because he has covered his face with his fatness, and gathered fat on his thighs.
Parallel translations
- KJV Because he covereth his face with his fatness, and maketh collops of fat on his flanks.
- BSB Though his face is covered with fat and his waistline bulges with flesh,
- NKJV “Thoughhe has covered his face with his fatness, And made his waist heavy with fat,
- NASB “For he has covered his face with his fat, And put fat on his waist.
- NLT “These wicked people are heavy and prosperous; their waists bulge with fat.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The wicked man's fatness pictures his self-indulgent, complacent prosperity. His comfort feeds his arrogance toward God.
Overview
Eliphaz uses the image of a face and body grown fat to portray the wicked grown comfortable, careless, and proud in his wealth. Scripture often links worldly ease with spiritual hardness (Deuteronomy 32:15). The point is that prosperity can nourish defiance against God, though Eliphaz wrongly assumes Job's former wealth had this effect on his heart.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Ps 17:10They close up their callous hearts. With their mouth they speak proudly.
- Isa 6:10Make the heart of this people fat. Make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and turn again, and be healed.”
- Ps 73:7Their eyes bulge with fat. Their minds pass the limits of conceit.
- Jer 5:28They have grown fat. They shine; yes, they excel in deeds of wickedness. They don’t plead the cause, the cause of the fatherless, that they may prosper; and they don’t judge the right of the needy.
- Deut 32:15But Jeshurun grew fat, and kicked. You have grown fat. You have grown thick. You have become sleek. Then he abandoned God who made him, and rejected the Rock of his salvation.
- Ps 78:31when the anger of God went up against them, killed some of their fattest, and struck down the young men of Israel.
- Job 17:10But as for you all, come on now again; I shall not find a wise man among you.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Job's cry for a mediator who can lay his hand on both God and man, and his confidence that 'my Redeemer lives' and will stand on the earth, reaches forward to Jesus the living Redeemer.
How Job 15:27 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.