New King James Version
Job 21:21
21For what does he care about his household after him, When the number of his months is cut in half?
Job 21:21 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)For what pleasure hath he in his house after him, when the number of his months is cut off in the midst?
- New International Version (NIV)For what do they care about the families they leave behind when their allotted months come to an end?
- English Standard Version (ESV)For what do they care for their houses after them, when the number of their months is cut off?
- New Living Translation (NLT)For they will not care what happens to their family after they are dead.
Context of Job 21:21
19They say, ‘God lays up one’s iniquity for his children’; Let Him recompense him, that he may know it. 20Let his eyes see his destruction, And let him drink of the wrath of the Almighty. For what does he care about his household after him, When the number of his months is cut in half? 22“Can anyone teach God knowledge, Since He judges those on high? 23One dies in his full strength, Being wholly at ease and secure;
Read all of Job 21Job 21:21 word by word
כִּ֤י מַה־חֶפְצ֣וֹ בְּבֵית֣וֹ אַחֲרָ֑יו וּמִסְפַּ֖ר חֳדָשָׁ֣יו חֻצָּֽצוּ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Job 21:21
- Job 14:21His sons come to honor, and he does not know it; They are brought low, and he does not perceive it.
- Ecclesiastes 2:18Then I hated all my labor in which I had toiled under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who will come after me.
- Luke 16:27“Then he said, ‘I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house,
- Job 14:5Since his days are determined, The number of his months is with You; You have appointed his limits, so that he cannot pass.
- Psalms 55:23But You, O God, shall bring them down to the pit of destruction; Bloodthirsty and deceitful men shall not live out half their days; But I will trust in You.
- Psalms 102:24I said, “O my God, Do not take me away in the midst of my days; Your years are throughout all generations.
Commentaries on Job 21:21
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 21For what pleasure hath he in his house after him - What may happen to his posterity he neither knows nor cares for, as he is now numbered with the dead, and numbered with them before he had lived out half his years. Some have translated the verse thus: "Behold how speedily God destroys the house of the wicked after him! How he shortens the number of his months!"Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 21For what pleasure hath he - That is, what happiness shall he have in his family? This, it seems to me, is designed to be a reference to their sentiments, or a statement by Job of what “they” maintained. They held, that a man who was wicked, could have none of the comfort which he anticipated in his children, for he would himself be cut off in the midst of life, and taken away. When the number of his months is cut off in the midst? - When his “life” is…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 17-26Verses 17-26 Job had described the prosperity of wicked people; in these verses he opposes this to what his friends had maintained about their certain ruin in this life. He reconciles this to the holiness and justice of God. Even while they prosper thus, they are light and worthless, of no account with God, or with wise men. In the height of their pomp and power, there is but a step between them and ruin. Job refers the difference Providence makes between…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2121. The argument of the friends, in proof of Job 21:20, What pleasure can he have from his house (children) when he is dead--("after him," Ec 3:22). when the number, &c.--Or, rather, "What hath he to do with his children?" &c. (so the Hebrew in Ec 3:1; 8:6). It is therefore necessary that "his eyes should see his and their destruction" (see Job 14:21). cut off--rather, when the number of his allotted months is fulfilled (Job 14:5). From an Arabic word…Read the comment
Topics related to Job 21:21
In the dictionaries
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
New King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
Commentaries