Job 27, Justice Denied

Job continues his response to Bildad.

Job 27:1-6, I insist on my righteousness

And Job continued his discourse:

"As surely as God lives, who has denied me justice, 

the Almighty, who has made me taste bitterness of soul,

as long as I have life within me, 

the breath of God in my nostrils,

my lips will not speak wickedness, 

and my tongue will utter no deceit.

I will never admit you are in the right; 

till I die, I will not deny my integrity.

I will maintain my righteousness and never let go of it; 

my conscience will not reproach me as long as I live.

Job still cannot find where he has been at fault; he continues to insist, possibly with some insight to the first chapters, that he is just and has been unfairly attacked by God. He makes it clear that he will not deviate from this belief because he sees no other option.

Hartley, in his attempts to sort out the order of chapters 25 to 27, identifies the first verse of this chapter as different from the introductions to the other speeches and suggests that verse 1 may have been added later as a clarification. Smick, in his commentary, tends to agree.

Job 27:7-10, No hope for godless

"May my enemies be like the wicked, 

my adversaries like the unjust!

For what hope has the godless when he is cut off, 

when God takes away his life?

Does God listen to his cry when distress comes upon him?

Will he find delight in the Almighty? 

Will he call upon God at all times?

Job attacks his enemies as "wicked" and agrees that the godless have no hope. The identity of his enemies is unclear.

Job 27:11-12, I can teach you

"I will teach you about the power of God; 

the ways of the Almighty I will not conceal.

You have all seen this yourselves. 

Why then this meaningless talk?

Job himself can teach about God. They have seen him teach so why are they throwing meaningless words at him?

The remaind of this chapter appears to return to the Axiom of Retribution. Hartley puts verses 13-23 in the mouth of Bildad and says the next paragraphs should follow chapter 25. This means that Job's ode to Wisdom (chapter 28) would appear immediately after Job's claim that he too can teach people.

Although Hartley describes the rest of this passage as belonging to Bildad, he also argues that this passage "draws heavily on Zophar's words found in his last speech" (Hartley, p. 359.) Either way, Hartley claims the next passage is not spoken by Job.

Job 27:13-23, The fate of the wicked

"Here is the fate God allots to the wicked, 

the heritage a ruthless man receives from the Almighty:

However many his children, 

their fate is the sword; 

his offspring will never have enough to eat.

The plague will bury those who survive him, 

and their widows will not weep for them.

Though he heaps up silver like dust 

and clothes like piles of clay,

what he lays up the righteous will wear, 

and the innocent will divide his silver.

The house he builds is like a moth's cocoon, 

like a hut made by a watchman.

He lies down wealthy, but will do so no more; 

when he opens his eyes, all is gone.

Terrors overtake him like a flood; 

a tempest snatches him away in the night.

The east wind carries him off, and he is gone; 

it sweeps him out of his place.

It hurls itself against him without mercy 

as he flees headlong from its power.

It claps its hands in derision 

and hisses him out of his place.

At every turn the rich oppressor is struck down. His children die from the sword; a plague takes out the rest of his family. His silver and clothes disappear, as does his house. He is ruined overnight, terror strikes him like a hurricane.

Verses 16 and 17 form a chiasm on silver and clothes:

    A: heaps up silver

        B: clothes like clay

        B: clothes worn by righteous

    A: silver divided

The speaker believes that the wicked are punished. If this passage is by Job, to be consistent with Job's previous claims, the punishment of the wicked must occur long after the wicked have achieved success by their wickedness. This passage seems to instead be insisting on the validity of the (negative version of the) Axiom of Retribution, that the wicked are always punished. It is easy to understand why Hartley believes this section is spoken by Bildad instead of Job.