If I rejoiced at the destruction of him that hated me, or lifted up myself when evil found him:
The verse belongs to Job's defense and protestation of his moral integrity, in which he denies having rejoiced or exalted himself when harm came to one who hated him. It is part of his challenge for God to judge him if any moral stain is found in his conduct. It condemns rejoicing at the destruction of an enemy and taking pride when disaster comes upon one who hates, teaching that a person should not do so. In its setting, Job turned from the hard feelings his friends had stirred in him and did not rejoice when an enemy suffered or take pride in that misfortune.
The surrounding chapter presents Job as one of the richest men of his day who did not trust in his riches or rejoice because his wealth was great. He trusted in the living God and remembered that God gave power to get wealth, and he held wealth only as a means of blessing the poor, the needy, the fatherless, and the widow, subject to God's call. Rejoicing at the destruction of one who hates and lifting oneself up when evil finds him belongs together with making gold one's hope and confidence and rejoicing in great wealth as worship of Mammon. Such conduct is idolatry, having another god before the Lord and denying the God above, an iniquity to be punished by the judge just as real as worship of the sun and the moon, and it is neither loving God with all the heart nor loving the neighbor as oneself. As part of that protestation, the verse gives stronger proof of what an honest man is than merely being free from debt to fellow men, since freedom from liability to others does not by itself make a man honest.
The verse belongs to Job's defense and protestation of his moral integrity, in which he denies having rejoiced or exalted himself when harm came to one who hated him. It is part of his challenge for God to judge him if any moral stain is found in his conduct. It condemns rejoicing at the destruction of an enemy and taking pride when disaster comes upon one who hates, teaching that a person should not do so. In its setting, Job turned from the hard feelings his friends had stirred in him and did not rejoice when an enemy suffered or take pride in that misfortune.
The surrounding chapter presents Job as one of the richest men of his day who did not trust in his riches or rejoice because his wealth was great. He trusted in the living God and remembered that God gave power to get wealth, and he held wealth only as a means of blessing the poor, the needy, the fatherless, and the widow, subject to God's call. Rejoicing at the destruction of one who hates and lifting oneself up when evil finds him belongs together with making gold one's hope and confidence and rejoicing in great wealth as worship of Mammon. Such conduct is idolatry, having another god before the Lord and denying the God above, an iniquity to be punished by the judge just as real as worship of the sun and the moon, and it is neither loving God with all the heart nor loving the neighbor as oneself. As part of that protestation, the verse gives stronger proof of what an honest man is than merely being free from debt to fellow men, since freedom from liability to others does not by itself make a man honest.