Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Job 15:31
Let not him that is deceived trust in vanity: for vanity shall be his recompense.
31. The verse reads,
Let him not trust in vanity: he is deceived:
For vanity shall be his recompence.
Similarly, “they that plow iniquity reap the same,” ch. Job 4:8; Job 5:13. Eliphaz returns as in other passages to his former speech. “Vanity” or evil means both wickedness (first clause) and calamity or trouble (second clause). The word “recompence” means exchange, that received in barter or return.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Let not him that is deceived trust in vanity – The sense is, Let him not trust in vanity. He will be deceived. Vanity will be his recompense. The idea is, that a man should not confide in that which will furnish no support. He should not rely on his wealth and rank; his houses and lands; his servants, his armies, or his power, if he is wicked, for all this is vain. He needs some better reliance, and that can be found only in a righteous life. The word vanity here means that which is unsubstantial; which cannot uphold or sustain; which will certainly give way.
For vanity will be his recompense – He will find only vanity. He will be stripped of all his honors and possessions.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 31. Let not him that is deceived]
7. He has many vain imaginations of obtaining wealth, power, pleasure, and happiness; but he is deceived; and he finds that he has trusted bashshav, in a lie; and this lie is his recompense.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
In vanity, i.e. in the vain and deceitful things of this world, such as power, riches, honour, &c., of which, and of the loss of them, he had been largely discoursing; and now he subjoins a general caution to all men to take heed of running into the same error and mischief with the forementioned persons; and withal he secretly intimates Jobs great sin, which was the cause of his ruin, to wit, his carnal confidence in those vain things, the wealth, and glory, and children which God had given him; from which crime he therefore vindicates himself hereafter. For vanity, i.e. disappointment and dissatisfaction, and the vanishing or loss of all their imaginary felicity; the same word vanity being elegantly repeated in another sense, as is usual in Scripture and all authors.
His recompence, Heb. his exchange; he shall exchange one vanity for another, a pleasing vanity for a vexatious vanity. But this verse is and may be rendered otherwise; the Hebrew particle al being here, as it is elsewhere, taken for a simple negation. Thus, He that is deceived with vanity, (i.e. with the vain things of this world, wherewith most men are deceived and bewitched,) will not believe that vanity (i.e. emptiness, and disappointment, and misery) shall be his recompence. And so this is an aggravation of his calamity, that it surprised him when he was confident and secure from all fears of such an event.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
31. Rather, “let him nottrust in vanity or he will be deceived,” c.
vanitythat which isunsubstantial. Sin is its own punishment (Pro 1:31Jer 2:19).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Let not him that is deceived trust in vanity,…. Every wicked man is deceived, either by Satan, who deceives the whole world, deceived our first parents, and deceives all their posterity, not only profane sinners, but many professors of religion also; or by their own hearts, which are deceitful and desperately wicked; or through the deceitfulness of sin, which promises profit, pleasure, and liberty, and issues in ruin, pain, and bondage; and through the deceitfulness of riches, which promise that satisfaction they do not give: and such as are deceived in this manner are prone to trust in vanity; in men, who in every state, high or low, are altogether vanity; and in creature enjoyments, in outward riches and wealth, which are all vanity and vexation of spirit; and in their own hearts, and the vanity of their minds, which to do is extreme folly; and in their righteousness and external privileges, which will be of no service to them, as to their acceptance with God, and eternal happiness; and therefore trust in whatsoever is vain and empty, and affords no solid satisfaction, real pleasure, and advantage, is here dehorted from; unless the words will be allowed to be justly rendered, as I think they may, “trust not in him that is deceived by vanity” e; by any of the above vain things, since he must himself be a vain man, and therefore not to be confided in; to which sense the Targum inclines;
“he will not (or should not) believe in a son of man (or in a man), who errs through falsehood;”
the reason dissuading from it follows:
for vanity shall be his recompence; all that a man gets by trusting in vanity, or by trusting in a man deceived, is nothing but emptiness and vanity; he gets nothing solid and substantial, that will be of any advantage to him here or hereafter; and yet this he will not easily believe; and so Beza reads the words, “he that is deceived by vanity will not believe that vanity shall be his recompence”.
e “per vanitatem deceptus”, Beza; so Tigurine version.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
31 Let him not trust in evil-he is deceived,
For evil shall be his possession.
