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Job 27 Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width; initial-scale=1.0;"/><title>Job 27 Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers</title><link rel="canonical" href="https://biblehub.com/commentaries/expositors/job/27.htm" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/5001com.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 4800px), only screen and (max-device-width: 4800px)" href="/4801.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1550px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1550px)" href="/1551.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1250px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1250px)" href="/1251.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1050px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1050px)" href="/1051.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 900px), only screen and (max-device-width: 900px)" href="/901.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 800px), only screen and (max-device-width: 800px)" href="/801.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 575px), only screen and (max-device-width: 575px)" href="/501.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-height: 450px), only screen and (max-device-height: 450px)" href="/h451.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /><script type="application/javascript" src="https://scripts.webcontentassessor.com/scripts/8a2459b64f9cac8122fc7f2eac4409c8555fac9383016db59c4c26e3d5b8b157"></script><script src='https://qd.admetricspro.com/js/biblehub/biblehub-layout-loader-revcatch.js'></script><script id='HyDgbd_1s' src='https://prebidads.revcatch.com/ads.js' type='text/javascript' async></script><script>(function(w,d,b,s,i){var cts=d.createElement(s);cts.async=true;cts.id='catchscript'; 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and the Almighty, who has vexed my soul;">Job 27:2-6</a>); his own estimate of the fate of the wicked (<a href="/context/job/27-7.htm" title="Let my enemy be as the wicked, and he that rises up against me as the unrighteous.">Job 27:7-23</a>); his magnificent estimate of the nature of wisdom (Job 28); his comparison of his former life (Job 29) with that of his present experience (Job 30); his final declaration of his innocent and irreproachable conduct (Job 31).<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/27-2.htm">Job 27:2</a></div><div class="verse"><i>As</i> God liveth, <i>who</i> hath taken away my judgment; and the Almighty, <i>who</i> hath vexed my soul;</div>(2) <span class= "bld">As God liveth, who hath taken away my judgment.</span>—Job’s faith leads him to see that, though there may be no explanation for his sufferings, yet they are laid upon him by God for purposes of His own, which are veiled from him.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/27-5.htm">Job 27:5</a></div><div class="verse">God forbid that I should justify you: till I die I will not remove mine integrity from me.</div>(5) <span class= "bld">God forbid that I should justify you.</span>—To admit the wickedness with which his friends charged him would have been to justify them—to say that they were right and he was wrong. This he resolves not to do.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/27-6.htm">Job 27:6</a></div><div class="verse">My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go: my heart shall not reproach <i>me</i> so long as I live.</div>(6) <span class= "bld">My heart shall not reproach me.</span>—Or, <span class= "ital">doth not reproach me for any of my days.</span><p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/27-7.htm">Job 27:7</a></div><div class="verse">Let mine enemy be as the wicked, and he that riseth up against me as the unrighteous.</div>(7) <span class= "bld">Let mine enemy be as the wicked.</span>—While, however, he admits that the wicked is often a prosperous man, he declares that he has no envy for him, but would have only his adversaries to be like him.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/27-8.htm">Job 27:8</a></div><div class="verse">For what <i>is</i> the hope of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God taketh away his soul?</div>(8) <span class= "bld">What is the hope?</span>—Better, <span class= "ital">What is the hope of the godless, though he get him gain, when God taketh away his soul?</span><p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/27-10.htm">Job 27:10</a></div><div class="verse">Will he delight himself in the Almighty? will he always call upon God?</div>(10) <span class= "bld">Will he delight himself?</span>—It is only the godly who can say, “Whom have I in heaven but Thee, and there is none upon earth that I desire in comparison with Thee;” and again, “I will praise Thy name, because it is so <span class= "ital">comfortable;</span>” but this man hath no promise that he can plead, and therefore no assurance of access at all times to the presence of God.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/27-11.htm">Job 27:11</a></div><div class="verse">I will teach you by the hand of God: <i>that</i> which <i>is</i> with the Almighty will I not conceal.</div>(11) <span class= "bld">I will teach you.</span>—Better, <span class= "ital">I will teach you of the hand of God; </span>or, <span class= "ital">what is in the power of God.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/27-12.htm">Job 27:12</a></div><div class="verse">Behold, all ye yourselves have seen <i>it</i>; why then are ye thus altogether vain?</div>(</span>12<span class= "ital">)</span> <span class= "bld">Behold, all ye yourselves have seen it.</span>—That is, “You have seen me so proclaim the great power of God.”<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/27-13.htm">Job 27:13</a></div><div class="verse">This <i>is</i> the portion of a wicked man with God, and the heritage of oppressors, <i>which</i> they shall receive of the Almighty.</div>(13) <span class= "bld">This is the portion of a wicked man.</span>—Some have thought that the remainder of this chapter, if not Job 28 also, constitutes the missing third speech of Zophar, and that the usual words, “Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said,” have dropped out; but whatever may so be gained in symmetry seems to be lost in dramatic effect. We have seen that Bildad had but little to say, and that was only a few truisms; it is not surprising, therefore, that when it came to the turn of Zophar he had nothing more to say, and Job was left virtually master of the field. It is, however, a little remarkable that, supposing these words to be rightly ascribed to Job, he should precisely adopt those with which Zophar had concluded (<a href="/job/20-29.htm" title="This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the heritage appointed to him by God.">Job 20:29</a>). Perhaps Job is willing to show how completely he is prepared to accept the facts of his friends, although he will not admit their inferences. He, like them, is quite ready to allow that the prosperity of the wicked must be seeming rather than real, and that it must eventually come to nought.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/27-15.htm">Job 27:15</a></div><div class="verse">Those that remain of him shall be buried in death: and his widows shall not weep.</div>(15) <span class= "bld">Those that remain of him shall be buried in death.</span>—That is, as the context shows, it shall be obscure, and excite no sympathy; their very death shall be as it were a burial, and shall consign them to oblivion.<p><span class= "bld">His widows.</span>—That is, those commonly hired for the purpose of making lamentation for the dead, or the widows of those that remain of him.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/27-19.htm">Job 27:19</a></div><div class="verse">The rich man shall lie down, but he shall not be gathered: he openeth his eyes, and he <i>is</i> not.</div>(19) <span class= "bld">But he shall not be gathered.</span>—Some ancient versions read, “but he shall do so no more;” but the “gathering” may refer to his wealth. “He openeth his eyes, and it (<span class= "ital">i.e., </span>his wealth) is not;” or it may mean that as soon as he opens his eyes, hoping to enjoy his riches, he shall be no more, but be suddenly cut off. This sense appears to accord with the following verses.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/27-22.htm">Job 27:22</a></div><div class="verse">For <i>God</i> shall cast upon him, and not spare: he would fain flee out of his hand.</div>(22) <span class= "bld">For God shall cast upon him.</span>—The Authorised Version supplies <span class= "ital">God </span>as the subject; but we obtain very good sense by understanding it of the man who constantly fled from his power now being only too glad of the opportunity of avenging himself on him, while he or others clap their hands at him, and hiss him from his place.<p> <div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center">Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers<br /><br />Text Courtesy of <a href="//biblesupport.com" target="_top">BibleSupport.com</a>. 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