Job 21 is the 21st chapter of the Book of Job in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible.[1] The book is anonymous; most scholars believe it was written around 6th century BCE. This chapter records the speech of Job, which belongs to the Dialogue section of the book, comprising –31:40.
The original text is written in Hebrew language. This chapter is divided into 34 verses.
Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text, which includes the Aleppo Codex (10th century), and Codex Leningradensis (1008).
There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BC; some extant ancient manuscripts of this version include Codex Vaticanus (B;
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The structure of the book is as follows:
Within the structure, chapter 21 is grouped into the Dialogue section with the following outline:
The Dialogue section is composed in the format of poetry with distinctive syntax and grammar.
Chapter 21 contains Job's last speech in the second cycle of debates with his friends, notably the only speech in which "Job confines his remarks to his friends".[2] The chapter can be divided into the following parts:
Job opens his speech with a plea for his friends to actually listen (instead of "mock") his words because if they were doing that, it would bring real comfort to him (verse 2–3). Job's issue is that the friends are interfering his complaint with God with their inaccurate presumption or silence toward his defence (verse 4–5). The task to lay complaint before an almight God is a dangerous task, hence Job approaches this with trembling (verse 6).
[Job said:] "As for me, is my complaint against man?
And if it were, why should I not be impatient?"[3]
This section has two main parts in which Job explores the apparent anomalies of what the friends stated about the fate of the wicked:
Job is suspicious of any attempt to trim the facts to fit into a 'tidy theological system', and he confronts the friends to match their neat imaginary world with the reality.Verse 7 contains the statement of the general problem for the first topic: "why the wicked not only exist but also live a long life ("advance to old age") and grow mighty in power and wealth". The second topic is framed by the 'reality of death' (verses 17–18 and verses 25–26) as Job asks "how often do the wicked die prematurely" in a series of rhetorical questions with the expected answer: "hardly ever". The implication of both topics is the arbitrariness (lack of connection) between 'a person's righteousness and the fullness of that person's life', thus the divine retribution is not actually reflected in the world.
[Job said:] "Lo, their good is not in their hand: the counsel of the wicked is far from me."[5]
After challenging the friends of their thinking process, Job criticizes them for being blind an deaf to reality because of their rigid theological systems.(verses 29–33). Job closes the second round of debate by pointing out the insubstantiality of his friends' comfort until now ('mere hot air') and the faithlessness or treachery of what is left standing in their speeches (verse 34).
[Job said:] "Have you not asked them who travel the road?
And do you not know their signs?"[8]
The Greek Septuagint version renders the verse as: “Ask those who go by the way, and do not disown their signs.”[10]
. Michael D. Coogan . The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books: New Revised Standard Version, Issue 48 . Coogan . Michael David . Marc Zvi . Brettler . Carol Ann . Newsom . Pheme . Perkins . Augmented 3rd . Oxford University Press . 2007 . 9780195288810 .
. Henry Hampton Halley. Halley's Bible Handbook: an abbreviated Bible commentary . 24th (revised). Zondervan Publishing House . 1965 . 0-310-25720-4.