Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Job 15:28

And he dwelleth in desolate cities, [and] in houses which no man inhabiteth, which are ready to become heaps.

28. and he dwelleth ] and he dwelt.

which no man inhabiteth ] which should not be inhabited.

are ready to become ] which were destined to be heaps. The idea seems to be that the wicked man settled in and rebuilt places that were under the curse of God, and destined by Him for perpetual desolation. Such places in the East are those on which God’s judgment has fallen because of some great wickedness perpetrated there. To settle in and rebuild such ruins indicates the extreme of impiety, cf. Deu 13:13 seq.; Jos 6:26; 1Ki 16:34.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

And he dwelleth – Or rather, therefore he shall dwell. As a consequence of his opposing God, and devoting himself to a life of sensuality and ease, he shall dwell in a desolate place. Instead of living in affluence and in a splendid city, he shall be compelled to take up his abode in places that have been deserted and abandoned. Such places – like Petra or Babylon now – became the temporary lodgings of caravans and travelers, or the abodes of outcasts and robbers. The meaning here is, that the proud and wicked man shall be ejected from his palace, and compelled to seek a refuge far away from the usual haunts of men.

Which are ready to become heaps – Which are just ready to tumble into ruin.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Verse 28. He dwelleth in desolate cities] It is sometimes the fate of a tyrant to be obliged to take up his habitation in some of those cities which have been ruined by his wars, and in a house so ruinous as to be ready to fall into heaps. Ancient and modern history afford abundance of examples to illustrate this.

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

He dwelleth in desolate cities: these words may note either,

1. His tyranny and cruelty, whereby he makes the places of his abode and dominion desolate by his frequent murders, spoils, and oppressions, wherewith he destroyeth great numbers of his people, and forceth others to flee out of his reach. Or,

2. His pride, and power, and wealth; which enabled and engaged him to build desolate houses and cities for his own glory, and safety, and conveniency; of which See Poole “Job 3:14“. Or,

3. His punishment and misery; that for his impiety towards God, and oppression of men, he was driven out of his dominions and possessions, and forced to flee into desolate places for safety and a habitation. This seems best to agree with the Hebrew words, which run thus, But (for so the particle and is commonly used, as hath been oft said) he shall dwell, &c. And so this is fitly opposed to this last-mentioned prosperity, and is the beginning of the description of his misery, which is continued in the following verses.

Which are ready to become heaps; which were ready to fall, and to be turned into a heap of stones.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

28. The class of wicked heredescribed is that of robbers who plunder “cities,” andseize on the houses of the banished citizens (Isa13:20). Eliphaz chooses this class because Job had chosen thesame (Job 12:6).

heapsof ruins.

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

And he dwelleth in desolate cities,…. This is either a continuation of the account of the wicked man’s prosperity, which makes him haughty; such is his might and power, that he destroys cities and palaces, built and enjoyed by others, and then out of the ruins of them builds greater cities and more noble palaces, to perpetuate his name to posterity; which sense agrees with Job 3:14; and with the Targum,

“and he makes tabernacles in desert cities, that he may dwelt in houses which were not inhabited;”

and so Ben Gersom: and hence because of his success among men, and the grandeur he lives in, his heart is lifted up, and his hand is stretched out against God; or else this may express the sinful course of life such a man lives, who chooses to dwell in desolate places, and deserts, to do harm to others, to seize upon travellers as they pass by, and rob and plunder them of their substance, sitting and waiting for them in such places, as the Arabians in the wilderness, Jer 3:2; which is the sense of some, as Aben Ezra observes; or rather this points at the punishment of the wicked man, who though for the present may be in great prosperity, possessed of large cities and stately palaces, “yet” or “but” a, for so the particle may be rendered, “he dwelleth in desolate cities”; in such as shall become desolate, being destroyed by a superior enemy, that shall come upon him; or through his subjects forsaking him, not being able to bear his tyranny and cruelty; or he shall be driven from his dominions by them, and be obliged to fly, and dwell in desert places; or he shall choose to dwell there, through the horrors of a guilty conscience; or, best of all, he shall be reduced to such distress and poverty, that he shall not have a house fit to dwell in; but “shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land, and not inhabited”, Jer 17:6; as follows:

[and] in houses which no man inhabiteth, which are ready to become heaps; such as have been deserted by their former inhabitants, because come to decay, and ready to fall down upon them, and become heaps of stones and rubbish.

a So the Annotator of the Assembly of Divines.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

