Bible Strands
Job 21:9
Their homes are safe from fear; no rod of punishment from God is upon them.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Job addresses his three friends during a debate on divine justice, describing the uninterrupted prosperity of the wicked.
The words — The text states that their houses enjoy shalom (safety) and lack the shevet (rod) of God. This phrasing emphasizes the literal absence of divine punishment in their daily lives.
The thread — This motif of untroubled wickedness runs through Job 15:21 and Psalm 73:5, where the prosperous escape the burdens and terrors that typically accompany human life.
Why it lands — The verse forces the reader to confront the reality that immediate earthly security does not prove divine favor, demanding a response to suffering that transcends transactional retribution.
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
Their houses are safe from fear, neither is the rod of God upon them.
Cross-references
- Job 9:34 Let Him remove His rod from me, so that His terror will no longer frighten me.
- Psalms 73:5 They are free of the burdens others carry; they are not afflicted like other men.
- Job 15:21 Sounds of terror fill his ears; in his prosperity the destroyer attacks him.
- Job 18:11 Terrors frighten him on every side and harass his every step.
- Psalms 73:19 How suddenly they are laid waste, completely swept away by terrors!
- Isaiah 57:19 bringing praise to their lips. Peace, peace to those far and near,” says the LORD, “and I will heal them.”