Job 27:17

Translations

King James Version (KJV)

He may prepare it, but the just shall put it on, and the innocent shall divide the silver.

American King James Version (AKJV)

He may prepare it, but the just shall put it on, and the innocent shall divide the silver.

American Standard Version (ASV)

He may prepare it, but the just shall put it on, And the innocent shall divide the silver.

Basic English Translation (BBE)

He may get them ready, but the upright will put them on, and he who is free from sin will take the silver for a heritage.

Webster's Revision

He may prepare it, but the just shall put it on, and the innocent shall divide the silver.

World English Bible

he may prepare it, but the just shall put it on, and the innocent shall divide the silver.

English Revised Version (ERV)

He may prepare it, but the just shall put it on, and the innocent shall divide the silver.

Clarke's Job 27:17 Bible Commentary

The just shall put it on - Money is God's property. "The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the Lord;" and though it may be abused for a time by unrighteous hands, God, in the course of his providence, brings it back to its proper use; and often the righteous possess the inheritance of the wicked.

Barnes's Job 27:17 Bible Commentary

The just shall put it on - The righteous shall wear it. It shall pass out of the hands of him who prepared it, into the hands of others. The meaning is, that the wicked, though they become rich, would not live to enjoy their ill-gotten gains. These two verses contain a beautiful illustration of what Dr. Jebb calls the introverted parallelism - where the fourth member answers to the first, and the third to the second:

"Though he heap up silver as the dust,

And prepare raiment as the clay,

The just shall put it (raiment) on,

And the innocent shall divide the silver."

A similar instance occurs in Matthew 7:6 :

"Give not that which is holy unto the dogs,

Neither cast ye your pearls before swine,

Lest they (the swine) trample them under their feet.

And (the dogs) turn again and rend you."

For a full illustration of the nature of Hebrew poetry, the reader may consult DeWette, Einleitung in die Psalmen, translated in the Biblical Repository, vol. iii. pp. 445ff, and Nordheimer's Hebrew Grammar, vol. ii. pp. 319ff; see also the Introduction to Job, Section V.

The innocent shall divide the silver - That is, the righteous shall come into possession of it, and divide it among themselves. The wicked who had gained it shall not be permitted to enjoy it.

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