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 King James Version (NKJV)Indeed their prosperity is not in their hand; The counsel of the wicked is far from me.

Context of Job 21:16

14Yet they say to God, ‘Leave us alone! We have no desire to know Your ways. 15Who is Shaddai that we should serve Him? What would we gain if we pray to Him?’ Look, their prosperity is not in their own hands; the counsel of the wicked is far from me. 17“How often is the lamp of the wicked snuffed out or calamity fallen on them? How often does He allot pain in His anger? 18How often are they like straw before the wind; like chaff swept away by a storm?

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 1:21Then he said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will return there. Adonai gave and Adonai has taken away; blessed be the Name of Adonai.”
• Job 12:9Which of these does not know that the hand of Adonai has done this?
• Psalms 49:6Why should I fear in evil days? when the iniquity of my deceivers surrounds me?
• Psalms 52:5You love evil instead of good, lying rather than speaking right. Selah
• Ecclesiastes 8:8No one has authority over the wind to restrain it, nor authority over the day of death. As no one is discharged during a battle, so wickedness cannot rescue its master.
• Luke 16:2So he called the manager and said to him, ‘What’s this I hear about you? Give an accounting of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.’
• Job 22:18Yet He filled their houses with good things— but the counsel of the wicked is far from me!
• Genesis 49:6In their secret counsel may my soul not enter. In their contingent may my honor never be united. For in their anger they slew men, and in their self-will they maimed oxen.
• Psalms 1:1Happy is the one who has not walked in the advice of the wicked, nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the seat of scoffers.
• Proverbs 1:10My son, if sinners entice you, do not give in.
• Proverbs 5:8Keep your path 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