This verse highlights Job’s wrestling with the question of whether divine retribution should be immediate or delayed, especially in how sin’s consequences might impact future generations.
Job lived in the land of Uz, which some scholars suggest might have been located in Southeastern Palestine or possibly Northern Arabia. He likely lived in the era of the patriarchs, around 2,000-1,500 BC, predating Moses. In this verse, Job continues his reply to those who assume that the wicked should always suffer immediate retribution. He declares, “God stores away a man’s iniquity for his sons; Let God repay him so that he may know it.” (v.19) By saying this, Job addresses the belief that a person’s wrongdoing might carry forward to subsequent generations, something also seen in Exodus where God’s judgment can be extended across family lines (Exodus 20:5).
When Job states, “God stores away a man’s iniquity for his sons” (v.19), he questions the notion that divine justice always occurs swiftly. He grapples with the reality that sometimes the faults of one generation can appear to influence the prosperity or downfall of the next. Yet in the broader context of the Bible, Jesus later clarifies that each individual stands accountable for his or her own actions (John 9:1-3). The tension here reveals a complex theological understanding in the Old Testament about whether God deals with sin collectively or individually, a tension that finds resolution in the New Testament’s clarity: “each one of us will give an account of himself to God” (Romans 14:12).
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Job 21:19 meaning
Job lived in the land of Uz, which some scholars suggest might have been located in Southeastern Palestine or possibly Northern Arabia. He likely lived in the era of the patriarchs, around 2,000-1,500 BC, predating Moses. In this verse, Job continues his reply to those who assume that the wicked should always suffer immediate retribution. He declares, “God stores away a man’s iniquity for his sons; Let God repay him so that he may know it.” (v.19) By saying this, Job addresses the belief that a person’s wrongdoing might carry forward to subsequent generations, something also seen in Exodus where God’s judgment can be extended across family lines (Exodus 20:5).
When Job states, “God stores away a man’s iniquity for his sons” (v.19), he questions the notion that divine justice always occurs swiftly. He grapples with the reality that sometimes the faults of one generation can appear to influence the prosperity or downfall of the next. Yet in the broader context of the Bible, Jesus later clarifies that each individual stands accountable for his or her own actions (John 9:1-3). The tension here reveals a complex theological understanding in the Old Testament about whether God deals with sin collectively or individually, a tension that finds resolution in the New Testament’s clarity: “each one of us will give an account of himself to God” (Romans 14:12).