Job 21 Study Notes: Job Asks Why the Wicked Prosper
Job asks his friends simply to listen, then challenges their claim that the wicked are quickly punished. He points out that many evil people live long and see their families thrive, that death comes alike to the comfortable and the miserable, and that the wicked often get honored burials, so their comfort is empty.
General
Where does Job tell his friends to look for evidence about what happens to the wicked (Job 21:29)?
Answer: The accounts of travelers who have journeyed far and wide
Job says he knows what his friends are thinking and the schemes they are using against him. He treats their question about where the great man’s house has gone as one of those schemes, apparently a veiled jab at his own ruined household (21:27-28). So he tells them to ask anyone who has traveled: the wrongdoer is often spared in the day of disaster, no one confronts him to his face, he is borne to an honored grave whose tomb is guarded, and crowds walk in his funeral procession (21:29-33). Jesus’ story of the rich man shows that one who enjoyed good things in this life may face agony afterward (Luke 16:25), and the psalm warns that a rich man takes nothing with him when he dies (Psalm 49:16-17).
- Job 21:27-30 (BSB)“Behold, I know your thoughts full well, the schemes by which you would wrong me. For you say, ‘Where now is the nobleman’s house, and where are the tents in which the wicked dwell?’ Have you never asked those who travel the roads? Do you not accept their reports? Indeed, the evil man is spared from the day of calamity, delivered from the day of wrath.”Job exposes the friends’ insinuation and appeals to the reports of travelers.
- Job 21:31-33 (BSB)“Who denounces his behavior to his face? Who repays him for what he has done? He is carried to the grave, and watch is kept over his tomb. The clods of the valley are sweet to him; everyone follows behind him, and those before him are without number.”Job describes the wicked man going unrebuked and receiving an honored burial.
- Luke 16:25 (BSB)“But Abraham answered, ‘Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things. But now he is comforted here, while you are in agony.”The rich man who enjoyed good things in life is in agony afterward.
- Psalm 49:16-17 (BSB)“Do not be afraid when a man grows rich, when the splendor of his house increases. For when he dies, he will carry nothing away; his abundance will not follow him down.”A rich man carries nothing away when he dies.
Theological
To what source of evidence does Job appeal against the friends’ claims about the wicked (Job 21:29)?
Answer: The accounts of travelers who have journeyed far and wide
Job discerns the friends’ insinuation: he counts their question about where the nobleman’s house has gone among the schemes meant to wrong him, apparently an oblique reference to his own devastated household (21:27-28). Against it he appeals to the testimony of travelers: the wrongdoer is commonly spared when disaster comes, goes unrebuked, receives an honored burial and a guarded tomb, and is followed by a great procession (21:29-33). Scripture locates the reversal beyond the grave, as in the rich man who received his good things in life and agony afterward (Luke 16:25), and in the psalmist’s reminder that wealth does not follow its owner down (Psalm 49:16-17).
- Job 21:27-30 (BSB)“Behold, I know your thoughts full well, the schemes by which you would wrong me. For you say, ‘Where now is the nobleman’s house, and where are the tents in which the wicked dwell?’ Have you never asked those who travel the roads? Do you not accept their reports? Indeed, the evil man is spared from the day of calamity, delivered from the day of wrath.”Job exposes the friends’ insinuation and appeals to the reports of travelers.
- Job 21:31-33 (BSB)“Who denounces his behavior to his face? Who repays him for what he has done? He is carried to the grave, and watch is kept over his tomb. The clods of the valley are sweet to him; everyone follows behind him, and those before him are without number.”Job describes the wicked man going unrebuked and receiving an honored burial.
- Luke 16:25 (BSB)“But Abraham answered, ‘Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things. But now he is comforted here, while you are in agony.”The rich man who enjoyed good things in life is in agony afterward.
- Psalm 49:16-17 (BSB)“Do not be afraid when a man grows rich, when the splendor of his house increases. For when he dies, he will carry nothing away; his abundance will not follow him down.”A rich man carries nothing away when he dies.
General
True or False: Job ends his reply by admitting that his friends’ answers, though harsh, have been true.
Answer: False
This is false. Job ends by asking how they can comfort him with empty words, since their answers are still full of falsehood (21:34). He had said something similar before, calling them worthless doctors who cover things over with lies (13:4) and miserable comforters (16:2). The LORD’s final verdict sides with Job on this point: the friends had not spoken accurately about Him (42:7).
