Job 15:21(v11)A sound of terrors is in his ears. In prosperity the destroyer will come on him.
Psalms 11:6(v15)On the wicked he will rain blazing coals; fire, sulfur, and scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.
Jeremiah 6:25(v11)Don’t go out into the field or walk by the way; for the sword of the enemy and terror are on every side.
Leviticus 26:36(v11)“ ‘As for those of you who are left, I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies. The sound of a driven leaf…
Deuteronomy 29:23(v15)that all of its land is sulfur, salt, and burning, that it is not sown, doesn’t produce, nor does any grass grow in it, like the overthrow…
Show all 54 cross-references
Job 20:25(v11)He draws it out, and it comes out of his body. Yes, the glittering point comes out of his liver. Terrors are on him.
Proverbs 10:28(v14)The prospect of the righteous is joy, but the hope of the wicked will perish.
Isaiah 34:9-10(v15)Its streams will be turned into pitch, its dust into sulfur, And its land will become burning pitch. It won’t be quenched night nor day.…
Jeremiah 46:5(v11)Why have I seen it? They are dismayed and are turned backward. Their mighty ones are beaten down, have fled in haste, and don’t look back.…
Jeremiah 49:29(v11)They will take their tents and their flocks. they will carry away for themselves their curtains, all their vessels, and their camels; and…
Genesis 19:24(v15)Then Yahweh rained on Sodom and on Gomorrah sulfur and fire from Yahweh out of the sky.
Genesis 49:3(v13)“Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength; excelling in dignity, and excelling in power.
1 Samuel 2:5(v12)Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread. Those who were hungry are satisfied. Yes, the barren has borne seven. She who has…
1 Samuel 2:36(v12)It will happen that everyone who is left in your house will come and bow down to him for a piece of silver and a loaf of bread, and will…
2 Kings 7:6-7(v11)For the Lord had made the army of the Syrians to hear the sound of chariots, and the sound of horses, even the noise of a great army; and…
Job 6:4(v11)For the arrows of the Almighty are within me. My spirit drinks up their poison. The terrors of God set themselves in array against me.
Job 8:14(v14)Whose confidence will break apart, Whose trust is a spider’s web.
Job 8:22(v14)Those who hate you will be clothed with shame. The tent of the wicked will be no more.”
Job 11:20(v14)But the eyes of the wicked will fail. They will have no way to flee. Their hope will be the giving up of the spirit.”
Job 15:23-24(v12)He wanders abroad for bread, saying, ‘Where is it?’ He knows that the day of darkness is ready at his hand. Distress and anguish make him…
Job 17:16(v13)Shall it go down with me to the gates of Sheol, or descend together into the dust?”
Job 18:12-13(v15)His strength will be famished. Calamity will be ready at his side. The members of his body will be devoured. The firstborn of death will…
Job 20:8(v11)He will fly away as a dream, and will not be found. Yes, he will be chased away like a vision of the night.
Job 20:18-21(v15)He will restore that for which he labored, and will not swallow it down. He will not rejoice according to the substance that he has gotten.…
Job 24:17(v14)For the morning is to all of them like thick darkness, for they know the terrors of the thick darkness.
Job 41:34(v14)He sees everything that is high. He is king over all the sons of pride.”
Psalms 7:12-14(v12)If a man doesn’t repent, he will sharpen his sword; he has bent and strung his bow. He has also prepared for himself the instruments of…
Psalms 34:10(v12)The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger, but those who seek Yahweh shall not lack any good thing.
Psalms 53:5(v11)There they were in great fear, where no fear was, for God has scattered the bones of him who encamps against you. You have put them to…
Psalms 55:4(v14)My heart is severely pained within me. The terrors of death have fallen on me.
Psalms 73:19(v11)How they are suddenly destroyed! They are completely swept away with terrors.
Psalms 109:10(v12)Let his children be wandering beggars. Let them be sought from their ruins.
Psalms 112:10(v14)The wicked will see it, and be grieved. He shall gnash with his teeth, and melt away. The desire of the wicked will perish.
Proverbs 14:32(v14)The wicked is brought down in his calamity, but in death, the righteous has a refuge.
Proverbs 28:1(v11)The wicked flee when no one pursues; but the righteous are as bold as a lion.
Isaiah 8:21(v12)They will pass through it, very distressed and hungry. It will happen that when they are hungry, they will worry, and curse by their king…
Isaiah 14:30(v13)The firstborn of the poor will eat, and the needy will lie down in safety; and I will kill your root with famine, and your remnant will be…
Jeremiah 20:3-4(v11)On the next day, Pashhur released Jeremiah out of the stocks. Then Jeremiah said to him, “Yahweh has not called your name Pashhur, but…
Jeremiah 22:13(v15)“Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness, and his rooms by injustice; who uses his neighbor’s service without wages, and doesn’t…
Jonah 2:6(v13)I went down to the bottoms of the mountains. The earth barred me in forever: yet have you brought up my life from the pit, Yahweh my God.
