Bible Strands
Job 21:7
Why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power?
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Job addresses his three companions while defending his observation that the wicked frequently prosper in this life. He poses the question during a direct confrontation over the reliability of traditional retribution theology.
The words — The Hebrew מַדּ֣וּעַ (ma.Du.a') translates literally to "why?" and frames the verse as a rhetorical challenge. עָ֝תְק֗וּ ('a.te.Ku) means "they grow old," anchoring the question in the prolonged duration of the wicked's earthly existence.
The thread — This motif of prolonged wicked prosperity appears in Psalm 73:3, Psalm 37:35, and Job 12:6, where the writers record the secure, flourishing state of those who defy God. These texts collectively document a recurring scriptural tension between expected divine judgment and observed earthly outcomes.
Why it lands — The text states that the wicked live long and gain power before any explanation is given, forcing a reader to sit with unresolved observation. It demands honest acknowledgment of empirical reality before theological resolution is applied.
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
Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, yea, are mighty in power?
Cross-references
- Psalms 73:3 For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
- Job 12:6 The tents of robbers are safe, and those who provoke God are secure—those who carry their god in their hands.
- Psalms 37:35 I have seen a wicked, ruthless man flourishing like a well-rooted native tree,
- Jeremiah 12:1 Righteous are You, O LORD, when I plead before You. Yet about Your judgments I wish to contend with You: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live at ease?
- Psalms 17:10 They have closed their callous hearts; their mouths speak with arrogance.
- Habakkuk 1:13 Your eyes are too pure to look upon evil, and You cannot tolerate wrongdoing. So why do You tolerate the faithless? Why are You silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?
- Daniel 4:17 This decision is the decree of the watchers, the verdict declared by the holy ones, so that the living will know that the Most High rules over the kingdom of mankind and gives it to whom He wishes, setting over it the lowliest of men.’
- Habakkuk 1:15 The foe pulls all of them up with a hook; he catches them in his dragnet, and gathers them in his fishing net; so he rejoices gladly.
- Revelation 13:2 The beast I saw was like a leopard, with the feet of a bear and the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority.
- Revelation 17:2 The kings of the earth were immoral with her, and those who dwell on the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her immorality.”