Behold, is not their prosperity in their hand? The counsel of the wicked is far from me.
Job has just described wicked men who prosper: they live in comfort, they defy God, and they laugh at the thought of praying to Him. Verse 16 is his turn away from them — he says where their good really comes from, and he wants no part in their thinking.
Not of Their Own Making
The first half of the verse asks where these men's prosperity comes from. Older translations read it as a plain statement: "Lo, their good is not in their hand." The writers quoted here use that older wording, and the point is the same either way:
Leslie M. GrantThey may think their prosperity is in their own hands, that they have only themselves to thank for this. How false indeed! God is the Giver of every earthly thing as well as every spiritual one. But men do not give God the credit due to Him (v.16). No wonder Job says, "The counsel of the wicked is far from me."
A Testimony Against the Charge
In the second half Job speaks about himself. His friends had been treating him as one of the wicked men he has just described. This is his answer:
Arno Clemens GaebeleinJob declares they reject and defy God; they laugh at the thought of praying to Him. Then he gives his own personal testimony: "the counsel of the wicked is far from me." In this he shows his friends that they are wrong to class him with the wicked.
Farther Off Than His Friends
One writer reads this as a real parting from the company of such men — a parting his three friends had not made:
William Kelly"Lo, their good is not in their hand; the counsel of the wicked is far from me." Job was farther from these people than his three friends. It is very possible that these three friends liked to be on good terms with people who were doing so well, for that is a very common snare. People like to be in what they call "good company," and to be respected by people who are respectable in this life; but where is Christ in all that? Our hearts are called to be with what Christ values, and with those whom Christ loves. I do not say we are not to have compassion for the very worst of people — of course we should; but this love is of a different kind altogether.
The Other Side
Job does not deny the other half of the picture. The same writer notes what he grants:
William KellyHere you can see that he admits the other side. It is just as true that God does not leave Himself without witness. He presses the point that the present world is no expression of God's moral government. But he admits that, while men look prosperous, God's blow falls on them; in a moment their candle goes out. So he does allow for these exceptional dealings.
Where the friends went wrong was in pressing one side only:
William KellyYou see, what Zophar and the others press, was only a half a truth. Now half a truth never sanctifies. What you leave out is perhaps of equal, or, it may be, of still greater importance, and there was just the difference. With all his defect, Job really was cleaving to the truth, and he looked at it with a larger heart and with a more exercised conscience.
The Same Trouble as Psalm 73
Job is not the only one in Scripture who wrestles with this. One writer ties verse 16 to a psalm on the same subject:
Samuel RidoutJob describes how openly these men defy God, and how long that goes unchecked. Even so, he takes care to say how much he hates such contempt for God: "Lo, their good is not by their own hand" (all that they have is from God); "the counsel of the wicked is far from me" (v. 16). All this is true, and it bears out the teaching of Psalm 73, where someone goes through the same trial he does.
Another writer traces where the psalm-writer finally landed: "it was only when the Psalmist entered the 'sanctuary of God' that he understood their end (verse 17), and it is the end that matters."
Summary
- Source. Everything the prospering wicked hold came from God, not from themselves. They refuse Him the credit.
- Separation. The gift is God's, and the defiance is theirs. So Job wants no part in their way of thinking.
- Company. Job stood farther from these men than his friends did. Wanting to stand well with prosperous people is a common snare.
- Balance. Job admits that God's blow does sometimes fall on such men. His friends pressed that half of the truth and left out the rest — and half a truth never sanctifies.
- Echo. Job's trial is not unique. Verse 16 bears out the teaching of Psalm 73, where someone else goes through the same struggle.