Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Job 24:18
He [is] swift as the waters; their portion is cursed in the earth: he beholdeth not the way of the vineyards.
18. He is swift as the waters ] Rather, he is swift upon the face of the waters. The person spoken of is the wicked man, especially such a tyrannical, proud oppressor as is alluded to in Job 24:2-4; and what is said of him is, that he is like a waif or spray on the surface of the water, swept rapidly away, and disappearing in a moment from the eyes of men in destruction; comp. ch. Job 20:28, Hos 10:7, “As for Samaria, her king is cut off like foam (or, a twig) upon the face of the waters.”
their portion ] i. e. their fields and possessions. A curse is pronounced over the estates of such men by those who behold their downfall; comp. ch. Job 5:3.
he beholdeth not ] Or, he turneth not unto the way of the vineyards he shall no more return unto the smiling vineyards in which he delighted. The joys of his luxurious life shall no more be his, misery and destruction have overtaken him. The general meaning of the phrase is the converse of that expressed by “sitting under his vine and figtree,” 1Ki 4:25; Mic 4:4.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
18 21. The popular creed regarding the fate of the wicked in God’s government of the world.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
18 24. This detailed and graphic picture of the enormities of wicked men ( Job 24:2-17) suggests the question, What then is the fate of such men? Are they seized by the sudden judgments of God and delivered into the hand of their own transgression (ch. Job 8:4)? or, are they prolonged in the possession of their power, protected in their wickedness, and brought to a natural and peaceful end at last like men in general? The following passage gives both answers, one in Job 24:18-21, and the other in Job 24:22-24. The former answer is that of Job’s friends, and perhaps of the common mind, a passage or fragments from a poetical expression of whose creed Job seems to cite. This answer is only introduced ironically and in order to supply the background to the true picture which Job himself draws of the history of these violent and wicked men. And this picture is a very different one.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
He is swift as the waters – Noyes renders this, They are as swift as the skiff upon the waters. Dr. Good, Miserable is this man upon the waters. Wemyss, Such should be as foam upon the waters. Le Clerc says that there is scarcely any passage of the Scriptures more obscure than this, and the variety of rendering adopted will show at once the perplexity of expositors. Rosenmuller supposes that the particle of comparison ( k) is to be understood, and that the meaning is, he is as a light thing upon the waters; and this probably expresses the true sense. It is a comparison of the thief with a light boat, or any other light thing that moves gently on the face of the water, and that glides along without noise. So gently and noiselessly does the thief glide along in the dark. He is rapid in his motion, but he is still. It is not uncommon to describe one who is about to commit crime in the night as moving noiselessly along, and as taking every precaution that the utmost silence should be preserved. So Macbeth, when about to commit murder, soliloquizes:
Now oer the one half world
Nature seems dead –
And withered murder,
Alarmd by his sentinel, the wolf,
Whos howld his watch, thus with his stealthy pace,
With Tarquins ravishing strides, towards his design
Moves like a ghost.
Thou sure and firm-set earth,
Hear not my steps, which way they walk, for fear
The very stones prate of my whereabout.
I do not know, however, that this comparison of a thief, with a light object on the waters, is to be found any where else, but it is one of great beauty. The word rendered swift ( qal) may denote either that which is swift, or that which is light. In Isa 30:16, it is applied to a fleet horse. Here it may be rendered, He is as a light thing upon the face of the waters.
Their portion is cursed in the earth – That is, their manner of life, their way of obtaining a livelihood, is deserving of execration. The result of humble toil and honest labor may be said to be blessed; but not the property which they acquire. Rosenmuller and Noyes, however, suppose that the word portion here refers to their habitation, and that the idea is, they have their dwelling in wild and uncultivated places; they live in places that are cursed by sterility and barrenness. The Hebrew will bear either construction. The word lot, as it is commonly understood by us, may perhaps embrace both ideas. Theirs is a cursed lot on earth.
He beholdeth not the way of the vineyards – That is, they do not spend their lives in cultivating them, nor do they derive a subsistence from them. They live by plunder, and their abodes are in wild retreats, far away from quiet and civilised society. The object seems to be to describe marauders, who make a sudden descent at night on the possessions of others, and who have their dwellings far away from fields that are covered with the fruits of cultivation.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 18. He is swift as the waters] Literally, Light is he on the face of the waters: and cursed shall be their portion on the earth, which Mr. Good translates: –
Miserable is this man on the waters:
Deeply miserable the lot of those on dry land.
