Thy wickedness may hurt a man as thou art; and thy righteousness may profit the son of man.
Human wickedness can hurt another person who is the same kind of being, and human righteousness can bring profit to another son of man. The verse describes the reach of human conduct toward fellow human beings, not toward heaven. Wickedness done by a person does not injure God, for He sustains no loss from human sin and is not altered by it. Righteousness done by a person does not enrich God, for He gains nothing from human goodness and is not altered by it.
Even if a person's works vindicate him in the sight of other people, as in the case of Abraham, they do not render him more useful to God. They give him no ground for boasting before God. Suffering in another person is no proof that the sufferer is wicked, and prosperity is no proof that a person is righteous. Job's friends erred by taking the general truth that evil is at last punished and good at last rewarded and misapplying it to Job's affliction.
Human wickedness can hurt another person who is the same kind of being, and human righteousness can bring profit to another son of man. The verse describes the reach of human conduct toward fellow human beings, not toward heaven. Wickedness done by a person does not injure God, for He sustains no loss from human sin and is not altered by it. Righteousness done by a person does not enrich God, for He gains nothing from human goodness and is not altered by it.
Even if a person's works vindicate him in the sight of other people, as in the case of Abraham, they do not render him more useful to God. They give him no ground for boasting before God. Suffering in another person is no proof that the sufferer is wicked, and prosperity is no proof that a person is righteous. Job's friends erred by taking the general truth that evil is at last punished and good at last rewarded and misapplying it to Job's affliction.