32 His day is not yet, then it is accomplished,
And his palm-branch loseth its freshness.
33 He teareth off as a vine his young grapes,
And He casteth down as an olive-tree his flower.
34 The company of the hypocrite is rigid,
And fire consumeth the tents of bribery.
35 They conceive sorrow and bring forth iniquity,
And their inward part worketh self-deceit.
does not merely introduce a declaration respecting the future (Luther: he will not continue, which moreover must have been expressed by the Niph.), but is admonitory: may he only not trust in vanity ( Munach here instead of Dech, according to the rule of transformation, Psalter, ii. 504, 4) – he falls, so far as he does it, into error, or brings himself into error ( , 3 praet., not part., and Niph. like Isa 19:14, where it signifies to be thrust backwards and forwards, or to reel about helplessly), – a thought one might expect after the admonition (Olsh. conjectures , one who is detestable): this trusting in evil is self-delusion, for evil becomes his exchange ( not compensatio , but permutatio, acquisitio ). We have translated by “evil” ( Unheil), by which we have sought elsewhere to render , in order that we might preserve the same word in both members of the verse. In Job 15:31, (in form = from , in the Chethib , the Aleph being cast away, like the Arabic su’ , wickedness, form the v. cavum hamzatum s-‘a = sawu’a) is waste and empty in mind, in Job 15:31 (comp. Hos 12:12) waste and empty in fortune; or, to go further from the primary root, in the former case apparent goodness, in the latter apparent prosperity – delusion, and being undeceived “evil” in the sense of wickedness, and of calamity. , which follows, refers to the exchange, or neutrally to the evil that is exchanged: the one or the other fulfils itself, i.e., either: is realized (passive of , 1Ki 8:15), or: becomes complete, which means the measure of the punishment of his immorality becomes full, before his natural day, i.e., the day of death, is come (comp. for expression, Job 22:16; Ecc 7:17). The translation: then it is over with him (Ges., Schlottm., and others), is contrary to the usage of the language; and that given by the Jewish expositors, = ( abscinditur or conteritur ), is a needlessly bold suggestion. – Job 15:32. It is to be observed that is Milel, and consequently 3 praet., not as in Son 1:16 Milra, and consequently adj. is not the branches generally (Luzzatto, with Raschi: branchage ), but, as the proverbial expression for the high and low, Isa 9:13; Isa 19:15 (vid., Dietrich, Abhandlung zur hebr. Gramm. S. 209), shows, the palm-branch bent downwards (comp. Targ. Est 1:5, where signifies seats and walks covered with foliage). “His palm-branch does not become green, or does not remain green” (which Symm. well renders: ), means that as he himself, the palm-trunk, so also his family, withers away. In Job 15:33 it is represented as (= ), wild grapes, or even unripe grapes of a vine, and as , flowers of an olive.
(Note: In order to appreciate the point of the comparison, it is needful to know that the Syrian olive-tree bears fruit plentifully the first, third, and fifth years, but rests during the second, fourth, and sixth. It blossoms in these years also, but the blossoms fall off almost entirely without any berries being formed. The harvest of the olive is therefore in such years very scanty. With respect to the vine, every year an enormous quantity of grapes are used up before they are ripe. When the berries are only about the size of a pea, the acid from them is used in housekeeping, to prepare almost every kind of food. The people are exceedingly fond of things sour, a taste which is caused by the heat of the climate. During the months of June, July, and August, above six hundred horses and asses laden with unripe grapes come daily to the market in Damascus alone, and during this season no one uses vinegar; hence the word signifies in Syriac the acid (vinegar) . In Arabic the unripe grapes are exclusively called hhossrum (Arab. htsrm), or, with a dialectic distinction, hissrim. – Wetzst.)
In Job 15:32 the godless man himself might be the subject: he casts down, like an olive-tree, his flowers, but in Job 15:32 this is inadmissible; if we interpret: ”he shakes off (Targ. , excutiet ), like a vine-stock, his young grapes,” this (apart from the far-fetched meaning in ) is a figure that is untrue to nature, since the grapes sit firmer the more unripe they are; and if one takes the first meaning of , “he acts unjustly, as a vine, to his omphax ” (e.g., Hupf.), whether it means that he does not let it ripen, or that he does not share with it any of the sweet sap, one has not only an indistinct figure, but also (since what God ordains for the godless is described as in operation) an awkward comparison. The subject of both verbs is therefore other than the vine and olive themselves. But why only an impersonal “one”? In Job 15:30 was referred to God, who is not expressly mentioned. God is also the subject here, and , which signifies to act with violence to one’s self, is modified here to the sense of tearing away, as Lam 2:6 (which Aben-Ezra has compared), of tearing out; , , prop. as a vine-stock, as an olive-tree, is equivalent to even as such an one.
Job 15:34 declares the lot of the family of the ungodly, which has been thus figuratively described, without figure: the congregation (i.e., here: family-circle) of the ungodly ( according to its etymon inclinans, propensus ad malum , vid., on Job 13:16) is (as it is expressed from the standpoint of the judgment that is executed) , a hard, lifeless, stony mass (in the substantival sense of the Arabic galmud instead of the adject. , Isa 49:21), i.e., stark dead (lxx ; Aq., Symm., Theod., ), and fire has devoured the tents of bribery (after Ralbag: those built by bribery; or even after the lxx: ). The ejaculatory conclusion, Job 15:35, gives the briefest expression to that which has been already described. The figurative language, Job 15:35, is like Psa 7:15; Isa 59:4 (comp. supra, p. 257); in the latter passage similar vividly descriptive infinitives are found (Ges. 131, 4, b). They hatch the burdens or sorrow of others, and what comes from it is evil for themselves. What therefore their , i.e., their inward part, with the intermingled feelings, thoughts, and strugglings (Olympiodorus: ), prepares or accomplishes ( similar to Job 27:17; Job 38:41), that on which it works, is , deceit, with which they deceive others, and before all, themselves (New Test. ).
With the speech of Eliphaz, the eldest among the friends, who gives a tone to their speeches, the controversy enters upon a second stage. In his last speech Job has turned from the friends and called upon them to be silent; he turned to God, and therein a sure confidence, but at the same time a challenging tone of irreverent defiance, is manifested. God does not enter into the controversy which Job desires; and the consequence is, that that flickering confidence is again extinguished, and the tone of defiance is changed into despair and complaint. Instead of listening to the voice of God, Job is obliged to content himself again with that of the friends, for they believe the continuance of the contest to be just as binding upon them as upon Job. They cannot consider themselves overcome, for their dogma has grown up in such inseparable connection with their idea of God, and therefore is so much raised above human contradiction, that nothing but a divine fact can break through it. And they are too closely connected with Job by their friendship to leave him to himself as a heretic; they regard Job as one who is self-deluded, and have really the good intention of converting their friend.
Eliphaz’ speech, however, also shows that they become still more and more incapable of producing a salutary impression on Job. For, on the one hand, in this second stage of the controversy also they turn about everywhere only in the circle of their old syllogism: suffering is the punishment of sin, Job suffers, therefore he is a sinner who has to make atonement for his sin; on the other hand, instead of being disconcerted by an unconditioned acceptation of this maxim, they are strengthened in it. For while at the beginning the conclusio was urged upon them only by premises raised above any proof, so that they take for granted sins of Job which were not otherwise known to them; now, as they think, Job has himself furnished them with proof that he is a sinner who has merited such severe suffering. For whoever can speak so thoughtlessly and passionately, so vexatiously and irreverently, as Job has done, is, in their opinion, his own accuser and judge. It remains unperceived by them that Job’s mind has lost its balance by reason of the fierceness of his temptation, and that in it nature and grace have fallen into a wild, confused conflict. In those speeches they see the true state of Job’s spirit revealed. What, before his affliction, was the determining principle of his inner life, seems to them now to be brought to light in the words of the sufferer. Job is a godless one; and if he does affirm his innocence so solemnly and strongly, and challenges the decision of God, this assurance is only hypocritical, and put on against his better knowledge and conscience, in order to disconcert his accusers, and to evade their admonitions to repentance. It is , a mere stratagem, like that of one who is guilty, who thinks he can overthrow the accusations brought against him by assuming the bold bearing of the accuser. Seb. Schmid counts up quinque vitia , with which Eliphaz in the introduction to his speech (Job 15:1-13) reproaches Job: vexatious impious words, a crafty perversion of the matter, blind assumption of wisdom, contempt of the divine word, and defiance against God. Of these reproaches the first and last are well-grounded; Job does really sin in his language and attitude towards God. With respect to the reproach of assumed wisdom, Eliphaz pays Job in the same coin; and when he reproaches Job with despising the divine consolations and gentle admonitions they have addressed to him, we must not blame the friends, since their intention is good. If, however, Eliphaz reproaches Job with calculating craftiness, and thus regards his affirmation of his innocence as a mere artifice, the charge cannot be more unjust, and must certainly produce the extremest alienation between them. It is indeed hard that Eliphaz regards the testimony of Job’s conscience as self-delusion; he goes still further, and pronounces it a fine-spun lie, and denies not only its objective but also its subjective truth. Thus the breach between Job and the friends widens, the entanglement of the controversy becomes more complicated, and the poet allows the solution of the enigma to ripen, by its becoming increasingly enigmatical and entangled.
In this second round of the friends’ speeches we meet with no new thoughts whatever; only “in the second circle of the dispute everything is more fiery than in the first” (Oetinger): the only new thing is the harsher and more decided tone of their maintenance of the doctrine of punishment, with which they confront Job. They cannot go beyond the narrow limits of their dogma of retribution, and confine themselves now to even the half of that narrowness; for since Job contemns the consolations of God with which they have hitherto closed their speeches, they now exclusively bring forward the terrible and gloomy phase of their dogma in opposition to him. After Eliphaz has again given prominence to the universal sinfulness of mankind, which Job does not at all deny, he sketches from his own experience and the tradition of his ancestors, which demands respect by reason of their freedom from all foreign influence, with brilliant lines, a picture of the evil-doer, who, being tortured by the horrors of an evil conscience, is overwhelmed by the wrath of God in the midst of his prosperity; and his possessions, children, and whole household are involved in his ruin. The picture is so drawn, that in it, as in a mirror, Job shall behold himself and his fate, both what he has already endured and what yet awaits him. is the final word of the admonitory conclusion of his speech: Job is to know that that which satisfies his inward nature is a fearful lie.
But what Job affirms of himself as the righteous one, is not . He knows that he is (Job 14:4), but he also knows that he is as (Job 12:4). He is conscious of the righteousness of his endeavour, which rests on the groundwork of a mind turned to the God of salvation, therefore a believing mind, – a righteousness which is also accepted of God. The friends know nothing whatever of this righteousness which is available before God. Fateor quidem , says Calvin in his Institutiones , iii. 12, in libro Iob mentionem fieri justitiae, quae excelsior est observatione legis; et hanc distinctionem tenere operae pretium est, quia etiamsi quis legi satisfaceret, ne sic quidem staret ad examen illius justitiae, quae sensus omnes exsuperat. Mercier rightly observes: Eliphas perstringit hominis naturam, quae tamen per fidem pura redditur. In man Eliphaz sees only the life of nature and not the life of grace, which, because it is the word of God, makes man irreproachable before God. He sees in Job only the rough shell, and not the kernel; only the hard shell, and not the pearl. We know, however, from the prologue, that Jehovah acknowledged Job as His servant when he decreed suffering for him; and this sufferer, whom the friends regard as one smitten of God, is and remains, as this truly evangelical book will show to us, the servant of Jehovah.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
(31) Let not him that is deceived trust in vanity.Or, Let him not trust in vanity deceiving himself. (Comp. Jas. 1:26; 1Sa. 12:21.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Third strophe The evil in which they trusted is its own recompense: its chief characteristic vanity, , ( nothingness, abortion,) is the blossom and fruit of their whole being, Job 15:31-35.
