Job 21:7

Old Testament Wisdom/Poetry ASV (1901)

What does Job 21:7 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “Wherefore do the wicked live, Become old, yea, wax mighty in power?” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

Wherefore do the wicked live, Become old, yea, wax mighty in power?
Job 21:7 — American Standard Version

Context — Job 21

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
7Wherefore do the wicked live, Become old, yea, wax mighty in power?

What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“Wherefore do the wicked live, etc.] 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 heavy affliction, that he seemed rather to die than live: or else it is put to his friends, to whom he appeals for the truth of it, as Zophar had to him, about the short time of the prosperity of the…”
Read attributed excerpt →
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“The answer is Rom 2:4; Ti1 1:16; Psa 73:18; Ecc 8:11-13; Luk 2:35-end; Pro 16:4; Rom 9:22. old--in opposition to the friends who asserted that sinners are "cut off" early (Job 8:12, Job 8:14).”
Read attributed excerpt →
Barnes' Notes
Albert Barnes (1798–1870) · Notes on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“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 surrounded with the comforts of life in an eminent degree. The meaning is, “If you are positive that the wicked are treated according to their character in this life - that great wickedness is followed by…”
Read attributed excerpt →
Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge
R. A. Torrey and contributors · The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge · Cross-reference reference work
“Wherefore: Job 12:6; Psa 17:10, Psa 73:3-12; Jer 12:1-3; Hab 1:15, Hab 1:16 mighty: Psa 37:35; Dan 4:17; Rev 13:2-7, Rev 17:2-4 Job 21:8”
Read attributed excerpt →
Keil & Delitzsch
C. F. Keil & F. Delitzsch · Commentary on the Old Testament · 19th-century historical commentary
“7 Wherefore do the wicked live, Become old, yea, become mighty in power? 8 Their posterity is established before them about them, And their offspring before their eyes. 9 Their houses have peace without fear, And the rod of Eloah cometh not upon them. 10 His (the evil-doer's) bull gendereth and faileth not; His cow calveth easily, and casteth not her calf. 11 They let their little ones run about as a flock, And their children jump about. The question in Job 21:7 is the same as that which Jeremiah also puts forth, Job 12:1-3. It is the antithesis of Zophar's thesis, Job 20:5, and seeks the reason of the fact established by experience which had also well-nigh proved the ruin of Asaph (Ps 73:…”
Read attributed excerpt →

Related study paths

Sources and verification