Job 15:27 · Bible study
Job 15:27 Commentary: The Symbol of Fatness and Rebellion
Hebrew · 10 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Explore how Eliphaz uses fatness to symbolize pride and self-indulgence in Job 15:27, and its connection to rebellion against God.
Research Summary
- Meaning: In context, the fatness symbolizes self-indulgent prosperity that blinds the wicked to God and fuels rebellion.
- Key words: Fat (chelev), face (panim), loins/thighs (kesel, also 'confidence'), covered (kisah).
- Main debate: Whether the fatness refers to literal gluttony (Barnes) or is a metaphor for wealth (Gill); some see a wordplay on kesel as misplaced trust.
- Theological theme: Prosperity can lead to spiritual blindness and arrogance; a warning against self-sufficiency.
- Best use: Teaching on the dangers of materialism and the call to humble reliance on God.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
Though his face is covered with fat and his waistline bulges with flesh,
WEB World English Bible 2000
because he has covered his face with his fatness, and gathered fat on his thighs.
KJV King James Version 1769
Because he covereth his face with his fatness, and maketh collops of fat on his flanks.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
Because he hath covered his face with his fatness, And gathered fat upon his loins;
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
For he hath covered his face with his fat, And maketh vigour over his confidence.
Darby Darby Bible 1890
For he hath covered his face with his fatness, and gathered fat upon [his] flanks.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
Fatness hath covered his face, and the fat hangeth down on his sides.
Translations in other languages (10 available)
Porque cubrió su rostro con su gordura, é hizo pliegues sobre los ijares;
Porque cobriu seu rosto com sua gordura, e engordou as laterais de seu corpo.
Il avait le visage couvert de graisse,
Er brüstet sich wie ein fetter Wanst und macht sich feist und dick.
Omdat hij zijn aangezicht met zijn vet bedekt heeft, en rimpelen gemaakt om de weekdarmen;
Avea la faccia coperta di grasso, i fianchi carichi di pinguedine;
Bo okrył twarz swą tłustością swoją, a fałdów mu się naczyniło na słabiźnie.
потому что он покрыл лице свое жиром своим и обложил туком лядвеи свои.
是因 他的臉 蒙上 脂油， 腰 積成 肥肉。
Because his face is covered with fat, and his body has become thick;
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · Job 15:27
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators broadly agree that the imagery of fat covering the face and thighs symbolizes the wicked person's self-indulgent prosperity, which breeds arrogance and rebellion against God. Barnes notes that this describes 'a luxurious and licentious person' who gives himself up to sensual indulgence. Gill connects the fatness to an abundance of riches that make a person 'haughty and imperious,' echoing Jeshurun in Deuteronomy 32:15. Keil and Delitzsch see the fatness as a symbol of the defiance with which the wicked assails God, hardening himself with a stiff neck. The physical excess signifies spiritual blindness: a face covered with fat suggests an inability to see God or feel shame. Even the Arabic tradition preserved by Clarke reads the verse as a proverb about boundless ambition. Despite minor differences in emphasis, all point to a single conviction, prosperity separated from reverence becomes the soil of rebellion.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Low
What is clear: The fatness symbolizes the wicked person's self-indulgent prosperity, which fuels rebellion against God, consistent with the broader biblical warning against pride fed by abundance.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Literal vs. metaphorical fatness | The fatness depicts prosperity and self-indulgence. | Some interpreters take it as literal gluttony (Barnes), others as a symbol of wealth and ease (Gill). Both agree it represents a life given to excess. |
| Connection to rebellion | The fatness is presented as the reason for the wicked person's defiant behavior. | Does the prosperity cause the rebellion (making him proud) or is it a symptom of an already hardened heart? The text places the ‘because’ before the fatness, pointing to cause. |
| Wordplay on kesel | The Hebrew term can mean both 'loins' and 'confidence'. | The YLT translation ('maketh vigour over his confidence') highlights the double meaning. Some see a pun on misplaced trust; others read it strictly as anatomical fat. |
| Proverbial background | Arabic literature preserves a similar proverb about scaling heaven, showing the verse was read as a picture of boundless ambition. | Whether Eliphaz himself used a known proverb or coined the image for his argument is unknown. |
| Application to Job | Eliphaz applies the description to the category of wicked people and indirectly to Job's situation. | Some commentators (Gill) see possible reference to Job's children feasting in prosperity; others insist Eliphaz misreads Job's character entirely. |
Historical & Cultural Context
Job 15:27 sits within Eliphaz's second speech, a sustained argument that Job's suffering must stem from hidden sin. The verse belongs to a section (vv.25, 35) describing the fate of the wicked after Eliphaz has spent the first half of the chapter accusing Job of undermining the fear of God (v.4). Historically, this reflects the ancient Near Eastern principle of retribution: prosperity proves righteousness, calamity proves guilt. Yet here Eliphaz inverts the logic, he portrays the wicked person's prosperity itself (symbolized by fatness) as the cause of his rebellion.
