21:16 But their prosperity is not their own doing. 1
The counsel of the wicked is far from me! 2
22:21 “Reconcile yourself 3 with God, 4
and be at peace 5 with him;
in this way your prosperity will be good.
36:11 If they obey and serve him,
they live out their days in prosperity
and their years in pleasantness. 6
1 tn Heb “is not in their hand.”
sn The implication of this statement is that their well-being is from God, which is the problem Job is raising in the chapter. A number of commentators make it a question, interpreting it to mean that the wicked enjoy prosperity as if it is their right. Some emend the text to say “his hands” – Gordis reads it, “Indeed, our prosperity is not in his hands.”
2 sn Even though their life seems so good in contrast to his own plight, Job cannot and will not embrace their principles – “far be from me their counsel.”
3 tn The verb סָכַן (sakhan) meant “to be useful; to be profitable” in v. 2. Now, in the Hiphil it means “to be accustomed to” or “to have experience with.” Joined by the preposition “with” it means “to be reconciled with him.” W. B. Bishai cites Arabic and Ugaritic words to support a meaning “acquiesce” (“Notes on hskn in Job 22:21,” JNES 20 [1961]: 258-59).
4 tn Heb “him”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
5 tn The two imperatives in this verse imply a relationship of succession and not consequence.
6 tc Some commentators delete this last line for metrical considerations. But there is no textual evidence for the deletion; it is simply the attempt by some to make the meter rigid.