Job 27

Introduction

Job 27 opens with a solemn oath — one of the most striking gestures in the book — and then moves into a description of the fate of the wicked that has puzzled interpreters for centuries. The opening verses (2–6) are unmistakably Job at his most defiant: he swears by the life of the very God who has wronged him that he will not capitulate to his friends, will not declare them right, will not abandon his integrity. It is an oath simultaneously of integrity and accusation.

But from verse 13 onward, Job describes the wicked man's doom in terms that sound almost word-for-word like the speeches of Bildad and Zophar — the very position Job has been arguing against. This is the central literary and textual puzzle of the chapter. Commentators have offered three main solutions: (1) chapters 25–27 represent a disarranged text, with some or all of vv. 13–23 belonging to a missing third speech by Zophar; (2) Job is deliberately adopting the friends' language to challenge them — "you say this is the enemy's portion; very well, let them receive it"; or (3) Job genuinely holds a nuanced view — the wicked do eventually fall, but the timing and the interim suffering of the innocent are his real complaint. The tension is real and likely intentional: Job's book does not resolve its contradictions neatly. The oath of vv. 2–6 stands firm regardless of how the rest of the chapter is read.

Job's Solemn Oath (vv. 2–6)

² "As surely as God lives, who has deprived me of justice— the Almighty, who has embittered my soul— ³ as long as my breath is still within me and the breath of God remains in my nostrils, ⁴ my lips will not speak wickedness, and my tongue will not utter deceit. ⁵ I will never say that you are right; I will maintain my integrity until I die. ⁶ I will cling to my righteousness and never let go. As long as I live, my conscience will not accuse me.

² "By the life of God, who has taken away my right — the Almighty, who has made my soul bitter — ³ for as long as my breath is in me and the spirit of God is in my nostrils, ⁴ my lips will not speak what is wrong, and my tongue will not utter deception. ⁵ Far be it from me to say that you are right! Until I die I will not put away my integrity. ⁶ I hold fast to my righteousness and will not let it go; my heart will not reproach me as long as I live.

Notes

The oath formula חַי אֵל — "By the life of God" — is a solemn sworn declaration, the equivalent of an irrevocable legal oath. What makes it extraordinary here is the immediate accusation embedded in the oath itself: this is the God "who has taken away my right" (הֵסִיר מִשְׁפָּטִי) and "embittered my soul" (הֵמַר נַפְשִׁי). The root מָרַר — "to be bitter" — is the same root as Marah, the bitter water of the Exodus. Job swears by the living God while simultaneously charging him with injustice. This is not hypocrisy — it is the most intense form of honest address: he will not pretend the relationship is less broken than it is.

The phrase נִשְׁמַת אֱלוֹהַּ בְּאַפִּי — "the breath of God in my nostrils" — deliberately echoes Genesis 2:7, where God breathes the breath of life into Adam. As long as that breath remains, Job will not lie. The claim is not just personal integrity but theological: the very life-force Job received from God will not be used to speak falsehood, even under pressure.

The key word of the oath is תֻּמָּתִי — "my integrity" — from the root תָּמַם, to be complete, whole, blameless. This is the same root used of Job in the prologue: Job is described as תָּם וְיָשָׁר, "blameless and upright" (Job 1:1). The word carries no claim to sinless perfection — it means moral wholeness and consistency of character. Job refuses to surrender that self-knowledge even to end the suffering.

Verse 6 ends with the striking claim: לֹא יֶחֱרַף לְבָבִי מִיָּמָי — "my heart will not reproach me as long as I live." The verb חָרַף means to taunt, reproach, or shame. Job is saying that his conscience bears him out — the interior witness of his own heart does not accuse him. This is remarkable: not a claim that he is sinless, but a claim that the specific charges being laid against him by his friends are false.

The Enemy and Empty Talk (vv. 7–12)

⁷ May my enemy be like the wicked and my opponent like the unjust. ⁸ For what is the hope of the godless when he is cut off, when God takes away his life? ⁹ Will God hear his cry when distress comes upon him? ¹⁰ Will he delight in the Almighty? Will he call upon God at all times? ¹¹ I will instruct you in the power of God. I will not conceal the ways of the Almighty. ¹² Surely all of you have seen it for yourselves. Why then do you keep up this empty talk?

⁷ Let my enemy be like the wicked, and let my opponent be like the unjust. ⁸ For what is the hope of the profane man when he is cut off, when God strips away his life? ⁹ Will God hear his cry when trouble comes upon him? ¹⁰ Or did he delight in the Almighty? Did he call upon God at all times? ¹¹ I will teach you about the hand of God; I will not conceal what the Almighty has done. ¹² Look — you have all seen it yourselves. Why then do you go on talking such empty nonsense?

