English Standard Version
Job 9:23
23When disaster brings sudden death, he mocks at the calamity of the innocent.
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.
- New King James Version (NKJV)If the scourge slays suddenly, He laughs at the plight of the innocent.
- New Living Translation (NLT)When a plague sweeps through, he laughs at the death of the innocent.
Context of Job 9:23
21I am blameless; I regard not myself; I loathe my life. 22It is all one; therefore I say, 'He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.' When disaster brings sudden death, he mocks at the calamity of the innocent. 24The earth is given into the hand of the wicked; he covers the faces of its judges— if it is not he, who then is it? 25"My days are swifter than a runner; they flee away; they see no good.
Read all of Job 9Job 9:23 word by word
אִם־שׁ֭וֹט יָמִ֣ית פִּתְאֹ֑ם לְמַסַּ֖ת נְקִיִּ֣ם יִלְעָֽג׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Job 9:23
- Job 1:13Now there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house,
- Job 2:7So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and struck Job with loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.
- Job 4:7"Remember: who that was innocent ever perished? Or where were the upright cut off?
- Job 8:20"Behold, God will not reject a blameless man, nor take the hand of evildoers.
- 2 Samuel 14:15Now I have come to say this to my lord the king because the people have made me afraid, and your servant thought, 'I will speak to the king; it may be that the king will perform the request of his servant.
- Psalms 44:22Yet for your sake we are killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.
- Ezekiel 14:19"Or if I send a pestilence into that land and pour out my wrath upon it with blood, to cut off from it man and beast,
- Ezekiel 21:13For it will not be a testing—what could it do if you despise the rod?" declares the Lord God.
- Hebrews 11:36Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.
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
In the dictionaries
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
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries