The Meaning of Job 24:23 Explained

Job 24:23

KJV: Though it be given him to be in safety, whereon he resteth; yet his eyes are upon their ways.

YLT: He giveth to him confidence, and he is supported, And his eyes are on their ways.

Darby: God setteth him in safety, and he resteth thereon; but his eyes are upon their ways.

ASV: God giveth them to be in security, and they rest thereon; And his eyes are upon their ways.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

[Though] it be given  him [to be] in safety,  whereon he resteth;  yet his eyes  [are] upon their ways. 

What does Job 24:23 Mean?

Context Summary

Job 24:1-25 - Not Here, But Hereafter
Job laments that the times of punishment are not so explained by God, that those who know Him may see and understand His reasons. He then turns to describe the life of the ungodly, who do dark deeds with apparent impunity. A very sad catalogue of crimes follows. The oppression of the needy, the driving away of the ass of the fatherless, the taking of the widow's ox for a pledge, the frequenting of the wilderness, the plunder of caravans regardless of the claims of pity, the stealing of oil and wine from those who had labored to produce them, the murdering of the poor laboring man at the dawn, the commission of crimes at night-such are the iniquities which are described. And these crimes are still committed in so-called Christian lands. Wonderful that God should bear with us, but His long-suffering would fain lead men to repent. It is only after long forbearing and trial that He cuts down.
In his closing words, Job 24:18-21, Job quotes the opinion of his friends as to the condition of the ungodly, that they pass away swiftly as the waters, and are snapped as a branch of a tree. And, in opposition, he states his own view, Job 24:23-25, that they die in exalted positions, not by a painful and lingering death, but as corn in the maturity of the ear. This also is true. Wicked men do not always meet their deserts in this world. In the next world penalty is inevitable. [source]

Chapter Summary: Job 24

1  Wickedness often goes unpunished
17  There is a secret judgment for the wicked

What do the individual words in Job 24:23 mean?

He gives to them security and they rely [on it] and yet His eyes [are] on their ways
יִתֶּן־ ל֣וֹ לָ֭בֶטַח וְיִשָּׁעֵ֑ן וְ֝עֵינֵ֗יהוּ עַל־ דַּרְכֵיהֶֽם

יִתֶּן־  He  gives 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: יָתַן 
Sense: to give, put, set.
ל֣וֹ  to  them 
Parse: Preposition, third person masculine singular
לָ֭בֶטַח  security 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, masculine singular
Root: בֶּטַח  
Sense: security, safety adv.
וְיִשָּׁעֵ֑ן  and  they  rely  [on  it] 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Nifal, Conjunctive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: שָׁעַן  
Sense: to lean on, trust in, support.
וְ֝עֵינֵ֗יהוּ  and  yet  His  eyes  [are] 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, cdc, third person masculine singular
Root: עֹונָה 
Sense: eye.
דַּרְכֵיהֶֽם  their  ways 
Parse: Noun, common plural construct, third person masculine plural
Root: דֶּרֶךְ  
Sense: way, road, distance, journey, manner.