Job 24:1

Why, seeing times are not hidden froth the Almighty - Dr. Good renders this,

“Wherefore are not doomdays kept by the Almighty.

So that his offenders may eye his periods?”

Dr. Noyes:

“Why are not times of punishment reserved by the Almighty.

And why do not they, who regard him, see his judgments?”

Jerome, “Times are not hidden from the Almighty; but they who know him are ignorant of his days.” The Septuagint, “But why have set times - ὧραι hōrai, escaped the notice - ἔλαθον elathon - of the Almighty, and the wicked transgressed all bounds? The word עתים ‛êthı̂ym, here translated “times,” is rendered by the Chaldee (עדניא), “set times,” times appointed for an assembly or a trial, beforehand designated for any purpose. The Hebrew word properly means, set time, fit and proper times; and in the plural, as used here, means “seasons,” Esther 1:13; 1 Chronicles 12:32; and then vicissitudes of things, fortunes, destinies; Psalms 31:16; 1 Chronicles 29:30. Here it means, probably, the vicissitudes of things, or what actually occurs. All changes are known to God. He sees good and bad times; he sees the changes that take place among people. And since he sees all this, Job asks, with concern, Why is it that God does not come forth to deal with people according to their true character? That this was the fact, he proceeds to show further in illustration of the position which he had maintained in Job 21 by specifying a number of additional cases where the wicked undeniably prospered. It was this which perplexed him so much, for he did not doubt that their conduct was clearly known to God. If their conduct had been unknown to God, it would not have been a matter of surprise that they should go unpunished. But since all their ways were clearly seen by him, it might well excite inquiry why they were permitted thus to prosper. “He” believed that they were reserved to a future day of wrath, Job 21:30; Job 24:23. They would be punished in due time, but it was not a fact as his friends alleged, that they were punished in this life according to their deeds.

Do they that know him? - His true friends; the pious.

Not see his days - The days of his wrath, or the day when he punishes the wicked. Why are they not permitted to see him come forth to take vengeance on his foes? The phrase “his days” means the days when God would come forth to punish his enemies. They are called “his days,” because at that time God would be the prominent object that would excite attention. They would be days when he would manifest himself in a manner so remarkable as to characterize the period. Thus, the day of judgment is called the day “of the Son of Man,” or “his day” Luke 17:24, because at that time the Lord Jesus will be the prominent and glorious object that shall give character to the day. The “question” here seems to have been asked by Job mainly to call attention to “the fact” which he proceeds to illustrate. The fact was undeniable. Job did “not” maintain, as Eliphaz had charged on him Job 22:12, that the reason why God did not punish them was, that he could not see their deeds. He admitted most fully that God did see them, and understood all that they did. In this they were agreed. Since this was so, the question was why the wicked were spared, and lived in prosperity. The fact that it was so, Job affirms. The “reason” why it was so, was the subject of inquiry now. This was perplexing, and Job could solve it only by referring to what was to come hereafter.