He striketh them as wicked men in the open sight of others;
Parallel translations
- WEB He strikes them as wicked men in the open sight of others;
- BSB He strikes them for their wickedness in full view,
- NKJV He strikes them as wicked men In the open sight of others,
- NASB “He strikes them like the wicked In a public place,
- NLT He strikes them down because they are wicked, doing it openly for all to see.
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
God strikes down the wicked openly, in plain sight of others. It shows that His judgment is both just and public.
Overview
Elihu states that God punishes the wicked as their guilt deserves, doing so in the open where it can be seen. God's justice is not hidden but ultimately vindicated before all. This public dimension anticipates the final judgment, when God's righteousness will be openly displayed, and reminds believers that their refuge is the public victory of Christ over sin.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Ps 58:10–11The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance: he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked.
- Rev 18:20Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her.
- Exod 14:30Thus the LORD saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore.
- Deut 13:9–11But thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people.
- 1 Tim 5:24Some men’s sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment; and some men they follow after.
- 1 Tim 5:20Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear.
- Rev 18:9–10And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning,
- Deut 21:21And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die: so shalt thou put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear.
- Isa 66:24And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.
- 2 Sam 12:11–12Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun.
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 34:26 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.