The Meaning of Job 21:34 Explained

Job 21:34

KJV: How then comfort ye me in vain, seeing in your answers there remaineth falsehood?

YLT: And how do ye comfort me with vanity, And in your answers hath been left trespass?

Darby: How then comfort ye me in vain? Your answers remain perfidious.

ASV: How then comfort ye me in vain, Seeing in your answers there remaineth only falsehood?

KJV Reverse Interlinear

How then comfort  ye me in vain,  seeing in your answers  there remaineth  falsehood? 

What does Job 21:34 Mean?

Context Summary

Job 21:1-34 - "shall Any Teach God?"
After a brief introduction, in which he claims the right to reply, Job 21:1-6, Job brings forward a new argument. He affirms that his friends are wrong in assuming that the connection between sin and suffering is invariable. On the contrary, he urges that wicked men often spend their lives in prosperity, on the farm, in the fold, and in the home, Job 21:10-11. Sounds of joy issue from their dwellings, Job 21:12. They die without prolonged torture, Job 21:13. From the contention of his friends, Job turns to the passer-by for confirmation of his words. Surely, he says, it is a matter of common observation that some wicked men do prosper and die in peace, Job 21:29.
With Job's answer the second colloquy ends. His friends have gained nothing by their arguments, but Job has learned much by his afflictions. On the dark background of his night the Morning Star has actually begun to shine. He appeals to God with greater confidence and even finds refuge in Him; but so far, though arguing his case, he has preserved a humble and reverent attitude. [source]

Chapter Summary: Job 21

1  Job shows that even in the judgment of man he has reason to be grieved
7  Sometimes the wicked prosper, though they despise God
16  Sometimes their destruction is manifest
21  The happy and unhappy are alike in death
27  The judgment of the wicked is in another world

What do the individual words in Job 21:34 mean?

Then how can you comfort me with empty words since in your answers remains falsehood -
וְ֭אֵיךְ תְּנַחֲמ֣וּנִי הָ֑בֶל וּ֝תְשֽׁוּבֹתֵיכֶ֗ם נִשְׁאַר־ ؟ מָֽעַל ס

וְ֭אֵיךְ  Then  how 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Interjection
Root: אֵיךְ 
Sense: how? interj.
תְּנַחֲמ֣וּנִי  can  you  comfort  me 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Imperfect, second person masculine plural, first person common singular
Root: נָחַם  
Sense: to be sorry, console oneself, repent, regret, comfort, be comforted.
הָ֑בֶל  with  empty  words 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: הֶבֶל  
Sense: vapour, breath.
וּ֝תְשֽׁוּבֹתֵיכֶ֗ם  since  in  your  answers 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, feminine plural construct, second person masculine plural
Root: תְּשׁוּבָה  
Sense: a recurrence, an answer, return.
נִשְׁאַר־  remains 
Parse: Verb, Nifal, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: שָׁאַר  
Sense: to remain, be left over, be left behind.
؟ מָֽעַל  falsehood 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: מַעַל  
Sense: unfaithful or treacherous act, trespass.
ס  - 
Parse: Punctuation

What are the major concepts related to Job 21:34?

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