He beholdeth not the way of the vineyards.] These no longer flourish or bring forth fruit. The labour of the vintage fails.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
In these words he describes either,
1. The wicked mans disposition and deportment, that such persons are light and frothy in their spirits, or swift or hasty to do evil, or unstable in their ways as the waters, or upon the face of the waters, i.e. like the foam, or froth, or any other light thing which swims upon the top of the waters. Or rather,
2. His miserable condition, of which he manifestly speaks in the next words, and in the two next verses. For though Job constantly affirms and maintains it against his friends, that many ungodly men do prosper and escape punishment in this life; yet withal he observes and asserts that God will certainly sooner or later punish them, and that he sometimes doth it here, cutting them off by cruel and untimely deaths, or otherwise inflicting some notable judgment upon them; of which he also speaks Job 21:17, &c. So the sense is,
He is swift, i.e. he quickly putteth away with all his glory,
as the waters, which never stay in one place, but are always hasting and running away; or like a ship, or any other thing which swimmeth upon the face of the waters: though he seems to stand as firm and unmovable as a rock, and to have taken deep rooting in the earth, yet he is suddenly and unexpectedly removed and pulled up by the roots. Their; or, his; for he still speaks of the same person, though with a change of the number, which is most familiar in this book, and elsewhere in Scripture.
Portion, or part, i.e. his habitation and estate which he left behind him.
Is cursed in the earth; is really accursed by God, and is by all men who live near it, or observe it, pronounced accursed, because of the remarkable judgments of God upon it, and upon his posterity or family to which he left it, and from whom it is strangely and suddenly alienated.
He beholdeth not the way of the vineyard, i.e. he shall never more see or enjoy his vineyards, or other pleasant places and things, which seem to be comprehended under this particular.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
18-21. In these verses Jobquotes the opinions of his adversaries ironically; he quoted them sobefore (Job 21:7-21).In Job 24:22-24, hestates his own observation as the opposite. You say, “The sinneris swift, that is, swiftly passes away (as a thing floating) on thesurface of the waters” (Ecc 11:1;Hos 10:7).
is cursedby those whowitness their “swift” destruction.
beholdeth not“turnethnot to”; figuratively, for He cannot enjoy his pleasantpossessions (Job 20:17; Job 15:33).
the way of thevineyardsincluding his fields, fertile as vineyards; oppositeto “the way of the desert.”
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
He [is] swift as the waters,…. Or “upon the face of the waters” y; which some interpret of another set and sort of wicked men, guilty of like crimes, not on land, but upon the mighty waters; pirates, such that commit robberies upon the high seas; who generally choose the swiftest vessels to run from place to place for their prey, and to carry off their booty when pursued; whose manner of life is detestable to other persons; and especially they are cursed by those on land, who suffer by robbing the ships of their goods they send abroad; but these men best like such a manner of life, and prefer it to any thing by land, to agriculture or cultivation of vineyards, which they have no regard unto, as is supposed to be intimated by the following clauses; but it is greatly to be questioned whether there were any such persons, or that such practices obtained so early as the time of Job. Schultens thinks Sodomites are meant, who are most profuse to lust, and flow in it like water, plough the accursed field, by going after strange flesh, and have no regard to lawful marriage, or honest wives, comparable to vines and vineyards; but I should rather think those guilty of the sin of Onan are meant, who have no regard to the propagation of posterity. Others, as Ben Gersom are of opinion that this refers to the above persons, murderers, adulterers, and thieves,
Job 24:14; who, being conscious of their crimes and due deserts, and in danger of being taken up, and brought to just punishment, flee to the sea with all the haste they can, take shipping, and go abroad into foreign parts; where they dwell in desolate and uncultivated places of the earth, which are cursed, or nigh unto cursing, and never more see pleasant fields, gardens, orchards, and vineyards: though others suppose that these words describe the temper and disposition of such wicked persons, who are unstable as water, carried about as any light thing upon the water with every wind of temptation, run swiftly into evil, and make haste to commit sin; though it seems best of all to interpret the words as respecting the state of wicked men at death, who then pass away swiftly and suddenly as gliding waters, and are “lighter” or swifter “than the waters”, as Mr. Broughton renders the words:
their portion is cursed in the earth; that part and portion of the good things of this world they have is with a curse; their very blessings are cursed, and what they leave behind has a curse entailed on it, and in process of time is blasted, and comes to nothing; for, the curse of the Lord is in the house of the wicked, Pr 3:33;
he beholdeth not the way of the vineyards; as in their lifetime they had no regard to the way of good and righteous men, of whom Jarchi in a mystical sense, interprets the vineyards; so at death they are taken away from all their worldly enjoyments they set their hearts upon; their places know them no more, and they no more see their fields, and vineyards, and oliveyards, and take no more walks unto them nor in them.
