Ayub 21:7-9

The Wicked Prosper

21:7 “Why do the wicked go on living, ¹ 

grow old, ²  even increase in power?

21:8 Their children ³  are firmly established

in their presence, ⁴ 

their offspring before their eyes.

21:9 Their houses are safe ⁵  and without fear; ⁶ 

and no rod of punishment ⁷  from God is upon them. ⁸ 

Ayub 21:30

21:30 that the evil man is spared

from the day of his misfortune,

that he is delivered ⁹ 

from the day of God’s wrath?

Mazmur 55:23

55:23 But you, O God, will bring them ¹⁰  down to the deep Pit. ¹¹ 

Violent and deceitful people ¹²  will not live even half a normal lifespan. ¹³ 

But as for me, I trust in you.

Yeremia 12:1-2

12:1 Lord, you have always been fair

whenever I have complained to you. ¹⁴ 

However, I would like to speak with you about the disposition of justice. ¹⁵ 

Why are wicked people successful? ¹⁶ 

Why do all dishonest people have such easy lives?

12:2 You plant them like trees and they put down their roots. ¹⁷ 

They grow prosperous and are very fruitful. ¹⁸ 

They always talk about you,

but they really care nothing about you. ¹⁹ 

Yeremia 12:2

12:2 You plant them like trees and they put down their roots. ²⁰ 

They grow prosperous and are very fruitful. ²¹ 

They always talk about you,

but they really care nothing about you. ²² 

Pengkhotbah 2:9

2:9 So ²³  I was far wealthier ²⁴  than all my predecessors in Jerusalem,

yet I maintained my objectivity: ²⁵ 

[21:7]  ¹ sn A. B. Davidson (Job, 154) clarifies that Job’s question is of a universal scope. In the government of God, why do the wicked exist at all? The verb could be translated “continue to live.”

[21:7]  ² tn The verb עָתַק (’ataq) means “to move; to proceed; to advance.” Here it is “to advance in years” or “to grow old.” This clause could serve as an independent clause, a separate sentence; but it more likely continues the question of the first colon and is parallel to the verb “live.”

[21:8]  ³ tn Heb “their seed.”

[21:8]  ⁴ tn The text uses לִפְנֵיהֶם עִמָּם (lifnehem ’immam, “before them, with them”). Many editors think that these were alternative readings, and so omit one or the other. Dhorme moved עִמָּם (’immam) to the second half of the verse and emended it to read עֹמְדִים (’omÿdim, “abide”). Kissane and Gordis changed only the vowels and came up with עַמָּם (’ammam, “their kinfolk”). But Gordis thinks the presence of both of them in the line is evidence of a conflated reading (p. 229).

[21:9]  ⁵ tn The word שָׁלוֹם (shalom, “peace, safety”) is here a substantive after a plural subject (see GKC 452 §141.c, n. 3).

[21:9]  ⁶ tn The form מִפָּחַד (mippakhad) is translated “without fear,” literally “from fear”; the preposition is similar to the alpha privative in Greek. The word “fear, dread” means nothing that causes fear or dread – they are peaceful, secure. See GKC 382 §119.w.

[21:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “no rod of God.” The words “punishment from” have been supplied in the translation to make the metaphor understandable for the modern reader by stating the purpose of the rod.

[21:9]  ⁸ sn In 9:34 Job was complaining that there was no umpire to remove God’s rod from him, but here he observes no such rod is on the wicked.

[21:30]  ⁹ tn The verb means “to be led forth.” To be “led forth in the day of trouble” means to be delivered.

[55:23]  ¹⁰ tn The pronominal suffix refers to the psalmist’s enemies (see v. 19).

[55:23]  ¹¹ tn Heb “well of the pit.” The Hebrew term שַׁחַת (shakhat, “pit”) is often used as a title for Sheol (see Pss 16:10; 30:9; 49:9; 103:4).

[55:23]  ¹² tn Heb “men of bloodshed and deceit.”

[55:23]  ¹³ tn Heb “will not divide in half their days.”

[12:1]  ¹⁴ tn Or “Lord, you are fair when I present my case before you.”

[12:1]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “judgments” or “matters of justice.” For the nuance of “complain to,” “fair,” “disposition of justice” assumed here, see BDB 936 s.v. רִיב Qal.4 (cf. Judg 21:22); BDB 843 s.v. צַדִּיק 1.d (cf. Ps 7:12; 11:7); BDB 1049 s.v. מִשְׁפָּט 1.f (cf. Isa 26:8; Ps 10:5; Ezek 7:27).

[12:1]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Why does the way [= course of life] of the wicked prosper?”

[12:2]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “You planted them and they took root.”

[12:2]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “they grow and produce fruit.” For the nuance “grow” for the verb which normally means “go, walk,” see BDB 232 s.v. חָלַךְ Qal.I.3 and compare Hos 14:7.

[12:2]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “You are near in their mouths, but far from their kidneys.” The figure of substitution is being used here, “mouth” for “words” and “kidneys” for passions and affections. A contemporary equivalent might be, “your name is always on their lips, but their hearts are far from you.”

[12:2]  ²⁰ tn Heb “You planted them and they took root.”

[12:2]  ²¹ tn Heb “they grow and produce fruit.” For the nuance “grow” for the verb which normally means “go, walk,” see BDB 232 s.v. חָלַךְ Qal.I.3 and compare Hos 14:7.

[12:2]  ²² tn Heb “You are near in their mouths, but far from their kidneys.” The figure of substitution is being used here, “mouth” for “words” and “kidneys” for passions and affections. A contemporary equivalent might be, “your name is always on their lips, but their hearts are far from you.”

[2:9]  ²³ tn The vav prefixed to וְגָדַלְתִּי (vÿgadalti, vav + Qal perfect first common singular from גָּדַל, gadal, “to be great; to increase”) functions in a final summarizing sense, that is, it introduces the concluding summary of 2:4-9.

[2:9]  ²⁴ tn Heb “I became great and I surpassed” (וְהוֹסַפְתִּי וְגָדַלְתִּי, vÿgadalti vÿhosafti). This is a verbal hendiadys in which the second verb functions adverbially, modifying the first: “I became far greater.” Most translations miss the hendiadys and render the line in a woodenly literal sense (KJV, ASV, RSV, NEB, NRSV, NAB, NASB, MLB, Moffatt), while only a few recognize the presence of hendiadys here: “I became greater by far” (NIV) and “I gained more” (NJPS).

[2:9]  ²⁵ tn Heb “yet my wisdom stood for me,” meaning he retained his wise perspective despite his great wealth.