Where we are
Where we are in the book
With the debate collapsing, Job begins a sustained final discourse.
Follow every verse
Verse-by-verse study
Move from the study rendering, to the verse's place in the argument, to Hebrew and detailed language notes.
Jobs 1–8 include detailed verse-level notes from the supplied exegetical companion. Jobs 9–42 currently use the supplied whole-book synthesis and Hebrew text, with that source-depth difference marked on every verse.
Job 27:1
I will not put away my integrity
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Job 27:2
I will not put away my integrity
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Commentary in context
Job 27:1-6: Job invokes the living God, refuses false speech, and maintains his righteousness against the accusations. Integrity here means truthfulness about the case, not a claim that Job has no sin before God.
Job 27:3
I will not put away my integrity
Read Job 27:3 in your preferred licensed English Bible. An English text is not reproduced here without confirmed publication permission.
Commentary in context
Job 27:1-6: Job invokes the living God, refuses false speech, and maintains his righteousness against the accusations. Integrity here means truthfulness about the case, not a claim that Job has no sin before God.
Job 27:4
I will not put away my integrity
Read Job 27:4 in your preferred licensed English Bible. An English text is not reproduced here without confirmed publication permission.
Commentary in context
Job 27:1-6: Job invokes the living God, refuses false speech, and maintains his righteousness against the accusations. Integrity here means truthfulness about the case, not a claim that Job has no sin before God.
Job 27:5
I will not put away my integrity
Read Job 27:5 in your preferred licensed English Bible. An English text is not reproduced here without confirmed publication permission.
Commentary in context
Job 27:1-6: Job invokes the living God, refuses false speech, and maintains his righteousness against the accusations. Integrity here means truthfulness about the case, not a claim that Job has no sin before God.
Job 27:6
I will not put away my integrity
Read Job 27:6 in your preferred licensed English Bible. An English text is not reproduced here without confirmed publication permission.
Commentary in context
Job 27:1-6: Job invokes the living God, refuses false speech, and maintains his righteousness against the accusations. Integrity here means truthfulness about the case, not a claim that Job has no sin before God.
Job 27:7
What hope has the godless?
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Commentary in context
Job 27:7-12: Job asks what remains for a hypocrite when God takes life and whether such a person truly delights in prayer. He distinguishes his lamenting prayer from the godless abandonment of God.
Job 27:8
What hope has the godless?
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Commentary in context
Job 27:7-12: Job asks what remains for a hypocrite when God takes life and whether such a person truly delights in prayer. He distinguishes his lamenting prayer from the godless abandonment of God.
Job 27:9
What hope has the godless?
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Commentary in context
Job 27:7-12: Job asks what remains for a hypocrite when God takes life and whether such a person truly delights in prayer. He distinguishes his lamenting prayer from the godless abandonment of God.
Job 27:10
What hope has the godless?
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Commentary in context
Job 27:7-12: Job asks what remains for a hypocrite when God takes life and whether such a person truly delights in prayer. He distinguishes his lamenting prayer from the godless abandonment of God.
Job 27:11
What hope has the godless?
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Commentary in context
Job 27:7-12: Job asks what remains for a hypocrite when God takes life and whether such a person truly delights in prayer. He distinguishes his lamenting prayer from the godless abandonment of God.
Job 27:12
What hope has the godless?
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Commentary in context
Job 27:7-12: Job asks what remains for a hypocrite when God takes life and whether such a person truly delights in prayer. He distinguishes his lamenting prayer from the godless abandonment of God.
Job 27:13
The wicked person's portion
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Commentary in context
Job 27:13-23: Job recounts sword, famine, plague, lost wealth, and terror as the ultimate inheritance of wickedness. He can affirm final moral accountability while rejecting the friends' claim that his present suffering proves guilt.
Job 27:14
The wicked person's portion
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Commentary in context
Job 27:13-23: Job recounts sword, famine, plague, lost wealth, and terror as the ultimate inheritance of wickedness. He can affirm final moral accountability while rejecting the friends' claim that his present suffering proves guilt.
Job 27:15
The wicked person's portion
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Commentary in context
Job 27:13-23: Job recounts sword, famine, plague, lost wealth, and terror as the ultimate inheritance of wickedness. He can affirm final moral accountability while rejecting the friends' claim that his present suffering proves guilt.
Job 27:16
The wicked person's portion
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Commentary in context
Job 27:13-23: Job recounts sword, famine, plague, lost wealth, and terror as the ultimate inheritance of wickedness. He can affirm final moral accountability while rejecting the friends' claim that his present suffering proves guilt.
Job 27:17
The wicked person's portion
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Commentary in context
Job 27:13-23: Job recounts sword, famine, plague, lost wealth, and terror as the ultimate inheritance of wickedness. He can affirm final moral accountability while rejecting the friends' claim that his present suffering proves guilt.
Job 27:18
The wicked person's portion
Read Job 27:18 in your preferred licensed English Bible. An English text is not reproduced here without confirmed publication permission.