y “super faciem aquarum”, Mercerus, Bolducius, Beza, Drusius, Schultens.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
18 For he is light upon the surface of the water;
Their heritage is cursed upon the earth;
He turneth no more in the way of the vineyard.
19 Drought, also heat, snatch away snow water –
So doth Shel those who have sinned.
20 The womb forgetteth him, worms shall feast on him,
He is no more remembered;
So the desire of the wicked is broken as a tree –
21 He who hath plundered the barren that bare not,
And did no good to the widow.
The point of comparison in Job 24:18 is the swiftness of the disappearing: he is carried swiftly past, as any light substance on the surface of the water is hurried along by the swiftness of the current, and can scarcely be seen; comp. Job 9:26: “My days shoot by as ships of reeds, as an eagle which dasheth upon its prey,” and Hos 10:7, “Samaria’s king is destroyed like a bundle of brushwood (lxx, Theod., ) on the face of the water,” which is quickly drawn into the whirlpool, or buried by the approaching wave.
(Note: The translation: like foam ( spuma or bulla), is also very suitable here. Thus Targ., Symm., Jerome, and others; but the signification to foam cannot be etymologically proved, whereas in the signification confringere is established by , breaking, Joe 1:7, and Arab. qsf ; so that consequently , as synon. of , signifies properly the breaking forth, and is then allied to .)
But here the idea is not that of being swallowed up by the waters, as in the passage in Hosea, but, on the contrary, of vanishing from sight, by being carried rapidly past by the rush of the waters. If, then, the evil-doer dies a quick, easy death, his heritage ( , from , to divide) is cursed by men, since no one will dwell in it or use it, because it is appointed by God to desolation on account of the sin which is connected with it (vid., on Job 15:28); even he, the evil-doer, no more turns the way of the vineyard ( , with , not an acc. of the obj., but as indicating the direction = ; comp. 1Sa 13:18 with 1Sa 13:17 of the same chapter), proudly to inspect his wide extended domain, and overlook the labourers. The curse therefore does not come upon him, nor can one any longer lie in wait for him to take vengeance on him; it is useless to think of venting upon him the rage which his conduct during life provoked; he is long since out of reach in Shel.
