Job 27

This chapter belongs to the closing portion of the third cycle of speeches in the Book of Job. Following Bildad's brief speech in Job 25 and Job's reply in Job 26, the chapter opens with a new introductory formula: "Moreover Job continued his parable" (here "parable" denotes speech in the form of figurative sayings or proverbs). Zophar does not speak in the third cycle.

Outline

• Verse 1 Job resumes speaking.
• Verses 2–6 Job swears by the life of God, who has taken away his right. He declares that he will not speak falsehood, that he will not justify his friends, and that until he dies he will not remove his integrity (his blameless wholeness) from himself.
• Verses 7–10 Job wishes that his enemy might be as the wicked. He says that the hypocrite (the ungodly person), even if he has gained, has no hope when God takes away his soul, and that when he cries out in a time of trouble, he receives no answer.
• Verses 11–12 Job says he will teach his friends about the hand of God, and he rebukes them for speaking vain words when they have all seen it for themselves.
• Verses 13–23 Job describes the portion the wicked will receive from God. His children perish by the sword and by pestilence, and the silver and garments he has heaped up pass to the just and the innocent. His house is as flimsy as a moth's house or a watchman's booth; he lies down rich, but when he opens his eyes, everything is gone. Terrors, the storm, and the east wind drive him away, and people clap their hands at him in scorn.

Key Verses

• Job 27:5 "Till I die I will not remove mine integrity from me." This verse most clearly reveals Job's resolve to maintain his innocence even in the midst of suffering.
• Job 27:6 "My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go." This verse lies at the heart of Job's final protest against his friends' condemnation.

People and Places

• Job: The speaker throughout the chapter.
• Job's three friends: They do not speak in this chapter, but they are the ones Job addresses as "ye" and refutes.

Points for Reflection

Verses 13–23 assert that the wicked will surely be punished, a view that closely resembles the arguments the friends advanced earlier. For this reason, interpretations of this section differ. Some scholars hold that the speech of Zophar, which is missing from the third cycle, was displaced into this position during the transmission of the text. Those who read the passage as Job's words in its present order, by contrast, offer several explanations. Some suggest that Job himself affirms the principle that the wicked are ultimately judged, while others suggest that he is turning his friends' own reasoning back on them.

In verse 2, Job swears by the very God who has denied him justice. This passage reveals the paradoxical faith of Job, who protests against God yet does not turn away from Him. For this reason it is often read alongside Job 13:15.

The theme of the prosperity of the wicked is read in connection with Psalm 73. Verse 19, "The rich man shall lie down … he openeth his eyes, and he is not," is also sometimes read together with the New Testament Parable of the Rich Fool.