Job 27:13-23 | The Way of Scripture

Job 27:13-23

How does the warning about the wicked fit with Job’s earlier objections?

Berean Standard Bible

13 This is the wicked man’s portion from God— the heritage the ruthless receive from the Almighty. 14 Though his sons are many, they are destined for the sword; and his offspring will never have enough food. 15 His survivors will be buried by the plague, and their widows will not weep for them. 16 Though he heaps up silver like dust and piles up a wardrobe like clay, 17 what he lays up, the righteous will wear, and his silver will be divided by the innocent. 18 The house he built is like a moth’s cocoon, like a hut set up by a watchman. 19 He lies down wealthy, but will do so no more; when he opens his eyes, all is gone. 20 Terrors overtake him like a flood; a tempest sweeps him away in the night. 21 The east wind carries him away, and he is gone; it sweeps him out of his place. 22 It hurls itself against him without mercy as he flees headlong from its power. 23 It claps its hands at him and hisses him out of his place.

What is the context?

The concluding section describes an oppressor’s descendants suffering, accumulated riches passing to the innocent, and a fragile house swept away amid terror. It resembles the warnings the companions have given.

The resemblance raises a real question about the argument’s movement. Recognizing that the wicked face judgment need not concede that every present calamity proves wickedness, but the section’s placement is still debated.

The BSB presents the whole sequence under Job’s continuing discourse. An explanation should preserve that text while acknowledging the difficulty rather than inventing a new speaker as settled fact.

How is this passage commonly understood?

Wesley reads the verses as a warning of the wrongdoer’s insecure riches and unavoidable end. The USCCB note regards verses 7–23 as potentially belonging to a missing Zophar speech or as an ironic portrayal of the friends’ fate. Neither reading supplies an independent basis for identifying Job’s dead children with an oppressor’s punished offspring.

What is our position?

We don't have a position on this passage yet. When our study reaches a conclusion the text supports, it will appear here.

Where can I study this further?

No deeper study linked yet.

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