נחל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ואחריו: CONJ+PREP+PRON,3,m,sg
- כל: DET
- אדם: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ימשוך: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- ולפניו: CONJ+PREP,3,m,sg
- אין: PART,neg
- מספר: VERB,qal,impf,1,m,sg
Parallels
- Job 21:7 (structural): Within the same speech Job surveys the prosperity and ease of the wicked—this verse continues the chapter’s argument that the wicked enjoy life and follow no one before them.
- Psalm 73:12 (thematic): Both passages express astonishment that the wicked prosper and are at ease, enjoying abundance while seeming untroubled by judgment.
- Psalm 37:35-36 (thematic): Like Job’s portrayal of a prominent, well-followed figure, these verses note the apparent power and prominence of the wicked—though Psalm 37 later stresses their ultimate fate.
- Jeremiah 12:1 (thematic): Jeremiah’s complaint—'Why doth the way of the wicked prosper?'—echoes Job’s challenge to the expectation that the wicked are immediately punished and highlights their present success and following.
Alternative generated candidates
- The clods of the valley are sweet to him; all mankind follows after him, and before him there is no number.
- The clods of the valley are pleasant to him; all men follow him, and an unnumbered throng goes before him.
Job.21.34 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ואיך: CONJ+ADV
- תנחמוני: VERB,piel,impf,3,fs,sg,obj:1,sg
- הבל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ותשובתיכם: CONJ,NOUN,f,sg,abs,poss:2,pl
- נשאר: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- מעל: PREP
Parallels
- Job 16:2 (verbal): Job calls his friends 'miserable comforters'—directly parallels the charge that their consolations/answers are worthless.
- Job 19:2 (verbal): Job complains they 'vex my soul... with words,' echoing the idea that the friends' replies harm rather than comfort.
- Jeremiah 8:11 (thematic): 'They have healed the hurt of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace'—a prophetic critique of superficial, false consolation like Job's friends offer.
- Isaiah 30:10–11 (thematic): People demand 'smooth things' and deceitful comfort from prophets rather than truthful counsel—parallels the vain, unhelpful replies rebuked by Job.
- Ezekiel 13:10–11 (thematic): Condemnation of those who 'prophesy peace' when there is no peace—an indictment of deceptive or empty consolations comparable to Job's complaint.
Alternative generated candidates
- How then do you comfort me with vain words? Your answers are of no avail.
- And how should you comfort me with vanity? Your answers are but wind.
Then Job answered and said:
Hear, hear my speech; let this be your consolation.
Bear with me, and I will speak; and afterward you may mock my words.
Am I a man of mere talk?—why then should my spirit not be dismayed?
Turn toward me and listen; put your hand over your mouth.
If I remember, I am terrified, and my flesh trembles before the recollection.
Why do the wicked live, grow old, and increase in power?
Their offspring are established before them, and their children stand in their sight.
Their houses are at peace, free from dread; the rod of God is not upon them.
Their bulls go forth without turnback; their cows calve and do not miscarry.
They send forth their little ones like a flock; their children skip about.
They take the timbrel and harp and make merry at the sound of the pipe.
They spend their days in prosperity, and in a moment go down to Sheol.
They say to God, ‘Depart from us; we have no desire for the knowledge of your ways.’
What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? What do we gain if we pray to him?
Behold, their good is not in their hand; the counsel of the wicked is far from me.
How often is the lamp of the wicked put out, and calamity comes upon them—snare and ruin seize them!
They are like stubble before the wind, like chaff swept away by the storm.
God stores up their trouble for their children; he will repay them, and they shall know it.
Their eyes shall behold their destruction; they shall drink the wrath of the Almighty.
What do they care for their houses after them, when the number of their months is cut off?
Will not God instruct them in knowledge? Will the Most High not consider and judge?
This one dies in full vigor, wholly secure and at ease.
His body is filled with milk, and the marrow of his bones is soft. And that one dies in bitterness of soul, never having eaten of good.
They lie down together in the dust, and the worm covers them.
I know your thoughts and the devices you devise against me.
For you say, ‘Where is the house of the valiant? Where is the tent of the wicked?’
Have you not asked the travelers, and do you not know their signs?
For the evil of the wicked is reserved for the day of calamity; for the day of wrath it is kept.
Who can declare his way before his face when he has done it? Who will repay him?
He is borne to the grave, and a watch is kept over his resting-place.
Joyful music is made for him in the valley; after him all mankind marches on, and in front of him there is no reckoning. And how will you comfort me with empty words? Your answers are but wind.