Job 8:21

Job 8:21 Till he fill thy mouth with laughing, and thy lips with rejoicing.

Ver. 21. Till he fill thy mouth with laughing, &c.] Here he applies the promise of the Divine help to Job, and that which is here spoken, debent et reliqui fideles ad se transferre, saith Lavater, every true believer must take home to himself. God will turn all their sadness into gladness, all their sighing into singing, all their tears into triumphs, their sorrowful outcries into joyful jubilees. In the transgression of an evil man there is a snare or a cord, viz. to strangle his joy with, to check and choke all his comforts: but the righteous sing and rejoice, Pro 29:6. They may do so here amidst all their troubles, 2Co 7:4. As the lily looks fresh, and beautiful, and blithe, though among thorns; they shall do so hereafter, when they enter into the joy of their Master. See Isa 65:13. A joy fitter to be believed than possible to be discoursed. See a shadow of it, Psa 126:1-2.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Job 8:21. Till he fill thy mouth with laughing — What I have said in general of good men shall be made good to thee if thou art such: God will not forsake thee, nor desist from doing thee good, till he give thee abundant matter of rejoicing.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

If thou be godly, he will give thee occasion to rejoice, and if not, thine affliction shall increase.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Till--literally, "to the point that"; God's blessing on thee, when repentant, will go on increasing to the point that, or until, &c.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 21. Till he fill thy mouth with laughing] Perhaps it may be well to translate after Mr. Good "Even yet may he fill thy mouth with laughter!" The two verses may be read as a prayer; and probably they were thus expressed by Bildad, who speaks with less virulence than his predecessor, though with equal positiveness in respect to the grand charge, viz., If thou wert not a sinner of no mean magnitude, God would not have inflicted such unprecedented calamities upon thee.

This most exceptionable position, which is so contrary to matter of fact, was founded upon maxims which they derived from the ancients. Surely observation must have, in numberless instances, corrected this mistake. They must have seen many worthless men in high prosperity, and many of the excellent of the earth in deep adversity and affliction; but the opposite was an article of their creed, and all appearances and facts must take its colouring.

Job's friends must have been acquainted, at least, with the history of the ancient patriarchs; and most certainly they contained facts of an opposite nature. Righteous Abel was persecuted and murdered by his wicked brother, Cain. Abram was obliged to leave his own country on account of worshipping the true God; so all tradition has said. Jacob was persecuted by his brother Esau; Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers; Moses was obliged to flee from Egypt, and was variously tried and afflicted, even by his own brethren. Not to mention David, and almost all the prophets. All these were proofs that the best of men were frequently exposed to sore afflictions and heavy calamities; and it is not by the prosperity or adversity of men in this world, that we are to judge of the approbation or disapprobation of God towards them. In every case our Lord's rule is infallible: By their fruits ye shall know them.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(21) Till he fill thy mouth with laughing.—Rather, he will yet fill thy mouth with laughter—afflicted though thou hast been, thou shalt again rejoice. The attitude of Bildad is one of unsympathetic selfishness. He wishes to think well of his friend because he is his friend, but he cannot reconcile his afflicted condition with any theory of righteous government, and therefore is driven to suspect that all is not right with him, though he feels warranted in promising him that if he casts away that secret sin all shall yet be well with him. We may say that if the contrast here indicated is not intended by the speaker, then we must consider the “he” of Job_8:16 the person before spoken of, and must understand his luxuriance of a merely apparent luxuriance; but then in that case one is at a loss to see why the “he,” of Job_8:16 should be emphasised as it is in the Hebrew.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

21. till he fill] If this rendering be adopted, the word “till” is used somewhat generally to express what God’s practical rectitude, as described on both its sides Job_8:20, will issue in. Others prefer to read, he will yet fill—making a stop at the end of Job_8:20.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Till he fill thy mouth with laughing - Until he make thee completely happy. The word rendered “till” (עד ‛ad), is rendered by Dr. Good, “even yet.” Noyes, following Houbigant, DeWette, and Michaelis, proposes to change the pointing, and to read עד ‛ôd, instead of עד ‛ad - meaning, “while.” The verse is connected with that which follows, and the particle used here evidently means “while,” or “even yet” - and the whole passage means, “if you return to God, he will even yet fill you with joy, while those who hate you shall be clothed with shame. God will show you favor, but the dwelling of the wicked shall come to naught.” The object of the passage is to induce Job to return to God, with the assurance that if he did, he would show mercy to him, while the wicked should be destroyed.

With rejoicing - Margin, “Shouting for joy.” The word used (תרוּעה terû‛âh) is properly that which denotes the clangor of a trumpet, or the shout of victory and triumph.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

CHAPTER VIII.

Until. If thou be simple, (Haydock) or irreproachable, (Calmet) God will make thee exult. (Haydock) --- Until, &c. (Menochius) --- He will restore thee to thy former state of affluence. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

And what I have said in general of all perfect men, shall be made good to thee, if thou be such a one; God will not forsake time, nor desist from doing thee good,

till he fill, & c., i.e. God will give thee such abundant matter of rejoicing, that thy heart shall not be able to hold it, but it shall break out at thy mouth and lips.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Till he fill thy mouth with laughing, and thy lips with rejoicing. This is very elliptical. The full phrase would be, "God will not cast away a perfect man; therefore, if thou be such, he will not cast away thee, till he fill thy mouth with laughter, and thy lips with rejoicing," or "with shouting for joy."

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

'Till, &c. - And what I have said in general of good men, shall be made good to thee, if thou art such: God will not forsake thee, nor desist from doing thee good, 'till he give thee abundant matter of rejoicing.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

He will yet fill your mouth with laughter, your lips with shouting

These two phrases mean the same thing and emphasize how happy Job would be if he were innocent. The word "he" refers to God and "your" refers to Job. AT: "God will make you very happy again if you are innocent" (See: Parallelism and Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

fill your mouth with laughter

God causing Job to laugh is spoken of as if God had poured laughter into Job's mouth. AT: "cause you to continually laugh" (See: Metaphor)

your lips with shouting

The verb "fill" is understood from the previous clause. God causing him to shout for joy is spoken of as if God had poured joy into Job's mouth. AT: "God will cause you to shout for joy" (See: Ellipsis and Metaphor)

Those who hate you will be clothed with shame

Here "shame" is spoken of as if it were clothing that God will cause Job's enemies to wear. This means they will be very ashamed. AT: "God will cause those who hate you to be very ashamed" (See: Metaphor)

the tent of the wicked will be no more

Here "tent" refers to the homes of the wicked. AT: "the houses of the wicked will be destroyed"

will be no more

"will not last" or "will be destroyed"

translationWords

clothe

shame

tent

evil

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.