Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Job 15:22

He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness, and he is waited for of the sword.

22. return out of darkness ] “Darkness” is calamity, and the words mean that the wicked man anticipates a calamity which shall be final, and from which, when it befals him, there shall be no escape.

he is waited for of the sword ] So he feels in regard to himself; he is marked out for the sword, i. e., the hostile sword or the avenging sword of God, ch. Job 19:29; Isa 31:8.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness – Darkness is used in the Bible, as elsewhere, to denote calamity; and the meaning here is, that the wicked man has not confidence ( lo’ ya’amyn), that he shall return safely from impending danger. He is in constant dread of assassination, or of some fearful evil. He is never secure; his mind is never calm; he lives in constant dread. This is still an accurate description of a man with a guilty conscience; for such a man lives in constant fear, and never feels any security that he is safe.

And he is waited for of the sword – That is, he is destined for the sword. Gesenius.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Verse 22. That he shall return out of darkness] If he take but a few steps in the dark, he expects the dagger of the assassin. This appears to be the only meaning of the place. Some think the passage should be understood to signify that he has no hope of a resurrection; he can never escape from the tomb. This I doubt: in the days of the writer of this book, the doctrine of a future judgment was understood in every part of the East where the knowledge of the true God was diffused.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

i.e. When he falls into trouble, he despairs of Gods mercy, and of deliverance, by reason of his guilty conscience; which he speaks with particular reflection upon Job, who would receive no comfort nor matter of hope.

He is waited for of the sword, i.e. besides the calamity which is upon him, he is in constant expectation of further and greater miseries; for the sword is oft used for any grievous affliction, as Luk 2:35.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

22. darknessnamely, danger orcalamity. Glancing at Job, who despaired of restoration: in contrastto good men when in darkness (Mic 7:8;Mic 7:9).

waited for ofthat is,He is destined for the sword [GESENIUS].Rather (in the night of danger), “he looks anxiously towardsthe sword,” as if every sword was drawn against him [UMBREIT].

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness,…. When he lies down at night he despairs of ever seeing the light of the morning, through fear of an enemy, a robber, a murderer, or of one disaster or another, De 28:66; or when he is in any affliction and calamity, which is often signified by darkness, he cannot persuade himself that he shall ever be delivered out of it, and restored to his former condition again: and here Eliphaz seems to glance at Job, who had no hope of his being brought into such a state of prosperity he had been in; whereas good men, when in darkness, believe they shall be brought again to the light, as the church in Mic 7:8; or the infidel, who knows he must be laid in the dark and silent grave; the Heathen man, such as were many of the neighbours of Eliphaz, the Idumeans, among whom he dwelt, who were without the hope of a glorious resurrection; and which is an article of pure revelation, and which the idolatrous Heathen were strangers to, and so believed it not, or any deliverance from the grave; or this may respect the blackness of darkness, the outer darkness, the darkness of hell, which when once a wicked man is cast into, and enveloped with, he despairs, as he well may, of ever being delivered out of it:

and he is waited for of the sword; or by them that kill with the sword, as the Targum, who lie in wait for him, to rob him, and kill him; or in his own apprehension he seems to have nothing but drawn swords about him, or a sword hanging over his head, or the judgments of God ready to fall upon him for his sins; for he, having killed others with the sword, must expect to be killed with it himself.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

22. Darkness Destruction is represented by the figure of night.

The sword Metaphorical for the wrath of God. The same poet ( ibid.) speaks of the naked sword suspended over the impious neck of the tyrant.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Job 15:22. He is waited for He is marked out for, destined to. Heath.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Job 15:22 He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness, and he is waited for of the sword.

Ver. 22. He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness ] He despondeth and despaireth of a better condition, sighing out that doleful ditty, Spes et fortuna valete; Farewell hope and fortune, he looks for no further light and delight of former comforts; he knows that they that go down into the dark pit cannot hope for God’s truth, Isa 38:18 ; there being left them neither hope of better nor place of worse. Desperat qui summus est diffidentiae gradus (Jun.).

And he is waited for of the sword ] Or, looked upon by the sword, which waiteth, as it were, an opportunity to slay him. Circumspectans undique gladium, so the Vulgate; he looketh this way and that way, as fearing the murderer; his guilt representing to him on all sides nothing but naked swords; he believeth that they will assassinate him in his bed. This was the case of Saul, who suspected his best servants; of Dionysius the tyrant, who durst not trust his own daughter with his throat; of Alexander Pheraeus, who would not go to bed to his wife Thebe, whom he loved, till he had first searched the room and her pocket for edge-tools (Cicero. Offic. lib. 2); of Richard III, who, after the death of his two innocent nephews, had fearful dreams and apprehensions, insomuch that he did often leap out of his bed in the dark, and catching his sword (which, always naked, stuck by his side), he did go distractedly about the chamber, everywhere seeking to find out the cause of his own occasioned disquiet, saith the chronologer (Dan. Hist. 249). Tiberius felt the remorse of conscience so violently, that he protested to the Senate that he suffered death daily through fear of death; whereupon the historian maketh this profitable observation, Tandem facinora et flagitia in supplicium vertuntur, Heinous sins will at length have heavy punishments (Tacit.).

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

waited for of the sword = destined to the power of the sword.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

He believeth not: Job 6:11, Job 9:16, 2Ki 6:33, Isa 8:21, Isa 8:22, Mat 27:5

and he is: Job 20:24, Job 20:25

Reciprocal: Gen 4:13 – General Gen 50:15 – Joseph Lev 26:36 – I will send Jdg 7:21 – all the host 1Sa 25:37 – his heart 1Ki 1:41 – Wherefore 1Ki 1:52 – wickedness Est 7:6 – was afraid Job 15:30 – depart Job 23:17 – the darkness from Psa 107:14 – brought Isa 33:14 – sinners

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

15:22 He believeth not that he shall return out of {n} darkness, and he is waited for of the sword.

(n) Out of that misery to which he once fell.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes