What is the meaning of Job 21:16?

Still

Job has just finished describing how comfortably the ungodly seem to live. The single word “Still” (Job 21:16) signals a shift—an inward resolve not to be carried away by appearances.

• Asaph voices the same tension: “Behold, these are the wicked—always carefree, they increase in wealth” (Psalm 73:12).

• Jeremiah asks, “Why does the way of the wicked prosper?” (Jeremiah 12:1).

• Scripture acknowledges the temporary success of sinners, yet insists there is more to the story than meets the eye.

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their prosperity is not in their own hands

“their prosperity is not in their own hands” (Job 21:16).

• God is the true source of all success: “Remember that it is the LORD your God who gives you power to gain wealth” (Deuteronomy 8:18).

• “The LORD makes poor and makes rich” (1 Samuel 2:7).

• Psalm 75:6-7 states promotion “does not come from the east or the west… but God is Judge.”

• When we grasp that the wicked hold nothing independently, envy loses its grip (Psalm 73:17-20).

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so I stay far

“So I stay far” (Job 21:16).

• Job chooses distance, echoing “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked” (Psalm 1:1).

• Proverbs warns, “Do not set foot on the path of the wicked” (Proverbs 4:14).

• Paul urges, “Flee these things… pursue righteousness” (1 Timothy 6:11).

• Separation is not withdrawal from the world but refusal to imitate the ungodly (2 Corinthians 6:17).

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from the counsel of the wicked

Job refuses their advice and worldview.

• The wicked declare, “Depart from us!” to God (Job 21:14), so their counsel is godless.

• “I do not sit with deceitful men… I abhor the assembly of evildoers” (Psalm 26:4-5).

• Proverbs 12:5 contrasts “the thoughts of the righteous” with “the counsel of the wicked.”

• “Bad company corrupts good character” (1 Corinthians 15:33).

• By stepping away, Job aligns with James 4:7—submit to God, resist evil influence.

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summary

Job 21:16 teaches that the apparent prosperity of the ungodly is never self-made but granted—and ultimately limited—by God. Recognizing God’s sovereignty frees us from envy and motivates us, like Job, to keep clear of the thinking and strategies of those who reject the Lord.