Job 24:18-25

c. The unhappy fate of the wicked (Job 24:18-25)

TEXT 24:18-25

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 24:18-25

Job 24:18It must be acknowledged that these verses (Job 24:18, Job 24:18) 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 Job's theology, as Rowley et al contend.

[267] The R.S.V. represents Job 24:18-21 as Job's 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 Zophar's third speech, following Job 27:13, so Terrien in Interpreter's Bible, Job, pp. 1088-1089; 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 mother's 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 textDeuteronomy 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 knifePsalms 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 Job's words. The conclusion of Job's speech may refer especially to Job 24:2-12. This bitter indictment of God's injustice is Job's 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 Bildad's third speech.