Job 21 · a question people ask

Job says the wicked "spend their days in prosperity" (21:13). Doesn't other Scripture say the wicked come to nothing?

In the text

Both are in Scripture, and this chapter doesn't settle between them. On one side: "Don’t fret yourself because of evildoers, neither be envious of the wicked; for there will be no reward to the evil man. The lamp of the wicked will be snuffed out" (Proverbs 24:19-20), and "Don’t fret because of evildoers … For they shall soon be cut down like the grass" (Psalm 37:1-2). On the other, people in Scripture ask Job's question (Psalm 73 is one; see go deeper): "Why does the way of the wicked prosper?" (Jeremiah 12:1); "there are wicked men to whom it happens according to the work of the righteous" (Ecclesiastes 8:14); and "those who work wickedness are built up; yes, they tempt God, and escape" (Malachi 3:15). In Job, the friends had spoken for the first side: "the wicked man writhes in pain all his days" (15:20), "the light of the wicked will be put out" (18:5), "the triumphing of the wicked is short" (20:5). Job's words in this chapter are his own, and the book doesn't make them its teaching, or the friends' words either. These notes set the verses side by side and don't decide.

The verses

“They spend their days in prosperity. In an instant they go down to Sheol.”
Job 21:13 · World English Bible
“Don’t fret yourself because of evildoers, neither be envious of the wicked; for there will be no reward to the evil man. The lamp of the wicked will be snuffed out.”
Proverbs 24:19-20 · World English Bible
“By David. Don’t fret because of evildoers, neither be envious against those who work unrighteousness. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither like the green herb.”
Psalm 37:1-2 · World English Bible
“You are righteous, LORD, when I contend with you; yet I would like to plead a case with you. Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why are they all at ease who deal very treacherously?”
Jeremiah 12:1 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Job 21

Job 21: Why do the wicked live?

When the wicked tell God, "Depart from us" (21:14), depart is the Hebrew verb of the book's first verse, where Job "turned away from evil" (1:1). And the "nonsense" Job says his friends comfort him with (21:34) is hevel, the word of Ecclesiastes' "Vanity of vanities".

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions