The Meaning of Job 36:11 Explained

Job 36:11

KJV: If they obey and serve him, they shall spend their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasures.

YLT: If they do hear and serve, They complete their days in good, And their years in pleasantness.

Darby: If they hearken and serve him, they shall accomplish their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasures.

ASV: If they hearken and serve him , They shall spend their days in prosperity, And their years in pleasures.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

If they obey  and serve  [him], they shall spend  their days  in prosperity,  and their years  in pleasures. 

What does Job 36:11 Mean?

Context Summary

Job 36:1-33 - He Despiseth Not Any
God is mighty, but He does not despise thee, though thou be the least of saints. His eyes are upon thee for good, and He will set thee before His throne forever. He will stoop to thy low dungeon, whispering instruction to thine ear and commanding thee to return. There are broad places before thee in which there shall be no straitness; tables await thee full of fatness. Thy path leads from thy present prison-house into liberty and light.
Remember the unsearchable numbers of His years. Behold the wonderful machinery by which He collects from ocean, lake, and stream the clouds which, like floating cisterns, carry the waters to be bleached in the snow of the hills, and oxidized in the torrent beds! There is more love than terror in creation. Nature's myriad voices proclaim with Scripture, "God is love." He cannot, therefore, be indifferent to the righteous man or neglect him. He may discipline him to make him hate sin; but, when this end is attained, He will assuredly withdraw His rod, Job 36:10-11. [source]

Chapter Summary: Job 36

1  Elihu shows how God is just in his ways
16  How Job's sins hinder God's blessings
24  God's works are to be magnified

What do the individual words in Job 36:11 mean?

If they obey and serve [Him] they shall spend their days in prosperity and their years in pleasures
אִֽם־ יִשְׁמְע֗וּ וְֽיַ֫עֲבֹ֥דוּ יְכַלּ֣וּ יְמֵיהֶ֣ם בַּטּ֑וֹב וּ֝שְׁנֵיהֶ֗ם בַּנְּעִימִֽים

יִשְׁמְע֗וּ  they  obey 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: שָׁמַע 
Sense: to hear, listen to, obey.
וְֽיַ֫עֲבֹ֥דוּ  and  serve  [Him] 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: עָבַד  
Sense: to work, serve.
יְכַלּ֣וּ  they  shall  spend 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: כָּלָה  
Sense: to accomplish, cease, consume, determine, end, fail, finish, be complete, be accomplished, be ended, be at an end, be finished, be spent.
יְמֵיהֶ֣ם  their  days 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, third person masculine plural
Root: יׄום 
Sense: day, time, year.
בַּטּ֑וֹב  in  prosperity 
Parse: Preposition-b, Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: טָבַב 
Sense: good, pleasant, agreeable.
וּ֝שְׁנֵיהֶ֗ם  and  their  years 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, feminine plural construct, third person masculine plural
Root: שָׁנָה  
Sense: year.
בַּנְּעִימִֽים  in  pleasures 
Parse: Preposition-b, Article, Adjective, masculine plural
Root: נָעִים 
Sense: pleasant, delightful, sweet, lovely, agreeable.