The conclusion which Eliphaz means Job should draw is all the godless are miserable, therefore the most miserable (Job) are the most godless.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
31. Let him not trust in evil; he is deceived, for evil shall be his reward. ( Conant and most moderns.)
Recompense Literally, exchange. The word translated vanity signifies also evil, or sin and destruction. For sin the wicked man gets destruction. Let him not be deceived, for this is the exchange he makes. Gal 6:7.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Job 15:31. Let not him that is deceived trust in vanity Let him not trust in prosperity; it is a mere illusion; for it will turn out nothing but vanity: Heath: who renders the next verse, For his branch shall not flourish; it shall be cut off before its time.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
DISCOURSE: 466
THE FOLLY OF TRUSTING IS VANITY
Job 15:31. Let not him that is deceived trust in vanity: for vanity shall be his recompence.
THE friends of Job were enlightened and pious men; but they altogether mistook the character of Job, and misinterpreted the dispensations of God towards him. They had assumed a principle which they carried too far: they laid it down as an invariable rule, that hypocrites would be visited with some peculiar judgments, and that extraordinary afflictions were in themselves a proof of some extraordinary wickedness which had procured them. But though they were mistaken in this, their observations are frequently most weighty and important. The words in our text are a kind of general truth, founded upon what Eliphaz had spoken in reference to Job. As applied to Job, it was not by any means pertinent: but as an abstract truth, it is deserving of our deepest attention. Let us consider,
I.
The caution
Men are universally deceived through the influence of a corrupt heart, a tempting world, and a subtle adversary. And that deception shews itself, as in other things, so particularly in the trust which they place in lying vanities. They trust,
1.
In vain conceits
[Men conceive themselves to be possessed of wisdom, goodness, strength, in such a degree at least as to warrant their expectation of happiness in a future world. Tell them from God, that they are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked, and they will deny your positions as false, and ridicule them as enthusiastic. They have no idea that they need the influences of the Holy Ghost to enlighten their minds, or the blood of Christ to atone for their sins, or the grace of Christ to renovate their hearts.
But let them examine their boasted attainments, and see whether they amount to any thing more than vanity. Let them see whether their wisdom has made them like-minded with God: let them bring their goodness to the touchstone of Gods law: let them try their strength in any act of spiritual obedience: let them see if they can love God with all their heart and mind and soul and strength: and they must soon be convinced, that they are trusting to a mere vanity.]
2.
In vain possessions
[If a man possess much of this worlds goods he presently trusts in it for happiness [Note: 1Ti 6:17.]: his wealth is his strong city [Note: Pro 10:15.]; and he says to gold, Thou art my confidence [Note: Job 31:24.].
But is not wealth also vanity? What can it do to assuage our anguish? or what stability is there in the possession of it? Do not riches often make themselves wings, and fly away? Or, when we are saying, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine case, eat, drink, and be merry; may not God reply, Thou fool! this night shall thy soul be required of thee?
Let it not be said, that men do not trust in riches; for the reverse is manifest beyond the possibility of contradiction, seeing that the acquisition of wealth is regarded as the chief step towards happiness; and men bestow ten-fold more pains in the attainment of it, than they do in the pursuit of heaven.]
3.
In vain hopes
[Every one hopes that he shall be happy when he dies. But, if we ask men a reason of the hope that is in them, they can make no reply that will at all justify their expectations. They will say, that they live as well as others, and that God is too merciful to condemn them: but as for any Scriptural reason, they can assign none.
