21 A sound of terrors is in his ears; In prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him.
And Jehovah God called unto the man, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
And Abigail came to Nabal; and, behold, he held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king; and Nabal's heart was merry within him, for he was very drunken: wherefore she told him nothing, less or more, until the morning light. And it came to pass in the morning, when the wine was gone out of Nabal, that his wife told him these things, and his heart died within him, and he became as a stone. And it came to pass about ten days after, that Jehovah smote Nabal, so that he died.
And it fell on a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house, that there came a messenger unto Job, and said, The oxen were plowing, and the asses feeding beside them; and the Sabeans fell `upon them', and took them away: yea, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath burned up the sheep and the servants, and consumed them; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The Chaldeans made three bands, and fell upon the camels, and have taken them away, yea, and slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, Thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house; and, behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.
That the triumphing of the wicked is short, And the joy of the godless but for a moment? Though his height mount up to the heavens, And his head reach unto the clouds; Yet he shall perish for ever like his own dung: They that have seen him shall say, Where is he?
In the fulness of his sufficiency he shall be in straits: The hand of every one that is in misery shall come upon him. When he is about to fill his belly, `God' will cast the fierceness of his wrath upon him, And will rain it upon him while he is eating. He shall flee from the iron weapon, And the bow of brass shall strike him through. He draweth it forth, and it cometh out of his body; Yea, the glittering point cometh out of his gall: Terrors are upon him.
Surely thou settest them in slippery places: Thou castest them down to destruction. How are they become a desolation in a moment! They are utterly consumed with terrors. As a dream when one awaketh, So, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou wilt despise their image.
I also will laugh in `the day of' your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; When your fear cometh as a storm, And your calamity cometh on as a whirlwind; When distress and anguish come upon you.
And upon a set day Herod arrayed himself in royal apparel, and sat on the throne, and made an oration unto them. And the people shouted, `saying', The voice of a god, and not of a man. And immediately an angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Job 15
Commentary on Job 15 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 15
SECOND SERIES.
Job 15:1-35. Second Speech of Eliphaz.
2. a wise man—which Job claims to be.
vain knowledge—Hebrew, "windy knowledge"; literally, "of wind" (Job 8:2). In Ec 1:14, Hebrew, "to catch wind," expresses to strive for what is vain.
east wind—stronger than the previous "wind," for in that region the east wind is the most destructive of winds (Isa 27:8). Thus here,—empty violence.
belly—the inward parts, the breast (Pr 18:8).
4. fear—reverence for God (Job 4:6; Ps 2:11).
prayer—meditation, in Ps 104:34; so devotion. If thy views were right, reasons Eliphaz, that God disregards the afflictions of the righteous and makes the wicked to prosper, all devotion would be at an end.
5. The sophistry of thine own speeches proves thy guilt.
6. No pious man would utter such sentiments.
7. That is, Art thou wisdom personified? Wisdom existed before the hills; that is, the eternal Son of God (Pr 8:25; Ps 90:2). Wast thou in existence before Adam? The farther back one existed, the nearer he was to the Eternal Wisdom.
8. secret—rather, "Wast thou a listener in the secret council of God?" The Hebrew means properly the cushions of a divan on which counsellors in the East usually sit. God's servants are admitted to God's secrets (Ps 25:14; Ge 18:17; Joh 15:15).
restrain—Rather, didst thou take away, or borrow, thence (namely, from the divine secret council) thy wisdom? Eliphaz in this (Job 15:8, 9) retorts Job's words upon himself (Job 12:2, 3; 13:2).
9. in us—or, "with us," Hebraism for "we are aware of."
10. On our side, thinking with us are the aged. Job had admitted that wisdom is with them (Job 12:12). Eliphaz seems to have been himself older than Job; perhaps the other two were also (Job 32:6). Job, in Job 30:1, does not refer to his three friends; it therefore forms no objection. The Arabs are proud of fulness of years.
11. consolations—namely, the revelation which Eliphaz had stated as a consolatory reproof to Job, and which he repeats in Job 15:14.
secret—Hast thou some secret wisdom and source of consolation, which makes thee disregard those suggested by me? (Job 15:8). Rather, from a different Hebrew root, Is the word of kindness or gentleness addressed by me treated by thee as valueless? [Umbreit].
12. wink—that is, why do thy eyes evince pride? (Pr 6:13; Ps 35:19).
13. That is, frettest against God and lettest fall rash words.
14. Eliphaz repeats the revelation (Job 4:17) in substance, but using Job's own words (see on Job 14:1, on "born of a woman") to strike him with his own weapons.
