20 They that come after shall be astonished at his day, as they that went before [them] were affrighted.
The Lord laugheth at him; for he seeth that his day is coming.
Slay all her bullocks; let them go down to the slaughter: woe unto them! for their day is come, the time of their visitation.
[that] the whole ground thereof is brimstone and salt, [and] burning, that it is not sown, nor beareth, and no grass groweth in it, like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboim, which Jehovah overthrew in his anger and in his fury: even all nations shall say, Why has Jehovah done thus to this land? whence the heat of this great anger?
and this house, [which] is high, every one that passes by it shall be astonished at, and shall hiss, and they shall say, Why has Jehovah done thus to this land and to this house?
And when they lifted up their eyes afar off, and knew him not, they lifted up their voice and wept. And they rent every one his mantle, and sprinkled dust upon their heads toward the heavens. And they sat down with him on the ground seven days and seven nights; and none spoke a word to him; for they saw that [his] anguish was very great.
He hath put my brethren far from me, and mine acquaintance are quite estranged from me. My kinsfolk have failed, and my known friends have forgotten me. The sojourners in my house and my maids count me as a stranger; I am an alien in their sight. I called my servant, and he answered not; I entreated him with my mouth. My breath is strange to my wife, and my entreaties to the children of my [mother's] womb. Even young children despise me; I rise up, and they speak against me. All my intimate friends abhor me, and they whom I loved are turned against me.
Remember, O Jehovah, against the sons of Edom, the day of Jerusalem; who said, Lay [it] bare, Lay [it] bare, down to its foundation!
In the day that thou stoodest on the other side, in the day that strangers carried away captive his substance, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem, even thou wast as one of them. But thou shouldest not have looked on the day of thy brother in the day of his disaster; neither shouldest thou have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction; nor have opened wide thy mouth in the day of distress. Thou shouldest not have entered into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity, nor have looked, even thou, on their affliction in the day of their calamity, neither shouldest thou have laid [hands] on their substance in the day of their calamity; and thou shouldest not have stood on the crossway, to cut off those of his that did escape, nor have delivered up those remaining of him in the day of distress. For the day of Jehovah is near upon all the nations: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy recompence shall return upon thine own head.
saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, even at least in this thy day, the things that are for thy peace: but now they are hid from thine eyes;
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Job 18
Commentary on Job 18 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 18
SECOND SERIES.
Job 18:1-21. Reply of Bildad.
2. ye—the other two friends of Job, whom Bildad charges with having spoken mere "words," that is, empty speeches; opposed to "mark," that is, come to reason, consider the question intelligently; and then let us speak.
3. beasts—alluding to what Job said (Job 12:7; so Isa 1:3).
vile—rather from a Hebrew root, "to stop up." "Stubborn," answering to the stupidity implied in the parallel first clause [Umbreit]. Why should we give occasion by your empty speeches for our being mutually reputed, in the sight of Job and one another, as unintelligent? (Job 17:4, 10).
4. Rather, turning to Job, "thou that tearest thyself in anger" (Job 5:2).
be forsaken?—become desolate. He alludes here to Job's words as to the "rock," crumbling away (Job 14:18, 19); but in a different application. He says bitterly "for thee." Wert thou not punished as thou art, and as thou art unwilling to bear, the eternal order of the universe would be disturbed and the earth become desolate through unavenged wickedness [Umbreit]. Bildad takes it for granted Job is a great sinner (Job 8:3-6; Isa 24:5, 6). "Shall that which stands fast as a rock be removed for your special accommodation?"
5. That (Job 18:4) cannot be. The decree of God is unalterable, the light (prosperity) of the wicked shall at length be put out.
his fire—alluding to Arabian hospitality, which prided itself on welcoming the stranger to the fire in the tent, and even lit fires to direct him to it. The ungodly shall be deprived of the means to show hospitality. His dwelling shall be dark and desolate!
6. candle—the lamp which in the East is usually fastened to the ceiling. Oil abounds in those regions, and the lamp was kept burning all night, as now in Egypt, where the poorest would rather dispense with food than the night lamp (Ps 18:28). To put out the lamp was an image of utter desolation.
7. steps of his strength—Hebrew, for "His strong steps." A firm step marks health. To be straitened in steps is to be no longer able to move about at will (Pr 4:12).
his own counsel—Plans shall be the means of his fall (Job 5:13).
8. he walketh upon—rather, "he lets himself go into the net" [Umbreit]. If the English Version be retained, then understand "snare" to be the pitfall, covered over with branches and earth, which when walked upon give way (Ps 9:15; 35:8).
9. robber—rather answering to "gin" in the parallel clause, "the noose shall hold him fast" [Umbreit].
11. Terrors—often mentioned in this book (Job 18:14; 24:17; &c.). The terrors excited through an evil conscience are here personified. "Magor-missabib" (Jer 20:3).
drive … to his feet—rather, "shall pursue" (literally, "scatter," Hab 3:14) him close "at his heels" (literally, "immediately after his feet," Hab 3:5; 1Sa 25:42; Hebrew). The image is that of a pursuing conqueror who scatters the enemy [Umbreit].
12. The Hebrew is brief and bold, "his strength is hungry."
destruction—that is, a great calamity (Pr 1:27).
ready at his side—close at hand to destroy him (Pr 19:29).
13. Umbreit has "he" for "it," that is, "in the rage of hunger he shall devour his own body"; or, "his own children" (La 4:10). Rather, "destruction" from Job 18:12 is nominative to "devour."
strength—rather, "members" (literally, the "branches" of a tree).
the first-born of death—a personification full of poetical horror. The first-born son held the chief place (Ge 49:3); so here the chiefest (most deadly) disease that death has ever engendered (Isa 14:30; "first-born of the poor"—the poorest). The Arabs call fever, "daughter of death."
14. confidence—all that the father trusted in for domestic happiness, children, fortune, &c., referring to Job's losses.
rooted out—suddenly torn away, it shall bring—that is, he shall be brought; or, as Umbreit better has, "Thou (God) shalt bring him slowly." The Hebrew expresses, "to stride slowly and solemnly." The godless has a fearful death for long before his eyes, and is at last taken by it. Alluding to Job's case. The King of terrors, not like the heathen Pluto, the tabled ruler of the dead, but Death, with all its terrors to the ungodly, personified.
15. It—"Terror" shall haunt, &c., and not as Umbreit, "another," which the last clause of the verse disproves.
none of his—It is his no longer.
brimstone—probably comparing the calamity of Job by the "fire of God" (Job 1:16) to the destruction of guilty Sodom by fire and brimstone (Ge 19:24).
16. Roots—himself.
branch—his children (Job 8:12; 15:30; Mal 4:1).
17. street—Men shall not speak of him in meeting in the highways; rather, "in the field" or "meadow"; the shepherds shall no more mention his name—a picture from nomadic life [Umbreit].
18. light … darkness—existence—nonexistence.
19. nephew—(so Isa 14:22). But it is translated "grandson" (Ge 21:23); translate "kinsman."
20. after … before—rather, "those in the West—those in the East"; that is, all people; literally, "those behind—those before"; for Orientals in geography turn with their faces to the east (not to the north as we), and back to the west; so that before—east; behind—north (so Zec 14:8).
day—of ruin (Ob 12).
affrighted—seized with terror (Job 21:6; Isa 13:8).
21. (Job 8:22, Margin).