What a vanity then is this! If a man were hoping for a harvest while he neglected to use the proper means to obtain one, would not his folly be manifest to all? Wherefore then will men dream of going to heaven when they die, not only without having one word in all the inspired volume to warrant such a hope, but in direct opposition to the plainest declarations of God concerning them? Is not this a strange infatuation, a fatal delusion?]
4.
In vain purposes
[There is no one so hardened, but he intends at some future period to repent. All who have ever reflected on the value of their souls, or the importance of eternity, must have purposed in their minds that they would prepare to meet their God. But in this state they continue without carrying their purposes into execution. The young confess the necessity of repentance, and declare their intention to seek it: but they arrive at manhood, and repentance is unattained: they proceed to a more advanced period of life, and even to old age, and it still is as far from them as ever. Thus they live, always purposing, but never accomplishing their purpose, till the time for working is for ever past.
Can there be a greater vanity than this? And does not the trusting in such a vanity prove a man deceived?]
That we may not ourselves be guilty of this folly, let us consider,
II.
The reason with which the caution is enforced
God has wisely ordained that men should reap according to what they sow [Note: Gal 6:7-8. Pro 4:8.]. And it will surely be found, sooner or later, that they who trust in vanity, shall have vanity for their recompence: they shall reap,
1.
Disappointment
[God alone is the proper object of our trust and confidence, because he alone can support us, and make us happy. If we have looked to sin for happiness, we will venture to ask, with the Apostle, What fruit have we now of those things whereof we are ashamed? If we have sought happiness in things lawful, still we must confess, that the creature, however excellent in itself, is but a broken cistern that can hold no water, and that must consequently fail us when we most need its support. We may fitly compare those who expect solid satisfaction in the creature, to a man almost famished, who dreams that he is eating and drinking, but awakes afterwards as empty and unsatisfied as before [Note: Isa 29:8.]. Truly, he fills his belly with the east wind [Note: ver. 2.]: and his fairest prospects shall be as the unripe grape shaken off from the vine, or the blossom cast off from the olive [Note: ver. 33,].]
2.
Vexation
[Solomon has observed respecting all the choicest things under the sun, that they are vanity and vexation of spirit: and the experience of all attests the truth of his observation. The more we trust in the creature, the more pain, generally speaking, it will occasion us: it will not only be a broken staff that refuses to support us, but a sharp reed that will pierce through the hand that leans upon it [Note: 2Ki 18:21.]. When Ahaz relied upon the Assyrian monarch to extricate him from his troubles, he found nothing but additional vexation: Tiglathpilneser distressed him, but helped him not [Note: 2Ch 28:16; 2Ch 28:20.]. Thus it will be with all who trust in vanities of any kind, or seek for happiness in any thing but God. They may not yet have reached the crisis of their fate; but vanity and vexation are inseparable, both in this world and in the world to come. They may think that they have a feast to come; but while dreaming of something pleasing to their palate, they will find that they are feeding on ashes, and a deceived heart hath turned them aside [Note: Isa 44:20. See also Ecc 5:16-17.].]
3.
Ruin
[We well know how the tasting of the forbidden fruit, which promised such gratification and benefit to our first parents, terminated, and what misery it brought on them and their posterity: and the same recompence awaits us also, if we trust in lying vanities, instead of depending wholly on our God. Hear what God himself says respecting this: Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and that maketh flesh his arm, and whose hope departeth from the Lord [Note: Jer 17:5.]. How should we tremble at such a denunciation as this! O let it have a becoming influence on our minds; and stimulate us to seek our happiness where alone it can be found.]
We conclude with observing,
1.
How necessary is it to mark the state and habit of our minds!
