Their cattle have conceived, and failed not: their cow has calved, and is not deprived of her fruit.
שׁוֹר֣וֹ עִ֭בַּר וְלֹ֣א יַגְעִ֑ל תְּפַלֵּ֥ט פָּ֝רָת֗וֹ וְלֹ֣א תְשַׁכֵּֽל׃
4 Church Fathers comment on this verse
Certainly, God continues to extend His grace to the wicked, demonstrating that His love for them is unbroken, so that they cannot claim, "God despises us, and thus He will never grant us the opportunity for repentance." While He may chastise the righteous with rigor, His compassion is directed towards sinners. The challenges faced by the virtuous in this life are merely a precursor to the rewards that await them for their good deeds.
Their oxen thrive abundantly and experience no barrenness; their cows conceive and do not lose their calves, as stated in Job 21:10. In everyday speech, 'ox' refers to the male animal and 'cow' to the female; however, in literary contexts, 'ox' can denote a creature without a specific gender. Thus, it is expressed that their oxen are fruitful and free from failure, and their cows conceive without losing offspring. For the owner of livestock, the first blessing is a flock that is not infertile, the second blessing is that those who have given birth successfully raise healthy calves, and the third blessing is that the young thrive as they are nurtured.
Therefore, to illustrate that the wicked possess all these blessings simultaneously, the righteous Job points out the multiplication of their herds, their increase, and their lack of barren offspring. However, this joy is incomplete if, even amidst the flourishing herds, the offspring of their owner do not prosper. Thus, the prosperity of their livestock simultaneously reveals the well-being of their household, as it is written:
I wish to express with passion and briefly reflect on the trials that lie ahead of me, for the agony afflicting my body is beyond description. Why do the unrighteous thrive and reach old age in wealth? Their fields are abundant, they take delight in their offspring, they prosper without fear, and they do not suffer afflictions from the Lord. Their cattle do not produce stillborn or malformed calves; their wives experience no loss during pregnancy. They live carefree, akin to livestock, enjoying life without worry.
Job no longer seeks solace from his companions; rather, he desires their silence so he can voice his grievances regarding his afflictions until the very end (21: 1-6). Despite their assertions about the punishment of the wicked following brief enjoyment, countless instances illustrate the wicked living and dying in complete joy (7-13). They disregard Divine Providence (14-15); the specter of sudden demise does not intimidate them (16-18), nor does the unfortunate fate of their descendants trouble them (19-21). Who can delineate to God the equity in the distribution of prosperity and adversity among humanity (22)? Both the unrighteous and the just meet the same end under God's watch (23-26). Job's companions uniquely maintain that the wicked are destined for destruction (27-28).
However, experience reveals that the wicked can enjoy life and pass away peacefully (29-33). Thus, Job concludes that their rationale lacks solid ground (34). In this segment of the discussion, Job’s friends progress from vague insinuations and accusations regarding Job’s hidden transgressions to explicit allegations of hypocrisy and arrogance. Clinging to their previous notion of inevitable punishment for unrighteousness, they threaten Job with dire consequences. In response, Job increasingly affirms his innocence and asserts the fallacies inherent in his friends’ reasoning, attributing human joy and sorrow not to moral standing but to the unfathomable designs of Divine Providence.
Passages read together with this verse.
THEOSIS