Job 27:23
in Job 27It claps its hands at him and hisses him out of his place.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Men shall clap their hands at him, And shall hiss him out of his place.
KJV
Men shall clap their hands at him, and shall hiss him out of his place.
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This verse in Job 27
Commentary
11 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Men shall clap their hands at him - That is, they shall combine to drive him out of the world, and rejoice when he is gone. The same sentiment was also expressed by Bildad, Job 18:18: “He shall be driven fromm light into darkness, And chased out of the world.” There can be no doubt, I think, that Job alludes to that sentiment, and that his object in quoting it is to show its incorrectness.
This site's exposition
It hurls itself against him without mercy
on Job 27:22-23
In the Berean the east wind of verse 21 is the subject. The speech ends in scorn where Job has begged for pity since chapter 19. Job pictures a fall met with the same scorn his own friends have shown him through the book.
This site's exposition
It claps its hands at him
Clarke reads the storm of verses 20 to 22 as the one that claps and hisses, and compares a man hissed out of public office. Barnes hears Job quoting Bildad at Job 18:18 in order to show it wrong. Wesley reads the claps as joy and scorn at his removal.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistMorals on the Book of Job, Book XVIII · Written before 604.
proposed
He shall bind up his hands over him. And he shall hiss upon him, beholding his place. For to 'bind up the hands' is to establish the practices of his life in uprightness. Whence Paul too saith; Wherefore lift up the loosed hands, and the unstrung knees. While, then, they behold the destruction of another, they are made to turn back to the conscience, to remind themselves of their own, and by the very same cause whereby one man is carried to torments, another is freed from torments.
Once he is dead, awe and mourning remain for his friends, and so he then says, "and a man will wring his hands over him," as though struck with awe, "and will sigh over him" from compassion for him, "considering his place," when they consider …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Clap - In token of their joy at the removal of such a publick pest, by way of astonishment: and in contempt and scorn, all which this gesture signifies in scripture use.
Job's Protestation of His Sincerity. 1 Moreover Job continued his parable, and said, 2 As God liveth, who hath taken away my judgment; and the Almighty, who hath vexed my soul; 3 All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils;
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:87%@v1-3
): Men shall clap their hands at him, that is, they shall rejoice in the judgments of God, by which he is cut off, and be well pleased in his fall. When the wicked perish there is shouting, Prov. xi.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Men shall clap their hands at him,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The fact is, it is probable that Job tacitly, by giving, in the twenty-eighth chapter, only a general answer, implies, that in spite of the wicked often dying, as he said, in prosperity, he does not mean to deny that the wicked are in the main dealt with according to right, and that God herein vindicates His moral government even here.
Men shall clap their hands at him - These two verses refer to the storm, which is to sweep away the ungodly; therefore the word God, in Job 27:22, and men in this verse, should be omitted. Job 27:22 : “For it shall fall upon him, and not spare: flying from its power he shall continue to fly. Job 27:23. It shall clap its hands against him, and hiss, וישרק veyishrok, shriek, him out of his place.” Here the storm is personified and the wicked actor is hissed and driven by it from off the stage. It seems it was an ancient method to clap the hands against and hiss a man from any public office, who had acted improperly in it. The populace, in European countries, express their disapprobation of public characters who have not pleased them in the same manner to the present day, by hisses, groans, and the like.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| יִשְׂפֹּ֣ק | yispok | someone will clap | H5606 → | 10 times |
| עָלֵ֣ימוֹ | ʾaleimov | on him | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| כַפֵּ֑ימוֹ | khapeimov | hands their | H3709 → | 192 times |
| וְיִשְׁרֹ֥ק | veyishrok | so he may hiss | H8319 → | |
| עָ֝לָ֗יו | ʾalav | on him | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| מִמְּקֹמֽוֹ׃ | mimekomo | from place his | H4725 → | 401 times |
יִשְׂפֹּ֣קsomeone will clap
yispokH5606 →10 times
עָלֵ֣ימוֹon him
ʾaleimovH5921 →5755 times
כַפֵּ֑ימוֹhands their
khapeimovH3709 →192 times
וְיִשְׁרֹ֥קso he may hiss
veyishrokH8319 →
עָ֝לָ֗יוon him
ʾalavH5921 →5755 times
מִמְּקֹמֽוֹ׃from place his
mimekomoH4725 →401 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
Jeremiah 19:8I will make this city a desolation and an object of scorn. All who pass by will be appalled and will scoff at all her wounds.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 18:16
They have made their land a desolation, a perpetual object of scorn; all who pass by will be appalled and shake their heads.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 18:16
Through
Lamentations 2:15All who pass by clap their hands at you in scorn. They hiss and shake their heads at the Daughter of Jerusalem: “Is this the city that was called the perfection of beauty, the…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 19:8
I will make this city a desolation and an object of scorn. All who pass by will be appalled and will scoff at all her wounds.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 19:8
Through
1 Kings 9:8And when this temple has become a heap of rubble, all who pass by it will be appalled and will hiss and say, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 29:24–26
So all the nations will ask, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land? Why this great outburst of anger?’
- Jeremiah 22:8–9
And many nations will pass by this city and ask one another, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this great city?’
- Deuteronomy 29:24–26
Through
Revelation 18:20Rejoice over her, O heaven, O saints and apostles and prophets, because God has pronounced for you His judgment against her.
it leads to
- Revelation 6:10
And they cried out in a loud voice, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You avenge our blood and judge those who dwell upon the earth?”
- Luke 18:7–8
Will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry out to Him day and night? Will He continue to defer their help?
- Revelation 19:1–3
After this I heard a sound like the roar of a great multitude in heaven, shouting: “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God!
- Revelation 12:12
Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea; with great fury the devil has come down to you, knowing he has only a short…
- Revelation 6:10
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Job
This page draws on 10 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); Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XVIII; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; R. A. Watson, The Book of Job, Expositor's Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.