Job 21:3

Study note

Setting — Job addresses his companions immediately after requesting their attention in verse 2 and before questioning the target of his complaints in verse 4. He speaks to them at the close of his opening appeal, demanding a pause before their contempt resumes.

The words — The verb תַלְעִֽיג (tal.'Ig) literally means "you will mock" [H3932] and anchors the verse's conditional concession. Job permits his listeners to resume their ridicule only after he finishes his speech.

The thread — The motif of surrounding mockery appears in Job 16:20 and Job 17:2, where Job describes his friends as mockers and his eyes as watching their rebellion. These passages parallel the tension between speech and contempt found in Job 21:3.

Why it lands — The text demands a reader pause their judgment to hear a full argument before dismissing it with scorn. It requires acknowledging that contempt often interrupts discourse rather than engaging with the content presented.

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.