- Job 21:34 (BSB)“So how can you comfort me with empty words? For your answers remain full of falsehood.””Job dismisses the friends’ comfort as empty and their answers as false.
- Job 13:4 (BSB)“You, however, smear with lies; you are all worthless physicians.”Job had already called the friends worthless physicians who smear with lies.
- Job 16:2 (BSB)““I have heard many things like these; miserable comforters are you all.”Job had called them miserable comforters.
- Job 42:7 (BSB)“After the LORD had spoken these words to Job, He said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is kindled against you and your two friends. For you have not spoken about Me accurately, as My servant Job has.”The LORD confirms that the friends did not speak accurately about Him.
Theological
True or False: Job closes chapter 21 by conceding that the friends’ answers, though painful, are correct.
Answer: False
This is false. Job’s closing line dismisses their consolation as empty and their answers as false through and through (21:34). It sums up his earlier charges that they are worthless physicians who smear with lies (13:4) and miserable comforters (16:2). The LORD’s verdict confirms Job’s assessment of the friends’ speech about God (42:7).
- Job 21:34 (BSB)“So how can you comfort me with empty words? For your answers remain full of falsehood.””Job dismisses the friends’ comfort as empty and their answers as false.
- Job 13:4 (BSB)“You, however, smear with lies; you are all worthless physicians.”Job had already called the friends worthless physicians who smear with lies.
- Job 16:2 (BSB)““I have heard many things like these; miserable comforters are you all.”Job had called them miserable comforters.
- Job 42:7 (BSB)“After the LORD had spoken these words to Job, He said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is kindled against you and your two friends. For you have not spoken about Me accurately, as My servant Job has.”The LORD confirms that the friends did not speak accurately about Him.
General
When Job asks how often a wicked man’s lamp is snuffed out (Job 21:17-18), what is he challenging?
Answer: The friends’ claim that disaster regularly and swiftly strikes the wicked
Bildad had said that the wicked man’s lamp goes dark (18:5-6). Job asks how often that actually happens: how often does calamity come on them, and how often are they blown away like straw in the wind (21:17-18)? Job then takes up the saying that God stores up a man’s penalty to fall on his children. Job answers that God should repay the guilty man himself so that he feels it, since a man cares little about his family once he is dead (21:19-21). Through Ezekiel, God declares that a son does not carry his father’s guilt; each person answers for his own sin (Ezekiel 18:20).
- Job 21:17-18 (BSB)“How often is the lamp of the wicked put out? Does disaster come upon them? Does God, in His anger, apportion destruction? Are they like straw before the wind, like chaff swept away by a storm?”Job questions how often disaster actually overtakes the wicked.
- Job 21:19-21 (BSB)“It is said that God lays up one’s punishment for his children. Let God repay the man himself, so he will know it. Let his eyes see his own destruction; let him drink for himself the wrath of the Almighty. For what does he care about his household after him, when the number of his months has run out?”Job answers the idea that God punishes a wicked man through his children.
- Job 18:5-6 (BSB)“Indeed, the lamp of the wicked is extinguished; the flame of his fire does not glow. The light in his tent grows dark, and the lamp beside him goes out.”Bildad had claimed that the lamp of the wicked is put out.
- Ezekiel 18:20 (BSB)“The soul who sins is the one who will die. A son will not bear the iniquity of his father, and a father will not bear the iniquity of his son. The righteousness of the righteous man will fall upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked man will fall upon him.”Each person bears his own guilt; a son does not bear his father’s iniquity.
Theological
What claim is Job contesting with his questions in Job 21:17-18?
Answer: The friends’ claim that disaster regularly and swiftly strikes the wicked
Job’s rhetorical questions target the friends’ retributive claim, especially Bildad’s assertion that a wicked man’s light is snuffed out (18:5-6): how often, in fact, does that happen, or do the wicked become chaff before the storm (21:17-18)? To the saying that God stores up punishment for the children, Job replies that justice requires the guilty man himself to experience it, since he cares nothing for his house once his months are ended (21:19-21). Scripture elsewhere affirms personal accountability for sin (Ezekiel 18:20).
- Job 21:17-18 (BSB)“How often is the lamp of the wicked put out? Does disaster come upon them? Does God, in His anger, apportion destruction? Are they like straw before the wind, like chaff swept away by a storm?”Job questions how often disaster actually overtakes the wicked.