Notes

Verse 7 is a conditional curse or imprecation: Job turns the friends' whole theology against them. If the wicked man is the one who suffers, then let my enemies receive exactly that. The logic is double-edged: Job's enemies (the friends, perhaps, who are opposing him in court) should receive the portion of the wicked — which either means they are wicked, or that Job is ironically exposing the cruelty of the "wicked suffer" framework by applying it to those who torment him.

The word חָנֵף in v. 8 — "the godless, the profane, the hypocrite" — is loaded. It describes someone who is outwardly religious but inwardly corrupt, without genuine relationship with God. The implicit question of vv. 9–10 is: does the godless person have a prayer life? Does he delight in the Almighty? The expected answer is no. And therefore, when trouble comes, he has no one to cry to. The contrast with Job is pointed: Job does cry to God, does argue with God, does long for God — which is itself evidence of genuine relationship, however fractured.

Verse 12 delivers a scathing accusation: "Why then do you go on spouting הֶבֶל?" The word הֶבֶל — "vapor, breath, emptiness, vanity" — is the word Ecclesiastes uses for everything transient and meaningless. Here it describes the friends' speeches: they have seen the same world Job has seen; they know perfectly well that reality does not match their tidy formulas. Their continued talking is wind. The verb תֶּהְבָּלוּ, from the same root, means "to become vain/empty" — they are themselves becoming like their words.

The Wicked Man's Portion (vv. 13–23)

¹³ This is the wicked man's portion from God— the heritage the ruthless receive from the Almighty. ¹⁴ Though his sons are many, they are destined for the sword; and his offspring will never have enough food. ¹⁵ His survivors will be buried by the plague, and their widows will not weep for them. ¹⁶ Though he heaps up silver like dust and piles up a wardrobe like clay, ¹⁷ what he lays up, the righteous will wear, and his silver will be divided by the innocent. ¹⁸ The house he built is like a moth's cocoon, like a hut set up by a watchman. ¹⁹ He lies down wealthy, but will do so no more; when he opens his eyes, all is gone. ²⁰ Terrors overtake him like a flood; a tempest sweeps him away in the night. ²¹ The east wind carries him away, and he is gone; it sweeps him out of his place. ²² It hurls itself against him without mercy as he flees headlong from its power. ²³ It claps its hands at him and hisses him out of his place.

¹³ This is the wicked man's portion from God, and the inheritance the ruthless receive from the Almighty: ¹⁴ If his sons multiply, they are for the sword; and his offspring will not have enough to eat. ¹⁵ Those who survive him will be buried by pestilence, and their widows will shed no tears. ¹⁶ Though he heaps up silver like dust and piles up clothing like clay, ¹⁷ what he stores up the righteous will wear, and the innocent will divide his silver. ¹⁸ He built his house like a moth's web, like a shelter that a watchman throws up. ¹⁹ He goes to bed rich, but will not do so again; he opens his eyes, and it is gone. ²⁰ Terrors overtake him like a flood, and a storm steals him away in the night. ²¹ The east wind lifts him and he is gone, and it sweeps him from his place. ²² It flings itself against him without pity as he runs headlong from its force. ²³ It claps its hands over him and hisses at him from his place.

Notes

The textual question: Scholars have long noted that vv. 13–23 read more like Zophar or Bildad than like Job. Compare this section with Zophar's speech in Job 20:10-29 (sons impoverished, wealth redistributed, terror in the night, east wind) — the overlap is substantial. The book of Job has three complete cycles of speeches from Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar in chapters 4–14 and 15–21, but the third cycle (chs. 22–27) is clearly irregular: Eliphaz speaks in ch. 22, Job responds in chs. 23–24, Bildad gives an abbreviated speech in ch. 25, Job responds in chs. 26–27 — and Zophar has no third speech at all. Many commentators conclude that a Zophar speech has been lost or accidentally incorporated into Job's discourse. Others prefer to read the section as Job speaking with intended irony, or as Job genuinely affirming that the wicked do eventually fall — while maintaining that this doesn't explain everything.

The image of v. 18 is particularly vivid: בָּנָה כָעָשׁ בֵּיתוֹ — "he built his house like a moth" — the word עָשׁ refers to the moth whose cocoon or nest is the most insubstantial of structures. Alongside it: כְּסֻכָּה עָשָׂה נֹצֵר — "like a hut a watchman makes" — the temporary lean-to that a harvest-guard builds in the field for a single season.

The terror imagery of vv. 20–22 is powerful: בַּלָּהוֹת — "terrors" — the same word used in Job 18:11 and Job 24:17 of the terrors of the night. The east wind, קָדִים, is the searing desert wind from the east (the sirocco), associated throughout the Hebrew Bible with divine judgment. In Genesis 41:6 it blights grain; in Ezekiel 17:10 it withers the vine; in Jonah 4:8 it torments the prophet. Here it becomes an instrument of divine reckoning, lifting the wicked man and scattering him.

The final verse's gestures — clapping hands and hissing — are gestures of contempt and derision. These are not mere natural forces but the personified response of heaven to the wicked man's downfall. The world itself mocks him from his own place.