Commentary in context
Job 27:13-23: Job recounts sword, famine, plague, lost wealth, and terror as the ultimate inheritance of wickedness. He can affirm final moral accountability while rejecting the friends' claim that his present suffering proves guilt.
Job 27:19
The wicked person's portion
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Commentary in context
Job 27:13-23: Job recounts sword, famine, plague, lost wealth, and terror as the ultimate inheritance of wickedness. He can affirm final moral accountability while rejecting the friends' claim that his present suffering proves guilt.
Job 27:20
The wicked person's portion
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Commentary in context
Job 27:13-23: Job recounts sword, famine, plague, lost wealth, and terror as the ultimate inheritance of wickedness. He can affirm final moral accountability while rejecting the friends' claim that his present suffering proves guilt.
Job 27:21
The wicked person's portion
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Commentary in context
Job 27:13-23: Job recounts sword, famine, plague, lost wealth, and terror as the ultimate inheritance of wickedness. He can affirm final moral accountability while rejecting the friends' claim that his present suffering proves guilt.
Job 27:22
The wicked person's portion
Read Job 27:22 in your preferred licensed English Bible. An English text is not reproduced here without confirmed publication permission.
Commentary in context
Job 27:13-23: Job recounts sword, famine, plague, lost wealth, and terror as the ultimate inheritance of wickedness. He can affirm final moral accountability while rejecting the friends' claim that his present suffering proves guilt.
Job 27:23
The wicked person's portion
Read Job 27:23 in your preferred licensed English Bible. An English text is not reproduced here without confirmed publication permission.
Commentary in context
Job 27:13-23: Job recounts sword, famine, plague, lost wealth, and terror as the ultimate inheritance of wickedness. He can affirm final moral accountability while rejecting the friends' claim that his present suffering proves guilt.
Read the movement
Chapter outline and verse-range explanation
Job 27:1-6 · I will not put away my integrity
- What is being said?
- Job invokes the living God, refuses false speech, and maintains his righteousness against the accusations.
- Why does it matter here?
- Integrity here means truthfulness about the case, not a claim that Job has no sin before God.
Job 27:7-12 · What hope has the godless?
- What is being said?
- Job asks what remains for a hypocrite when God takes life and whether such a person truly delights in prayer.
- Why does it matter here?
- He distinguishes his lamenting prayer from the godless abandonment of God.
Job 27:13-23 · The wicked person's portion
- What is being said?
- Job recounts sword, famine, plague, lost wealth, and terror as the ultimate inheritance of wickedness.
- Why does it matter here?
- He can affirm final moral accountability while rejecting the friends' claim that his present suffering proves guilt.
Coverage check: Job 27:1-23 is covered continuously by the ranges above.
Follow the argument
Words, images, and argument flow
Key words and images
oath, integrity, righteousness, hope, portion
Argument flow
Job called the friends' wisdom unhelpful and God's works only a whisper. Job swears not to confess the friends' false charges, holds fast to integrity, and describes the ultimate insecurity of the wicked. A wisdom poem interrupts or concludes the debate by asking where wisdom can be found.
Connection to the previous speech
Job called the friends' wisdom unhelpful and God's works only a whisper.
Connection to the next speech
A wisdom poem interrupts or concludes the debate by asking where wisdom can be found.
Read beneath the cross
Law, Gospel, and Christian hope
Law
We protect tidy systems by accusing neighbors and speaking beyond what God has revealed.
Gospel
God hears Job's appeal and will finally expose false accusation rather than abandon the sufferer to it.
Theology of the cross
The cross overturns a theology of glory that measures righteousness by visible ease and power.
Lutheran theological connection
Law and Gospel must be distinguished and personally applied; true doctrine used to crush the wrong person becomes false counsel.
Christ-centered canonical connection
Job's longings for witness, mediator, and Redeemer find their sure canonical fulfillment in Christ while each Job text retains its literary context.
Life together
Pastoral and vocational application
Pastoral application
Do not diagnose calamity as punishment for a particular hidden sin without a word God has actually spoken.
Vocation and life together
Use speech to defend reputations, accompany sufferers, and correct unsupported accusations.
Harmful readings to avoid
- Do not infer a specific hidden sin from suffering, illness, bereavement, infertility, mental illness, or disaster.
- Do not treat lament or questioning as automatic unbelief.
Reflect and pray
Discussion questions
- What changes in the argument or story across Job 27?
- Which words or images in Job 27 deserve slow attention?
- What is true here, and what conclusion must not be drawn?
- How does this chapter teach us to accompany a suffering neighbor?
Prayer
God of truth, keep us honest about ourselves and our neighbors while we await your verdict.
Go further
Related themes, voices, and media
Related themes
Related speakers
Verified media
- Thy Strong Word: Job, KFUO Radio (opens in a new tab)
- The Wisdom of Job, BibleProject (opens in a new tab)
Sources
- Holy Scripture, Job
- Lutheran Confessions and Small Catechism
- South Lake Job research corpus
Commentary in context
Job 27:1-6: Job invokes the living God, refuses false speech, and maintains his righteousness against the accusations. Integrity here means truthfulness about the case, not a claim that Job has no sin before God.