Job 21:13

Job 21:13

11 They send forth their little ones like a flock,
And their children dance.

12 They sing to the tambourine and harp,
And rejoice to the sound of the flute.

13 They ^aspend their days in wealth,
And¹ in a moment go down to the grave.

14 ^aYet they say to God, ‘Depart from us,
For we do not desire the knowledge of Your ways.

15 ^aWho is the Almighty, that we should serve Him?
And ^bwhat profit do we have if we pray to Him?’

16 Indeed¹ their prosperity is not in their hand;
^aThe 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 ^adistributes in His anger?

Commentaries:

Adam Clarke

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They spend their days in wealth - There is a various reading here of some importance. In the text we have yeballu , they grow old, or wear out as with old age, terent vetustate; and in the margin, yechallu , they consume; and the Masora states that this is one of the eleven words which are written with beth and must be read with caph . Several editions have the former word in the text, and the latter in the margin; the former being what is called the kethib, the latter keri. yeballu , they grow old, or wear out, is the reading of the Antwerp, Paris, and London Polyglots; yechallu , they accomplish or spend, is the reading of the Complutensian Polyglot, thirteen of Kennicott' s and De Rossi' s MSS., the Septuagint, Chaldee, Syriac, and Arabic. The Vulgate has ducunt, "they lead or spend," from which our translation is borrowed. I incline to the former, as Job' s argument derives considerable strength from this circumstance; they not only spend their days in faring sumptuously every day; but they even wear out so as to grow old in it; they are not cut off by any sudden judgment of God. This is fact; therefore your doctrine, that the wicked are cut off suddenly and have but a short time, is far from the truth.

In a moment go down to the grave - They wear out their years in pleasure; grow old in their gay and giddy life; and die, as in a moment, without previous sickness; or, as Mr. Good has it, They quietly descend into the grave.

**Other Adam Clarke entries containing Job 21:13:**

Job 24:1

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Job 21:14 >>

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