What Does Job 21:16 Mean in the King James?
Lo, their good is not in their hand: the counsel of the wicked is far from me.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
Their prosperity is neither fully in their own control nor proof that their counsel is sound.
THE MEANING
Visible good can coexist with wicked counsel, so prosperity alone does not establish that counsel as wise. A person’s good is not fully in that person’s own hand, and the verse holds the counsel at a distance.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse dissolves the assumption that visible prosperity proves moral wisdom or that the prosperous person fully controls their own good.
THE ROOT
טוּבָם
ṭûḇām
GROWS FROM
ט־ו־ב
ṭ-w-b
Goodness or being well; as a noun, welfare or prosperity.
This word family holds goodness and well-being together, but here it names what the wicked enjoy, not the soundness of their counsel. Their good fortune cannot by itself make their counsel good.
ALSO GROWS
ṭôḇ: Good or pleasant.
טוֹב
The adjective keeps the sense of goodness visible beside the noun for well-being.
ṭûḇ: Goodness, welfare, or prosperity.
טוּב
This noun form shows how “good” can name someone’s material well-being.
עֲצַת
ʿăṣat
GROWS FROM
י־ע־ץ
y-ʿ-ṣ
To advise, deliberate, or form a plan.
“counsel” in this verse is ʿăṣat. The word points to guidance that can shape a course, not just an isolated opinion. The verse refuses to treat the prosperity of the wicked as evidence that their way of thinking is wise.
ALSO GROWS
ʿēṣāh: Counsel or advice.
עֵצָה
It names the guidance whose distance from the speaker matters here.
yōʿēṣ: Adviser or counselor.
יוֹעֵץ
It shows the same root can name the person who gives direction as well as the direction itself.
רָחֲקָה
rāḥăqāh
GROWS FROM
ר־ח־ק
r-ḥ-q
To be distant or far away.
“far” in this verse is rāḥăqāh. The verse describes the counsel itself as distant from the speaker. The image conveys separation from that guidance, not merely disagreement over a detail.
ALSO GROWS
rāḥôq: Far or distant.
רָחוֹק
It carries the same language of distance into a descriptive form.
hirḥîq: To put far away or remove.
הִרְחִיק
This causative form shows the root can express making something distant.
THE PATTERN
Material good fortune neither proves moral wisdom nor reveals how fully anyone controls their outcomes.
Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world; they increase in riches.I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.THE THREAD
In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind.Both verses use יָד (yād, hand): here their good is not in their hand, while Job 12:10 places נֶפֶשׁ (nephesh, living soul) and רוּחַ (ruach, breath) in God’s hand. The repeated word widens the claim: well-being is not self-held mastery when life itself rests in a hand beyond the person’s own.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us