Job 34:8

Verse

Berean Standard Bible

He keeps company with evildoers and walks with wicked men.

American Standard Version (1901)

Who goeth in company with the workers of iniquity, And walketh with wicked men?

Bible in Basic English

And goes in the company of evil-doers, walking in the way of sinners?

Free Bible Version

He keeps company with wicked people; he associates with those who do evil.

King James (Authorized) Version

Which goeth in company with the workers of iniquity, and walketh with wicked men.

Translation for Translators

He habitually associates with people who do what is evil and spends time with wicked people.

Unlocked Literal Bible

who goes around in the company of those who do evil, and who walks with wicked men?

Noah Webster Bible

Who goeth in company with the workers of iniquity, and walketh with wicked men.

World English Bible

who goes in company with the workers of iniquity, and walks with wicked men?

Young's Literal Translation

And he hath travelled for company With workers of iniquity, So as to go with men of wickedness.

Context

Elihu Confirms God’s Justice

⁷What man is like Job, who drinks up derision like water? ⁸He keeps company with evildoers and walks with wicked men. ⁹For he has said, ‘It profits a man nothing that he should delight in God.’

Summary

In this verse, Elihu, one of Job's friends, is speaking and accusing Job of sinning by choosing wickedness over righteousness. Elihu asserts that Job has been walking in the company of evildoers and has been keeping company with the wicked. This accusation reflects the common belief during that time that suffering was a direct result of sin. However, as the book of Job unfolds, it becomes clear that Job's suffering is not a punishment for sin but a test of faith and a demonstration of his righteousness.

Commentary

Adam Clarke
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
John Gill

Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

Which goeth in company with the workers of iniquity - This is an allusion to a caravan: all kinds of persons are found there; but yet a holy and respectable man might be found in that part of the company where profligates assembled. But surely this assertion of Elihu was not strictly true; and the words literally translated, will bear a less evil meaning: "Job makes a track ארח arach, to join fellowship, לחברה lechebrah, with the workers of iniquity;" i.e., Job's present mode of reasoning, when he says, "I am righteous, yet God hath taken away my judgment," is according to the assertion of sinners, who say, "There is no profit in serving God; for, if a man be righteous, he is not benefited by it, for God does not vindicate a just man's cause against his oppressors." By adopting so much of their creed, he intimates that Job is taking the steps that lead to fellowship with them. See Job 34:9.