The covering of the face with fat (Hebrew chelev) carries dual meaning: fat can represent abundance and blessing (Psalm 63:5, ‘the fatness of your house’), but also dullness and insensitivity. Isaiah 6:10 uses ‘making the heart fat’ to mean closing one's mind to God. The word for loins or thighs, kesel, is especially rich. Elsewhere it means ‘confidence’ (Job 8:14, 31:24), a wordplay the YLT picks up by translating ‘maketh vigour over his confidence.’ The rebellion in the preceding verses, a person running at God with stiff neck and armored shields (v.26), takes on new meaning: prosperity becomes the armor that hardens him.
Adam Clarke offers a remarkable parallel from Arabic poetry, where the same verse was read as a proverb about piling stars: ‘He places the Pleiades upon the Hyades,’ expressing boundless ambition. This suggests that ancient readers recognized the fatness as a picture of overreaching pride. In Eliphaz's framework, such self-indulgent prosperity does not answer the question of innocent suffering; it only deepens the accusation against Job, who has lost everything but whom Eliphaz sees as clinging to pride.
For readers today, the verse warns that material ease can blind us to our need for God. The same abundance that should evoke gratitude can, if left unchecked, become a cushion against dependence. Eliphaz may misapply the truth, but the truth he handles is real: comfort can coarsen the soul.
Textual Notes
The consulted sources note no significant textual variants for Job 15:27. The Hebrew text is well established across manuscripts. The varied English renderings ('collops of fat' in KJV, 'waistline bulges' in BSB) reflect translation choices for the rare word pimah (excess fat), not underlying textual differences.
Reception History
Reception of this verse has followed two broad streams. Early and medieval readers often took the description literally, using it to warn against gluttony and sensual excess, the sin of allowing appetite to rule. The Reformation-era Geneva Bible (1599) simply glosses the verse, while Matthew Henry's Commentary (c. 1710) treats it as part of Eliphaz's pastoral warning against pride. Wesley (1754) connects the fatness to 'riches, power, success,' a common allegorical reading. Adam Clarke (1826) preserves an Arabic interpretation that turns the verse into a proverb about piling stars, boundless ambition reaching for heaven. In modern scholarship, Keil and Delitzsch focus on the wordplay and the image of the shield, reading the fatness as armor for rebellion. Across traditions, the verse has served as a prompt for self-examination: do our comforts make us humble or arrogant?
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- The Prosperity That Isolates. Covering the face with fatness suggests a person so stuffed with self-sufficiency that he no longer sees God or others. He has lost his sense of shame (Jeremiah 6:15) and his awareness of accountability.
- The Indulgence That Hardens. Fat gathered on the thighs speaks of a life given over to appetite. As Deuteronomy 32:15 describes Jeshurun, ‘grew fat and kicked’, prosperity led to rebellion, not gratitude.
- The End That Follows. The surrounding verses (vv.28, 35) paint a picture of judgment: desolate cities, dried-up branches, fire consuming tents. The fatness that seemed so solid offers no protection when God breathes.
Five-point outline
- Root sin: Stretching out the hand against God (v.25).
- Posture: Running at Him with stiff neck, shielded by pride (v.26).
- Fertile soil: Prosperity that pampers and blinds (v.27).
- Fruit of sin: Living in cities that are desolate, a picture of isolation (v.28).
- Harvest: Wealth cannot last; judgment sweeps away (vv.29, 35).
Illustration hooks
- The athlete or CEO at the peak of success, public acclaim, financial freedom, a sense of invincibility. The same success that could be a platform for generosity becomes a prison of arrogance. When they speak, they no longer listen to anyone, including God.
- A party that goes on too long. The host keeps the food coming; guests grow sluggish, talk turns to boasting, and eventually someone says something that cannot be taken back. The bounty itself became the fuel for the break.
- The proverb about the frog in slowly boiling water. Prosperity rises gradually; we do not notice that our dependence on God is being replaced by self-congratulation until the judgment comes.
Questions your congregation is asking
- Does God condemn material blessing? Or does the warning apply only when we cling to it too tightly?
