1 Why are times not laid up by the Almighty? And why do not they that know him see his days?
2 There are that remove the landmarks; They violently take away flocks, and feed them.
3 They drive away the ass of the fatherless; They take the widow's ox for a pledge.
4 They turn the needy out of the way: The poor of the earth all hide themselves.
5 Behold, as wild asses in the desert They go forth to their work, seeking diligently for food; The wilderness `yieldeth' them bread for their children.
6 They cut their provender in the field; And they glean the vintage of the wicked.
7 They lie all night naked without clothing, And have no covering in the cold.
8 They are wet with the showers of the mountains, And embrace the rock for want of a shelter.
9 There are that pluck the fatherless from the breast, And take a pledge of the poor;
10 `So that' they go about naked without clothing, And being hungry they carry the sheaves.
11 They make oil within the walls of these men; They tread `their' winepresses, and suffer thirst.
12 From out of the populous city men groan, And the soul of the wounded crieth out: Yet God regardeth not the folly.
13 These are of them that rebel against the light; They know not the ways thereof, Nor abide in the paths thereof.
14 The murderer riseth with the light; He killeth the poor and needy; And in the night he is as a thief.
15 The eye also of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, Saying, No eye shall see me: And he disguiseth his face.
16 In the dark they dig through houses: They shut themselves up in the day-time; They know not the light.
17 For the morning is to all of them as thick darkness; For they know the terrors of the thick darkness.
18 Swiftly they `pass away' upon the face of the waters; Their portion is cursed in the earth: They turn not into the way of the vineyards.
19 Drought and heat consume the snow waters: `So doth' Sheol `those that' have sinned.
20 The womb shall forget him; The worm shall feed sweetly on him; He shall be no more remembered; And unrighteousness shall be broken as a tree.
21 He devoureth the barren that beareth not, And doeth not good to the widow.
22 Yet `God' preserveth the mighty by his power: He riseth up that hath no assurance of life.
23 `God' giveth them to be in security, and they rest thereon; And his eyes are upon their ways.
24 They are exalted; yet a little while, and they are gone; Yea, they are brought low, they are taken out of the way as all others, And are cut off as the tops of the ears of grain.
25 And if it be not so now, who will prove me a liar, And make my speech nothing worth?
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Job 24
Commentary on Job 24 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 24
Job having by his complaints in the foregoing chapter given vent to his passion, and thereby gained some ease, breaks them off abruptly, and now applies himself to a further discussion of the doctrinal controversy between him and his friends concerning the prosperity of wicked people. That many live at ease who yet are ungodly and profane, and despise all the exercises of devotion, he had shown, ch. 21. Now here he goes further, and shows that many who are mischievous to mankind, and live in open defiance to all the laws of justice and common honesty, yet thrive and succeed in their unrighteous practices; and we do not see them reckoned with in this world. What he had said before (ch. 12:6), "The tabernacles of robbers prosper,' he here enlarges upon. He lays down his general proposition (v. 1), that the punishment of wicked people is not so visible and apparent as his friends supposed, and then proves it by an induction of particulars.
Job 24:1-12
Job's friends had been very positive in it that they should soon see the fall of wicked people, how much soever they might prosper for a while. By no means, says Job; though times are not hidden from the Almighty, yet those that know him do not presently see his day, v. 1.
For the proof of this, that wicked people prosper, Job specifies two sorts of unrighteous ones, whom all the world saw thriving in their iniquity:-
Job 24:13-17
These verses describe another sort of sinners who therefore go unpunished, because they go undiscovered. They rebel against the light, v. 13. Some understand it figuratively: they sin against the light of nature, the light of God's law, and that of their own consciences; they profess to know God, but they rebel against the knowledge they have of him, and will not be guided and governed, commanded and controlled, by it. Others understand it literally: they have the day-light and choose the night as the most advantageous season for their wickedness. Sinful works are therefore called works of darkness, because he that does evil hates the light (Jn. 3:20), knows not the ways thereof, that is, keeps out of the way of it, or, if he happen to be seen, abides not where he thinks he is known. So that he here describes the worst of sinners,-those that sin wilfully, and against the convictions of their own consciences, whereby they add rebellion to their sin,-those that sin deliberately, and with a great deal of plot and contrivance, using a thousand arts to conceal their villanies, fondly imagining that, if they can but hide them from the eye of men, they are safe, but forgetting that there is no darkness or shadow of death in which the workers of iniquity can hide themselves from God's eye, ch. 34:22. In this paragraph Job specifies three sorts of sinners that shun the light:-
Job 24:18-25
Job here, in the conclusion of his discourse,