Job protests his sincerity, 1-7. The hypocrite is without hope, 8-10. The blessings which the wicked have are turned into curses, 11-23.
1 Moreover, Job continued his parable and said,
2 "As God lives, who has taken away my judgment,/
and the Almighty who has afflicted my soul,
3 All the while my breath is in me,/
and the spirit of God is in my nostrils,
4 My lips shall not speak wickedness,/
nor my tongue utter deceit.
5 Far be it from me that I should justify you./
Until I die I will not remove my integrity from me.
6 My righteousness I hold firmly and will not let it go./
My heart shall not reproach me so long as I live.
7 Let my enemy be as the wicked,/
and he who rises up against me as the unrighteous.
8 For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he has gained,/
when God takes away his soul?
9 Will God hear his cry/
when trouble comes upon him?
10 Will he delight himself in the Almighty?/
Will he always call upon God?
11 I will teach you by the hand of God./
That which is with the Almighty I will not conceal.
12 Behold, all of you have seen it yourselves./
Why then are you thus altogether vain?
13 This is the portion of a wicked man with God/
and the heritage of oppressors,/
which they shall receive from the Almighty.
14 If his children are multiplied, it is for the sword,/
and his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread.
15 Those who survive him shall be buried in death,/
and his widows shall not weep.
16 Though he should heap up silver as the dust/
and prepare clothing as the clay,
17 He may prepare it, but the just shall put it on/
and the innocent shall divide the silver.
18 He builds his house as a moth/
and as a booth that the watchman makes.
19 The rich man shall lie down, but he shall not be gathered./
He opens his eyes and he is no more.
20 Terrors take hold of him as waters,/
a tempest steals him away in the night.
21 The east wind carries him away, and he departs./
It sweeps him out of his place.
22 For God shall cast upon him and not spare./
He would willingly flee out of his hand.
23 Men shall clap their hands at him/
and hiss him out of his place."
Matthew Henry Commentary - Job, Chapter 27[➚]
John Gill's Chapter Summary:
Though Job's friends had become silent, and dropped the controversy with him, he still continued his discourse in this and the four following chapters; in which he asserts his integrity; illustrates and confirms his former sentiments; gives further proof of his knowledge of things, natural and divine; takes notice of his former state of prosperity, and of his present distresses and afflictions, which came upon him, notwithstanding his piety, humanity, and beneficence, and his freedom from the grosser acts of sin, both with respect to God and men, all which he enlarges upon. In this chapter he gives his word and oath for it, that he would never belie himself, and own that he was a hypocrite, when he was not, but would continue to assert his integrity, and the righteousness of his cause, as long as he lived (verses 1-6); for to be a hypocrite, and to attempt to conceal his hypocrisy, would be of no advantage to him, either in life, or in death (verses 7-10); and was this his character and case, upon their principles, he could expect no other than to be a miserable man, as wicked men are, who have their blessings turned into curses, or taken away from them, and they removed out of the world in the most awful and terrible manner, and under manifest tokens of the wrath and displeasure of God (verses 11-23).
[v.3] - "the spirit of God" - This is referring to the breath which God gave Job.
[v.17] - "put it on" - That is, put the clothing on mentioned in verse 16.
[v.18] - "as a booth that the watchman makes" - From the Pulpit Commentary: "Huts or lodges of boughs were set up in vineyards and orchards by those who had to watch them (see Isaiah 1:8; Lamentations 2:6). They were habitations of the weakest and frailest kind."