to aggregate · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
silver
כָּ֑סֶףKa.sef
H3701
silver (from its pale color) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
dust
כֶּעָפָ֣רke.'a.Far
H6083
dust (as powdered or gray) · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
prepare
יָכִ֥יןya.Khin
H3559
properly · verb, hiphil imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
raiment
מַלְבּֽוּשׁmal.Bush
H4403
a garment · noun, common masculine singular absolute
clay
וְ֝כַחֹ֗מֶרve.kha.Cho.mer
H2563
properly · conjunction + preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Zechariah 9:3 And Tyrus did build herself a strong hold, and heaped up silver as the dust, and fine gold as the mire of the streets.
Matthew 6:19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
1 Kings 10:27 And the king made silver to be in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars made he to be as the sycomore trees that are in the vale, for abundance.
Job 22:24 Then shalt thou lay up gold as dust, and the gold of Ophir as the stones of the brooks.
Habakkuk 2:6 Shall not all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting proverb against him, and say, Woe to him that increaseth that which is not…
James 5:2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Job 27:11–end
Job's friends had seen a great deal of the misery and destruction that attend wicked people, especially oppressors; and Job, while the heat of disputation lasted, had said as much, and with as much assurance, of their prosperity; but now that the heat of the battle was nearly over he was willing to own how far he agreed with them, and where the difference between his opinion and theirs lay. 1. He agreed with them that wicked people are miserable people, that God will surely reckon with cruel oppressors, and one time or other, one way or other, his justice will make reprisals upon them for all the affronts they have put upon God and all the wrongs they have done to their neighbours. This trut…
dust . . . clay--images of multitudes (Zac 9:3). Many changes of raiment are a chief constituent of wealth in the East.
John Gill on Job 27:16
Though he heap up silver as the dust,.... Which, as it denotes the great abundance of it collected together, so it expresses the bias and disposition of such a man's mind, that he cannot be content without amassing great quantities of it, and also his diligence and success therein, see 1 Kings 10:27;
and prepare raiment as the clay; not merely, for use, but pomp and show, to fill his wardrobes with; and formerly, raiment was part of the treasure of great men: the phrase signifies that he might have such a variety of raiment, and such large quantities of it, that he would value it no more than so much clay; or else that his riches, consist of what it would, would be both polluting and troubl…
13 This is the lot of the wicked man with God,
And the heritage of the violent which they receive from the Almighty:
14 If his children multiply, it is for the sword,
And his offspring have not bread enough.
15 His survivors shall be buried by the pestilence,
And his widows shall not weep.
16 If he heapeth silver together as dust,
And prepareth garments for himself as mire:
17 He prepareth it, and the righteous clothe themselves,
And the innocent divide the silver among themselves.
18 He hath built as a moth his house,
And as a hut that a watchman setteth up.
We have already had the combination אדם רשׁע for אישׁ רשׁע in Job 20:29; it is a favourite expression in Proverbs, and reminds one of…
The Church Fathers
"If he amasses money like dust. If the prudent and the wise, still like the earth and the mud, because of their senseless reveries, follow his counsels, later enlightened by their punishment, they will turn to the righteous.
Though he heap up silver as the earth, and prepare raiment as the mud; he may prepare, but the just shall put it on, and the innocent shall divide the silver. Silver is used to be interpreted the clearness of sacred Writ, as it is elsewhere said; The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth. And because there are those that long to have the Word of God not inwardly in the exemplifying but externally in the displaying, therefore it is said by the Prophet, All they that are clothed in silver are cut off, being those, who by the word of God do not fill themselves with the interior refreshment, but array themselves in the outward exhibition. Hence their 'silver,' i.e. the word of heretics, is compared to 'earth,' because touching the subject of Holy Writ, that there may be something that they know, they toil and strain from the coveting of earthly applause. And these, too, 'prepare raiment as the mud,' because they make up testimonies of Holy Scripture loosely and bedaubingly, whereby they would defend themselves. He shall 'prepare' indeed, 'but the just shall put them on,' because the person who is full of right faith, which is used to be accounted to the Saints for righteousness, gathers together those selfsame testimonies of Holy Writ, which the heretic adduces, and therefrom he charges home the obstinacy of that one's error. For whereas they fetch against us the testimonies of the Sacred Law, they bring with them unto us that whereby they may be defeated. And hence David representing a type of the Lord, but Goliath the pride of Heretics, they spake that in deeds, which we are disclosing in words. Thus Goliath came to battle with a sword, but David with a shepherd's scrip, but David, defeating that same Goliath, with his own sword slew him. Which thing we likewise do, who by His deigning have obtained to be made members of the promised David. For when heretics full of pride, and advancing sentences of Holy Writ, we defeat by the same words and sentences, which they bring forward, we as it were behead Goliath in his pride with his own sword. And so 'the just puts on those same garments,' which the unjust man 'prepares,' because the holy man employs in the service of truth those same sentences by which the bad man strives to exhibit himself a master of learning in opposition to the truth. And the innocent shall divide the silver.…
Dictionary and topics
Hypocrisy · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Rich, The · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Riches · The wicked: Heap up — The wicked: Heap up
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Some interpreters see a new speech here and ascribe it to Zophar because otherwise Zophar has no speech in this cycle.
Rashi on Job 27:14
If his sons increase they will increase for the sword. in death They will die amidst suffering and sicknesses, until his widows will be happy at their death and will not weep.
