God’s Word Translation
Job 9:23
23When a sudden disaster brings death, he makes fun of the despair of innocent people.
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
21If I am a man of integrity, I have no way of knowing it. I hate my life! 22It is all the same. That is why I say, ‘He destroys ⌞both⌟ the man of integrity and the wicked.’ When a sudden disaster brings death, he makes fun of the despair of innocent people. 24The earth is handed over to the wicked. He covers the faces of its judges. If he isn’t the one ⌞doing this⌟, who is? 25“My days go by more quickly than a runner. They sprint away. They don’t see anything 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 1:13One day when Job’s sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s home,
- Job 2:7Satan left the Lord’s presence and struck Job with painful boils from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.
- Job 4:7“Now think about this: Which innocent person ⌞ever⌟ died ⌞an untimely death⌟? Find me a decent person who has been destroyed.
- Job 8:20“Certainly, God does not reject a person of integrity or give a helping hand to wicked people.
- 2 Samuel 14:15“I’ve come to say this to you because the people have frightened me. So I thought, ‘I will speak to the king about this. Maybe the king will do something for me, his subject.
- Psalms 44:22Indeed, we are being killed all day long because of you. We are thought of as sheep to be slaughtered.
- Ezekiel 14:19“Suppose I send a plague into that country or pour out my fury on it by killing people and destroying animals.
- Ezekiel 21:13Testing will surely come. What if you refuse to be disciplined again? Won’t you be tested? declares the Almighty Lord.
- Hebrews 11:36Some were made fun of and whipped, and some were chained and put 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
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
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
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