Job 21:27
in Job 21Behold, I know your thoughts full well, the schemes by which you would wrong me.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Behold, I know your thoughts, And the devices wherewith ye would wrong me.
KJV
Behold, I know your thoughts, and the devices which ye wrongfully imagine against me.
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This verse in Job 21
Commentary
8 notes on this verseVer. 27, 28. Behold I know your thoughts, and the devices that ye wrongfully imagine against me. For ye say, Where is the house of the prince? and where are the dwellings of the wicked? 63. For they had imagined him a wicked man, whom they saw, his substance gone, in a temporal way ruined. But the holy man judges them with a lofty review in proportion as amidst the losses which he had met with, he was standing with undiminished uprightness.
This site's exposition
I know your thoughts
on Job 21:27-28
Job names what stands behind the friends' approach, "I know your thoughts full well". He accuses them of taking his ruined estate as evidence, the logic the reader knows from chapters 1 and 2 to be false. The charge is aimed at their method as well as their conclusion.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
The opinion of the friends of Job was that the reason for this difference was based on the diversity of merits. This is against the evidence of experience in the fact that some of the evil prosper and some of them suffer adversities. So he …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
, to the end ), and in this Job was clearly in the right. The Reply of Job to Zophar. 1 But Job answered and said, 2 Hear diligently my speech, and let this be your consolations.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
"I know you will not agree with me; for your judgments are tinctured and biassed by your piques and prejudices against me, and the devices which you wrongfully imagine against my comfort and honour: and how can such men be convinced?" Job's friends were ready to say, in answer to his discourse concerning the prosperity of the wicked, " Where is the house of the prince?
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
Behold, I know your thoughts,.... God only truly, really, and in fact, knows the thoughts of men; this is his peculiar prerogative, he only is the searcher of the hearts and the trier of the reins of the children of men. Christ, the eternal Logos, or Word, by his being a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart, appears to be truly God.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Behold, I know your thoughts - That is, “I see that you are not satisfied, and that you are disposed still to maintain your former position. You will be ready to ask, Where “are” the proofs of the prosperity of the wicked? Where “are” the palaces of the mighty? Where “are” the dwelling places of ungodly men!” And the devices which ye wrongfully imagine against me - The course of sophistical argument which you pursue, the tendency and design of which is to prove that I am a wicked man.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
I know your thoughts - Ye still think that, because I am grievously afflicted, I must therefore be a felonious transgressor.
The words behind it
6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הֵ֣ן | hen | here! | H2005 → | 316 times |
| יָ֭דַעְתִּי | yada'ti | I know | H3045 → | 945 times |
| מַחְשְׁבֽוֹתֵיכֶ֑ם | machshevoteikhem | thoughts your | H4284 → | |
| וּ֝מְזִמּ֗וֹת | umezimot | and [the] schemes | H4209 → | |
| עָלַ֥י | ʾalai | on <the> me | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| תַּחְמֹֽסוּ׃ | tachmosu | you do violence | H2554 → |
הֵ֣ןhere!
henH2005 →316 times
יָ֭דַעְתִּיI know
yada'tiH3045 →945 times
מַחְשְׁבֽוֹתֵיכֶ֑םthoughts your
machshevoteikhemH4284 →
וּ֝מְזִמּ֗וֹתand [the] schemes
umezimotH4209 →
עָלַ֥יon <the> me
ʾalaiH5921 →5755 times
תַּחְמֹֽסוּ׃you do violence
tachmosuH2554 →
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
1 Peter 2:19For if anyone endures the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God, this is to be commended.
it leads to
- Matthew 5:10–12
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
- 1 Peter 3:14–17
But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear what they fear; do not be shaken.”
- 1 Peter 2:20
How is it to your credit if you are beaten for doing wrong and you endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God.
- Luke 6:32
If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them.
- Matthew 5:10–12
Through
Job 42:7After the LORD had spoken these words to Job, He said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is kindled against you and your two friends. For you have not spoken about Me accurately, as…
it leads to
- Job 32:2–3
This kindled the anger of Elihu son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram. He burned with anger against Job for justifying himself rather than God,
- Job 11:5–6
But if only God would speak and open His lips against you,
- Job 32:2–3
Through
Psalms 119:86All Your commandments are faithful; I am persecuted without cause—help me!
it leads to
- Psalms 35:19
Let not my enemies gloat over me without cause, nor those who hate me without reason wink in malice.
- Psalms 70:5
But I am poor and needy; hurry to me, O God. You are my help and my deliverer; O LORD, do not delay.
- Psalms 35:19
About Job
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Job; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XV; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.