- Job 21:19-21 (BSB)“It is said that God lays up one’s punishment for his children. Let God repay the man himself, so he will know it. Let his eyes see his own destruction; let him drink for himself the wrath of the Almighty. For what does he care about his household after him, when the number of his months has run out?”Job answers the idea that God punishes a wicked man through his children.
- Job 18:5-6 (BSB)“Indeed, the lamp of the wicked is extinguished; the flame of his fire does not glow. The light in his tent grows dark, and the lamp beside him goes out.”Bildad had claimed that the lamp of the wicked is put out.
- Ezekiel 18:20 (BSB)“The soul who sins is the one who will die. A son will not bear the iniquity of his father, and a father will not bear the iniquity of his son. The righteousness of the righteous man will fall upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked man will fall upon him.”Each person bears his own guilt; a son does not bear his father’s iniquity.
General
What does Job ask his friends to do at the start of his reply (Job 21:2-3)?
Answer: To hear him out fully and let that be their comfort to him
Job asks his friends to listen closely to him and says this would be the real comfort they could give him. After he finishes, they may keep on mocking (21:2-3). His complaint is not against any man, so he has every reason to be impatient, and he asks them to look at his condition and cover their mouths in shock (21:4-5). Scripture teaches that people ought to be ready to hear and unhurried in speaking (James 1:19), and that we should share the tears of those who grieve (Romans 12:15). The friends had done much speaking and little listening.
- Job 21:2-5 (BSB)““Listen carefully to my words; let this be your consolation to me. Bear with me while I speak; then, after I have spoken, you may go on mocking. Is my complaint against a man? Then why should I not be impatient? Look at me and be appalled; put your hand over your mouth.”Job asks to be heard and urges his friends to be appalled at his condition.
- James 1:19 (BSB)“My beloved brothers, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger,”Believers are to be quick to listen and slow to speak.
- Romans 12:15 (BSB)“Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep.”Believers are to weep with those who weep.
Theological
What request does Job make of his friends as he begins his answer in Job 21:2-3?
Answer: To hear him out fully and let that be their comfort to him
Job asks for attentive hearing as the only consolation he now seeks; afterward they may resume their mockery (21:2-3). His complaint is directed not at a man but, implicitly, at God’s dealings, which is why his patience is spent; he bids them look at him, be appalled, and put a hand over their mouths (21:4-5). The friends have been eager to talk and reluctant to hear, contrary to the apostolic counsel (James 1:19), and have not wept with the one who weeps (Romans 12:15).
- Job 21:2-5 (BSB)““Listen carefully to my words; let this be your consolation to me. Bear with me while I speak; then, after I have spoken, you may go on mocking. Is my complaint against a man? Then why should I not be impatient? Look at me and be appalled; put your hand over your mouth.”Job asks to be heard and urges his friends to be appalled at his condition.
- James 1:19 (BSB)“My beloved brothers, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger,”Believers are to be quick to listen and slow to speak.
- Romans 12:15 (BSB)“Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep.”Believers are to weep with those who weep.
General
What point does Job make with the two men he describes in Job 21:23-26?
Answer: Death comes alike to the man who lived in comfort and the one in misery
Job asks whether anyone can teach God knowledge, since He judges even the highest beings (21:22). Then he describes two men. One dies healthy, secure and comfortable; another dies bitter, never having enjoyed good things. Yet both end up buried, with worms covering them (21:23-26). How a person’s life goes is no sure sign of whether he is righteous or wicked. Ecclesiastes says the same fate comes to good and evil people alike (Ecclesiastes 9:2) and a psalm notes that wise and foolish both die and leave their riches to others (Psalm 49:10). The true accounting comes after death, when each person faces judgment (Hebrews 9:27).
- Job 21:22-26 (BSB)“Can anyone teach knowledge to God, since He judges those on high? One man dies full of vigor, completely secure and at ease. His body is well nourished, and his bones are rich with marrow. Yet another man dies in the bitterness of his soul, having never tasted prosperity. But together they lie down in the dust, and worms cover them both.”Job contrasts two men whose lives differed but who share the same grave.
