Job 21:16

Job 21:16 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Lo, their good is not in their hand: the counsel of the wicked is far from me.
• New International Version (NIV)But their prosperity is not in their own hands, so I stand aloof from the plans of the wicked.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Behold, is not their prosperity in their hand? The counsel of the wicked is far from me.
• New Living Translation (NLT)(They think their prosperity is of their own doing, but I will have nothing to do with that kind of thinking.)

Context of Job 21:16

14Yet they say to God, ‘Depart from us, For we do not desire the knowledge of Your ways. 15Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him? And what profit do we have if we pray to Him?’ Indeed their prosperity is not in their hand; The counsel of the wicked is far from me. 17“How often is the lamp of the wicked put out? How often does their destruction come upon them, The sorrows God distributes in His anger? 18They are like straw before the wind, And like chaff that a storm carries away.

Job 21:16 word by word

הֵ֤ן לֹ֣א בְיָדָ֣ם טוּבָ֑ם עֲצַ֥ת רְ֝שָׁעִ֗ים רָ֣חֲקָה מֶֽנִּי׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Lo, their goodטוּבţûb · goodnessH2898
• not in their handיָדyâd · handH3027
• the counselעֵצָה‛êtsâh · counselH6098
• of the wickedרָשָׁעrâshâ‛ · wickedH7563
• is farרָחַקrâchaq · to removeH7368

Cross-references for Job 21:16

• Job 1:21And he said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord.”
• Job 12:9Who among all these does not know That the hand of the Lord has done this,
• Psalms 49:6Those who trust in their wealth And boast in the multitude of their riches,
• Psalms 52:5God shall likewise destroy you forever; He shall take you away, and pluck you out of your dwelling place, And uproot you from the land of the living. Selah
• Ecclesiastes 8:8No one has power over the spirit to retain the spirit, And no one has power in the day of death. There is no release from that war, And wickedness will not deliver those who are given to it.
• Luke 16:2So he called him and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward.’
• Job 22:18Yet He filled their houses with good things; But the counsel of the wicked is far from me.
• Genesis 49:6Let not my soul enter their council; Let not my honor be united to their assembly; For in their anger they slew a man, And in their self-will they hamstrung an ox.
• Psalms 1:1Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
• Proverbs 1:10My son, if sinners entice you, Do not consent.
• Proverbs 5:8Remove your way far from her, And do not go near the door of her house,

Commentaries on Job 21:16

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 16Their good is not in their hand - With all their boasting and self-dependence, God only lends them his bounty; and though it appears to be their own, yet it is at his disposal. Some of the wicked he permits to live and die in affluence, provided it be acquired in the ordinary way of his providence, by trade, commerce, etc. Others he permits to possess it for a while only, and then strips them of their illegally procured property. The counsel of the wicked…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 16Lo, their good is not in their hand - Schultens, Rosenmuller, and Noyes, suppose, I think, correctly, that this is to be understood ironically, or as referring to what “they” had maintained. “Lo! you say, that their good is not in their hand! They do not enjoy prosperity, do they? They are soon overwhelmed with calamity, are they? How often have I seen it otherwise! How often is it a fact that they continue to enjoy prosperity, and live and die in peace!”…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 7-16Verses 7-16 Job says, Remarkable judgments are sometimes brought upon notorious sinners, but not always. Wherefore is it so? This is the day of God's patience; and, in some way or other, he makes use of the prosperity of the wicked to serve his own counsels, while it ripens them for ruin; but the chief reason is, because he will make it appear there is another world. These prospering sinners make light of God and religion, as if because they have so much…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1616. not in their hand--but in the hand of God. This is Job's difficulty, that God who has sinners prosperity (good) in His hand should allow them to have it. is--rather, "may the counsel of the wicked be far from me!" [Umbreit]. This naturally follows the sentiment of the first clause: Let me not hereby be thought to regard with aught but horror the ways of the wicked, however prosperous.Read the comment

Topics related to Job 21:16

• Sin
• Wicked (People)

In the dictionaries

• Good

Commentaries on Job 21

• 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