Chapter Summary

Job's answer to Bildad continued.

Discussion Questions for Job, Chapter 27

1. Verse 1 tells not only who is speaking, Job, but his purpose in speaking. If numerous translations refer to this as a “discourse”, a kind of argumentative defense, how does this shape your understanding of this passage? Who is Job defending? And how have you read this kind of writing or speaking used in other places in the Bible?
2. As verses 2-4 are representing one sentence, what is Job’s main point? Where that point does not come until the end of verse 4, what effect does it have for Job to include God multiple times in his lengthy promise?
3. Focusing on verses 5 and 6, is it more likely that Job is speaking his defense to God or to his comforters? Can you relate to Job’s felt need to defend his integrity?
4. Could you make all of the claims he makes about his righteousness and his heart? How could it be helpful to see Job as someone experiencing suffering while maintaining his integrity?
5. Verse 8 asks the question, “What is the hope of the godless?” (ESV) What are some things “the godless” hope for, if not in God? How might Job be using this rhetorical question to further prove the rationale for his innocence?
6. What do verses 9 and 10 inversely state how God works for his people, for the godly? How do these works of God encourage you in your pursuit of a righteous life before God?
7. Verses 16-17 describe the way the wicked seem to prosper in life, however, to whom do the belongings of the wicked go after they have been judged? How is this meant to be a comfort to the righteous, or specifically to Job?
8. How do verses 18-19 compare with Jesus' wisdom at the end of the sermon on the mount in Matthew 7:24-27. Is the principle applied in the same way?
9. How are the judgements in verses 20-22 similar to Job’s personal sufferings? Focusing on verse 22 to contrast Job’s experience, how do the wicked react to these judgments?
10. As difficult as it may be to consider God’s judgment, how do passages like this illustrate how God’s people can be thankful for God’s judgment? What part of God’s justice do you think some of God’s people struggle?

Key Words/Phrase

Hypocrites, v. 8.

Characters

God, Job, friends.

Strong Verse(s)

6, 8.