Job 21:14
in Job 21Yet they say to God: ‘Leave us alone! For we have no desire to know Your ways.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And they say unto God, Depart from us; For we desire not the knowledge of thy ways.
KJV
Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways.
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This verse in Job 21
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Therefore--rather, "And yet they are such as say," &c., that is, say, not in so many words, but virtually, by their conduct (so the Gergesenes, Mt 8:34).
This site's exposition
Leave us alone
on Job 21:14-16
Job reports the wicked saying to God, "Leave us alone", the words Eliphaz will use of wicked men at 22:17. Job reports it and refuses it, "so I stay far from the counsel of the wicked". Delitzsch notes that the line keeps his observation apart from his conviction.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
One could counter that besides the many evil things which evil men do, they merited earthly prosperity from God either by loving, by knowing, or by serving him in any of their kinds of works, or at least in seeking temporal goods from him. But …
Ver. 14. Who say unto God, Depart from us. 50. To say this in words even foolish men have not the boldness, yet all wicked persons say to God, not by their words but by their ways, Depart from us. For they that do those things which Almighty God forbids, what else are they doing but shutting up their soul against the Almighty. For just as to think of His precepts, is to introduce Him into one's self, so to resist His commandments is to keep Him away from the dwelling-place of the heart.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Or, (2.) To lessen the difficulty. God suffers them to prosper; but let us not wonder at it, for the prosperity of fools destroys them, by hardening them in sin, Prov. i. See how light these prospering sinners make of God and religion, as if because they have so much of this world they had no need to look after another.
Therefore they say unto God,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
They say unto God - This is the language of their conduct, though not directly of their lips. Depart from us - Let us alone; we do not trouble thee. Thy ways are painful; we do not like cross-bearing. Thy ways are spiritual; we wish to live after the flesh. We have learned to do our own will; we do not wish to study thine.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Therefore - This would seem to indicate that the “result” of their living in this manner was that they rejected God, or that one of the consequences of their being prospered would be that they would cast off his government and authority; that they renounced him “because” they were thus prosperous, or because they wished to train up their children in merriment and dancing. All this may be true in itself, but that idea is not in the Hebrew. That is simply “and they say” - ויאמרו vayo'âmarû. So the Vulgate; the Septuagint; the Chaldee - ואמרו; and the Syriac. The word “therefore” should not have been inserted. Job is not affirming that their mode of life is a “reason” why they reject the claims of God, but that it is a simple “fact” that they “do” live, even in this prosperity, in the neglect of God. This is the gist of what he is saying, that being thus wicked they were in fact prospered, and not punished as his friends had maintained. They say unto God - This is the language of their conduct. Men do not often formally and openly say this; but it is the language of their deportment. Depart from us - This is about all that the wicked say of God. “They wish him to let them alone.” They do not desire that he would come into their habitations; they would be glad never more to hear his name. Yet what a state of mind is this! What must be the condition and character of the human heart when this desire is felt? We desire not the knowledge of thy ways - We have no wish to become acquainted with God. His “ways” here mean his government, his law, his claims - whatever God does. Never was there a better description of the feelings of the human heart than is here expressed. The ways of God are displeasing to people, and they seek to crowd from their minds all respect to his commandments and claims. […]
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
and in a moment they descend to the grave When his dying day arrived, he would die in a moment, easily, without suffering.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 7 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּאמְר֣וּ | vaiyomeru | and they have said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| לָ֭אֵל | lael | to <the> God | H410 → | 241 times |
| ס֣וּר | sur | depart | H5493 → | 299 times |
| מִמֶּ֑נּוּ | mimenu | from us | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| וְדַ֥עַת | vedaat | and knowledge of | H1847 → | 92 times |
| דְּ֝רָכֶ֗יךָ | derakheikha | ways your | H1870 → | 707 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| חָפָֽצְנוּ׃ | chafatzenu | we desire | H2654 → | 74 times |
וַיֹּאמְר֣וּand they have said
vaiyomeruH559 →5305 times
לָ֭אֵלto <the> God
laelH410 →241 times
ס֣וּרdepart
surH5493 →299 times
מִמֶּ֑נּוּfrom us
mimenuH4480 →1188 times
וְדַ֥עַתand knowledge of
vedaatH1847 →92 times
דְּ֝רָכֶ֗יךָways your
derakheikhaH1870 →707 times
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
חָפָֽצְנוּ׃we desire
chafatzenuH2654 →74 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
Romans 8:7because the mind of the flesh is hostile to God: It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.
it leads to
- 1 Corinthians 2:14
The natural man does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.
- 1 John 2:15–16
Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
- James 4:4
You adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever chooses to be a friend of the world renders himself an enemy of God.
- Ephesians 4:18–19
They are darkened in their understanding and alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardness of their hearts.
- 2 Timothy 3:4
traitorous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
- 1 Corinthians 2:14
Through
Job 22:17They said to God, ‘Depart from us. What can the Almighty do to us?’
it leads to
- Job 21:14–15
Yet they say to God: ‘Leave us alone! For we have no desire to know Your ways.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Job 21:14–15
Through
Psalms 10:4In his pride the wicked man does not seek Him; in all his schemes there is no God.
it leads to
- Romans 1:28
Furthermore, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, He gave them up to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 14:1–2
The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt; their acts are vile. There is no one who does good.
- Romans 1:28
About Job
This page draws on 9 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, Book XV; 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); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.