INTRODUCTION TO JOB 18 In this chapter is Bildad's second reply to Job, in which he falls with great fury upon him, very sharply inveighs against him, and very highly charges him; the charges he brings against him are talkativeness and inattention to what was said to him, Job 18:1; contempt of his... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN ANSWERED BILDAD THE SHUHITE, AND SAID. Who, next to Eliphaz, spoke before, and now in his turn attacks Job a second time, and more roughly and severely than before; now he gives him no advice or counsel, nor any instructions and exhortations for his good, nor suggests that it might be better ti... [ Continue Reading ]
HOW LONG [WILL IT BE] ERE YE MAKE AN END OF WORDS?.... Because these words are expressed the plural number, some think more persons than one are addressed, either Eliphaz and Job together, who are complained of as taking up all the time, and having all the talk to themselves, that another could scar... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEREFORE ARE WE COUNTED AS BEASTS,.... This seems to refer to Job 12:7; where Job sends them to the beasts, to get knowledge and instruction; and therefore it was concluded he reckoned them as such, and put them on a level with them, yea, made them inferior to them; or to Job 17:4; where they are... [ Continue Reading ]
HE TEARETH HIMSELF IN HIS ANGER,.... Or "his soul" l, meaning Job, and referring to what he had said in Job 16:9; Now, says Bildad, it is neither God nor man that tears you, it is you yourself; representing Job as a madman, rending his clothes, tearing his flesh, and even his very soul; for by his p... [ Continue Reading ]
YEA, THE LIGHT OF THE WICKED SHALL BE PUT OUT,.... Or "nevertheless" m; notwithstanding all this disregard and inattention to us, and contempt of us, and all the rage, and wrath, and pride, and haughtiness discovered, as if the laws of nature, and stated methods of Providence, must all give way to j... [ Continue Reading ]
THE LIGHT SHALL THE DARK IN HIS TABERNACLE,.... Not the light of the eye, in the tabernacle of his body, rather the light of nature and reason in him; and when that "light [that is] in [a man becomes] darkness", as our Lord says, "how great [is] that darkness!" Matthew 6:23; but best of all it desig... [ Continue Reading ]
THE STEPS OF HIS STRENGTH SHALL BE STRAITENED,.... As a man in health can take large and strong steps, and travel in the greatness of his strength; so in prosperity he can and does take large steps in obtaining fame and reputation among men, in amassing substance to himself, and towards settling his... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR HE IS CAST INTO A NET BY HIS OWN FEET,.... He goes into it of himself, incautious and imprudent; the counsels, schemes, and methods he takes to hurt others, issue in his own ruin; the pit he digs for them, he falls and sinks into himself; and the net which he has spread and hid for others, in it... [ Continue Reading ]
THE GIN SHALL TAKE [HIM] BY THE HEEL,.... And hold him fast, so that he shall not be able to get away, especially out of such as are set by God himself; for God has his nets, and snares, and gins for wicked men, and such plenty of them, that he even is said to rain them on them; yea, he himself is a... [ Continue Reading ]
THE SNARE [IS] LAID FOR HIM IN THE GROUND,.... Or "hidden" r there; for, as Solomon says, "in vain the net is spread in sight of any bird", Proverbs 1:17; and in vain it is to lay a snare publicly in the sight or creature, it will not then come near it, but shun and avoid it; and therefore it is lai... [ Continue Reading ]
TERRORS SHALL MAKE HIM AFRAID ON EVERY SIDE,.... Make him a "Magormissabib", or "terror on every side", as Pashur was a terror to himself, Jeremiah 20:3, and all his friends about him; these terrors may be either the terrors of the judges of the earth upon wicked men, who are, or should be, a terror... [ Continue Reading ]
HIS STRENGTH SHALL BE HUNGERBITTEN,.... Or "shall be famine" u, or hunger, that is, shall be weakened by it; famine is a sore evil, and greatly weakens thee natural strength of men; want of food will soon bring down the strength of the strongest man, when the stay and the staff, the sustenance and s... [ Continue Reading ]
IT SHALL DEVOUR THE STRENGTH OF HIS SKIN,.... Or "the bars of his skin" x, the strength and support of his body, for which his skin may be put, as the bones; or "the branches of his skin" y, the veins, which like so many branches run under, and may be seen through the skin: now these, it, famine, or... [ Continue Reading ]
HIS CONFIDENCE SHALL BE ROOTED OUT OF HIS TABERNACLE,.... That which his confidence was placed in, his wealth and riches, his family, particularly his children, in all which he placed his confidence of future prosperity and happiness; these should be all taken away from him, and his house cleared of... [ Continue Reading ]
IT SHALL DWELL IN HIS TABERNACLE,.... What shall dwell in it is not said; there are various conjectures about it, and different supplements are made; the Targum is, "his wife shall dwell in a tabernacle not his;'' and to the same purpose Jarchi; as if it was one part of the punishment of a wicked... [ Continue Reading ]
HIS ROOTS SHALL BE DRIED UP BENEATH,.... Wicked men are sometimes compared to trees; to trees of the wood, barren, and unfruitful; to trees without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; and sometimes to green bay trees, very flourishing for a while, and which on a sudden perish, and come to no... [ Continue Reading ]
HIS REMEMBRANCE SHALL PERISH FROM THE EARTH,.... Not only are the wicked forgotten of God in heaven, and are as the slain he remembers no more, unless it be to pour out his wrath upon them, and punish them for their sins, for which great Babylon will come up in remembrance before him; but of men on... [ Continue Reading ]
HE SHALL BE DRIVEN FROM LIGHT INTO DARKNESS,.... Either from the light of outward prosperity, formerly enjoyed by him, into the darkness of adversity; or rather from the light of the living, the light of the present life, to the darkness of death, and the grave, the land of darkness, and of the shad... [ Continue Reading ]
HE SHALL NEITHER HAVE SON NOR NEPHEW AMONG HIS PEOPLE,.... Neither son, nor son's son, or grandson; so the Targum, Jarchi, and Bar Tzemach; that is, he shall be childless, and have no heirs, successors, or survivors, to inherit his estate, bear and perpetuate his name among the people of his country... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY THAT COME AFTER [HIM] SHALL BE ASTONISHED AT HIS DAY,.... At the day of his calamity and distress, ruin and destruction, see Psalms 37:13; it would be extremely amazing to them how it should be, that a man who was in such flourishing and prosperous circumstances, should be brought at once, he... [ Continue Reading ]
SURELY SUCH [ARE] THE DWELLINGS OF THE WICKED,.... As before described; as that the light should be dark in them; a wicked man's confidence should be rooted out of them; everything shocking and dreadful should dwell in them; brimstone should be scattered on them, they should be utterly consumed, and... [ Continue Reading ]