Job 15:27
in Job 15Though his face is covered with fat and his waistline bulges with flesh,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Because he hath covered his face with his fatness, And gathered fat upon his loins;
KJV
Because he covereth his face with his fatness, and maketh collops of fat on his flanks.
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This verse in Job 15
Commentary
12 notes on this verseBecause - This is mentioned as the reason of his insolent carriage towards God, because he was fat, rich, potent, and successful, as that expression signifies, Deut. xxxii, 15 Psalm lxxviii, 31 Jer. xlvi, 21.
This site's exposition
he has stretched out his hand against God
on Job 15:25-28
The poem pictures the wicked man's arrogance as an assault on God, "rushing headlong at Him with a thick, studded shield". Gill takes the "ruined cities" and "abandoned houses" of verse 28 as the wicked man's future dwelling, ruin overtaking the prosperity his fat face described.
This site's exposition
his face is covered with fat
Wesley reads the fat face and flesh as signs of wealth, the ease that bred his attack on God, and points to Deuteronomy 32:15. Gregory applies the covered face to the mind, whose eyes are pressed down by earthly goods. Wealth made him bold.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
Pride usually arises from an abundance of temporal goods, and so the text continues, "he is furnished with a fat neck," by acting proud against God. For fat is caused by an abundance of humors and so is an image for an abundance of temporal …
Ver. 27. Fatness hath covered his face. For the sight is in the face, wherein too is the first more honourable part of the body. Therefore the best of the mind is not unjustly denoted by the face, which wherever we turn it, there we see. And so 'fatness covers the face,' in that the earnestly coveted abundance of earthly good things presses down the eyes of the mind, and that which should be honourable in them, it makes foul in the eyes of God, in that it weighs it to the earth with a multitude of concerns.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Why is God forgotten and slighted, but because the belly is made a god of and happiness placed in the delights of sense? Those that fill themselves with wine and strong drink abandon all that is serious and flatter themselves with hopes that tomorrow shall be as this day, Isa. lvi.
11 Are the consolations of God small with thee? is there any secret thing with thee? 12 Why doth thine heart carry thee away? and what do thy eyes wink at, 13 That thou turnest thy spirit against God, and lettest such words go out of thy mouth? 14 What is man, that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture
Because he covereth his face with his fatness,....
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
But the wicked want it, and cannot expect it should be readily given them. How should those find mercy who never showed mercy? [2.] His outward prosperity will soon come to an end, and all his confidence and all his comfort will come to an end with it.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
The well-nourished body of the rebel is the sign of his prosperity. collops--masses of fat. He pampers and fattens himself with sensual indulgences; hence his rebellion against God (De 32:15;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Because he covereth his face - He has lived in luxury and excess; and like a man overloaded with flesh, he cannot defend himself against the strong gripe of his adversary. The Arabic, for maketh collops of fat on his flanks, has (Arabic) He lays the Pleiades upon the Hyades, or, He places Surreea upon aiyuk, a proverbial expression for, His ambition is boundless; He aspires as high as heaven; His head touches the stars; or, is like the giants of old, who were fabled to have attempted to scale heaven by placing one high mountain upon another: - Ter sunt conati imponere Pelio Ossam Scilicet, atque Ossae frondosum involvere Olympum Ter Pater extructos disjecit fulmine montes. Virg. Geor. i., ver. 281. “With mountains piled on mountains, thrice they strove To scale the steepy battlements of Jove; And thrice his lightning and red thunder play’d, And their demolished works in ruins laid.” Dryden. To the lust of power and the schemes of ambition there are no bounds; but see the end of such persons: the haughty spirit precedes a fall; their palaces become desolate; and their heaven is reduced to a chaos.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Because he covereth his face with his fatness - That is, he not only stretches out his hand against God Job 15:25 and rushes upon him as an armed foe Job 15:26, but he gives himself up to a life of luxury, gluttony, and licentiousness; and therefore, these calamities must come upon him. This is designed to be a description of a luxurious and licentious person - a man who is an enemy of God, and who, therefore, must incur his displeasure. And maketh collops of fat - Like an ox that is fattened.
The words behind it
8 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| כִסָּ֣ה | khisah | he has covered | H3680 → | 152 times |
| פָנָ֣יו | fanav | face his | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| בְּחֶלְבּ֑וֹ | bechelbo | with fat his | H2459 → | |
| וַיַּ֖עַשׂ | vaiyaas | and he has made | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| פִּימָ֣ה | pimah | fat | H6371 → | |
| עֲלֵי־ | ʾalei- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| כָֽסֶל׃ | khasel | loins | H3689 → | 13 times |
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
כִסָּ֣הhe has covered
khisahH3680 →152 times
פָנָ֣יוface his
fanavH6440 →2123 times
בְּחֶלְבּ֑וֹwith fat his
bechelboH2459 →
וַיַּ֖עַשׂand he has made
vaiyaasH6213 →2628 times
פִּימָ֣הfat
pimahH6371 →
עֲלֵי־on
ʾalei-H5921 →5755 times
כָֽסֶל׃loins
khaselH3689 →13 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Isaiah 6:10Make the hearts of this people calloused; deafen their ears and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”
it leads to
- Matthew 13:15
For this people’s heart has grown callous; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts,…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Acts 28:27
For this people’s heart has grown callous; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts,…
- Jeremiah 5:21
“Hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear.
- Jeremiah 6:10
To whom can I give this warning? Who will listen to me? Look, their ears are closed, so they cannot hear. See, the word of the LORD has become offensive to them; they find…
- John 3:19–20
And this is the verdict: The Light has come into the world, but men loved the darkness rather than the Light because their deeds were evil.
- Matthew 13:15
Through
Deuteronomy 32:15But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked—becoming fat, bloated, and gorged. He abandoned the God who made him and scorned the Rock of his salvation.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 31:20
When I have brought them into the land that I swore to give their fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey, they will eat their fill and prosper. Then they will turn to…
- Hosea 13:6
When they had pasture, they became satisfied; when they were satisfied, their hearts became proud, and as a result they forgot Me.
- Deuteronomy 31:20
Through
Jeremiah 5:28They have grown fat and sleek, and have excelled in the deeds of the wicked. They have not taken up the cause of the fatherless, that they might prosper; nor have they defended the…
it leads to
- Psalms 73:12
Behold, these are the wicked— always carefree as they increase their wealth.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 73:12
About Job
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Book of Job; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XII; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.