Job 27 · Verse 8

Job 27:8

For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God taketh away his soul?
Job 27:8, King James Version

Job 27:8 in other translations

BSBFor what is the hope of the godless when he is cut off, when God takes away his life?
WEBFor what is the hope of the godless, when he is cut off, when God takes away his life?
ASVFor what is the hope of the godless, though he get him gain, When God taketh away his soul?
YLTFor what is the hope of the profane, When He doth cut off? When God doth cast off his soul?
DARBYFor what is the hope of the ungodly, when God cutteth him off, when God taketh away his soul?
BBEFor what is the hope of the sinner when he is cut off, when God takes back his soul?
WebsterFor what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God taketh away his soul?

What does Job 27:8 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
8. "What hope hath the hypocrite, notwithstanding all his gains, when?" &c. "Gained" is antithetic to "taketh away." Umbreit's translation is an unmeaning tautology. "When God cuts off, when He taketh away his life." taketh away--literally, "draws out" the soul from the body, which is, as it were, its scabbard (Job 4:21; Psa 104:29; Da 7:15). Job says that he admits what Bildad said (Job 8:13) and Zophar (Job 20:5). But he says the very fact of his still calling upon God (Job 27:10) amid all his trials, which a hypocrite would not dare to do, shows he is no "hypocrite."

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 8 What is the hope of the hypocrite - The word חנף chaneph, which we translate, most improperly, hypocrite, means a wicked fellow, a defiled, polluted wretch, a rascal, a knave, a man who sticks at nothing in order to gain his ends. In this verse it means a dishonest man, a rogue, who by overreaching, cheating, etc., has amassed a fortune. When God taketh away his soul? - Could he have had any well grounded hope of eternal blessedness when he was acquiring earthly property by guilt and deceit? And of what avail will this property be when his soul is summoned before the judgment-seat? A righteous man yields up his soul to God; the wicked does not, because he is afraid of God, of death, and of eternity. God therefore takes the soul away - forces it out of the body. Mr. Blair gives us an affecting picture of the death of a wicked man. Though well known, I shall insert it as a striking comment on this passage: - "How shocking must thy summons be, O death! To him that is at ease in his possessions; Who, counting on long years of pleasures here; Is quite unfurnished for that world to come! In that dread moment how the frantic soul Raves round the walls of her clay tenement; Runs to each avenue, and shrieks for help, But shrieks in vain! How wishfully she looks On all she's leaving, now no longer hers! A little longer, yet a little longer, O, might she stay, to wash away her stains, And fit her for her passage! Mournful sight! Her very eyes weep blood; and every groan She heaves is big with horror. But the foe, Like a stanch murderer, steady to his purpose, Pursues her close, through every lane of life, Nor misses once the track, but presses on; Till, forced at last to the tremendous verge, At once she sinks to everlasting ruin." The Grave. The Chaldee has, What can the detractor expect who has gathered together (ממון דשקר mamon dishkar, the mammon of unrighteousness) when God plucks out his soul? The Septuagint: Τις γαρ εστιν ετι ελπις ασεβει, ὁτι επεχει; Μη πεποιθως επι Κυριον ει αρα σωθησεται; "For what is the hope of the ungodly that he should wait for? shall he, by hoping in the Lord, be therefore saved?" Mr. Good translates differently from all the versions: - "Yet what is the hope of the wicked that he should prosper, That God should keep his soul in quiet?" I believe our version gives as true a sense as any; and the words appear to have been in the eye of our Lord, when he said, "For what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" Mat 16:26.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Job 27:7-10

Job looked upon the condition of a hypocrite and a wicked man, to be most miserable. If they gained through life by their profession, and kept up their presumptuous hope till death, what would that avail when God required their souls? The more comfort we find in our religion, the more closely we shall cleave to it. Those who have no delight in God, are easily drawn away by the pleasures, and easily overcome by the…

Read the full comment on Job 27:7-10 →

Job 27:8 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

כִּ֤יkiforH3588
מַה\־mah-what?H4100
תִּקְוַ֣תtik.Vat[is the] hope ofH8615
חָ֭נֵףCha.nefa godless [person]H2611
כִּ֣יkiifH3588
יִבְצָ֑עyiv.Tza'he will cut offH1214
כִּ֤יkiifH3588
יֵ֖שֶׁלYe.shelhe will take awayH7953
אֱל֣וֹהַּ'e.Lo.ahGodH433
נַפְשֽׁוֹ\׃naf.Sholife hisH5315

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Job 27:8

  • Matthew 16:26

    For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

  • Job 8:13

    So are the paths of all that forget God; and the hypocrite’s hope shall perish:

  • Luke 12:20-21

    But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

  • Job 11:20

    But the eyes of the wicked shall fail, and they shall not escape, and their hope shall be as the giving up of the ghost.

  • James 5:1-3

    Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.

  • Luke 9:25

    For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?

  • Job 31:3

    Is not destruction to the wicked? and a strange punishment to the workers of iniquity?

  • Job 13:16

    He also shall be my salvation: for an hypocrite shall not come before him.

  • Mark 8:36-37

    For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

  • 1 Timothy 6:9-10

    But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

  • Isaiah 33:14-15

    The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings? He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil;

  • Job 20:5

    That the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment?

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
11:20; 13:16; 15:34; 20:5; 31:3; Isa 33:14,15; Mt 16:26; 23:14
Mr 8:36,37; Lu 9:25; 12:20,21; 1Ti 6:9,10; Jas 5:1-3

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Job 27:7

    Let mine enemy be as the wicked, and he that riseth up against me as the unrighteous.

  • Job 27:8

    For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God taketh away his soul?

  • Job 27:9

    Will God hear his cry when trouble cometh upon him?

Read all of Job 27

Job 27:8 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
Porque ¿cuál es la esperanza del hipócrita, por mucho que hubiere robado, cuando Dios arrebatare su alma?
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
Car quelle est l’espérance de l’impie quand Dieu le retranche, quand ✝Dieu retire son âme?
German
Elberfelder 1871
Denn was ist des Ruchlosen Hoffnung, wenn Gott abschneidet, wenn er seine Seele herauszieht?
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
Quæ est enim spes hypocritæ, si avare rapiat, et non liberet Deus animam ejus?