Scholars note that this verse marks a puzzling shift, as Job seems to adopt the very arguments of his friends he had been refuting. Commentators suggest two main views: 1) Job is sarcastically quoting his friends' 'vain' beliefs to critique them, or 2) Job is strategically agreeing with the general principle that God judges the wicked, while still rejecting his friends' specific, flawed application of that principle to his own life.