This is one thing, therefore I said it, He destroyeth the perfect and the wicked.
The book of Job is the oldest book in the Bible and the oldest poetical book preserved, written by Moses in the land of Midian. It is divided into the prose prologue in chapters 1 and 2, the debate, the speeches of Elihu in chapters 32 to 37, the speeches of the Lord out of the storm-cloud, and the prose epilogue in chapter 42:7-17. This verse belongs to the debate between Job and his three friends on the subject of his afflictions in chapters 4 to 31, made up of three circles of speeches on the part of each.
It is part of Job's reply to the constant accusations, implied and otherwise, of his friends in Job 8-10, and it is best read together with those accusations and responses rather than in isolated order. Job 9 is part of the account of Job's suffering, which raises the problem of providence, sin, and suffering. The verse states Job's conclusion that calamity destroys the perfect and the wicked alike, so the righteous and the innocent may be struck just as the wicked are.
Suffering by itself therefore does not prove that a person has sinned, and Job's friends wrongly treated his affliction as evidence of guilt. Job's suffering did not prove that God was displeased with him, for adversity can come to a person of integrity. God may use suffering for a purpose that is not yet understood.
The book of Job is the oldest book in the Bible and the oldest poetical book preserved, written by Moses in the land of Midian. It is divided into the prose prologue in chapters 1 and 2, the debate, the speeches of Elihu in chapters 32 to 37, the speeches of the Lord out of the storm-cloud, and the prose epilogue in chapter 42:7-17. This verse belongs to the debate between Job and his three friends on the subject of his afflictions in chapters 4 to 31, made up of three circles of speeches on the part of each.
It is part of Job's reply to the constant accusations, implied and otherwise, of his friends in Job 8-10, and it is best read together with those accusations and responses rather than in isolated order. Job 9 is part of the account of Job's suffering, which raises the problem of providence, sin, and suffering. The verse states Job's conclusion that calamity destroys the perfect and the wicked alike, so the righteous and the innocent may be struck just as the wicked are.
Suffering by itself therefore does not prove that a person has sinned, and Job's friends wrongly treated his affliction as evidence of guilt. Job's suffering did not prove that God was displeased with him, for adversity can come to a person of integrity. God may use suffering for a purpose that is not yet understood.