Job 9:23
in Job 9When the scourge brings sudden death, He mocks the despair of the innocent.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
If the scourge slay suddenly, He will mock at the trial of the innocent.
KJV
If the scourge slay suddenly, he will laugh at the trial of the innocent.
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This verse in Job 9
Commentary
7 notes on this verseIf He scourge, let Him slay once for all, and not laugh at the trial of the innocent. MYSTICAL INTERPRETATION Who would not suppose that this was uttered in pride, unless he heard the sentence of the Judge, Who pronounces, For ye have not spoken of Me the thing that is right, as My servant Job hath. Therefore it follows, that no one dare to find fault with the author's words, which it appears the Judge commends.
This site's exposition
When the scourge brings sudden death
on Job 9:23-24
"When the scourge brings sudden death, He mocks the despair of the innocent" extends Job's complaint from his case to disaster without regard to guilt. "The earth is given into the hand of the wicked; He blindfolds its judges" reads corrupt courts as further evidence, unjust judgment left unchecked.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
So he then says, "If he scourges, let him kill at the same time," saying in effect: Granted that the scourge of death is common to all, still it seems reasonable that the innocent, who are not guilty of their own sins, should not be …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Suddenly - If some common judgment come upon a people. Laugh - God will be well pleased, to see how the same scourge, which is the perdition of the wicked, is the trial of the innocent, and of their faith, which will be found unto praise and honour and glory.
If the scourge slay suddenly,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
If the scourge slay suddenly - If calamity comes in a sudden and unexpected manner. Dr. Good, following Reiske, translates this,” if he suddenly slay the oppressor,” understanding the word scourge שׁוט shôṭ as meaning an oppressor, or one whom God employs as a scourge of nations. But this is contrary to all the ancient versions. The word שׁוט shôṭ means properly a whip, a scourge (compare the notes at Job 5:21), and then calamity or affliction sent by God upon men. Such is clearly the case here.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
If--Rather, "While (His) scourge slays suddenly (the wicked, Job 9:22), He laughs at (disregards; not derides) the pining away of the innocent." The only difference, says Job, between the innocent and guilty is, the latter are slain by a sudden stroke, the former pine away gradually.
The words behind it
7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אִם־ | ʾimosho- | if | H518 → | 1069 times |
| שׁ֭וֹט | shot | a scourge | H7752 → | |
| יָמִ֣ית | yamit | it kills | H4191 → | 839 times |
| פִּתְאֹ֑ם | pitom | suddenly | H6597 → | 25 times |
| לְמַסַּ֖ת | lemasat | <to> [the] despair of | H4531 → | |
| נְקִיִּ֣ם | nekiyim | innocent [ones] | H5355 → | 43 times |
| יִלְעָֽג׃ | yilag | he mocks | H3932 → | 18 times |
אִם־if
ʾimosho-H518 →1069 times
שׁ֭וֹטa scourge
shotH7752 →
יָמִ֣יתit kills
yamitH4191 →839 times
פִּתְאֹ֑םsuddenly
pitomH6597 →25 times
לְמַסַּ֖ת<to> [the] despair of
lemasatH4531 →
נְקִיִּ֣םinnocent [ones]
nekiyimH5355 →43 times
יִלְעָֽג׃he mocks
yilagH3932 →18 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
Job 8:20Behold, God does not reject the blameless, nor will He strengthen the hand of evildoers.
it leads to
- Job 4:7
Consider now, I plead: Who, being innocent, has ever perished? Or where have the upright been destroyed?
- Psalms 37:37
Consider the blameless and observe the upright, for posterity awaits the man of peace.
- Psalms 37:24
Though he falls, he will not be overwhelmed, for the LORD is holding his hand.
- Isaiah 45:1
This is what the LORD says to Cyrus His anointed, whose right hand I have grasped to subdue nations before him, to disarm kings, to open the doors before him, so that the gates…
- Psalms 94:14
For the LORD will not forsake His people; He will never abandon His heritage.
- Job 4:7
Through
Job 4:7Consider now, I plead: Who, being innocent, has ever perished? Or where have the upright been destroyed?
it leads to
- Psalms 37:25
I once was young and now am old, yet never have I seen the righteous abandoned or their children begging for bread.
- Job 36:7
He does not take His eyes off the righteous, but He enthrones them with kings and exalts them forever.
- 2 Peter 2:9
if all this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment.
- Psalms 37:25
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Job
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book IX; 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 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.