איוב, פרק כ״א, פסוק ז׳

Job confronts his friends with a harsh reality that challenges their neat worldview. While they maintain that evil people are punished with short lives and frailty, Job points to the actual state of the world and asks a painful question: why do the wicked continue to live and thrive?

This question becomes even more difficult when observing the unnatural abundance these individuals enjoy. Even if one were to assume that God is simply rewarding them in this world for a handful of good deeds, such a reward should logically remain within the normal limits of nature. Instead, they reach extreme old age without experiencing the usual physical decline [אלשיך].

The primary approach among commentators is that the wicked are granted remarkable longevity, living well into their later years [מצודת ציון, רלב״ג, מלבי״ם, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. However, another perspective suggests their success is measured not just in time, but in their growing physical thickness, arrogance, and the accumulation of massive wealth [אבן עזרא].

The injustice feels compounded because, rather than fading away, these individuals actually grow more powerful over time. Despite their advanced age, they maintain robust physical strength [מלבי״ם, ביאור שטיינזלץ] and constantly multiply their fortunes [מצודת דוד]. This reality strikes at the core of Job's argument. In the natural order of the world, old age brings weakness and decline, yet the wicked seem completely immune to this, enjoying a continuous and powerful success.