Habakkuk 2:6-11(v15)Won’t all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting proverb against him, and say, ‘Woe to him who increases that which is not…
Zechariah 5:4(v15)I will cause it to go out,” says Yahweh of Armies, “and it will enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him who swears…
Zechariah 14:12(v13)This will be the plague with which Yahweh will strike all the peoples who have fought against Jerusalem: their flesh will consume away…
Matthew 7:26-27(v14)Everyone who hears these words of mine, and doesn’t do them will be like a foolish man, who built his house on the sand. The rain came…
1 Corinthians 15:55-56(v14)“Death, where is your sting? Hades, where is your victory?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
2 Corinthians 5:11(v11)Knowing therefore the fear of the Lord, we persuade men, but we are revealed to God, and I hope that we are revealed also in your…
1 Thessalonians 5:3(v12)For when they are saying, “Peace and safety,” then sudden destruction will come on them, like birth pains on a pregnant woman. Then they…
Hebrews 2:15(v14)and might deliver all of them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
2 Peter 2:3(v12)In covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words: whose sentence now from of old doesn’t linger, and their destruction will not…
Revelation 6:8(v13)And behold, a pale horse, and the name of he who sat on it was Death. Hades followed with him. Authority over one fourth of the earth, to…
Revelation 6:15-16(v11)The kings of the earth, the princes, the commanding officers, the rich, the strong, and every slave and free person, hid themselves in the…
Revelation 19:20(v15)The beast was taken, and with him the false prophet who worked the signs in his sight, with which he deceived those who had received the…
Revelation 21:8(v15)But for the cowardly, unbelieving, sinners, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their part is in…
Job 31:38-39(v15)If my land cries out against me, and its furrows weep together; if I have eaten its fruits without money, or have caused its owners to lose…
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (18 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Geneva Bible translators1599 · Public DomainOn vv12–15That which should nourish him shall be consumed by…
That which should nourish him shall be consumed by famine.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp1656 · Public DomainOn vv11–15Job 18:11 Terrors shall make him afraid on every…
Job 18:11 Terrors shall make him afraid on every side, and shall drive him to his feet.
Ver. 11. Terrors shall make him afraid on every side] These terrors are, as it were, the cruel sergeants and merciless officers of that king of terrors, Job 18:14, arresting him, as it were, in the devil’s name, and bringing him to justice, Apparitores et lictores (Jun.). How can it be but a terrible time with him, when death comes with a writ of Habeas corpus, Let you keep the body, and the devil with a writ of Habeas animam? Let you keep the spirit, when the cold earth must have his body, and hot hell hold his soul, according to that of the psalmist, "Let death seize upon them, and let them go down quick into hell: for wickedness is in their dwellings, and among them," Psa 55:15. The sad forethought hereof causeth many unutterable griefs and grapings, perplexities of spirit and convulsions of soul, a very hell above ground, and a foretaste of eternal torments. The word here rendered terror signifieth utmost frights, such as put a man well nigh out of his wits and distract him. R. Solomon understandeth it to be devils; others to be furies, such as the poets feign. Most certain it is, that a body is not so tormented with stings or torn with stripes as a mind with remembrance of wicked actions and fear of future evils (Cic. Orat. pro Rose. Amer.).
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And shall drive him to his feet] As they did Cain, that wretch, Qui factus est a corde sua fugitivus (Tertul.), who would fain have fled from his own conscience (if he could have known whither), and become a fugitive and a vagabond upon the earth, Gen 4:12, seeking to outrun his terrors, which yet dogged him hard at the heels. They shall press him at his feet, so Broughton readeth this text.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole1685 · Public DomainOn vv11–15Terrors; both from men, and from God, and from…
Terrors; both from men, and from God, and from his own unquiet mind and guilty conscience.
Shall drive him to his feet; shall force him to flee hither and thither, and he knows not whither, being secure and safe no where, but pursued by terrors from place to place.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry1710 · Public DomainOn v11Bildad here describes the destruction itself which wicked people…
Bildad here describes the destruction itself which wicked people are reserved for in the other world, and which, in some degree, often seizes them in this world. Come, and see what a miserable condition the sinner is in when his day comes to fall.
I. See him disheartened and weakened by continual terrors arising from the sense of his own guilt and the dread of God's wrath (Job 18:11, Job 18:12): Terror shall make him afraid on every side. The terrors of his own conscience shall haunt him, so that he shall never be easy. Wherever he goes, these shall follow him; which way soever he looks, these shall stare him in the face. It will make him tremble to see himself fought against by the whole creation, to see Heaven frowning on him, hell gaping for him, and earth sick of him. He that carries his own accuser, and his own tormentor, always in his bosom, cannot but be afraid on every side. This will drive him to his feet, like the malefactor, who, being conscious of his own guilt, takes to his heels and flees when none pursues, Pro 28:1. But his feet will do him no service; they are fast in the snare, Job 18:9. The sinner may as soon overpower the divine omnipotence as flee from the divine omniscience, Amo 9:2, Amo 9:3. No marvel that the sinner is dispirited and distracted with fear, for, 1. He sees his ruin approaching: Destruction shall be ready at his side, to seize him whenever justice gives the word, so that he is brought into desolation in a moment, Psa 73:19. 2. He feels himself utterly unable to grapple with it, either to escape it or to bear up under it. That which he relied upon as his strength (his wealth, power, pomp, friends, and the hardiness of his own spirit) shall fail him in the time of need, and be hunger-bitten, that is, it shall do him no more service than a famished man, pining away for hunger, would do in work or war. The case being thus with him, no marvel that he is a terror to himself. Note, The way of sin is a way of fear, and leads to everlasting confusion, of which the present terrors of an impure and unpacified conscience are earnests, as they were to Cain and Judas.
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II. See him devoured and swallowed up by a miserable death; and miserable indeed a wicked man's death is, how secure and jovial soever his life was. 1. See him dying, arrested by the first-born of death (some disease, or some stroke that has in it a more than ordinary resemblance of death itself; so great a death, as it is called, Co2 1:10, a messenger of death that has in it an uncommon strength and terror), weakened by the harbingers of death, which devour the strength of his skin, that is, it shall bring rottenness into his bones and consume them. His confidence shall then be rooted out of his tabernacle (Job 18:14), that is, all that he trusted to for his support shall be taken from him, and he shall have nothing to rely upon, no, not his own tabernacle. His own soul was his confidence, but that shall be rooted out of the tabernacle of the body, as a tree that cumbered the ground. "Thy soul shall be required of thee." 2. See him dead, and see his case then with an eye of faith. (1.) He is then brought to the king of terrors. He was surrounded with terrors while he lived (Job 18:11), and death was the king of all those terrors; they fought against the sinner in death's name, for it is by reason of death that sinners are all their lifetime subject to bondage (Heb 2:15), and at length they will be brought to that which they so long feared, as a captive to the conqueror. Death is terrible to nature; our Saviour himself prayed, Father, save me from this hour. But to the wicked it is in a special manner the king of terrors, both as it is a period to that life in which they placed their happiness and a passage to that life where they will find their endless misery. How happy then are the saints, and how much indebted to the Lord Jesus, by whom death is so far abolished, and the property of it altered, that this king of terrors becomes a friend and servant! (2.) He is then driven from the light into darkness (Job 18:18), from the light of this world, and his prosperous condition in it, into darkness, the darkness of the grave, the darkness of hell, into utter darkness, never to see light (Psa 49:19), not the least gleam, nor any hopes of it. (3.) He is then chased out of the world, hurried and dragged away by the messengers of death, sorely against his will, chased as Adam out of paradise, for the world is his paradise. It intimates that he would fain stay here; he is loth to depart, but go he must; all the world is weary of him, and therefore chases him out, as glad to get rid of him. This is death to a wicked man.
III. See his family sunk and cut off, Job 18:15. The wrath and curse of God light and lie, not only upon his head and heart, but upon his house too, to consume it with the timber and stones thereof, Zac 5:4. Death itself shall dwell in his tabernacle, and, having expelled him, shall take possession of his house, to the terror and destruction of all that he leaves behind. Even the dwelling shall be ruined for the sake of its owner: Brimstone shall be scattered upon his habitation, rained upon it as upon Sodom, to the destruction of which this seems to have reference. Some think he here upbraids Job with the burning of his sheep and servants with fire from heaven. The reason is here given why his tabernacle is thus marked for ruin: Because it is none of his; that is, it was unjustly got, and kept, from the rightful owner, and therefore let him not expect either the comfort or the continuance of it. His children shall perish, either with him or after him, Job 18:16. So that, his roots being in his own person dried up beneath, above his branch (every child of his family) shall be cut off. Thus the houses of Jeroboam, Baasha, and Ahab, were cut off; none that descended from them were left alive. Those who take root in the earth may expect it will thus be dried up; but, if we be rooted in Christ, even our leaf shall not wither, much less shall our branch be cut off. Those who consult the true honour of their family, and the welfare of its branches, will be afraid of withering it by sin. The extirpation of the sinner's family is mentioned again (Job 18:19): He shall neither have son nor nephew, child nor grandchild, to enjoy his estate and bear up his name, nor shall there be any remaining in his dwelling akin to him. Sin entails a curse upon posterity, and the iniquity of the fathers is often visited upon the children. Herein, also, it is probable that Bildad reflects upon the death of Job's children and servants, as a further proof of his being a wicked man; whereas all that are written childless are not thereby written graceless; there is a name better than that of sons and daughters.
IV. See his memory buried with him, or made odious; he shall either be forgotten or spoken of with dishonour (Job 18:17): His remembrance shall perish from the earth; and, if it perish thence, it perishes wholly, for it was never written in heaven, as the names of the saints are, Luk 10:20. All his honour shall be laid and lost in the dust, or stained with perpetual infamy, so that he shall have no name in the street, departing without being desired. Thus the judgments of God follow him, after death, in this world, as an indication of the misery his soul is in after death, and an earnest of that everlasting shame and contempt to which he shall rise in the great day. The memory of the just is blessed, but the name of the wicked shall rot, Pro 10:7.
V. See a universal amazement at his fall, Job 18:20. Those that see it are affrighted, so sudden is the change, so dreadful the execution, so threatening to all about him: and those that come after, and hear the report of it, are astonished at it; their ears are made to tingle, and their hearts to tremble, and they cry out, Lord, how terrible art thou in thy judgments! A place or person utterly ruined is said to be made an astonishment, Deu 28:37; Ch2 7:21; Jer 25:9, Jer 25:18. Horrible sins bring strange punishments.