That which Job says figuratively in Job 24:18, and in Job 21:13 without a figure: “in a moment they go down to Shel,” he expresses in Job 24:19 under a new figure, and, moreover, in the form of an emblematic proverb (vid., Herzog’s Real-Encyklopdie, xiv. 696), according to the peculiarity of which, not , but either only the copulative Waw (Pro 25:25) or nothing whatever (Pro 11:22), is to be supplied before . is virtually an object: eos qui peccarunt . Job 24:19 is a model-example of extreme brevity of expression, Ges. 155, 4, b. Sandy ground ( , arid land, without natural moisture), added to it ( , not: likewise) the heat of the sun – these two, working simultaneously from beneath and above, snatch away ( , cogn. , root , to cut, cut away, tear away; Arab. jzr , fut. i, used of sinking, decreasing water) , water of (melted) snow (which is fed from no fountain, and therefore is quickly absorbed), and Shel snatches away those who have sinned (= ). The two incidents are alike: the death of those whose life has been a life of sin, follows as a consequence easily and unobserved, without any painful and protracted struggle. The sinner disappears suddenly; the womb, i.e., the mother that bare him, forgets him ( , matrix = mater ; according to Ralbag: friendship, from , to love tenderly; others: relationship, in which sense Arab. rahimun = is used), worms suck at him ( for , according to Ges. 147, a, sugit eum , from which primary notion of sucking comes the signification to be sweet, Job 21:33: Syriac, metkat ennun remto ; Ar. imtasahum , from the synonymous Arab. massa = , , ), he is no more thought of, and thus then is mischief ( abstr. pro concr. as Job 5:16) broken like a tree (not: a staff, which never, not even in Hos 4:12, directly, like the Arabic asa , asat , signifies). Since is used personally, , Job 24:21, can be connected with it as an appositional permutative. His want of compassion (as is still too often seen in the present day in connection with the tyrannical conduct of the executive in Syria and Palestine, especially on the part of those who collected the taxes) goes the length of eating up, i.e., entirely plundering, the barren, childless (Gen 11:30; Isa 54:1), and therefore helpless woman, who has no sons to protect and defend her, and never showing favour to the widow, but, on the contrary, thrusting her away from him. There is as little need for regarding the verb here, with Rosenm. after the Targ., in the signification confringere , as cognate with , , as conversely to change , Psa 2:9, into ; it signifies depascere , as in Job 20:26, here in the sense of depopulari . On the form for , vid., Ges. 70, 2, rem.; and on the transition from the part. to the v. fin., vid., Ges. 134, rem. 2. Certainly the memory of such an one is not affectionately cherished; this is equally true with what Job maintains in Job 21:32, that the memory of the evil-doer is immortalized by monuments. Here the allusion is to the remembrance of a mother’s love and sympathetic feeling. The fundamental thought of the strophe is this, that neither in life nor in death had he suffered the punishment of his evil-doing. The figure of the broken tree (broken in its full vigour) also corresponds to this thought; comp. on the other hand what Bildad says, Job 18:16: “his roots dry up beneath, and above his branch is lopped off” (or: withered). The severity of his oppression is not manifest till after his death.
In the next strophe Job goes somewhat further. But after having, in Job 24:22, Job 24:23, said that the life of the ungodly passes away as if they were the favoured of God, he returns to their death, which the friends, contrary to experience, have so fearfully described, whilst it is only now and then distinguished from the death of other men by coming on late and painlessly.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| Ultimate Ruin of the Wicked. | B. C. 1520. |
18 He is swift as the waters; their portion is cursed in the earth: he beholdeth not the way of the vineyards. 19 Drought and heat consume the snow waters: so doth the grave those which have sinned. 20 The womb shall forget him; the worm shall feed sweetly on him; he shall be no more remembered; and wickedness shall be broken as a tree. 21 He evil entreateth the barren that beareth not: and doeth not good to the widow. 22 He draweth also the mighty with his power: he riseth up, and no man is sure of life. 23 Though it be given him to be in safety, whereon he resteth; yet his eyes are upon their ways. 24 They are exalted for a little while, but are gone and brought low; they are taken out of the way as all other, and cut off as the tops of the ears of corn. 25 And if it be not so now, who will make me a liar, and make my speech nothing worth?
Job here, in the conclusion of his discourse,
I. Gives some further instances of the wickedness of these cruel bloody men. 1. Some are pirates and robbers at sea. To this many learned interpreters apply those difficult expressions (v. 18), He is swift upon the waters. Privateers choose those ships that are the best sailors. In these swift ships they cruise from one channel to another, to pick up prizes; and this brings them in so much wealth that their portion is cursed in the earth, and they behold not the way of the vineyards, that is (as bishop Patrick explains it), they despise the employment of those who till the ground and plant vineyards as poor and unprofitable. But others make this a further description of the conduct of those sinners that are afraid of the light: if they be discovered, they get away as fast as they can, and choose to lurk, not in the vineyards, for fear of being discovered, but in some cursed portion, a lonely and desolate place, which nobody looks after. 2. Some are abusive to those that are in trouble, and add affliction to the afflicted. Barrenness was looked upon as a great reproach, and those that fall under that affliction they upbraid with it, as Peninnah did Hannah, on purpose to vex them and make them to fret, which is a barbarous thing. This is evil entreating the barren that beareth not (v. 21), or those that are childless, and so want the arrows others have in their quiver, which enable them to deal with their enemy in the gate, Ps. cxxvii. 5. They take that advantage against and are oppressive to them. As the fatherless, so the childless, are in some degree helpless. For the same reason it is a cruel thing to hurt the widow, to whom we ought to do good; and not doing good, when it is in our power, is doing hurt. 3. There are those who, by inuring themselves to cruelty, come at last to be so exceedingly boisterous that they are the terror of the mighty in the land of the living (v. 22): “He draws the mighty into a snare with his power; even the greatest are not able to stand before him when he is in his mad fits: he rises up in his passion, and lays about him with so much fury that no man is sure of his life; nor can he at the same time be sure of his own, for his hand is against every man and every man’s hand against him,” Gen. xvi. 12. One would wonder how any man can take pleasure in making all about him afraid of him, yet there are those that do.