[If it were said that gross sin should issue in misery, we should not be surprised: but we are told that the mere trusting in vanity, independent of any gross sins which may flow from it, will have vanity for its recompence. Let us look then not to our actions only, but to the state and habit of our minds; since our happiness both in time and in eternity depends no less on the latter than on the former. Let us not be satisfied that we are free from any flagrant transgressions, while we are relying on any thing besides God. Let us observe whether we practically feel the emptiness of all created things, and their utter insufficiency to make us happy either here or hereafter. And let us be going forth to God in the constant exercise of prayer, and commit our souls to him in well-doing, as into the hands of a faithful Creator.]
2.
How thankful should we be, that there is an all-sufficient Friend in whom we may trust!
[God in Christ is the only legitimate object of our hope and confidence. We are told, under the figure of Eliakim, that Christ has the key of David; that he openeth and no man shutteth, and shutteth and no man openeth; and that on him must hang all the glory of his Fathers house [Note: Isa 22:20-24.]. Every vessel in the Lords house, whether great or small, must hang on him; and every care must be devolved on him. In him there is a fulness of all that we can want. In him is wisdom for the blind, righteousness for the guilty, sanctification for the polluted, and redemption for the enslaved: and all this he will become to those who trust in him [Note: 1Co 1:30.]. Be thankful then, Brethren, for such a friend, and for the command given you by God, Trust in him at all times, ye people. Rejoice that he can bear your every burthen, and supply your every want; and that, as a trust in vanity will have vanity for its recompence, so a confidence in Jesus will have a great, substantial, everlasting recompence of reward [Note: Heb 10:35.].]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
Job 15:31 Let not him that is deceived trust in vanity: for vanity shall be his recompence.
Ver. 31. Let not him that is deceived trust in vanity ] Let it suffice him that he hath been once already deceived by the uncertainty of riches, which were never true to those which trusted them, nor ever will be, 1Ti 6:17 . As Charondas was wont to say of going to sea, and another of going to law, That he wondered not at those that go once, but at those who go a second time. So may we at those that having found the deceitfulness of sin, and the instability of creature comforts, that they should again be drawn in and deceived. This folly Eliphaz here forewarneth Job of, and would not have him twice stumble at the same stone, but deliver his soul, if ever God should restore him again, and say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?” Why feed I upon ashes? &c., Isa 44:20 .
For vanity shall be his recompense
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
not him: Job 12:16, Isa 44:20, Gal 6:3, Gal 6:7, Eph 5:6
trust: Psa 62:10, Isa 59:4, Jon 2:8
for vanity: Job 4:8, Pro 22:8, Isa 17:10, Isa 17:11, Hos 8:7, Gal 6:8
Reciprocal: Job 22:5 – not thy Job 34:33 – he will
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Job 15:31. Let not him that is deceived trust in vanity That is, in the vain and deceitful things of this world, such as power, riches, honour, &c., of which, and of the loss of them, he had been discoursing largely; and now he subjoins a general caution to all men to take heed of running into the same error and mischief with the fore-mentioned persons: and, withal, he secretly intimates what, he judged, had been Jobs great sin, and the cause of his ruin, namely, his carnal confidence in those vain things, his wealth and glory, and the children which God had given him: from which crime Job, therefore, vindicates himself hereafter. For vanity Disappointment, dissatisfaction, and the loss of all his imaginary felicity; the same word vanity being elegantly repeated in another sense, as is usual in the Scripture, and all authors. Shall be his recompense Hebrew, , temuratho, permutatio vel commutatio ejus; his exchange, Lev 27:33; he shall exchange one vanity for another, a pleasing vanity for a vexatious vanity. This verse however may be rendered otherwise, thus: He that is deceived with vanity (that is, with the vain things of this world, wherewith most men are deceived and bewitched) will not believe that vanity (namely, emptiness, disappointment, and misery) shall be his recompense. And thus this is an aggravation of his calamity, that it surprised him when he was confident, and secure from all fears of such an event.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
15:31 Let not him that is {t} deceived trust in vanity: for vanity shall be his recompence.
(t) He stands in his own conceit, that he will give no place to good counsel, therefore his own pride will bring him to destruction.