Job 27:13 succinctly affirms that the wicked ultimately inherit divine judgment.
Job lived during the Age of the Patriarchs, around the second millennium BC, in the land of Uz, a region likely located near the Fertile Crescent. Throughout the Book of Job, he wrestles with suffering, divine justice, and the nature of righteousness. He debates with his friends, who often have a transactional view of God, believing that godly living will always produce blessings and that sin inevitably invites calamity. Yet Job, while clinging to his integrity, maintains that God’s ways are often beyond human comprehension. In the midst of these debates, he declares, “This is the portion of a wicked man from God, And the inheritance which tyrants receive from the Almighty.” (v.13) Job underscores the principle that God remains just and will judge the wicked in His own timing.
By stating the portion of a wicked man from God, Job emphasizes that unrepentant wrongdoing leads to dire consequences, even if it initially seems to thrive (Job 27:13). Human rulers who use power to oppress, referred to here as tyrants, ultimately cannot escape divine justice. Elsewhere in scripture, God’s judgments make clear that those who take advantage of others will be held accountable (as seen in Israel’s experience when they chose to exploit the weak rather than obey God’s commands, and in the penalties God prescribed for covenant disobedience). Job’s assertion also fits with the broader biblical truth that wickedness has limited tenure; it might rise in influence, but it always faces God’s eventual reckoning.
Job’s words remind believers that evil is never rewarded in the long term when viewed from God’s eternal perspective, and that trusting in God’s justice is the best defense against despair in an unjust world.
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Job 27:13 meaning
Job lived during the Age of the Patriarchs, around the second millennium BC, in the land of Uz, a region likely located near the Fertile Crescent. Throughout the Book of Job, he wrestles with suffering, divine justice, and the nature of righteousness. He debates with his friends, who often have a transactional view of God, believing that godly living will always produce blessings and that sin inevitably invites calamity. Yet Job, while clinging to his integrity, maintains that God’s ways are often beyond human comprehension. In the midst of these debates, he declares, “This is the portion of a wicked man from God, And the inheritance which tyrants receive from the Almighty.” (v.13) Job underscores the principle that God remains just and will judge the wicked in His own timing.
By stating the portion of a wicked man from God, Job emphasizes that unrepentant wrongdoing leads to dire consequences, even if it initially seems to thrive (Job 27:13). Human rulers who use power to oppress, referred to here as tyrants, ultimately cannot escape divine justice. Elsewhere in scripture, God’s judgments make clear that those who take advantage of others will be held accountable (as seen in Israel’s experience when they chose to exploit the weak rather than obey God’s commands, and in the penalties God prescribed for covenant disobedience). Job’s assertion also fits with the broader biblical truth that wickedness has limited tenure; it might rise in influence, but it always faces God’s eventual reckoning.
Job’s words remind believers that evil is never rewarded in the long term when viewed from God’s eternal perspective, and that trusting in God’s justice is the best defense against despair in an unjust world.