- Ecclesiastes 9:2 (BSB)“It is the same for all: There is a common fate for the righteous and the wicked, for the good and the bad, for the clean and the unclean, for the one who sacrifices and the one who does not. As it is for the good, so it is for the sinner; as it is for the one who makes a vow, so it is for the one who refuses to take a vow.”The righteous and the wicked share a common fate in death.
- Psalm 49:10 (BSB)“For it is clear that wise men die, and the foolish and the senseless both perish and leave their wealth to others.”The wise and the foolish alike die and leave their wealth to others.
- Hebrews 9:27 (BSB)“Just as man is appointed to die once, and after that to face judgment,”Judgment follows death, where the final accounting is settled.
Theological
What does Job’s contrast of two deaths in Job 21:23-26 establish?
Answer: Death comes alike to the man who lived in comfort and the one in misery
Prefacing the point with a reminder that no one can instruct God, the Judge of those on high (21:22), Job contrasts a man who dies in full vigor and ease with one who dies in bitterness of soul; both alike share the dust and the worms (21:23-26). Earthly circumstances do not sort the righteous from the wicked in any visible way. Ecclesiastes registers the same common fate (Ecclesiastes 9:2), as does Psalm 49 (Psalm 49:10). Final retribution belongs to the judgment that follows death (Hebrews 9:27).
- Job 21:22-26 (BSB)“Can anyone teach knowledge to God, since He judges those on high? One man dies full of vigor, completely secure and at ease. His body is well nourished, and his bones are rich with marrow. Yet another man dies in the bitterness of his soul, having never tasted prosperity. But together they lie down in the dust, and worms cover them both.”Job contrasts two men whose lives differed but who share the same grave.
- Ecclesiastes 9:2 (BSB)“It is the same for all: There is a common fate for the righteous and the wicked, for the good and the bad, for the clean and the unclean, for the one who sacrifices and the one who does not. As it is for the good, so it is for the sinner; as it is for the one who makes a vow, so it is for the one who refuses to take a vow.”The righteous and the wicked share a common fate in death.
- Psalm 49:10 (BSB)“For it is clear that wise men die, and the foolish and the senseless both perish and leave their wealth to others.”The wise and the foolish alike die and leave their wealth to others.
- Hebrews 9:27 (BSB)“Just as man is appointed to die once, and after that to face judgment,”Judgment follows death, where the final accounting is settled.
General
In Job 21:7-13, what does Job observe about the wicked, contradicting his friends?
Answer: Many grow old and strong, see their families thrive, and die at ease
Zophar had said the wicked man’s success is always short. Job answers with what he sees: the wicked often live long and grow strong, their children are settled around them, their households are secure, no punishment from God falls on them, their herds increase, their children dance and play, and they reach Sheol, the realm of the dead, peacefully (21:7-13). Job is describing the world as he observes it, not approving of it. Asaph, the writer of Psalm 73, confessed envy of proud men who seemed to have an easy life (Psalm 73:3-5), and Jeremiah asked God the same question (Jeremiah 12:1). The psalmist found his answer only when he entered God’s sanctuary and saw their final end (Psalm 73:16-17).
- Job 21:7-9 (BSB)“Why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power? Their descendants are established around them, and their offspring before their eyes. Their homes are safe from fear; no rod of punishment from God is upon them.”Job asks why the wicked live long and prosper, with their families and homes secure.
- Job 21:13 (BSB)“They spend their days in prosperity and go down to Sheol in peace.”Job says the wicked spend their days in prosperity and die peacefully.
- Psalm 73:3-5 (BSB)“For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. They have no struggle in their death; their bodies are well-fed. They are free of the burdens others carry; they are not afflicted like other men.”Asaph describes the same prosperity of the wicked that troubled him.
- Jeremiah 12:1 (BSB)“Righteous are You, O LORD, when I plead before You. Yet about Your judgments I wish to contend with You: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live at ease?”Jeremiah raises the same question about why the wicked prosper.
- Psalm 73:16-17 (BSB)“When I tried to understand all this, it was troublesome in my sight until I entered God’s sanctuary; then I discerned their end.”The psalmist understood the end of the wicked only in God’s sanctuary.
Theological
What observation does Job set against the friends’ theory of retribution in Job 21:7-13?
