Bible Strands
Job 15:27
Though his face is covered with fat and his waistline bulges with flesh,
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Eliphaz describes the arrogant man in his second speech to Job, placing this physical description between the man's defiant stance against God and his impending ruin.
The words — חֶלֶב (cheleb) = fat and כָסֶל (kesel) = loins.
The thread — The text links outward physical abundance to inward spiritual decay, echoing Psalms 17:10 on calloused hearts, Psalms 73:7 on prosperity breeding iniquity, and Isaiah 6:10 on hardened perception.
Why it lands — It demands readers recognize that physical prosperity does not guarantee divine favor, but often masks a heart that has grown heavy and unresponsive to God.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Because he covereth his face with his fatness, and maketh collops of fat on his flanks.
Cross-references
- Psalms 17:10 They have closed their callous hearts; their mouths speak with arrogance.
- Psalms 73:7 From their prosperity proceeds iniquity; the imaginations of their hearts run wild.
- Isaiah 6:10 Make the hearts of this people calloused; deafen their ears and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”
- Jeremiah 5:28 They have grown fat and sleek, and have excelled in the deeds of the wicked. They have not taken up the cause of the fatherless, that they might prosper; nor have they defended the rights of the needy.
- Deuteronomy 32:15 But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked—becoming fat, bloated, and gorged. He abandoned the God who made him and scorned the Rock of his salvation.
- Job 17:10 But come back and try again, all of you. For I will not find a wise man among you.
- Psalms 78:31 God’s anger flared against them, and He put to death their strongest and subdued the young men of Israel.