II. He shows that these daring sinners prosper, and are at ease for a while, nay, and often end their days in peace, as Ishmael, who, though he was a man of such a character as is here given, yet both lived and died in the presence of all his brethren, as we are told, Gen 16:12; Gen 25:18: Of these sinners here it is said, 1. That it is given them to be in safety, v. 23. They seem to be under the special protection of the divine Providence; and one would wonder how they escape with life through so many dangers as they run themselves into. 2. That they rest upon this, that is, they rely upon this as sufficient to warrant all their violences. Because sentence against their evil works is not executed speedily they think that there is no great evil in them, and that God is not displeased with them, nor will ever call them to an account. Their prosperity is their security. 3. That they are exalted for a while. They seem to be the favourites of heaven, and value themselves as making the best figure on earth. They are set up in honour, set up (as they think) out of the reach of danger, and lifted up in the pride of their own spirits. 4. That, at length, they are carried out of the world very silently and gently, and without any remarkable disgrace or terror. “They go down to the grave as easily as snow-water sinks into the dry ground when it is melted by the sun;” so bishop Patrick explains v. 19. To the same purport he paraphrases v. 20, The womb shall forget him, c. “God sets no such mark of his displeasure upon him but that his mother may soon forget him. The hand of justice does not hang him on a gibbet for the birds to feed on but he is carried to his grave like other men, to be the sweet food of worms. There he lies quietly, and neither he nor his wickedness is any more remembered than a tree which is broken to shivers.” And v. 24, They are taken out of the way as all others, that is, “they are shut up in their graves like all other men; nay, they die as easily (without those tedious pains which some endure) as an ear of corn is cropped with your hand.” Compare this with Solomon’s observation (Eccl. viii. 10), I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the place of the holy, and they were forgotten.
III. He foresees their fall however, and that their death, though they die in ease and honour, will be their ruin. God’s eyes are upon their ways, v. 23. Though he keep silence, and seem to connive at them, yet he takes notice, and keeps account of all their wickedness, and will make it to appear shortly that their most secret sins, which they thought no eye should see (v. 15), were under his eye and will be called over again. Here is no mention of the punishment of these sinners in the other world, but it is intimated in the particular notice taken of the consequences of their death. 1. The consumption of the body in the grave, though common to all, yet to them is in the nature of a punishment for their sin. The grave shall consume those that have sinned; that land of darkness will be the lot of those that love darkness rather than light. The bodies they pampered shall be a feast for worms, which shall feed as sweetly on them as ever they fed on the pleasures and gains of their sins. 2. Though they thought to make themselves a great name by their wealth, and power, and mighty achievements, yet their memorial perished with them, Ps. ix. 6. He that made himself so much talked of shall, when he is dead, be no more remembered with honour; his name shall rot, Prov. x. 7. Those that durst not give him his due character while he lived shall not spare him when he is dead; so that the womb that bore him, his own mother, shall forget him, that is, shall avoid making mention of him, and shall think that the greatest kindness she can do him, since no good can be said of him. That honour which is got by sin will soon turn into shame. 3. The wickedness they thought to establish in their families shall be broken as a tree; all their wicked projects shall be blasted, and all their wicked hopes dashed and buried with them. 4. Their pride shall be brought down and laid in the dust (v. 24); and, in mercy to the world, they shall be taken out of the way, and all their power and prosperity shall be cut off. You may seek them, and they shall not be found. Job owns that wicked people will be miserable at last, miserable on the other side death, but utterly denies what his friends asserted, that ordinarily they are miserable in this life.
IV. He concludes with a bold challenge to all that were present to disprove what he had said if they could (v. 25): “If it be not so now, as I have declared, and if it do not thence follow that I am unjustly condemned and censured, let those that can undertake to prove that my discourse is either, 1. False in itself, and then they prove me a liar; or, 2. Foreign, and nothing to the purpose, and then they prove my speech frivolous and nothing worth.” That indeed which is false is nothing worth; where there is not truth, how can there be goodness? But those that speak the words of truth and soberness need not fear having what they say brought to the test, but can cheerfully submit it to a fair examination, as Job does here.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
c. The unhappy fate of the wicked (Job. 24:18-25)
TEXT 24:1825
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?
COMMENT 24:1825
Job. 24:18It must be acknowledged that these verses (Job. 24:18-24) are problematic. They probably express the viewpoint of his friends, rather than Job.[267] After his description in Job. 24:2-17 of the oppressions which are inflicted upon the poor, the question arises: What is the fate of the evil-doers?Job. 8:4. Are they protected in their wicked life style? It is possible to understand Job. 24:18-24, as do Davidson and Driver, as the common attitude introduced by Jobian irony? The singular pronoun he represents a member of the class expressed by the plural their. The wicked person is carried along hopelessly by the floodJob. 20:28; Hos. 10:17. They derive no happiness from their estates (A. V. their portions); because they are cursed, they are also unfruitful. They know that their vineyards are unfruitful and do not visit them, because there are no grapes to tread. It is not self-evident that these images are at variance with Jobs theology, as Rowley et al contend.
[267] The R.S.V. represents Job. 24:18-21 as Jobs citation of the views of his three friends, and Job. 24:22-24 as his reply; but there is no indication of this in the text. Dhorme transfers them to Zophars third speech, following Job. 27:13, so Terrien in Interpreters Bible, Job, pp. 10881089; Pope transposes the Job. 24:18-20; Job. 24:22-25 to Job. 27:23, Job, p. 179.
Job. 24:19The heat is so intense that snow water is dried up. The verb rendered consume means to seize violently or tear away (see Brown, Driver, Briggs); as the snow dissolves in the intense heat, so does the wicked in Sheol. Job uses the same image in Job. 6:15 ff of those who have abandoned him.
Job. 24:20The wicked man is even forgotten by his own mothers womb (rehem). Only the worms who are eating his body find pleasure in him. Wickedness will ultimately be broken to pieces as a treeJob. 19:10.
Job. 24:21The images refer to the ungodly who exploit and mercilessly oppress the poor women without sons. Swift retribution shall be his rewardJob. 24:24.
Job. 24:22The metaphor used in the A. V. presents a powerful God using His might to destroy the confidence of the wicked. The ambiguity of the grammar raises the question of whether or not it is who rises in condemnation or the ungodly who rises in health (note he draws, he rises probably with God as subject). Either is possible from the Hebrew textDeu. 28:66.
Job. 24:23Job seems to be bitterly claiming that God watches over the wicked so that their path is secure.
Job. 24:24The wicked are, in the midst of their exaltation, cut off like flowers or heads of grain before the reaping knifePsa. 103:15 ff; and as all others, they fade and wither. This is his description of the fate of the wicked.
Job. 24:25Many critics suggest that it is with this verse that we return to Jobs words. The conclusion of Jobs speech may refer especially to Job. 24:2-12. This bitter indictment of Gods injustice is Jobs final words in this speech. Life is pictured in all its ugly anomalies which might be evidence for an amoral universe. He concludes, If I am mistaken about my description of the actual state of affairs, you may call me a liar and my words empty, as you have previously charged. Now to Bildads third speech.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(18) He is swift.That iseach of these rebels against the light is swift to make his escape over the face of the waters. So we ought to read it, and not, with Authorised Version, as a comparison.
Their portion is cursed in the earth.That is, men so regard it; it has an evil name, and is of bad repute.
He beholdeth not.Rather, hethat is, each of themturneth not the way of the vineyards, which is frequented and cultivated, but chooseth rather lone, desolate, solitary, and rugged paths.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
18-21. Clericus regards this passage as one of the most difficult in Holy Scripture. Job seems to argue against himself, (Job 21:7,) and to have surrendered the citadel to his foes. Some moderns (Dathe, Umbreit, etc.) follow the Septuagint and Vulgate in regarding these verses as an imprecation, thus: “May he be light (swift) on the face of the waters,” and thus swiftly hasten to his doom. Others (Ewald, Hirtzel, and Dillmann) suppose that Job is ironical, and that he parodies the sentiments of his friends; others still (Stickel, Welte, and Hahn) that he repeats their views only the more emphatically to controvert and refute them. But none of these opinions meet the demands of the passage. Rosenmuller, Delitzsch, and Canon Cook are right in looking upon it in general as simply a description of the unperturbed fate of such sinners as those he has just described. Like the Psalmist (Psa 73:3-5) under dark temptation, he sees in their death no marks of divine displeasure. Like a bubble on the flood, (Job 24:18,) or an evanishing stream of the desert, (Job 24:19,) the grave (sheol) silently swallows them up.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Second strophe Wealthy and respectable evildoers, (18-21,) widely differing from the miscreants he has just described, (13-17,) sink into sheol like a bubble on the stream, or snow waters in the desert sands, and escape long-protracted suffering and slow-footed justice, Job 24:18-21.
18. He is swift as the waters Better, Light is he on the face of the waters. A figure similar to that of the text appears in Hos 10:7, “He is like foam (a twig, Sept.) on the face of the water.” Borne onward by the current, he is swift to disappear; while justice, with limping foot, ( pede poena claudo. HORACE, Carm., Job 3:2,) is too slow-paced to overtake him. Men may curse his “portion” when he is gone, but what cares he in the grave for public opinion? An exquisite stroke is that of the poet, He beholdeth not the way of the vineyards: scene of delights to him of many a cool and shady walk though of stern oppression for the poor, (Job 24:6-11.) The picture may remind the reader of a similar, but no more touching, one in “The Elegy,” that of the warm precincts of a cheerful day, on which the soul, departing, casts “one longing, lingering look behind.” The view of Carey and Hengstenberg, that Job speaks of pirates in this verse, is untenable.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Other Cases seem to Support Job’s Idea
v. 18. He is swift as the waters, v. 19. Drought and heat consume the snow waters, v. 20. The womb, v. 21. He evil entreateth the barren that beareth not, v. 22. He draweth also the mighty with His power, v. 23. Though it be given him to be in safety whereon he resteth, v. 24. They are exalted for a little while, but are gone and brought low; they are taken out of the way as all other, v. 25. And if it be not so now, who will make me a liar,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Job 24:18. He is swift as the waters He curseth the coming day: his portion shall be cursed upon earth: he shall not enjoy the treading of his vineyards. Houb. But Heath renders it, He was scared at the sight of the waters. Their portion was destroyed from the earth: he could not see the way that led to the high hills. See the foregoing note. And he observes, that the argument from the 13th verse onward is, that, as the great oppressors before the flood were at once made a signal example of the divine vengeance; so (according to the principles of the friends at least) all impious men ought to be, and to receive their punishment in this world in the sight of all men. But as notoriously this was not the case, therefore their inference of Job’s being a bad man, from his sufferings, could have no foundation. See Heath and Mudge.
Job 24:20. The worm shall feed sweetly on him His sweetness or vigour shall be corruption. See Schultens and Heath.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Job 24:18 He [is] swift as the waters; their portion is cursed in the earth: he beholdeth not the way of the vineyards.
Ver. 18. He is swift as the waters ] He stays not long in a place, but flees away swiftly (like the river Tigris, swift as an arrow out of a bow), to avoid punishment. Heb. He is light upon the face of the waters. The meaning is, saith one, they are as a light thing upon the streams of water running swiftly, and carrying it away with speed. Some, that it is spoken in respect to their swift passing on from one wickedness to another, or their never being settled after such wickedness committed, but always ready to be overturned, as a ship that is unballasted, and so to be drowned in the sea.