15. Repeated from Job 4:18; "servants" there are "saints" here; namely, holy angels.
heavens—literally, or else answering to "angels" (see on Job 4:18, and Job 25:5).
16. filthy—in Arabic "sour" (Ps 14:3; 53:3), corrupted from his original purity.
drinketh—(Pr 19:28).
17. In direct contradiction of Job's position (Job 12:6, &c.), that the lot of the wicked was the most prosperous here, Eliphaz appeals (1) to his own experience, (2) to the wisdom of the ancients.
18. Rather, "and which as handed down from their fathers, they have not concealed."
19. Eliphaz speaks like a genuine Arab when he boasts that his ancestors had ever possessed the land unmixed with foreigners [Umbreit]. His words are intended to oppose Job's (Job 9:24); "the earth" in their case was not "given into the hand of the wicked." He refers to the division of the earth by divine appointment (Ge 10:5; 25:32). Also he may insinuate that Job's sentiments had been corrupted from original purity by his vicinity to the Sabeans and Chaldeans [Rosenmuller].
20. travaileth—rather, "trembleth of himself," though there is no real danger [Umbreit].
and the number of his years, &c.—This gives the reason why the wicked man trembles continually; namely, because he knows not the moment when his life must end.
21. An evil conscience conceives alarm at every sudden sound, though it be in a time of peace ("prosperity"), when there is no real danger (Le 26:36; Pr 28:1; 2Ki 7:6).
22. darkness—namely, danger or calamity. Glancing at Job, who despaired of restoration: in contrast to good men when in darkness (Mic 7:8, 9).
waited for of—that is, He is destined for the sword [Gesenius]. Rather (in the night of danger), "he looks anxiously towards the sword," as if every sword was drawn against him [Umbreit].
23. Wandereth in anxious search for bread. Famine in Old Testament depicts sore need (Isa 5:13). Contrast the pious man's lot (Job 5:20-22).
knoweth—has the firm conviction. Contrast the same word applied to the pious (Job 5:24, 25).
ready at his hand—an Arabic phrase to denote a thing's complete readiness and full presence, as if in the hand.
24. prevail—break upon him suddenly and terribly, as a king, &c. (Pr 6:11).
25. stretcheth … hand—wielding the spear, as a bold rebel against God (Job 9:4; Isa 27:4).
26. on his neck—rather, "with outstretched neck," namely, that of the rebel [Umbreit] (Ps 75:5).
upon … bucklers—rather, "with—his (the rebel's, not God's) bucklers." The rebel and his fellows are depicted as joining shields together, to form a compact covering over their heads against the weapons hurled on them from a fortress [Umbreit and Gesenius].
27. The well-nourished body of the rebel is the sign of his prosperity.
collops—masses of fat. He pampers and fattens himself with sensual indulgences; hence his rebellion against God (De 32:15; 1Sa 2:29).
28. The class of wicked here described is that of robbers who plunder "cities," and seize on the houses of the banished citizens (Isa 13:20). Eliphaz chooses this class because Job had chosen the same (Job 12:6).
heaps—of ruins.
29. Rather, he shall not increase his riches; he has reached his highest point; his prosperity shall not continue.
perfection—rather, "His acquired wealth—what he possesses—shall not be extended," &c.
30. depart—that is, escape (Job 15:22, 23).
branches—namely, his offspring (Job 1:18, 19; Ps 37:35).
dry up—The "flame" is the sultry wind in the East by which plants most full of sap are suddenly shrivelled.
his mouth—that is, God's wrath (Isa 11:4).
31. Rather, "let him not trust in vanity or he will be deceived," &c.
vanity—that which is unsubstantial. Sin is its own punishment (Pr 1:31; Jer 2:19).
32. Literally, "it (the tree to which he is compared, Job 15:30, or else his life) shall not be filled up in its time"; that is, "he shall be ended before his time."
shall not be green—image from a withered tree; the childless extinction of the wicked.
33. Images of incompleteness. The loss of the unripe grapes is poetically made the vine tree's own act, in order to express more pointedly that the sinner's ruin is the fruit of his own conduct (Isa 3:11; Jer 6:19).
34. Rather, The binding together of the hypocrites (wicked) shall be fruitless [Umbreit].
tabernacles of bribery—namely, dwellings of unjust judges, often reprobated in the Old Testament (Isa 1:23). The "fire of God" that consumed Job's possessions (Job 1:16) Eliphaz insinuates may have been on account of Job's bribery as an Arab sheik or emir.
35. Bitter irony, illustrating the "unfruitfulness" (Job 15:34) of the wicked. Their conceptions and birthgivings consist solely in mischief, &c. (Isa 33:11).
prepareth—hatcheth.