VI. See all this averred as the unanimous sense of the patriarchal age, grounded upon their knowledge of God and their many observations of his providence (Job 18:21): Surely such are the dwellings of the wicked, and this is the place (this the condition) of him that knows not God! See here what is the beginning, and what is the end, of the wickedness of this wicked world. 1. The beginning of it is ignorance of God, and it is a wilful ignorance, for there is that to be known of him which is sufficient to leave them for ever inexcusable. They know not God, and then they commit all iniquity. Pharaoh knows not the Lord, and therefore will not obey his voice. 2. The end of it, and that is utter destruction. Such, so miserable, are the dwellings of the wicked. Vengeance will be taken of those that know not God, Th2 1:8. For those whom he has not honour from he will get himself honour upon. Let us therefore stand in awe and not sin, for it will certainly be bitterness in the latter end.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill1763 · Public DomainOn vv11–15His strength shall be hungerbitten,.... Or "shall be famine"…
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 support of man's nature is taken from him: many of the Jewish writers, by "his strength", understand his children, who are, as Jacob said of Reuben, his might, and the beginning of his strength, Gen 49:3; and when grown up are his protection and defence; and for these to be distressed with hunger, or destroyed by famine, is a sore judgment; so the Targum paraphrases it, his firstborn son; Jarchi interprets it, his son; and Ben Gersom, his seed or offspring:
and destruction shall be ready at his side; or "to his rib" (w); that is, his wife, as the Targum and Jarchi explain it, the Jews calling a man's wife his rib, because the woman was originally made out of one of the ribs of man; and if this could be thought to be the sense of the word here, and what is given by them of the former clause, both make up a complete account of the destruction of a wicked man's family, his wife and children: but rather it signifies some calamity, distress, and trouble at hand, ready prepared for wicked men, just going to be inflicted on them; for God has stores of vengeance for them, and has made ready his bow, and prepared instruments and arrows of death and destruction for them, as well as there is everlasting fire prepared, and blackness of darkness reserved for them in the world to come; for it can hardly be thought that this should be understood literally of any disease in the side, as the pleurisy, &c. which is threatening, or any mortal wound or stab there, such as Joab gave Amass under the fifth rib.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley1765 · Public DomainOn vv13–15First-born - A terrible kind of death. The first-born…
First-born - A terrible kind of death. The first-born was the chief of his brethren, and therefore this title is given to things eminent in their kind.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke1810 · Public DomainOn vv13–15Verse 13. It shall devour the strength of his…
Verse 13. It shall devour the strength of his skin] This may refer to the elephant, or to the rhinoceros, whose skin scarcely any dart can pierce: but in the case referred to above, the animal is taken in a pitfall, and then the first-born of death - a sudden and overwhelming stroke - deprives him of life. See the account of hunting the elephant in the East at the end of the chapter. See Clarke on Job 18:21. The Chaldee has: "The strength of his skin shall devour his flesh; and the angel of death shall consume his children."
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson1811 · Public DomainOn vv11, 13, 14, 15Job 18:11-12. Terrors shall make him afraid — Both…
Job 18:11-12. Terrors shall make him afraid — Both from men and from God, and also from his own unquiet mind and guilty conscience. And drive him to his feet — Shall force him to flee different ways, being safe nowhere, but pursued by terrors from place to place, which, as Houbigant renders it, shall be spread around his feet. His strength — Either his children, who are, and are called a man’s strength, Gen 49:3; Psa 127:4, or rather, his wealth, power, and prosperity; shall be hunger-bitten — Or famished, that is, utterly consumed. The Vulgate renders it, His strength shall be eaten by famine. And destruction shall be ready at his side — Shall attend him as a constant companion, or follow him at the heels as a diligent servant. Or, he may allude to an arrow fitted to a string, and ready to be discharged at him.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes1834 · Public DomainOn vv11–15Terrors shall make him afraid - He shall be…
Terrors shall make him afraid - He shall be constantly subject to alarms, and shall never feel secure. “Terrors here are represented as allegorical persons, like the Furies in the Greek poets.” Noyes. The idea here is substantially the same as that given by Eliphaz, Job 15:21-22.
And shall drive him to his feet - Margin, scatter. This is a literal translation of the Hebrew. The idea is, that he will be alarmed by such terrors; his self-composure will be dissipated, and he will “take to his heels.”
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary1859 · Public DomainOn vv11, 13, 14, 15Fears. Hunters used to place loose feathers round the…
Fears. Hunters used to place loose feathers round the wood, except where the gin was laid, in order to frighten the prey into it. Puniceæque agitant formidine pennæ. (Georg. iii.)
(Jeremias xlviii. 44.) "Like timid stags, while you avoid the moving feathers, you are entrapped in the strongest nets." (St. Jerome, contra Lucif.) --- Every thing tends to fill the poor beast with alarm. So the devil, conscience, and enemies on all sides, best the wicked. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown1871 · Public DomainOn vv11–15Terrors--often mentioned in this book (Job 18:14; Job 24:17;…
Terrors--often mentioned in this book (Job 18:14; Job 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; Sa1 25:42; Hebrew). The image is that of a pursuing conqueror who scatters the enemy [UMBREIT].
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon1874 · Public DomainOn vv11–1511. Drive him — Chase him at his feet.…
11. Drive him — Chase him at his feet. These terrors, personified, resemble the furies of the Greek poets — their pursuit of the wicked man is so close that they are said to be at his heels.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges1878 · Public DomainOn vv11–1511. This verse does not seem to give a…
11. This verse does not seem to give a picture of the sinner’s conscience, but rather of his consciousness at last. The preceding verses described how he walked on snares unwitting that they were there; now he awakens to the perception of his condition, he feels the complications that surround him, and would flee from the terrors that he has come to realize.
and shall drive him to his feet] Rather, and drive him away at his heels. A spectral host of terrors pursue close behind him.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers1878 · Public DomainOn vv11–15(11) Shall drive him to his feet.—Comp. Job_15:21. One…
(11) Shall drive him to his feet.—Comp. Job_15:21. One feels very much tempted to understand this, as the English undoubtedly suggests, shall startle him to his feet, but the true meaning is, more probably, shall chase him at his heels.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary1880 · Public DomainOn vv11–15Terrors shall make him afraid on every side. Vague…
Terrors shall make him afraid on every side. Vague fears, panic terrors, no longer subjective, but to his bewildered brain objective, shall seem to menace the wicked man on every side, and shall affright him continually. There is an allusion, doubtless, to what Job has said of the gloomy and terrifying thoughts which come over him from time to time (Job_3:25 Job_7:14 Job_9:28 Job_13:21) and fill him with consternation. And shall drive him to his feet ; rather, shall chase him at his heels (see the Revised Version). Like a pack of hounds, or wolves, or jackals. Jackals are common in Palestine and the adjacent countries. They hunt in lacks, and generally run down their prey; but do not, unless hard pressed by hunger, attack men.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator1887 · Public DomainOn vv12, 14His strength shall be hunger-bitten.
Job_18:12
His strength shall be hunger-bitten.
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The hunger-biter
I. A curse which will be fulfilled upon the ungodly. It is not said that they are hunger-bitten, but that their strength is so; and if their strength is hunger-bitten, what must their weakness be? When a mans strength is bitten with hunger, what a hunger must be raging throughout the whole of his nature! A large proportion of men make their gold to be their strength, their castle, and high tower. But every ungodly man ought to know that riches are not forever, and often they take to themselves wings and flee away. If this hunger does not come upon the ungodly man during the former part of his life, it will come to him at the close of it.
II. The kind of discipline through which God puts the self-righteous when He means to save them. Many people are very religious, but are not saved. When God means to save a man, the hunger of the heart comes in and devours all his boasted excellence. Some are very satisfied because, in addition to a commendable life they have performed certain ceremonies to which they impute great sanctity. May your strength be hunger-bitten if you are resting in anything which is external and unspiritual.
III. There are many of Gods servants whose strength is lamentably hunger-bitten. They may be hunger-bitten through not feeding upon the Word of God. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0On vv12, 14General Information:
General Information:
Bildad continues to describe the wicked person.
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His wealth will turn into hunger
This speaks of the wicked man becoming poor and hungry as if his wealth were something that turned into something else. AT: "Instead of being wealthy, he will become poor and hungry" (See: Metaphor)
calamity will be ready at his side
The phrase "ready at his side" is an idiom that means that something is continually present. AT: "he will continually experience disaster" or "he will not be able to avoid calamity" (See: Idiom)
The parts of his body will be devoured
This can be stated in active form. Also, this speaks of a disease destroying his body as if it were an animal that had attacked him and was eating him. AT: "Disease will eat away at his skin" or "Disease will destroy his skin" (See: Active or Passive and Metaphor)
the firstborn of death will devour his parts
Here a disease that kills many people is referred to as "the firstborn of death." This speaks of that disease destroying his body as if it were an animal that had attacked him and was eating him. AT: "a deadly disease will destroy the different parts of his body" (See: Metaphor)
GEBible — Godless Engineer's Bible App
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv12–15 That which should nourish him shall be consumed by…
That which should nourish him shall be consumed by famine.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv11–15 Job 18:11 Terrors shall make him afraid on every…
Job 18:11 Terrors shall make him afraid on every side, and shall drive him to his feet.
Ver. 11. Terrors shall make him afraid on every side] These terrors are, as it were, the cruel sergeants and merciless officers of that king of terrors, Job 18:14, arresting him, as it were, in the devil’s name, and bringing him to justice, Apparitores et lictores (Jun.). How can it be but a terrible time with him, when death comes with a writ of Habeas corpus, Let you keep the body, and the devil with a writ of Habeas animam? Let you keep the spirit, when the cold earth must have his body, and hot hell hold his soul, according to that of the psalmist, "Let death seize upon them, and let them go down quick into hell: for wickedness is in their dwellings, and among them," Psa 55:15. The sad forethought hereof causeth many unutterable griefs and grapings, perplexities of spirit and convulsions of soul, a very hell above ground, and a foretaste of eternal torments. The word here rendered terror signifieth utmost frights, such as put a man well nigh out of his wits and distract him. R. Solomon understandeth it to be devils; others to be furies, such as the poets feign. Most certain it is, that a body is not so tormented with stings or torn with stripes as a mind with remembrance of wicked actions and fear of future evils (Cic. Orat. pro Rose. Amer.).
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And shall drive him to his feet] As they did Cain, that wretch, Qui factus est a corde sua fugitivus (Tertul.), who would fain have fled from his own conscience (if he could have known whither), and become a fugitive and a vagabond upon the earth, Gen 4:12, seeking to outrun his terrors, which yet dogged him hard at the heels. They shall press him at his feet, so Broughton readeth this text.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv11–15 Terrors; both from men, and from God, and from…
Terrors; both from men, and from God, and from his own unquiet mind and guilty conscience.
Shall drive him to his feet; shall force him to flee hither and thither, and he knows not whither, being secure and safe no where, but pursued by terrors from place to place.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v11 Bildad here describes the destruction itself which wicked people…
Bildad here describes the destruction itself which wicked people are reserved for in the other world, and which, in some degree, often seizes them in this world. Come, and see what a miserable condition the sinner is in when his day comes to fall.
I. See him disheartened and weakened by continual terrors arising from the sense of his own guilt and the dread of God's wrath (Job 18:11, Job 18:12): Terror shall make him afraid on every side. The terrors of his own conscience shall haunt him, so that he shall never be easy. Wherever he goes, these shall follow him; which way soever he looks, these shall stare him in the face. It will make him tremble to see himself fought against by the whole creation, to see Heaven frowning on him, hell gaping for him, and earth sick of him. He that carries his own accuser, and his own tormentor, always in his bosom, cannot but be afraid on every side. This will drive him to his feet, like the malefactor, who, being conscious of his own guilt, takes to his heels and flees when none pursues, Pro 28:1. But his feet will do him no service; they are fast in the snare, Job 18:9. The sinner may as soon overpower the divine omnipotence as flee from the divine omniscience, Amo 9:2, Amo 9:3. No marvel that the sinner is dispirited and distracted with fear, for, 1. He sees his ruin approaching: Destruction shall be ready at his side, to seize him whenever justice gives the word, so that he is brought into desolation in a moment, Psa 73:19. 2. He feels himself utterly unable to grapple with it, either to escape it or to bear up under it. That which he relied upon as his strength (his wealth, power, pomp, friends, and the hardiness of his own spirit) shall fail him in the time of need, and be hunger-bitten, that is, it shall do him no more service than a famished man, pining away for hunger, would do in work or war. The case being thus with him, no marvel that he is a terror to himself. Note, The way of sin is a way of fear, and leads to everlasting confusion, of which the present terrors of an impure and unpacified conscience are earnests, as they were to Cain and Judas.
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II. See him devoured and swallowed up by a miserable death; and miserable indeed a wicked man's death is, how secure and jovial soever his life was. 1. See him dying, arrested by the first-born of death (some disease, or some stroke that has in it a more than ordinary resemblance of death itself; so great a death, as it is called, Co2 1:10, a messenger of death that has in it an uncommon strength and terror), weakened by the harbingers of death, which devour the strength of his skin, that is, it shall bring rottenness into his bones and consume them. His confidence shall then be rooted out of his tabernacle (Job 18:14), that is, all that he trusted to for his support shall be taken from him, and he shall have nothing to rely upon, no, not his own tabernacle. His own soul was his confidence, but that shall be rooted out of the tabernacle of the body, as a tree that cumbered the ground. "Thy soul shall be required of thee." 2. See him dead, and see his case then with an eye of faith. (1.) He is then brought to the king of terrors. He was surrounded with terrors while he lived (Job 18:11), and death was the king of all those terrors; they fought against the sinner in death's name, for it is by reason of death that sinners are all their lifetime subject to bondage (Heb 2:15), and at length they will be brought to that which they so long feared, as a captive to the conqueror. Death is terrible to nature; our Saviour himself prayed, Father, save me from this hour. But to the wicked it is in a special manner the king of terrors, both as it is a period to that life in which they placed their happiness and a passage to that life where they will find their endless misery. How happy then are the saints, and how much indebted to the Lord Jesus, by whom death is so far abolished, and the property of it altered, that this king of terrors becomes a friend and servant! (2.) He is then driven from the light into darkness (Job 18:18), from the light of this world, and his prosperous condition in it, into darkness, the darkness of the grave, the darkness of hell, into utter darkness, never to see light (Psa 49:19), not the least gleam, nor any hopes of it. (3.) He is then chased out of the world, hurried and dragged away by the messengers of death, sorely against his will, chased as Adam out of paradise, for the world is his paradise. It intimates that he would fain stay here; he is loth to depart, but go he must; all the world is weary of him, and therefore chases him out, as glad to get rid of him. This is death to a wicked man.
III. See his family sunk and cut off, Job 18:15. The wrath and curse of God light and lie, not only upon his head and heart, but upon his house too, to consume it with the timber and stones thereof, Zac 5:4. Death itself shall dwell in his tabernacle, and, having expelled him, shall take possession of his house, to the terror and destruction of all that he leaves behind. Even the dwelling shall be ruined for the sake of its owner: Brimstone shall be scattered upon his habitation, rained upon it as upon Sodom, to the destruction of which this seems to have reference. Some think he here upbraids Job with the burning of his sheep and servants with fire from heaven. The reason is here given why his tabernacle is thus marked for ruin: Because it is none of his; that is, it was unjustly got, and kept, from the rightful owner, and therefore let him not expect either the comfort or the continuance of it. His children shall perish, either with him or after him, Job 18:16. So that, his roots being in his own person dried up beneath, above his branch (every child of his family) shall be cut off. Thus the houses of Jeroboam, Baasha, and Ahab, were cut off; none that descended from them were left alive. Those who take root in the earth may expect it will thus be dried up; but, if we be rooted in Christ, even our leaf shall not wither, much less shall our branch be cut off. Those who consult the true honour of their family, and the welfare of its branches, will be afraid of withering it by sin. The extirpation of the sinner's family is mentioned again (Job 18:19): He shall neither have son nor nephew, child nor grandchild, to enjoy his estate and bear up his name, nor shall there be any remaining in his dwelling akin to him. Sin entails a curse upon posterity, and the iniquity of the fathers is often visited upon the children. Herein, also, it is probable that Bildad reflects upon the death of Job's children and servants, as a further proof of his being a wicked man; whereas all that are written childless are not thereby written graceless; there is a name better than that of sons and daughters.
IV. See his memory buried with him, or made odious; he shall either be forgotten or spoken of with dishonour (Job 18:17): His remembrance shall perish from the earth; and, if it perish thence, it perishes wholly, for it was never written in heaven, as the names of the saints are, Luk 10:20. All his honour shall be laid and lost in the dust, or stained with perpetual infamy, so that he shall have no name in the street, departing without being desired. Thus the judgments of God follow him, after death, in this world, as an indication of the misery his soul is in after death, and an earnest of that everlasting shame and contempt to which he shall rise in the great day. The memory of the just is blessed, but the name of the wicked shall rot, Pro 10:7.
V. See a universal amazement at his fall, Job 18:20. Those that see it are affrighted, so sudden is the change, so dreadful the execution, so threatening to all about him: and those that come after, and hear the report of it, are astonished at it; their ears are made to tingle, and their hearts to tremble, and they cry out, Lord, how terrible art thou in thy judgments! A place or person utterly ruined is said to be made an astonishment, Deu 28:37; Ch2 7:21; Jer 25:9, Jer 25:18. Horrible sins bring strange punishments.
VI. See all this averred as the unanimous sense of the patriarchal age, grounded upon their knowledge of God and their many observations of his providence (Job 18:21): Surely such are the dwellings of the wicked, and this is the place (this the condition) of him that knows not God! See here what is the beginning, and what is the end, of the wickedness of this wicked world. 1. The beginning of it is ignorance of God, and it is a wilful ignorance, for there is that to be known of him which is sufficient to leave them for ever inexcusable. They know not God, and then they commit all iniquity. Pharaoh knows not the Lord, and therefore will not obey his voice. 2. The end of it, and that is utter destruction. Such, so miserable, are the dwellings of the wicked. Vengeance will be taken of those that know not God, Th2 1:8. For those whom he has not honour from he will get himself honour upon. Let us therefore stand in awe and not sin, for it will certainly be bitterness in the latter end.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv11–15 His strength shall be hungerbitten,.... Or "shall be famine"…
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 support of man's nature is taken from him: many of the Jewish writers, by "his strength", understand his children, who are, as Jacob said of Reuben, his might, and the beginning of his strength, Gen 49:3; and when grown up are his protection and defence; and for these to be distressed with hunger, or destroyed by famine, is a sore judgment; so the Targum paraphrases it, his firstborn son; Jarchi interprets it, his son; and Ben Gersom, his seed or offspring:
and destruction shall be ready at his side; or "to his rib" (w); that is, his wife, as the Targum and Jarchi explain it, the Jews calling a man's wife his rib, because the woman was originally made out of one of the ribs of man; and if this could be thought to be the sense of the word here, and what is given by them of the former clause, both make up a complete account of the destruction of a wicked man's family, his wife and children: but rather it signifies some calamity, distress, and trouble at hand, ready prepared for wicked men, just going to be inflicted on them; for God has stores of vengeance for them, and has made ready his bow, and prepared instruments and arrows of death and destruction for them, as well as there is everlasting fire prepared, and blackness of darkness reserved for them in the world to come; for it can hardly be thought that this should be understood literally of any disease in the side, as the pleurisy, &c. which is threatening, or any mortal wound or stab there, such as Joab gave Amass under the fifth rib.
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(u) "fames", Beza. (w) "costae ejus", Montanus, Vatablus, Grotius, Schultens.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv13–15 First-born - A terrible kind of death. The first-born…
First-born - A terrible kind of death. The first-born was the chief of his brethren, and therefore this title is given to things eminent in their kind.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv13–15 Verse 13. It shall devour the strength of his…
Verse 13. It shall devour the strength of his skin] This may refer to the elephant, or to the rhinoceros, whose skin scarcely any dart can pierce: but in the case referred to above, the animal is taken in a pitfall, and then the first-born of death - a sudden and overwhelming stroke - deprives him of life. See the account of hunting the elephant in the East at the end of the chapter. See Clarke on Job 18:21. The Chaldee has: "The strength of his skin shall devour his flesh; and the angel of death shall consume his children."
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv11, 13, 14, 15 Job 18:11-12. Terrors shall make him afraid — Both…
Job 18:11-12. Terrors shall make him afraid — Both from men and from God, and also from his own unquiet mind and guilty conscience. And drive him to his feet — Shall force him to flee different ways, being safe nowhere, but pursued by terrors from place to place, which, as Houbigant renders it, shall be spread around his feet. His strength — Either his children, who are, and are called a man’s strength, Gen 49:3; Psa 127:4, or rather, his wealth, power, and prosperity; shall be hunger-bitten — Or famished, that is, utterly consumed. The Vulgate renders it, His strength shall be eaten by famine. And destruction shall be ready at his side — Shall attend him as a constant companion, or follow him at the heels as a diligent servant. Or, he may allude to an arrow fitted to a string, and ready to be discharged at him.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv11–15 Terrors shall make him afraid - He shall be…
Terrors shall make him afraid - He shall be constantly subject to alarms, and shall never feel secure. “Terrors here are represented as allegorical persons, like the Furies in the Greek poets.” Noyes. The idea here is substantially the same as that given by Eliphaz, Job 15:21-22.
And shall drive him to his feet - Margin, scatter. This is a literal translation of the Hebrew. The idea is, that he will be alarmed by such terrors; his self-composure will be dissipated, and he will “take to his heels.”
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv11, 13, 14, 15 Fears. Hunters used to place loose feathers round the…
Fears. Hunters used to place loose feathers round the wood, except where the gin was laid, in order to frighten the prey into it. Puniceæque agitant formidine pennæ. (Georg. iii.)
(Jeremias xlviii. 44.) "Like timid stags, while you avoid the moving feathers, you are entrapped in the strongest nets." (St. Jerome, contra Lucif.) --- Every thing tends to fill the poor beast with alarm. So the devil, conscience, and enemies on all sides, best the wicked. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv11–15 Terrors--often mentioned in this book (Job 18:14; Job 24:17;…
Terrors--often mentioned in this book (Job 18:14; Job 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; Sa1 25:42; Hebrew). The image is that of a pursuing conqueror who scatters the enemy [UMBREIT].
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv11–15 11. Drive him — Chase him at his feet.…
11. Drive him — Chase him at his feet. These terrors, personified, resemble the furies of the Greek poets — their pursuit of the wicked man is so close that they are said to be at his heels.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv11–15 11. This verse does not seem to give a…
11. This verse does not seem to give a picture of the sinner’s conscience, but rather of his consciousness at last. The preceding verses described how he walked on snares unwitting that they were there; now he awakens to the perception of his condition, he feels the complications that surround him, and would flee from the terrors that he has come to realize.
and shall drive him to his feet] Rather, and drive him away at his heels. A spectral host of terrors pursue close behind him.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv11–15 (11) Shall drive him to his feet.—Comp. Job_15:21. One…
(11) Shall drive him to his feet.—Comp. Job_15:21. One feels very much tempted to understand this, as the English undoubtedly suggests, shall startle him to his feet, but the true meaning is, more probably, shall chase him at his heels.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv11–15 Terrors shall make him afraid on every side. Vague…
Terrors shall make him afraid on every side. Vague fears, panic terrors, no longer subjective, but to his bewildered brain objective, shall seem to menace the wicked man on every side, and shall affright him continually. There is an allusion, doubtless, to what Job has said of the gloomy and terrifying thoughts which come over him from time to time (Job_3:25 Job_7:14 Job_9:28 Job_13:21) and fill him with consternation. And shall drive him to his feet ; rather, shall chase him at his heels (see the Revised Version). Like a pack of hounds, or wolves, or jackals. Jackals are common in Palestine and the adjacent countries. They hunt in lacks, and generally run down their prey; but do not, unless hard pressed by hunger, attack men.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv12, 14 His strength shall be hunger-bitten.
Job_18:12
His strength shall be hunger-bitten.
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The hunger-biter
I. A curse which will be fulfilled upon the ungodly. It is not said that they are hunger-bitten, but that their strength is so; and if their strength is hunger-bitten, what must their weakness be? When a mans strength is bitten with hunger, what a hunger must be raging throughout the whole of his nature! A large proportion of men make their gold to be their strength, their castle, and high tower. But every ungodly man ought to know that riches are not forever, and often they take to themselves wings and flee away. If this hunger does not come upon the ungodly man during the former part of his life, it will come to him at the close of it.
II. The kind of discipline through which God puts the self-righteous when He means to save them. Many people are very religious, but are not saved. When God means to save a man, the hunger of the heart comes in and devours all his boasted excellence. Some are very satisfied because, in addition to a commendable life they have performed certain ceremonies to which they impute great sanctity. May your strength be hunger-bitten if you are resting in anything which is external and unspiritual.
III. There are many of Gods servants whose strength is lamentably hunger-bitten. They may be hunger-bitten through not feeding upon the Word of God. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv12, 14 General Information:
General Information:
Bildad continues to describe the wicked person.
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His wealth will turn into hunger
This speaks of the wicked man becoming poor and hungry as if his wealth were something that turned into something else. AT: "Instead of being wealthy, he will become poor and hungry" (See: Metaphor)
calamity will be ready at his side
The phrase "ready at his side" is an idiom that means that something is continually present. AT: "he will continually experience disaster" or "he will not be able to avoid calamity" (See: Idiom)
The parts of his body will be devoured
This can be stated in active form. Also, this speaks of a disease destroying his body as if it were an animal that had attacked him and was eating him. AT: "Disease will eat away at his skin" or "Disease will destroy his skin" (See: Active or Passive and Metaphor)
the firstborn of death will devour his parts
Here a disease that kills many people is referred to as "the firstborn of death." This speaks of that disease destroying his body as if it were an animal that had attacked him and was eating him. AT: "a deadly disease will destroy the different parts of his body" (See: Metaphor)
translationWords
body
devour
firstborn
die
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv11, 13, 15 18:11-13 Bildad applies the biblical principle of retribution (18:8-10)…
18:11-13 Bildad applies the biblical principle of retribution (18:8-10) to Job, as do Eliphaz (15:21-23) and Zophar (20:25).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.