“This is the portion of a wicked man with God, and the heritage of oppressors, which they shall receive of the Almighty.”
My Notes
What Does Job 27:13 Mean?
Job now speaks in terms that sound remarkably like his friends' theology — describing the portion of the wicked and the heritage of oppressors. Scholars debate whether Job is quoting his friends sarcastically, genuinely agreeing with the principle while disagreeing with its application to him, or articulating a truth he knows is real even though it doesn't explain his own situation.
The word "portion" (cheleq) means allotted share — what you receive from God as your due. "Heritage" (nachalah) means inheritance — what oppressors will receive from the Almighty. Job is acknowledging that wickedness has consequences. He's not disputing the principle; he's disputing that he is the wicked man in question.
This verse introduces Job's final major speech before God responds. The tension in Job's theology is at its peak: he believes in divine justice, he sees its absence in his own life, and he refuses to resolve the tension by admitting to sins he didn't commit. He holds both truths simultaneously — God is just, and my suffering is unjust — without choosing one over the other.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Can you hold two seemingly contradictory truths at the same time — like 'God is just' and 'this isn't fair'?
- 2.How do you resist the pressure to collapse tension by choosing an easy answer?
- 3.Why do you think God ultimately validates Job's honest wrestling over his friends' neat explanations?
- 4.What unresolved tension in your faith are you being asked to hold without resolving?
Devotional
Job agrees that the wicked get what's coming to them. He's never denied that. His problem isn't with the principle of divine justice — it's with its misapplication to him. Yes, oppressors receive a heritage of judgment. No, that doesn't explain what's happening to me.
This is one of the most intellectually honest positions in all of Scripture. Job holds two seemingly contradictory truths at the same time: God is just, and I am suffering unjustly. He refuses to collapse the tension by either abandoning his belief in God's justice or admitting to sins he didn't commit. He sits in the contradiction.
Most people can't do this. Most people need resolution: either God is just and you must deserve it, or you don't deserve it and God isn't just. Job refuses both easy answers. He insists on the harder, truer thing: both are real, and I don't understand how.
Can you hold contradictions? Can you believe God is good and acknowledge that your situation doesn't look good? Can you affirm divine justice while protesting your own unjust suffering? Job says: you don't have to choose. You can hold both. It's agonizing, but it's honest. And in the end, God validates Job's honesty over his friends' tidy theology.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
If his children be multiplied,.... As it is possible they may; this is one external blessing common to good men and bad…
This is the portion of a wicked man with God - There has been much diversity of view in regard to the remainder of this…
Job's friends had seen a great deal of the misery and destruction that attend wicked people, especially oppressors; and…
The utter destruction of the wicked man is exhibited in three turns: his children and descendants are destined for the…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture