Job 21:1 — Word Study
WLCוַיַּ֥עַן אִיּ֗וֹב וַיֹּאמַֽר׃
BSAThen JobʼÎyôwb [a patriarch famous for his patience] answeredʻânâh▸ [replied, made a response, to dwell, to give an answer]
| Greek | English | Parsing |
|---|---|---|
| וַיַּ֥עַן | and he answered | Verb, Qal, sequential imperfect third person masculine singular |
| אִיּ֗וֹב | Job | Noun proper masculine |
| וַיֹּאמַֽר׃ | and he said | Verb, Qal, sequential imperfect third person masculine singular |
Every word in the verse. Click a row to open it in the panel on the left.
| BSB | Then Job answered: |
| KJV | But Job answered and said, |
| ASV | Then Job answered and said, |
| YLT | And Job answereth and saith: — |
| WEB | Then Job answered, |
| BBE | Then Job made answer and said, |
Where they part company is in their rendering of Job's response, but all translations agree on the essential meaning.
The structure is simple, with one main clause followed by a verb phrase, emphasizing Job's direct engagement.
6 commentators on this verse
Gill, Jamieson, Trapp, Ellicott & more — read them ›
clause
subjectאִיּוֹב
verbעָנָה
The sentence as the grammar sees it Open the tree ›
Every word here is used elsewhere in the Old Testament.
Bars are logarithmic — אֵת, the commonest word in the Hebrew Bible, stands about 11,000 times, so a linear scale would leave everything else invisible. Click a row to open that word.
Deep Study — Job 21:1
Sections marked generated are written from the data on this page rather than by a named author. Everything else — the lexicon entries, the cross references, the manuscript readings, the counts — is quoted from its source unchanged.
Context — Job's Response to His Friendsgenerated
Job 21:1 shows Job beginning to respond to his friends after they have spoken about his suffering. He asserts his right to speak and expresses his feelings about his circumstances. This response sets the stage for a deeper exploration of themes like suffering, justice, and faith throughout the book of Job.
Cross References
The Key Word — עָנָה, vai.Ya.'angenerated
The verb עָנָה (*anah*) is a Qal imperfect form, indicating an action that is ongoing or incomplete. It conveys the idea of responding or answering, which is central to Job's dialogue with his friends. The root of the word implies paying attention or heeding, which is fitting as Job seeks to make his case heard.
In this context, Job's use of עָנָה emphasizes his active engagement in the conversation, as he is not merely passive but is asserting his voice amidst the accusations and judgments of his friends.
How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated
This study reads the verse in the Berean Standard Bible, which uses the phrase Then Job answered.
Sentence Structuregenerated
The structure of this verse is straightforward, with one main verb וַיַּ֥עַן (and he answered) leading the sentence, followed by the subject אִיּ֗וֹב (Job) and another verb וַיֹּאמַֽר (and he said). This simple structure reflects Job's direct engagement in the conversation.
The placement of the verbs at the beginning emphasizes Job's actions, indicating that he is taking the initiative to respond and speak out against the situation he faces.
Septuagint Backgroundgenerated
The Septuagint translates עָנָה as ὑπολαβὼν (hypolabon), which means 'having taken up' or 'having replied.' This choice reflects a similar intent to convey Job's active role in the dialogue, emphasizing his willingness to engage with the arguments presented by his friends.
This translation shows a continuity in the theme of response, as Job is not just answering but also taking up the challenge posed by his friends.
In plain words — the whole versegenerated
Job 21:1 shows Job beginning to respond to his friends after they have spoken about his suffering. He asserts his right to speak and expresses his feelings about his circumstances. This response sets the stage for a deeper exploration of themes like suffering, justice, and faith throughout the book of Job.
Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated
Job is asserting his right to speak and express his grievances, responding to the accusations and judgments of his friends.
Job's response is significant because it highlights his determination to defend himself and articulate his perspective on his suffering.
Job is known for his patience, and this response reflects his struggle to maintain that patience while confronting the harsh judgments of his friends.
Themes of suffering, justice, and faith are introduced as Job begins to articulate his thoughts and feelings about his situation.
Reflection Questionsgenerated
- How do I respond when faced with criticism or judgment from others?
- What can I learn from Job's determination to speak out about his suffering?
- In what ways can I express my feelings and thoughts honestly while maintaining patience?
- How do the themes of suffering and justice resonate with my own experiences?
Commentators on this verse — 6 expositors, verse by verse
Each of these wrote on Job 21:1 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.
John Gill1697–1771Gill's Exposition of the Entire BibleBut Job answered and said. In reply to what Zophar had asserted, concerning the prosperity of the wicked being only for a short time, Job 20:5; the contrary to which he most clearly proves, and that
Read John Gill on Job 21 →Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's CommentaryBut Job answered and said, No JFB commentary on this verse.
Read Robert Jamieson on Job 21 →John Trapp1601–1669Trapp's Complete Commentary on the Old and New TestamentsJob 21:1 But Job answered and said,Ver. 1. But Job answered and said] Disproving and refuting that proposition of theirs concerning the infelicity of the ungodly by reason, by experience, and by divine authority; all which evince and evidence that neither is prosperity a proof of men’ s innocence, nor adversity a mark of their wickedness, as Zophar and his fellows would have it. And that they might not any more interrupt him, nor think him too rough, he useth a gentle preface, craving attention, and pressing them thereunto by many arguments in the first six verses.
Read John Trapp on Job 21 →Charles John Ellicott1819–1905Ellicott's Commentary for English ReadersXXI.(1) But Job answered.—Having, in Job 19, declared his belief in a retribution to come, Job now proceeds to traverse more directly Zophar’s last contention, and to show that even in this life there is not the retribution which he maintained there was.
Read Charles John Ellicott on Job 21 →AdamClarkeAdam Clarke's Commentary on the BibleCHAPTER XXI Job expresses himself as puzzled by the dispensations of Divine Providence, because of the unequal distribution of temporal goods; he shows that wicked men often live long, prosper in their families, in their flocks, and in all their substance, and yet live in defiance of God and sacred things, 1-16. At other times their prosperity is suddenly blasted, and they and their families come to ruin, 17-21. God, however, is too wise to err; and he deals out various lots to all according to his wisdom: some come sooner, others later, to the grave: the strong and the weak, the prince and the peasant, come to a similar end in this life; but the wicked are reserved for a day of wrath…
Read AdamClarke on Job 21 →Daniel Denison Whedon1808–1885Whedon's Commentary on the BibleJOB’S SIXTH REPLY.1. But Job answered — The friends have to the last adhered to their main proposition, that the wicked are punished in this life.
Read Daniel Denison Whedon on Job 21 →The verse in English, compared — 17 translations, and where they part company
Every translation on this page is a decision someone had to make and commit to. Read down a column and you see one translator's judgement; read across a row and you see the range the Greek actually allows. The BSB is the wording the rest of this page is measured against, so it is listed first.
Modern formal
Then Job answered:
Then Job answered,
Then Job answered:
Then Job answered:
Tyndale line
But Job answered and said,
Then Job answered and said,
Then Job answered and said,
But Job answered and said,
Bvt Iob answered, and sayd,
Strictly literal
And Job answered and said,
And Job answereth and saith: —
And Job answers and says:
Then answered Job, and said,
Then Job answered and said,
From the Latin
Then Job answered, and said:
Simplified
Job replied,
Then Job made answer and said,
Counted from the translations carried on this site, not from a survey of every English Bible. A rendering shared by many versions is usually inherited rather than independently arrived at — the Tyndale line in particular runs through most of them.
The sentence as the grammar sees it — from the MACULA Hebrew treebank
This is not our own analysis: it is the scholarly syntax tree for the verse, showing how the clause actually holds together.
Boxes are the grammarian's groupings — clause, noun phrase, prepositional phrase.
The four witnesses to this verse — Masoretic, Septuagint, Samaritan, Qumran
The Masoretic Text reads וַיַּ֥עַן אִיּ֗וֹב וַיֹּאמַֽר׃, which matches the Septuagint's translation closely, indicating agreement in the essential content of the verse. Both witnesses affirm Job's act of answering and speaking.
וַיַּ֥עַן אִיּ֗וֹב וַיֹּאמַֽר׃
3 of the 3 words are matched. This is the word-by-word correspondence, not the Septuagint's own sentence — its word order and its articles are its own.
Four traditions, not one. “On the leather” means the letters physically survive on the scroll, as against letters an editor has supplied to fill a hole in it — a restoration is a scholar’s reading, not a reading of the manuscript. Words in [square brackets] are supplied; the notes count them apart from what survives.
The map of this verse — what each word keeps company with
This is a map of two things, both counted rather than judged. Company kept: which words stand within three words of each of these, anywhere in the Hebrew Bible — the thicker the line, the more often the pair meet compared with chance. Built from: the words a word is made out of, taken from its own Strong’s entry. It is not a map of meaning: nothing here claims two words mean the same thing. Click any circle to see the numbers behind it.
Lexicons — every word in Job 21:1
One dossier per word, with every reference work grouped by kind — Hebrew lexicons, morphology, Bible dictionaries, topical chains and the English of the translators themselves. The verse sits at the head of each block with the word under study lit, so you never lose your place. The panel above gives the short answer; this is the long one, and it is the part of the page worth indexing.
Every entry below is the lexicographer's own text. On the Hebrew: Brown-Driver-Briggs entire and its gloss set, Strong's Hebrew Dictionary, and Tyndale House's Translators Brief lexicon. Where a cell says a work has no entry, that work genuinely has none for this word.
The Hebrew word עָנָה (*anah*) is built from a primitive root meaning to heed or pay attention, covering a range of meanings including to answer, respond, testify, and sing. It appears in contexts where one responds to speech or circumstances, and can also refer to singing. The lexicons indicate that it can imply both verbal responses and musical expression.
[עוּן] vb. dwell
base
עָנָה 316 vb. answer, respond
Qal
answer, respond to sthg. said, actual or implied
respond to an occasion, speak in view of circumstances
money meets all demands
specif. respond as a witness, testify
less oft. make response as one accused (respondent)
Niph.
make answer
be answered
Hiph. wholly dub.; causes all things to respond in the joy of his heart
base
עָנָה vb. sing
Qal sing, utter tunefully
Pi. sing sweetly of it
base
H6030a עוּן dwell H6030b עָנָה answer, respond .. answer, respond to sthg. said, actual or implied
. . respond to an occasion, speak in view of circumstances
. money meets all demands
. . specif. respond as a witness, testify
. less oft. make response as one accused (respondent)
. . make answer
. be answered
. wholly dub.; causes all things to respond in the joy of his heart
H6030c עָנָה sing
6030 `anah aw-naw'
a primitive root; properly, to eye or (generally) to heed,
i.e. pay attention; by implication, to respond; by extens. to
begin to speak; specifically to sing, shout, testify,
announce:--give account, afflict (by mistake for 6031),
(cause to, give) answer, bring low (by mistake for 6031), cry,
hear, Leannoth, lift up, say, X scholar, (give a) shout, sing
(together by course), speak, testify, utter, (bear) witness.
See also 1042, 1043.
see HEBREW for 06031
see HEBREW for 06031
see HEBREW for 01042
see HEBREW for 01043
עוּן (un) — to dwell.
(Qal) to dwell
עָנָה (a.nah) — to answer.
1) to answer, respond, testify, speak, shout
1a) (Qal)
1a1) to answer, respond to
1a2) to testify, respond as a witness
1b) (Niphal)
1b1) to make answer
1b2) to be answered, receive answer
Aramaic equivalent: a.nah (עֲנָה "to answer" H6032)
עָנָה (a.nah) — to sing.
(Qal) to sing, utter tunefully
Conj | V-Qal-ConsecImperf-3ms — Verb · Qal · sequential imperfect third person masculine singularHc/Vqw3ms
אִיּוֹב (Iyowb) refers to Job, a patriarch known for his patience, as described in the book of Job. The name is associated with the meaning 'hated' or 'persecuted.' It is mentioned in the context of the Exile and Return, and its exact meaning remains uncertain.
אִיּוֹב n.pr.m. Job (meaning unknown)
base
H347 אִיּוֹב
347 'Iyowb ee-yobe'
from 340; hated (i.e. persecuted); Ijob, the patriarch famous
for his patience:--Job.
see HEBREW for 0340
אִיּוֹב (iy.yov) — Job.
A man living at the time of Exile and Return, first mentioned at Job.1.1
Also named: Iōb (Ἰώβ "Job" G2492)
§ Job = "hated"
a patriarch, the subject of the book of Job
N-proper — Noun proper masculineHNpm
job ('iyobh, meaning of name doubtful; some conjecturing "object of enmity," others "he who turns," etc., to God; both uncertain guesses; Iob): The titular hero of the Book of Job, represented as a wealthy and pious land-holder who lived in patriarchal times, or at least conditions, in the land of Uz, on the borders of Idumea. Outside of the Book of Job he is mentioned by Ezekiel (Eze 14:14,20) as one of 3 great personages whose representative righteousness would presumably avail, if that of any individuals could, to redeem the nation; the other two being Noah, an ancient patriarch, and Daniel, a contemporary of the prophet. It is difficult to determine whether Job was an actual personage or not. If known through legend, it must have been on account of some such experience as is narrated in the book, an experience unique enough to…
Job
Persecuted, an Arabian patriarch who resided in the land of Uz (q.v.). While living in the midst of great prosperity, he was suddenly overwhelmed by a series of sore trials that fell upon him. Amid all his sufferings he maintained his integrity. Once more God visited him with the rich tokens of his goodness and even greater prosperity than he had enjoyed before. He survived the period of trial for one hundred and forty years, and died in a good old age, an example to succeeding generations of integrity (Ezek. 14:14, 20) and of submissive patience under the sorest calamities (James 5:11). His history, so far as it is known, is recorded in his book.
the patriarch, from whom one of the books of the Old Testament is named. His residence in the land of Uz marks him as belonging to a branch of the Aramean race, which had settled in the lower part of Mesopatamia (Probably to the south or southeast of Palestine, in Idumean Arabia), adjacent to the Sabeans and Chaldeans. The opinions of Job and his friends are thus peculiarly interesting as exhibiting an aspect of the patriarchal religion outside of the family of Abraham, and as yet uninfluenced by the legislation of Moses. The form of worship belongs essentially to the early patriarchal type; with little of ceremonial ritual, without a separate priesthood, it is thoroughly domestic in form and spirit. Job is represented as a chieftain of immense wealth and high rank, blameless in all the relations of life. What we know of his history is given in the book that bears his name.
A patriarch distinguished for his integrity and piety, his wealth, honors, and domestic happiness, whom God permitted, for the trial of his faith, to be deprived of friends, property, and health, and at once plunged into deep affliction. He lived in the land of Uz, lying, it is generally thought, in Eastern Edom, probably not far from Bozrah.
THE BOOK OF JOB, has originated much criticism, and on many points a considerable diversity of opinion still exists. Sceptics have denied its inspiration, and called it a mere philosophical romance; but no one who respects revelation can entertain this notion, or doubt that Job was a real person. Inspired writers testify to both. See Eze 14:14 Jas 5:11, and compare 1Co 3:19 with
אָמַר (amar) is a Hebrew verb meaning 'to say' or 'to utter,' with a broad range of uses including to promise, command, or even boast. It appears in various forms, such as in the Qal (to say), Niphal (to be told), and Hiphil (to avow). The entries highlight its versatility in both spoken and internal contexts, though no specific verse is noted.
אָמַר 5287 vb. utter, say
Qal
Say
Say in the heart (= think)
Promise
Command (esp. late)
Niph. be said, told
Hiph. avow, avouch (lit. cause to declare)
Hithp. act proudly, boast
base
H559 אָמַר utter, say .. Say
. Say in the heart (= think)
. Promise
. Command (esp. late)
. be said, told
. avow, avouch (lit. cause to declare)
. act proudly, boast
559 'amar aw-mar'
a primitive root; to say (used with great
latitude):--answer, appoint, avouch, bid, boast self, call,
certify, challenge, charge, + (at the, give) command(-ment),
commune, consider, declare, demand, X desire, determine, X
expressly, X indeed, X intend, name, X plainly, promise,
publish, report, require, say, speak (against, of), X still, X
suppose, talk, tell, term, X that is, X think, use (speech),
utter, X verily, X yet.
אָמַר (a.mar) — to say.
1) to say, speak, utter
1a) (Qal) to say, to answer, to say in one's heart, to think, to command, to promise, to intend
1b) (Niphal) to be told, to be said, to be called
1c) (Hithpael) to boast, to act proudly
1d) (Hiphil) to avow, to avouch
Aramaic equivalent: a.mar (אֲמַר "to say" H0560)
Hc/Vqw3ms — Verb · Qal · sequential imperfect third person masculine singularHc/Vqw3ms