Answer: Many grow old and strong, see their families thrive, and die at ease
Job meets Zophar’s thesis head-on with empirical counter-evidence: the wicked frequently live to old age with increasing power, see their offspring established, enjoy homes free from the rod of God’s punishment, flourishing herds and merry children, and descend peacefully to Sheol (21:7-13). This is description, not endorsement. The same observation troubled Asaph (Psalm 73:3-5) and Jeremiah (Jeremiah 12:1); the psalmist’s resolution lay in perceiving the end of the wicked in God’s sanctuary (Psalm 73:16-17), not in any visible pattern of immediate retribution.
- Job 21:7-9 (BSB)“Why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power? Their descendants are established around them, and their offspring before their eyes. Their homes are safe from fear; no rod of punishment from God is upon them.”Job asks why the wicked live long and prosper, with their families and homes secure.
- Job 21:13 (BSB)“They spend their days in prosperity and go down to Sheol in peace.”Job says the wicked spend their days in prosperity and die peacefully.
- Psalm 73:3-5 (BSB)“For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. They have no struggle in their death; their bodies are well-fed. They are free of the burdens others carry; they are not afflicted like other men.”Asaph describes the same prosperity of the wicked that troubled him.
- Jeremiah 12:1 (BSB)“Righteous are You, O LORD, when I plead before You. Yet about Your judgments I wish to contend with You: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live at ease?”Jeremiah raises the same question about why the wicked prosper.
- Psalm 73:16-17 (BSB)“When I tried to understand all this, it was troublesome in my sight until I entered God’s sanctuary; then I discerned their end.”The psalmist understood the end of the wicked only in God’s sanctuary.
General
True or False: Job says the prosperous wicked tell God they want nothing to do with His ways, yet Job himself refuses to follow their advice (Job 21:14-16).
Answer: True
This is true. Job says the prosperous wicked tell God to go away, that they do not want to know His ways, and they ask why they should serve the Almighty or what good prayer would do them (21:14-15). Yet Job adds that their success is not really in their own control, and he keeps his distance from their counsel (21:16). So Job is not envying the wicked or joining them; his quarrel is with the friends’ claim that suffering always proves sin. Blessed is the person who refuses the advice of the wicked (Psalm 1:1), and Eliphaz will soon repeat Job’s own words about keeping away from such counsel (22:18).
- Job 21:14-16 (BSB)“Yet they say to God: ‘Leave us alone! For we have no desire to know Your ways. Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him, and what would we gain if we pray to Him?’ Still, their prosperity is not in their own hands, so I stay far from the counsel of the wicked.”The wicked reject God, yet Job distances himself from their counsel.
- Psalm 1:1 (BSB)“Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, or set foot on the path of sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers.”The blessed man does not walk in the counsel of the wicked.
- Psalm 10:4 (BSB)“In his pride the wicked man does not seek Him; in all his schemes there is no God.”The wicked man’s pride leaves no room for seeking God.
- Job 22:18 (BSB)“But it was He who filled their houses with good things; so I stay far from the counsel of the wicked.”Eliphaz repeats the same words about staying far from the counsel of the wicked.
Theological
True or False: In Job 21:14-16, Job describes the prosperous wicked as rejecting God’s ways, while he himself disowns their counsel.
Answer: True
This is true. The wicked Job describes dismiss God, disclaim any desire to know His ways, and deny that serving or praying to the Almighty yields any profit (21:14-15). Job nonetheless affirms that their good fortune does not lie in their own power and disavows their counsel (21:16). His complaint, then, is not apostasy or envy but a challenge to the friends’ retributive formula. His stance matches the blessed man who refuses the advice of the wicked (Psalm 1:1), and Eliphaz will later echo Job’s very words about it (22:18).
- Job 21:14-16 (BSB)“Yet they say to God: ‘Leave us alone! For we have no desire to know Your ways. Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him, and what would we gain if we pray to Him?’ Still, their prosperity is not in their own hands, so I stay far from the counsel of the wicked.”The wicked reject God, yet Job distances himself from their counsel.
- Psalm 1:1 (BSB)“Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, or set foot on the path of sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers.”The blessed man does not walk in the counsel of the wicked.
- Psalm 10:4 (BSB)“In his pride the wicked man does not seek Him; in all his schemes there is no God.”The wicked man’s pride leaves no room for seeking God.
- Job 22:18 (BSB)“But it was He who filled their houses with good things; so I stay far from the counsel of the wicked.”Eliphaz repeats the same words about staying far from the counsel of the wicked.