And another dieth in the bitterness of his soul, and never eateth with pleasure.
Job 21:25 belongs to Job's reply to Zophar concerning the portion of the wicked, making clear that the wicked prosper in this present life while their punishment lies in the future. It belongs to his wider contention that human life does not obey a simple rule equating prosperity with divine favor and affliction with divine displeasure, but records genuine human suffering that does not by itself prove the sufferer stands under God's displeasure. The expression bitterness of soul denotes bitter distress within a person's inner life, parallel to bitterness of spirit in Genesis 26:35, indicating that soul and spirit can carry a similar sense in context.
The verse portrays another individual who dies in deep inward sorrow and bitterness of soul without ever eating with pleasure, set against one who dies at ease in full strength and prosperity, showing that people may die in widely different emotional conditions. Yet both kinds lie alike in the dust and come to the same end, for at death all, good and bad alike, return to the dust, the grave, a land of darkness.
Their differing experiences in life do not place them in different conscious states after death, for the dead are not consciously rewarded or punished at death, so the meeting of the rich man and Lazarus after death cannot occur immediately after death. A joyful death is neither required to assure acceptance with God nor promised as the reward of Christ's followers, and the righteous may cherish hope even when death comes with fear, sorrow, or anguish.
Job 21:25 belongs to Job's reply to Zophar concerning the portion of the wicked, making clear that the wicked prosper in this present life while their punishment lies in the future. It belongs to his wider contention that human life does not obey a simple rule equating prosperity with divine favor and affliction with divine displeasure, but records genuine human suffering that does not by itself prove the sufferer stands under God's displeasure. The expression bitterness of soul denotes bitter distress within a person's inner life, parallel to bitterness of spirit in Genesis 26:35, indicating that soul and spirit can carry a similar sense in context.
The verse portrays another individual who dies in deep inward sorrow and bitterness of soul without ever eating with pleasure, set against one who dies at ease in full strength and prosperity, showing that people may die in widely different emotional conditions. Yet both kinds lie alike in the dust and come to the same end, for at death all, good and bad alike, return to the dust, the grave, a land of darkness.
Their differing experiences in life do not place them in different conscious states after death, for the dead are not consciously rewarded or punished at death, so the meeting of the rich man and Lazarus after death cannot occur immediately after death. A joyful death is neither required to assure acceptance with God nor promised as the reward of Christ's followers, and the righteous may cherish hope even when death comes with fear, sorrow, or anguish.