- How can we tell if our comfort has started to cover our face, making us blind to God's voice?
- Is Eliphaz right? Does suffering always follow pride, or is he misreading Job's situation?
Leading a Discussion
This verse invites us to examine a quiet danger: the way good gifts can, over time, insulate us from God. Eliphaz uses strong imagery, fatness over the face and thighs, to picture a person whose prosperity has made him spiritually insensitive. While Eliphaz may wrongly apply this to Job, the principle itself holds: abundance apart from humility leads to hardness.
Discussion questions
- What does the phrase “covered his face with fatness” suggest about the person's relationship with God? (Consider how Isaiah 6:10 uses a similar expression.)
- Read Deuteronomy 32:15. How does the story of Jeshurun parallel the description in Job 15:27?
- The word kesel can mean either “loins” or “confidence.” Which reading makes better sense in context, and why? Does the YLT translation (“vigour over his confidence”) change how you see the verse?
- How might prosperity sometimes become a “shield” that hardens us against God's correction? (See v.26: “the thick bosses of his bucklers.”)
- In what areas of your own life, work, family, finances, is it hardest to remain dependent on God rather than on your own resources?
- Eliphaz uses this verse to accuse Job. Does a truthful principle become false when applied to the wrong person? How do we avoid misapplying Scripture when we counsel others?
- What safeguards can we build into our lives so that blessing leads to gratitude and generosity instead of to spiritual dullness?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Deuteronomy 32:15 | But Jeshurun grew fat, and kicked. You have grown fat. You have grown thick. You have become sleek. Then he abandoned God who made him, and rejected the Rock of his salvation. |
| Job 17:10 | But as for you all, come back. I will not find a wise man among you. |
| Psalms 17:10 | They close up their callous hearts. With their mouth they speak proudly. |
| Psalms 73:7 | Their eyes bulge with fat. Their minds pass the limits of conceit. |
| Psalms 78:31 | when the anger of God went up against them, killed some of their strongest, and struck down the young men of Israel. |
| Isaiah 6:10 | Make the heart of this people fat. Make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their heart, and turn again, and be healed.” |
| Jeremiah 5:28 | They have grown fat. They shine; yes, they excel in deeds of wickedness. They don’t plead the cause, the cause of the fatherless, that they may prosper; and they don’t defend the rights of the needy. |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
10 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Adam Clarke's Commentary Methodist/Wesleyan 1826
Clarke notes that the phrase covering his face shows the man lived in extreme luxury and could not resist his opponent. His endless ambition made him try to reach the stars by stacking mountains, but God destroyed those attempts with lightning.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes reads the image of a man covered in fat as a symbol of willful self-indulgence, not a physical condition. For him this is a person who has abandoned God for gluttony and luxury, and such a life inevitably brings divine judgment.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges notes that the wicked person feels constant worry because he refuses to obey God. His final punishment comes from that same disobedience.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
The Geneva note points out that this is a physical description of the wicked man's self-indulgent prosperity. Covering his face with fatness and having rolls of fat on his flanks pictures someone so consumed by comfort and complacency that he grows arrogant, trusting in his own abundance rather than in God.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill reads the description of fatness not as literal obesity but as a symbol of wealth and self-indulgence that makes a person proud, defiant, and bold in sin. He connects it directly to Jeshurun, who grew prosperous and then kicked against God, and suggests it may also allude to Job's feasting children whose abundance led to ruin.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
Jamieson Fausset Brown notes that the rich food in the wicked man’s body shows his wealth. He keeps eating fatty foods and other pleasures which make him strong so he can rebel against God. This gives hope that Christ will give true strength to those who trust Him.
Keil & Delitzsch OT Commentary Protestant 1876
Keil and Delitzsch see the fat covering the wicked man's face and loins as a picture of willful, impenetrable carnal security. This accumulation of flesh makes him a gross, soulless mass, completely insensitive to the pain of others or the warnings of God.
Lange's Commentary Reformed 1857
Lange observes that Eliphaz's second discourse, though longer and more impassioned, adds nothing new to his earlier argument. As the oldest and most distinguished friend, he merely repeats the same doctrine with increased violence, offering no fresh insight.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry notes that the wicked person covers his face with his fatness. He believes he will never leave darkness and will be destroyed by the sword.
Wesley's Explanatory Notes Methodist/Wesleyan 1754
Wesley traces the man’s insolence toward God directly to his prosperity. Success, wealth, and power made him proud and self-complacent, so he felt no need for God and cared only to indulge himself.