(28) Which are ready to become heaps.This completes the description of the haughty tyrant. He dwelt in cities that are to be desolate, or that are desolate, which are ready to become heaps. This may point either to what they were in his intention, or to what he had made them, or to what, in the opinion of the speaker, they were likely to become, notwithstanding his having fortified and dwelt in them.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

28. No man inhabiteth Literally, which they should not inhabit for themselves. This “wicked man’s” defiance of God is manifested, as some think, by his preferring to dwell in cities that God has cursed. In blasphemy he chooses the ruins of a Sodom, Jericho, Tyre, or Babylon. This impiety is the more conspicuous as the people of the East have ever shrunk from inhabiting places on which they believe the frown of God rests. The Arab at the present day, as Consul Wetzstein informs us, hurries through the city of el Hijr ( Medain Salih) without looking round, and muttering prayers, as does the great throng of pilgrims to Mecca, from fear of incurring the punishment of God by the slightest delay in the accursed city.

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

Job 15:28 And he dwelleth in desolate cities, [and] in houses which no man inhabiteth, which are ready to become heaps.

Ver. 28. And he dwelleth in desolate cities ] Such as had been before desolated, but are now by him edified again, to get him a name and a renown amongst men, and to make himself formidable, as those do who build themselves strongholds upon high rocks, as if they would wage war against heaven, Ad numinis contemptum et hominum terrorem (Merlin). Peradventure, saith Diodati here, he meaneth those kings of violent empires, who repaired or built great cities after the deluge, as Nimrod, Ashur, and others, Gen 10:8 Job 3:14 Isa 23:13 , and raised themselves upon other men’s ruins. Eliphaz’s scope is to show that a man that hath great power amongst men begins to think himself strong enough for God also.

And in houses where no man inhabiteth ] For he hath driven away the inhabitants through his oppressions. This is that crying sin of depopulators, who build themselves desolate places, Job 3:14 ; and enclosers, who betray towns, as Rome did Carthage, with a distinction, We will save the city, but destroy the town. This hath been noted as a great fault in our nation, and therefore Goropius thinks the English were called Angli, because they were good anglers, and had skill to lay various baits when they fished for other men’s livings. But that is his mistake, though perhaps wilful, for we were so called from the old Angli who came in with the Saxons, and were subdued by the Normans, whose duke, William the Conqueror, paid dearly for his depopulations at New Forest, wherein six and thirty parish churches had been demolished, and the inhabitants removed, to make room for beasts’ or dogs’ game. Various of his sons and nephews came there to untimely ends, so dangerous it is for men to prove Abaddons or destroyers.

Which are ready to become heaps ] Heaps of stones: the strongest structures in the world are subject to ruin. Make sure of heaven, which the philosopher fondly dreamed to be made of stone (arch-work), and would one day come to ruin. But whatever becometh of the visible heavens, which shall be purified by the fire of the last day, upon the invisible we may well write, as Hippocrates telleth us it was engraven on the gates of a certain city, Intacta manet, it remaineth untouched. And as the Venetians boast of their city, that she is still a virgin, because from the first founding thereof (which is 1200 years since or near upon) it never came into the hands of a foreign enemy.

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

desolate: Job 3:14, Job 18:15, Isa 5:8-10, Mic 7:18

which are ready: Jer 9:11, Jer 26:18, Jer 51:37, Mic 3:12

Reciprocal: Pro 13:11 – Wealth Jer 5:28 – waxen

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Job 15:28-29. And he dwelleth It should rather be translated, But he dwelleth in desolate places. This is fitly opposed to the prosperity last mentioned, and is the beginning of the description of his misery, which is continued in the following verses. Which are ready to become heaps Which are ready to fall, and to be turned into heaps of stones. He shall not be rich He shall not remain rich, but shall become poor. Neither shall his substance continue He shall lose what he had gotten. Neither shall he prolong the perfection thereof The perfection of his substance, or that complete estate and glory which he had attained, shall not be continued to him and his posterity. Or, neither shall their perfection (that is, that prosperity, wealth, and power, wherein they placed their perfection or happiness) spread itself, or be spread abroad; but shall be diminished and taken away. It is a metaphor from a tree. See Job 8:16.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

15:28 And he dwelleth {r} in desolate cities, [and] in houses which no man inhabiteth, which are ready to become heaps.

(r) Though he build and repair ruinous places to gain fame, yet God will bring all to nothing, and turn his great prosperity into extreme misery.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes