11 Round about terrified him have terrors, And they have scattered him -- at his feet.
A fearful voice `is' in his ears, In peace doth a destroyer come to him.
Go not forth to the field, And in the way walk not, For a sword hath the enemy, fear `is' round about.
`And those who are left of you -- I have also brought a faintness into their heart in the lands of their enemies, and the sound of a leaf driven away hath pursued them, and they have fled -- flight from a sword -- and they have fallen, and there is none pursuing.
One hath drawn, And it cometh out from the body, And a glittering weapon from his gall proceedeth. On him `are' terrors.
Wherefore have I seen them dismayed -- They are turned backward, And their mighty ones are beaten down, And `to' a refuge they have fled, and not turned the face? Fear `is' round about -- an affirmation of Jehovah.
seeing Jehovah hath caused the camp of Aram to hear a noise of chariot and a noise of horse -- a noise of great force, and they say one unto another, `Lo, the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of Egypt, to come against us.' And they rise and flee in the twilight, and forsake their tents, and their horses, and their asses -- the camp as it `is' -- and flee for their life.
For arrows of the Mighty `are' with me, Whose poison is drinking up my spirit. Terrors of God array themselves `for' me!
There they feared a fear -- there was no fear, For God hath scattered the bones of him Who is encamping against thee, Thou hast put to shame, For God hath despised them.
How have they become a desolation as in a moment, They have been ended -- consumed from terrors.
and it cometh to pass on the morrow, that Pashhur bringeth out Jeremiah from the stocks, and Jeremiah saith unto him, `Not Pashhur hath Jehovah called thy name, but -- Magor-Missabib. For thus said Jehovah: Lo, I am making thee for a fear to thyself, And to all loving thee, And they have fallen by the sword of their enemies, and thine eyes are beholding, And all Judah I give into the hand of the king of Babylon, And he hath removed them to Babylon, And he hath smitten them with the sword.
having known, therefore, the fear of the Lord, we persuade men, and to God we are manifested, and I hope also in your consciences to have been manifested;
and the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich, and the chiefs of thousands, and the mighty, and every servant, and every freeman, hid themselves in the dens, and in the rocks of the mountains, and they say to the mountains and to the rocks, `Fall upon us, and hide us from the face of Him who is sitting upon the throne, and from the anger of the Lamb,'
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Job 18
Commentary on Job 18 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 18
SECOND SERIES.
Job 18:1-21. Reply of Bildad.
2. ye—the other two friends of Job, whom Bildad charges with having spoken mere "words," that is, empty speeches; opposed to "mark," that is, come to reason, consider the question intelligently; and then let us speak.
3. beasts—alluding to what Job said (Job 12:7; so Isa 1:3).
vile—rather from a Hebrew root, "to stop up." "Stubborn," answering to the stupidity implied in the parallel first clause [Umbreit]. Why should we give occasion by your empty speeches for our being mutually reputed, in the sight of Job and one another, as unintelligent? (Job 17:4, 10).
4. Rather, turning to Job, "thou that tearest thyself in anger" (Job 5:2).
be forsaken?—become desolate. He alludes here to Job's words as to the "rock," crumbling away (Job 14:18, 19); but in a different application. He says bitterly "for thee." Wert thou not punished as thou art, and as thou art unwilling to bear, the eternal order of the universe would be disturbed and the earth become desolate through unavenged wickedness [Umbreit]. Bildad takes it for granted Job is a great sinner (Job 8:3-6; Isa 24:5, 6). "Shall that which stands fast as a rock be removed for your special accommodation?"
5. That (Job 18:4) cannot be. The decree of God is unalterable, the light (prosperity) of the wicked shall at length be put out.
his fire—alluding to Arabian hospitality, which prided itself on welcoming the stranger to the fire in the tent, and even lit fires to direct him to it. The ungodly shall be deprived of the means to show hospitality. His dwelling shall be dark and desolate!
6. candle—the lamp which in the East is usually fastened to the ceiling. Oil abounds in those regions, and the lamp was kept burning all night, as now in Egypt, where the poorest would rather dispense with food than the night lamp (Ps 18:28). To put out the lamp was an image of utter desolation.
7. steps of his strength—Hebrew, for "His strong steps." A firm step marks health. To be straitened in steps is to be no longer able to move about at will (Pr 4:12).
his own counsel—Plans shall be the means of his fall (Job 5:13).
8. he walketh upon—rather, "he lets himself go into the net" [Umbreit]. If the English Version be retained, then understand "snare" to be the pitfall, covered over with branches and earth, which when walked upon give way (Ps 9:15; 35:8).
9. robber—rather answering to "gin" in the parallel clause, "the noose shall hold him fast" [Umbreit].
11. Terrors—often mentioned in this book (Job 18:14; 24:17; &c.). The terrors excited through an evil conscience are here personified. "Magor-missabib" (Jer 20:3).
drive … to his feet—rather, "shall pursue" (literally, "scatter," Hab 3:14) him close "at his heels" (literally, "immediately after his feet," Hab 3:5; 1Sa 25:42; Hebrew). The image is that of a pursuing conqueror who scatters the enemy [Umbreit].
12. The Hebrew is brief and bold, "his strength is hungry."
destruction—that is, a great calamity (Pr 1:27).
ready at his side—close at hand to destroy him (Pr 19:29).
13. Umbreit has "he" for "it," that is, "in the rage of hunger he shall devour his own body"; or, "his own children" (La 4:10). Rather, "destruction" from Job 18:12 is nominative to "devour."
strength—rather, "members" (literally, the "branches" of a tree).
the first-born of death—a personification full of poetical horror. The first-born son held the chief place (Ge 49:3); so here the chiefest (most deadly) disease that death has ever engendered (Isa 14:30; "first-born of the poor"—the poorest). The Arabs call fever, "daughter of death."
14. confidence—all that the father trusted in for domestic happiness, children, fortune, &c., referring to Job's losses.
rooted out—suddenly torn away, it shall bring—that is, he shall be brought; or, as Umbreit better has, "Thou (God) shalt bring him slowly." The Hebrew expresses, "to stride slowly and solemnly." The godless has a fearful death for long before his eyes, and is at last taken by it. Alluding to Job's case. The King of terrors, not like the heathen Pluto, the tabled ruler of the dead, but Death, with all its terrors to the ungodly, personified.
15. It—"Terror" shall haunt, &c., and not as Umbreit, "another," which the last clause of the verse disproves.
none of his—It is his no longer.
brimstone—probably comparing the calamity of Job by the "fire of God" (Job 1:16) to the destruction of guilty Sodom by fire and brimstone (Ge 19:24).
16. Roots—himself.
branch—his children (Job 8:12; 15:30; Mal 4:1).
17. street—Men shall not speak of him in meeting in the highways; rather, "in the field" or "meadow"; the shepherds shall no more mention his name—a picture from nomadic life [Umbreit].
18. light … darkness—existence—nonexistence.
19. nephew—(so Isa 14:22). But it is translated "grandson" (Ge 21:23); translate "kinsman."
20. after … before—rather, "those in the West—those in the East"; that is, all people; literally, "those behind—those before"; for Orientals in geography turn with their faces to the east (not to the north as we), and back to the west; so that before—east; behind—north (so Zec 14:8).
day—of ruin (Ob 12).
affrighted—seized with terror (Job 21:6; Isa 13:8).
21. (Job 8:22, Margin).