Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, yea, are mighty in power?
The question belongs to the extended debate between Job and his three friends concerning his afflictions, a debate placed in chapters 4-31 and set out in three rounds of speeches. It belongs more particularly to the arguments in chapters 3-31 on the cause and object of human suffering, where it forms Job's answer to Zophar about the portion of the wicked.
It asks why the wicked go on living, grow old, and become mighty in power, raising the apparent contradiction between their prosperity and their wickedness. Job put the question from his own observation, conscious of his own integrity yet unable to understand God's dealings with him, though without charging God foolishly.
Its immediate context in verses 8-9 adds that their children may be established with them and their households secure, while they escape visible punishment, showing that men can continue a long time in rebellion against God and that rebellion does not necessarily cut life short at once. In the present world the wicked may thus flourish, grow old, and gain power, enjoying worldly riches and pleasures while the righteous suffer persecution, but the condition is temporary; their punishment comes in the future, and the Lord sees the situation and gives His people comfort through His word.
The question belongs to the extended debate between Job and his three friends concerning his afflictions, a debate placed in chapters 4-31 and set out in three rounds of speeches. It belongs more particularly to the arguments in chapters 3-31 on the cause and object of human suffering, where it forms Job's answer to Zophar about the portion of the wicked.
It asks why the wicked go on living, grow old, and become mighty in power, raising the apparent contradiction between their prosperity and their wickedness. Job put the question from his own observation, conscious of his own integrity yet unable to understand God's dealings with him, though without charging God foolishly.
Its immediate context in verses 8-9 adds that their children may be established with them and their households secure, while they escape visible punishment, showing that men can continue a long time in rebellion against God and that rebellion does not necessarily cut life short at once. In the present world the wicked may thus flourish, grow old, and gain power, enjoying worldly riches and pleasures while the righteous suffer persecution, but the condition is temporary; their punishment comes in the future, and the Lord sees the situation and gives His people comfort through His word.