Their portion is cursed in the earth
He beholdeth not the way of the vineyards
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
he. Some codices, with Septuagint and Vulgate, read “and he”.
beholdeth = returneth.
the = to the.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Job 24:18-25
Job 24:18-25
THAT PART OF JOB’S SPEECH THAT SOME QUESTION
“Swiftly they pass away upon the face of the waters;
Their portion is cursed on the earth:
They turn not into the way of the vineyards.
Drought and heat consume the snow waters:
So doth Sheol those that have sinned.
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.
He devoureth the barren that beareth not,
And doth not good to the widow.
Yet God reserveth the mighty by his power:
He riseth up that hath no assurance of life.
God giveth them to be in security, and they rest thereon.
And his eyes are upon their ways.
They are exalted; and 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.
And if it be not so now, who will prove me a liar,
And make my speech nothing worth?”
This, of course, is that part of Job’s speech which is thought by some to be part of Bildad’s speech, which follows at once, and seems to be unusually short; but, as the text stands, there is very little of it that is inappropriate upon the lips of Job.
“Swiftly they pass away” (Job 24:18), for example, may be only a reference to the brevity of life for all men.
“He shall be no more remembered” (Job 24:20), does not seem to fit all that Job has said earlier.
“Unrighteousness shall be broken as a tree” (Job 24:20) is in the same category as the first clause.
The best understanding of this perplexing paragraph among the writers we have consulted is that of Dr. Dale Hesser:
“The big thing that Job objected to was Eliphaz’ theory that the wicked are punished at once. Job admits that if one looks at the whole picture, he will see that wickedness leads to suffering and that righteousness leads to rewards; but what puzzles Job is the exceptions which are obviously quite numerous. Job is pointing out that in the course of things crime brings misery to the criminal, but that God has not ordered that each crime shall bring immediate retribution.”
We are not to suppose that Job here has changed his basic thesis. Both Job and his friends believed that God punishes the wicked; but Job vehemently rejected the notion (1) either that God always punished the wicked immediately upon their commission of wicked deeds, or (2) that sufferings and calamities coming upon any person were to be considered as proofs of his wickedness.
E.M. Zerr:
Job 24:18-25. In grouping so many verses into one paragraph I am not depriving the reader of any comments that otherwise would have been offered. Job has argued from the start that men who have been successful have been as free from affiictions as the unsuccessful ones. From that fact he based his denial that his afflictions were sent on him as a punishment for sin. That position made it logical for him to give much detail to his description of men who were prosperous though wicked. He closed this paragraph with a demand that his friends disprove his words.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
swift: Psa 58:7, Psa 73:18-20, Isa 23:10
their portion: Deu 28:16-20, Psa 69:22, Pro 3:33, Mal 2:2
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Job 24:18. He is swift as the waters That is, the wicked man quickly passeth away, with all his glory, as the waters, which never stay in one place, but are always hasting away. Their portion Or, his portion (for he still speaks of the same person, though with a change of the number) is cursed in the earth His habitation and estate, which he leaves behind him, is accursed of God; and, by all men who live near it, or observe it, is pronounced accursed, because of the remarkable judgments of God upon it, and upon his posterity or family, to which he left it, and from whom it is strangely and unexpectedly alienated. He beholdeth not the way of the vineyards He shall never more see or enjoy his vineyards, or other pleasant places and things, which seem to be comprehended under this particular. Thus, though Job constantly maintains against his friends, that many ungodly men do prosper, and escape punishment, in this life, yet, withal, he asserts that God will certainly, sooner or later, punish them; and that he sometimes doth it here, cutting them off by cruel and untimely deaths, or otherwise inflicting some notable judgment upon them, of which he also speaks Job 21:17.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
24:18 He [is] swift as the {r} waters; their {s} portion is cursed in the earth: he beholdeth not the way of the vineyards.
(r) He flees to the waters for his succour.
(s) They think that all the world is bent against them and dare not go by the highway.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Job’s confidence 24:18-25
These confusing verses may seem to be saying that God does punish the wicked at all. Probably Job was reflecting that God does indeed punish them in death if not in life. [Note: Andersen, pp. 213-14.] What bothered him was why God did not punish them sooner. Even with more revelation than Job enjoyed, we still have great difficulty understanding God’s ways generally, and why He does what He does in specific individual lives particularly. God’s wisdom is still unfathomable.