Job 27:7
in Job 27May my enemy be like the wicked and my opponent like the unjust.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Let mine enemy be as the wicked, And let him that riseth up against me be as the unrighteous.
KJV
Let mine enemy be as the wicked, and he that riseth up against me as the unrighteous.
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This verse in Job 27
Commentary
9 notes on this verseLet mine enemy be like the ungodly, and he that riseth up against me as the unrighteous. In Holy Writ, the words 'like as' and 'as if' are sometimes put not for a likeness, but for the reality. Whence we have that; And we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father. And thus here also 'like,' and 'as' seem to be said rather for the sake of affirmation than similitude.
This site's exposition
May my enemy be like the wicked
on Job 27:7-10
Job asks the friends' own question, what "the hope of the godless" is "when he is cut off, when God takes away his life". Verses 9 and 10 press toward prayer, since the godless man cries out only in distress while Job has called on God through the book.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
So he says, "Just as the wicked man is my enemy," when he speaks against the truth of divine judgment, "my adversary is evil, as it were," inasmuch as he sustains an evil opinion in opposing me, saying that I am evil because I have …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
19 ), The dream be to those that hate thee. Job was so far from indulging himself in any wicked way, and flattering himself in it, that, if he might have leave to wish the greatest evil he could think of to the worst enemy he had in the world, he would wish him the portion of a wicked man, knowing that worse he could not wish him.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-citation-number+unbalanced-parens
Let mine enemy be as the wicked,....
He shows the miserable end of wicked people, notwithstanding their long prosperity, and the curse that attends them and is entailed upon their families,
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Let mine enemy be as the wicked - This is probably said that he might show that it was not his intention to justify the wicked, and that in all that he had said it was no part of his purpose to express approbation of their course. His friends had charged him with this; but he now solemnly disclaims it, and says that he had no such design.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Let . . . be--Let mine enemy be accounted as wicked, that is, He who opposes my asseveration of innocence must be regarded as actuated by criminal hostility.
Let mine enemy be as the wicked - Let my accuser be proved a lying and perjured man, because he has laid to my charge things which he cannot prove, and which are utterly false.
The words behind it
5 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| יְהִ֣י | yehi | may he be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| כְ֭רָשָׁע | kherasho' | like a wicked [person] | H7563 → | 263 times |
| אֹ֣יְבִ֑י | ʾoyevi | enemy my | H341 → | 282 times |
| וּמִתְקוֹמְמִ֥י | umitkomi | and [one who] raises himself against me | H6965 → | 628 times |
| כְעַוָּֽל׃ | kheaval | like an evil-doer | H5767 → | 5 times |
יְהִ֣יmay he be
yehiH1961 →3559 times
כְ֭רָשָׁעlike a wicked [person]
kherasho'H7563 →263 times
אֹ֣יְבִ֑יenemy my
ʾoyeviH341 →282 times
וּמִתְקוֹמְמִ֥יand [one who] raises himself against me
umitkomiH6965 →628 times
כְעַוָּֽל׃like an evil-doer
kheavalH5767 →5 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
1 Samuel 25:26Now, my lord, as surely as the LORD lives and you yourself live, the LORD has held you back from coming to bloodshed and avenging yourself with your own hand. May your enemies and…
it leads to
- 2 Samuel 18:32
The king asked the Cushite, “Is the young man Absalom all right?” And the Cushite replied, “May what has become of the young man happen to the enemies of my lord the king and…
- Romans 12:19–20
Do not avenge yourselves, beloved, but leave room for God’s wrath. For it is written: “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay, says the Lord.”
- Genesis 20:6
Then God said to Abimelech in the dream, “Yes, I know that you did this with a clear conscience, and so I have kept you from sinning against Me. That is why I did…
- Psalms 18:47–48
the God who avenges me and subdues nations beneath me,
- 2 Samuel 18:32
Through
2 Samuel 18:32The king asked the Cushite, “Is the young man Absalom all right?” And the Cushite replied, “May what has become of the young man happen to the enemies of my lord the king and…
it leads to
- Judges 5:31
So may all Your enemies perish, O LORD! But may those who love You shine like the sun at its brightest.” And the land had rest for forty years.
- 1 Samuel 25:26
Now, my lord, as surely as the LORD lives and you yourself live, the LORD has held you back from coming to bloodshed and avenging yourself with your own hand. May your enemies and…
- Judges 5:31
Through
Daniel 4:19For a time, Daniel, who was also known as Belteshazzar, was perplexed, and his thoughts alarmed him. So the king said, “Belteshazzar, do not let the dream or its interpretation alarm you.” “My lord,”…
it leads to
- Daniel 7:28
Thus ends the matter. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts troubled me greatly, and my face turned pale. But I kept the matter to myself.”
- Daniel 8:27
I, Daniel, was exhausted and lay ill for days. Then I got up and went about the king’s business. I was confounded by the vision; it was beyond understanding.
- Daniel 7:28
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
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 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 XVIII; 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.