Job 9:23

Job 9:23 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)If the scourge slay suddenly, he will laugh at the trial of the innocent.
• New International Version (NIV)When a scourge brings sudden death, he mocks the despair of the innocent.
• English Standard Version (ESV)When disaster brings sudden death, he mocks at the calamity of the innocent.
• New King James Version (NKJV)If the scourge slays suddenly, He laughs at the plight of the innocent.

Context of Job 9:23

21I have not done anything that is wrong. But it does not matter what happens to me. My life is not important to me. 22The same thing happens to good people and to wicked people. So I say, “God destroys people who are not guilty as well as those who are guilty.” When disease comes, people may die suddenly. God laughs at good people who suffer like that. 24A wicked man may have power to rule a nation. Then God stops the judges from being fair. It must be God who does that. Who else could it be? 25The days of my life are passing very quickly, like a fast runner. None of my days makes me happy.

Job 9:23 word by word

אִם־שׁ֭וֹט יָמִ֣ית פִּתְאֹ֑ם לְמַסַּ֖ת נְקִיִּ֣ם יִלְעָֽג׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• If the scourgeשׁוֹטshôţ · whipH7752
• slayמוּתmûth · to dieH4191
• suddenlyפִּתְאֹםpith'ôm pith'ôm · suddenlyH6597
• he will laughלָעַגlâ‛ag · to mockH3932
• at the trialמַסָּהmassâh · despairH4531
• of the innocentנָקִיnâqîy nâqîy' · innocentH5355

Cross-references for Job 9:23

• Job 1:13One day, Job's sons and daughters were at a party in the home of his oldest son.
• Job 2:7So Satan went away. He caused Job to have boils all over his body. They hurt him everywhere, from the bottom of his feet to the top of his head.
• Job 4:7Think about this: People who are not guilty of sin do not suddenly die. God does not destroy people who do good things.
• Job 8:20Listen! God never turns away from a man who is not guilty. Nor will he ever help wicked people.
• 2 Samuel 14:15My lord the king, I have told you this because the people have made me afraid. I thought to myself, “I will speak to the king. I do not deserve it, but perhaps he will do what I ask him to do.
• Psalms 44:22But, because we are your people, God, people try to kill us all the time. They think that we are like sheep and we are ready to be killed.
• Ezekiel 14:19Or I might punish that nation with a terrible disease. Because I am very angry with those people, I would cause people and animals to die in that place.
• Ezekiel 21:13I am ready to test my people. My sword does not respect the power of any king. So my people will not escape punishment. That is what the Almighty Lord says.
• Hebrews 11:36Other people who trusted God received insults. Some of them were hit with whips. Enemies of God tied these people up and they put them in prison.

Commentaries on Job 9:23

• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 23If 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…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 22-24Verses 22-24 Job touches briefly upon the main point now in dispute. His friends maintained that those who are righteous and good, always prosper in this world, and that none but the wicked are in misery and distress: he said, on the contrary, that it is a common thing for the wicked to prosper, and the righteous to be greatly afflicted. Yet there is too much passion in what Job here says, for God doth not afflict willingly. When the spirit is heated with…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-35Job answered Bildad by describing God's universal and legal power. His speech resembles a complex legal case. It includes: A summons and response (9:3, 14–16, 19b, 32). The risk of proving himself guilty (9:20). A "mediator" (9:33–34). A question of accusation (9:12). A legal sentence (9:22). A declaration of guilt (9:28–30).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2323. 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 translation, "trial," does not express the antithesis to "slay suddenly," as "pining away" does [Umbreit].Read the comment

Topics related to Job 9:23

• Afflictions and Adversities
• Doubting
• God
• Scourging

In the dictionaries

• Chamber
• Contend
• Daysman
• Pillar
• Job, Book of
• Laughter
• Mock; Mocker; Mocking
• Scourge; Scourging
• innocent

Commentaries on Job 9

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings