“Why aren’t times laid up by the Almighty? Why don’t those who know him see his days?
There are people who remove the landmarks. They violently take away flocks, and feed them.
They drive away the donkey of the fatherless, and they take the widow’s ox for a pledge.
They turn the needy out of the way. The poor of the earth all hide themselves.
Behold, as wild donkeys in the desert, they go out to their work, seeking diligently for food. The wilderness yields them bread for their children.
They cut their food in the field. They glean the vineyard of the wicked.
They lie all night naked without clothing, and have no covering in the cold.
They are wet with the showers of the mountains, and embrace the rock for lack of a shelter.
There are those who pluck the fatherless from the breast, and take a pledge of the poor,
So that they go around naked without clothing. Being hungry, they carry the sheaves.
They make oil within the walls of these men. They tread wine presses, and suffer thirst.
From out of the populous city, men groan. The soul of the wounded cries out, yet God doesn’t regard the folly.
“These are of those who rebel against the light. They don’t know its ways, nor stay in its paths.
The murderer rises with the light. He kills the poor and needy. In the night he is like a thief.
The eye also of the adulterer waits for the twilight, saying, ‘No eye will see me.’ He disguises his face.
In the dark they dig through houses. They shut themselves up in the daytime. They don’t know the light.
For the morning is to all of them like thick darkness, for they know the terrors of the thick darkness.
“They are foam on the surface of the waters. Their portion is cursed in the earth. They don’t turn into the way of the vineyards.
Drought and heat consume the snow waters, so does Sheol those who have sinned.
The womb will forget him. The worm will feed sweetly on him. He will be no more remembered. Unrighteousness will be broken as a tree.
He devours the barren who don’t bear. He shows no kindness to the widow.
Yet God preserves the mighty by his power. He rises up who has no assurance of life.
God gives them security, and they rest in it. His eyes are on their ways.
They are exalted; yet a little while, and they are gone. Yes, 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.
If it isn’t so now, who will prove me a liar, and make my speech worth nothing?”
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv1, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 25 Thus Job speaketh in his passions, and after the…
Thus Job speaketh in his passions, and after the judgment of the flesh: that is, that he seeth not the things that are done at times, neither yet hath a peculiar care over all, because he punisheth not the wicked, nor revengeth the godly.
When he punisheth the wicked, and rewardeth the good.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv1–25 Job 24:1 Why, seeing times are not hidden from…
Job 24:1 Why, seeing times are not hidden from the Almighty, do they that know him not see his days?
Ver. 1. Why, seeing times are not hidden from the Almighty] Heb. Why are not times hidden from the Almighty? q.d. Who could think any otherwise, that had not been at the sanctuary, Psa 73:17, and there heard, Woe to the wicked! it shall go ill with him, for the reward of his hands shall be (sooner or later) given unto him? Isa 3:11. The Jewish doctors conclude, but falsely, from this text, that Job denied the Divine providence. And the Vulgate Latin, to solve the matter and save Job from the imputation of epicurism, takes the boldness to leave out the interrogative why, and rendereth it thus, The times are not hidden from the Almighty; lest, by making it a question, Job should affirm that times and events are hidden from God, or at least should wish and desire that they were so. Vatablus thinketh that Job here putteth on the person of one that denieth God’s providence, or at least doubteth it; as if he should say, Ye, my friends, say that nothing is hidden from God, and I now demand of you how the times, and those things which are done in time, can be otherwise than hid from him, when as we see wicked men so to take their swing in sin, and yet, for aught we see, to escape unpunished? It should seem, by his winking at wicked practices, that he takes no care how things are carried in this present world; as certainly he would do were he diligens mundi oeconomus, aut rerum humanarum conscius (Brent.). This indeed might stagger a David or a Jeremiah in a passion, as Psa 73:2-17 Jer 12:1, and make a Diagoras or an Averroes turn atheist; but Job was better instructed in this point, as appeareth by many passages in this Book. See Job 21:16; Job 21:22. Neither can any such thing be concluded from this text, if we take in the latter part of the verse.
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Do they that know him not see his days?] The whole verse should be read thus, Why are not times hidden from the Almighty, seeing that they that know him do not see his days? that is, since his most knowing servants could never observe the times and the seasons (of punishing graceless persons here) which he hath put in his own power, Act 1:7. Abraham indeed (by special favour) was told that Sodom should be suddenly destroyed. And Moses could say, Wrath is gone out from the Lord, take a censer, &c., Num 16:46. As any one is more faithful and familiar with God, so much better and earlier doth he discern his judgments on the wicked, and is affected therewith. See Hab 3:16. {See Trapp on "Hab 3:16"} But there is no certain rule given us by what punishment to conclude a man wicked; neither can we safely say at what time or what manner and measure God will punish the ungodly in this present life. That of Austin is very right. Some wicked God punisheth here, lest his providence, and but some, lest his patience and promise of judgment, should be called into question.
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 vv1–25 The sense of the words according to this translation…
The sense of the words according to this translation is this,
Why, ( how comes it to pass,)
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seeing times (i.e. the several times of every man’s life, how long he shall live, or the fittest seasons and opportunities (which are oft called times, as Gen 24:11; Psa 31:15; 119:126; Act 1:6,7) for every action, and particularly for the punishment of wicked men, about which the present controversy was)
are not hidden from or unknown to the almighty God, ( i.e. seeing all times, and men that live, and things that are done, or to be done, in their tines and seasons, are exactly known to God,)
do they that know him (i.e. who love and obey him, as that word is oft used, as, Psa 9:10; 36:10; 91:14, or they who observe and regard his ways and works done in the world)
not see (whence is it that they cannot discern)
his (i.e. God’s)
days, i.e. his times and seasons which he takes for the punishment of ungodly men? which if they were constant and fixed in this life, as you pretend they are, they would not be unknown to good men, to whom God useth to reveal his secrets, and they could not be unobserved by so many good men, who make it their business to mind and study the works of God, and especially the course and methods of his providence towards good and bad men. The times or days of God’s executing judgments upon sinners are frequently called the days of the Lord, as Isa 2:12; 13:6; Jer 46:10; compare Job 20:28; Pro 6:34; Act 2:20; as the time of man’s judging is called man’s day, 1Co 4:3. But this verse is in part, and may very agreeably to the Hebrew text be rendered and interpreted thus, Why or how are not times (i.e. the times and seasons appointed for the punishment of evil-doers, about which the dispute was) hidden or reserved by or with God, (i.e. kept as a secret in his own breast, and concealed from the knowledge of mankind. How can you say or think with any colour that these times are fixed and manifest to all men, and that sinners are constantly punished in this life, and that so notoriously that all good men see it, as was said, Job 22:15-19) seeing (as the particle you is rendered, Job 19:28; or for, as it is frequently used) they that know him (that give themselves to understand and consider his doings in the world, who of all men are most likely to know this, if it were true and certain) do not see his days, to wit, of punishing the wicked in this life? as was said before. And this he mentions as a fit preface to usher in the following discourse concerning the manifold wickedness of men, and withal their present impunity.
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 vv1, 13, 18 Job's friends had been very positive in it that…
Job's friends had been very positive in it that they should soon see the fall of wicked people, how much soever they might prosper for a while. By no means, says Job; though times are not hidden from the Almighty, yet those that know him do not presently see his day, Job 24:1. 1. He takes it for granted that times are not hidden from the Almighty; past times are not hidden from his judgment (Ecc 3:15), present times are not hidden from his providence (Mat 10:29), future times are not hidden from his prescience, Act 15:18. God governs the world, and therefore we may be sure he takes cognizance of it. Bad times are not hidden from him, though the bad men that make the times bad say one to another, He has forsaken the earth, Psa 94:6, Psa 94:7. Every man's times are in his hand, and under his eye, and therefore it is in his power to make the times of wicked men in this world miserable. He foresees the time of every man's death, and therefore, if wicked men die before they are punished for their wickedness, we cannot say, "They escaped him by surprise;" he foresaw it, nay, he ordered it. Before Job will enquire into the reasons of the prosperity of wicked men he asserts God's omniscience, as one prophet, in a similar case, asserts his righteousness (Jer 12:1), another his holiness (Hab 1:13), another his goodness to his own people, Psa 73:1. General truths must be held fast, though we may find it difficult to reconcile them to particular events. 2. He yet asserts that those who know him (that is, wise and good people who are acquainted with him, and with whom his secret is) do not see his day, - the day of his judging for them; this was the thing he complained of in his own case (Job 23:8), that he could not see God appearing on his behalf to plead his cause, - the day of his judging against open and notorious sinners, that is called his day, Psa 37:13. We believe that day will come, but we do not see it, because it is future, and its presages are secret. 3. Though this is a mystery of Providence, yet there is a reason for it, and we shall shortly know why the judgment is deferred; even the wisest, and those who know God best, do not yet see it. God will exercise their faith and patience, and excite their prayers for the coming of his kingdom, for which they are to cry day and night to him, Luk 18:7.
For the proof of this, that wicked people prosper, Job specifies two sorts of unrighteous ones, whom all the world saw thriving in their iniquity: -
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I. Tyrants, and those that do wrong under pretence of law and authority. It is a melancholy sight which has often been seen under the sun, wickedness in the place of judgment (Ecc 3:16), the unregarded tears of the oppressed, while on the side of the oppressors there was power (Ecc 4:1), the violent perverting of justice and judgment, Ecc 5:8. 1. They disseize their neighbours of their real estates, which came to them by descent from their ancestors. They remove the land-marks, under pretence that they were misplaced (Job 24:2), and so they encroach upon their neighbours' rights and think they effectually secure that to their posterity which they have got wrongfully, by making that to be an evidence for them which should have been an evidence for the rightful owner. This was forbidden by the law of Moses (Deu 19:14), under a curse, Deu 27:17. Forging or destroying deeds is now a crime equivalent to this. 2. They dispossess them of their personal estates, under colour of justice. They violently take away flocks, pretending they are forfeited, and feed thereof; as the rich man took the poor man's ewe lamb, Sa2 12:4. If a poor fatherless child has but an ass of his own to get a little money with, they find some colour or other to take it away, because the owner is not able to contest with them. It is all one if a widow has but an ox for what little husbandry she has; under pretence of distraining for some small debt, or arrears of rent, this ox shall be taken for a pledge, though perhaps it is the widow's all. God has taken it among the titles of his honour to be a Father of the fatherless and a judge of the widows; and therefore those will not be reckoned his friends that do not to their utmost protect and help them; but those he will certainly reckon with as his enemies that vex and oppress them. 3. They take all occasions to offer personal abuses to them, Job 24:4. They will mislead them if they can when they meet them on the high-way, so that the poor and needy are forced to hide themselves from them, having no other way to secure themselves from them. They love in their hearts to banter people, and to make fools of them, and do them a mischief if they can, especially to triumph over poor people, whom they turn out of the way of getting relief, threaten to punish them as vagabonds, and so force them to abscond, and laugh at them when they have done. Some understand those barbarous actions (Job 24:9, Job 24:10) to be done by those oppressors that pretend law for what they do: They pluck the fatherless from the breast; that is, having made poor infants fatherless, they make them motherless too; having taken away the father's life, they break the mother's heart, and so starve the children and leave them to perish. Pharaoh and Herod plucked children from the breast to the sword; and we read of children brought forth to the murderers, Hos 9:13. Those are inhuman murderers indeed that can with so much pleasure suck innocent blood. They take a pledge of the poor, and so they rob the spital; nay, they take the poor themselves for a pledge (as some read it), and probably it was under this pretence that they plucked the fatherless from the breast, distraining them for slaves, as Neh 5:5. Cruelty to the poor is great wickedness and cries aloud for vengeance. Those who show no mercy to such as lie at their mercy shall themselves have judgment without mercy. Another instance of their barbarous treatment of those they have advantage against is that they take from them even their necessary food and raiment; they squeeze them so with their extortion that they cause them to go naked without clothing (Job 24:10) and so catch their death. And if a poor hungry family has gleaned a sheaf of corn, to make a little cake of, that they may eat it and die, even that they take away from them, being well pleased to see them perish for want, while they themselves are fed to the full. 4. They are very oppressive to the labourers they employ in their service. They not only give them no wages, though the labourer is worthy of his hire (and this is a crying sin, Jam 5:4), but they will not so much as give them meat and drink: Those that carry their sheaves are hungry; so some read it (Job 24:10), and it agrees with Job 24:11, that those who make oil within their walls, and with a great deal of toil labour at the wine-presses, yet suffer thirst, which was worse than muzzling the mouth of the ox that treads out the corn. Those masters forget that they have a Master in heaven who will not allow the necessary supports of life to their servants and labourers, not caring whether they can live by their labour or no. 5. It is not only among the poor country people, but in the cities also, that we see the tears of the oppressed (Job 24:12): Men groan from out of the city, where the rich merchants and traders are as cruel with their poor debtors as the landlords in the country are with their poor tenants. In cities such cruel actions as these are more observed than in obscure corners of the country and the wronged have easier access to justice to right themselves; and yet the oppressors there fear neither the restraints of the law nor the just censures of their neighbours, but the oppressed groan and cry out like wounded men, and can no more ease and help themselves, for the oppressors are inexorable and deaf to their groans.
II. He speaks of robbers, and those that do wrong by downright force, as the bands of the Sabeans and Chaldeans, which had lately plundered him. He does not mention them particularly, lest he should seem partial to his own cause, and to judge of men (as we are apt to do) by what they are to us; but among the Arabians, the children of the east (Job's country), there were those that lived by spoil and rapine, making incursions upon their neighbours, and robbing travellers. See how they are described here, and what mischief they do, Job 24:5-8. 1. Their character is that they are as wild asses in the desert, untamed, untractable, unreasonable, Ishmael's character (Gen 16:12), fierce and furious, and under no restraint of law or government, Jer 2:23, Jer 2:24. They choose the deserts for their dwelling, that they may be lawless and unsociable, and that they may have opportunity of doing the more mischief. The desert is indeed the fittest place for such wild people, Job 39:6. But no desert can set men out of the reach of God's eye and hand. 2. Their trade is to steal, and to make a prey of all about them. They have chosen it as their trade; it is their work, because there is more to be got by it, and it is got more easily, than by an honest calling. They follow it as their trade; they follow it closely; they go forth to it as their work, as man goes forth to his labour, Psa 104:23. They are diligent and take pains at it: They rise betimes for a prey. If a traveller be out early, they will be out as soon to rob him. They live by it as a man lives by his trade: The wilderness (not the grounds there but the roads there) yieldeth food for them and for their children; they maintain themselves and their families by robbing on the high-way, and bless themselves in it without any remorse of compassion or conscience, and with as much security as if it were honestly got; as Ephraim, Hos 12:7, Hos 12:8. 3. See the mischief they do to the country. They not only rob travellers, but they make incursions upon their neighbours, and reap every one his corn in the field (Job 24:6), that is, they enter upon other people's ground, cut their corn, and carry it away as freely as if it were their own. Even the wicked gather the vintage, and it is their wickedness; or, as we read it, They gather the vintage of the wicked, and so one wicked man is made a scourge to another. What the wicked got by extortion (which is their way of stealing) these robbers get from them in their way of stealing; thus oftentimes are the spoilers spoiled, Isa 33:1. 4. The misery of those that fall into their hands (Job 24:7, Job 24:8): They cause the naked, whom they have stripped, not leaving them the clothes to their backs, to lodge, in the cold nights, without clothing, so that they are wet with the showers of the mountains, and, for want of a better shelter, embrace the rock, and are glad of a cave or den in it to preserve them from the injuries of the weather. Eliphaz had charged Job with such inhumanity as this, concluding that Providence would not thus have stripped him if he had not first stripped the naked of their clothing, Job 22:6. Job here tells him there were those that were really guilty of those crimes with which he was unjustly charged and yet prospered and had success in their villanies, the curse they laid themselves under working invisibly; and Job thinks it more just to argue as he did, from an open notorious course of wickedness inferring a secret and future punishment, than to argue as Eliphaz did, who from nothing but present trouble inferred a course of past secret iniquity. The impunity of these oppressors and spoilers is expressed in one word (Job 24:12): Yet God layeth not folly to them, that is, he does not immediately prosecute them with his judgments for these crimes, nor make them examples, and so evince their folly to all the world. He that gets riches, and not by right, at his end shall be a fool, Jer 17:11. But while he prospers he passes for a wise man, and God lays not folly to him until he saith, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee, Luk 12:20.
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 vv1–25 Why, seeing times are not hidden from the Almighty,....…
Why, seeing times are not hidden from the Almighty,.... Which seems to be an inference deduced from what he had said in Job 23:14; that since all things are appointed by God, and his appointments are punctually performed by him, the times of his carrying his purposes and decrees into execution cannot be hidden from him; for, as he has determined what shall be done, he has determined the time before appointed for the doing of them; as there is a purpose for everything under the heavens, there is a time set for the execution of that purpose, which must be known unto God that has fixed it; for as all his works are known to him from the beginning, or from eternity, the times when those works should be wrought must also be known to him. The Vulgate Latin, version reduces the words to a categorical proposition, "times are not hidden from the Almighty"; either temporal things, as Sephorno interprets it, things done in time, or the times of doing those things; no sort of time is hid from God; time respecting the world in general, its beginning, duration, and end; all seasons in it, day and night, summer and winter, seedtime and harvest, which are all fixed and settled by him; the several distinct ages and periods of time, into which it has been divided; the old and new world, the legal and Gospel dispensation, the various generations in it; the four great monarchies of the world, their rise, and duration, and end, with all other lesser kingdoms and states; time respecting the inhabitants of the world, their coming into and passing out of it in successive generations, the time of their birth, and of their death, and of adversity and prosperity, which interchangeably take place during their abode in it; and particularly the people of God, the time of their redemption by Christ, of their conversion by the grace of God, and all their times of darkness, desertion, temptation, and afflictions, and of peace, joy, and comfort; time, past and future, respecting the church of God, and the state of it, and all things relative thereunto; and the times of Israel's affliction in a land not theirs, four hundred years, and of their seventy years' captivity in Babylon, were not hidden from the Almighty, but foretold by him; the suffering times of the church under the New Testament; the ten persecutions of it by the Roman emperors; the flight and nourishment of it in the wilderness for a time, and times, and half a time; the treading down of the holy city forty two months; the witnesses prophesying: in sackcloth 1260 days; the killing of them, and their bodies lying unburied three days and a half, and then rising; the reign of antichrist forty two months, at the end of which antichristian time will be no more; the time of Christ's coming to judgment, which is a day appointed, though unknown to men and angels, and the reign of Christ on earth for a thousand years; all these times are not hidden from, but known to the Almighty, even all time, past, present, and to come, and all things that have been, are, or shall be done therein. Several Jewish commentators (c) interpret these words as an expostulation or wish, "why are not times hidden?" &c. if they were, I should not wonder at it that those that knew him do not know what shall be; but he knows the times and days in which wicked men will do wickedness, why is he silent? Mr. Broughton, and others (d), render them, "why are not", or "why should not times be hidden by the Almighty?" that is, be hidden in his own breast from men, as they are; for the times and seasons it is not for man to know, which God has put in his own power, Act 1:6; as the times of future troubles, of a man's death, and the day of judgment; it is but right and fit, on many accounts, that they should be hid by him from them; but others of later date translate the words perhaps much better, "why are not certain stated times laid up", or "reserved by the Almighty" (e)? that is, for punishing wicked men in this, life, as would be the case, Job suggests, if it was true what his friends had asserted, that wicked men are always punished here: and then upon this another question follows, why
do they that know him not see his days? that know him not merely by the light of nature, but as revealed in Christ; and that have not a mere knowledge of him, but a spiritual and experimental one; who know him so as to love him, believe in him, fear, serve, and worship him; and who have a greater knowledge of him than others may have, and have an intimate acquaintance and familiarity with him, are his bosom friends; and if there are fixed times for punishing the wicked in this life, how comes it to pass that these friends of God, to whom he reveals his secrets, cannot see and observe any such days and times of his as these? but, on the contrary, observe, even to the stumbling of the greatest saints, that the wicked prosper and increase in riches. Job seems to refer to what Eliphaz had said, Job 22:19; which he here tacitly denies, and proves the contrary by various instances, as follows.
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(c) Aben Ezra, Nachmanides, & Simeon Bar Tzemach. (d) "quinam ab omnipotente", Beza; so Junius & Tremellius. (e) "Quare ab omnipotente non sunt recondita in poenam stata tempora", 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 vv1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 Job shews that open sinners are often prosperous, ver.…
Job shews that open sinners are often prosperous, ver. 1-12. That secret sinners often pass undiscovered, ver. 13-18. That God punishes such by secret judgments, and reserves them for future judgment, ver. 19-25.
Why - Why (how comes it to pass) seeing times, (the fittest seasons for every, action, and particularly for the punishment of wicked men,) are not hidden from, or unknown to the Almighty God, (seeing all times, and men that live, and things that are done, or to be done in their times and seasons, are exactly known to God) do they that know him, (who love and obey him) not see (whence is it that they cannot discern) his (that is, God's) days? His times and seasons which he takes for the punishment of ungodly men; which if they were constant and fixed in this life, they would not be unknown to good men, to whom God uses to reveal his secrets.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 Job asserts that there are various transgressors whose
CHAPTER XXIV
Job asserts that there are various transgressors whose
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wickedness is not visited on them in this life; and
particularizes the adjust and oppressive, 1-6;
those who are cruel to the poor, 7-13;
the murderer, 14;
the adulterer, 15;
thieves and plunderers, 16, 17.
Nevertheless they have an accursed portion, and shall die, and
their memory perish, 18-20.
He speaks of the abuse of power, and of the punishment of
oppressors, 21-24;
and asserts that what he has said on these subjects cannot be
contradicted, 25.
NOTES ON CHAP. XXIV
Verse 1. Why, seeing times are not hidden from the Almighty] Mr. Good translates: "Wherefore are not doomsdays kept by the Almighty, so that his offenders may eye their periods?" Doomsdays are here used in the same sense as term times; and the wish is, that God would appoint such times that the falsely accused might look forward to them with comfort; knowing that, on their arrival, they should have a fair hearing, and their innocence be publicly declared; and their detractors, and the unjust in general, meet with their deserts. But God reserves the knowledge of these things to himself. "The holy patriarch," says Mr. Good, "has uniformly admitted that in the aggregate scale of Providence the just are rewarded and the wicked punished for their respective deeds, in some period or other of their lives. But he has contended in various places, and especially in Job 21:7-13, that the exceptions to this general rule are numerous: so numerous, as to be sufficient to render the whole scheme of providential interposition perfectly mysterious and incomprehensible, Job 23:8-12; so in the passage before us: if the retribution ye speak of be universal, and which I am ready to admit to a certain extent to be true and unquestionable, I not only ask, Why do the just ever suffer in the midst of their righteousness? but, Why do not the wicked see such retribution displayed before their eyes by stated judgments, so that they may at one and the same time know and tremble?"
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 vv1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 13, 14, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 Job 24:1. Why, &c. — Job, having by his…
Job 24:1. Why, &c. — Job, having by his complaints, in the foregoing chapter, given vent to his passion, and thereby gained some ease, breaks them off abruptly, and now applies himself to a further discussion of the doctrinal controversy between him and his friends, concerning the prosperity of wicked people. That many live at ease, who yet are ungodly and profane, and despise all the exercises of devotion, he had showed, chap. 21. Now he goes further, and shows that many who are mischievous to mankind, and live in open defiance of all the laws of justice and common honesty, yet thrive and succeed in their unrighteous practices; and we do not see them reckoned with in this world. He first lays down his general proposition, That the punishment of wicked people is not so visible and apparent as his friends supposed, and then proves it by an induction of particulars. Why — How comes it to pass; seeing times are not hidden from the Almighty — Seeing the fittest seasons for every action, and particularly for the punishment of wicked men, are not unknown to God: do they that know him — That love and obey him; not see his days? — The times and seasons which he takes for the punishment of ungodly men; which times are frequently called the days of the Lord, as Isa 2:12; Isa 13:6; Jer 46:10; Act 2:20. Surely, if they were constant and fixed in this life, they would not be unknown to good men, to whom God is wont to reveal his secrets. His words may be paraphrased a little more at large, thus: To answer a little what you have so often asserted: If punishments from God upon the wicked, in this world, are so certain as you say, why do not they who are truly pious see them openly inflicted? Surely it is most strange, that there are not some certain fixed times when God arises publicly, and in the face of the whole world inflicts these deserved punishments upon the wicked. Whereas, experience shows, that these visible judgments are very rarely inflicted, and many true worshippers of God pass through the world without ever seeing any thing of this kind. Heath renders the verse, Why are not stated seasons set apart by the Almighty? And why do not those who know him see his days? namely, of vengeance on the wicked.
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 vv1–25 Why, seeing times are not hidden froth the Almighty…
Why, seeing times are not hidden froth the Almighty - Dr. Good renders this,
“Wherefore are not doomdays kept by the Almighty.
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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,” Est 1:13; 1Ch 12:32; and then vicissitudes of things, fortunes, destinies; Psa 31:16; 1Ch 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 24:23-24. 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” Luk 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 22:12-14, 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.
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 vv1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 25 Days, when he will be punished. (Menochius) --- They…
Days, when he will be punished. (Menochius) --- They are convinced it will be sometime: while the wicked flatter themselves with impunity. (Worthington) --- Job has already shewn that his complaints had not been excessive, and that they were extorted chiefly by the dread which he had of God. He now comes to prove that he had not denied Providence. For though he asserted that the wicked were sometimes at ease, he maintained that there was another world, where all would be set to rights. Without this the book would be inexplicable. (Calmet) --- Know him. Septuagint, "the impious." (Haydock)
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 vv2–25 Instances of the wicked doing the worst deeds with…
Instances of the wicked doing the worst deeds with seeming impunity (Job 24:2-24).
Some--the wicked.
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landmarks--boundaries between different pastures (Deu 19:14; Pro 22:28).
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 vv1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 Second division — REVERSE SIDE OF THE MYSTERY OF…
Second division — REVERSE SIDE OF THE MYSTERY OF EVIL — GOD WINKS AT, AND SEEMINGLY PROSPERS, THE WICKED, chap. 24.
First half — AN ARRAY OF FACTS TO SHOW THAT THE WORLD IS A SCENE OF WRONG IN WHICH THE WICKED OPPRESS, TRAMPLE UPON, AND SLAY, THE INNOCENT AND DEFENCELESS, Job_24:1-12.
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First strophe — If there be days of retribution, how is it that “God’s familiars” — those who know so much about God — never see his judgments? Job_24:1-4.
1. Times are not hidden, etc. — Rather, Why are times not appointed by the Almighty? and (why) do they that know him not see his days? Why, if it be as you say, that the wicked are punished in this world, (chap. Job_22:19-20,) is it that the servants of God do not see such infliction of justice?
Hidden — Tsaphan, reserved, appointed. God’s judgments, like his ways, are hidden from sight until he pleases to bring them to the light; hence the phrase is common to express that which is divinely determined.
Know him — Literally, his knowers. Compare Psa_36:10. His days — Answers to times, which may be regarded as periods with specific days. The prophets frequently speak of days of judgment, but more particularly of a future great day of God. Joe_1:15; Isa_2:12. Of such a day Enoch prophesied, (Jud_1:14,) and at no time probably has its lurid light died away from the sky.
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 vv1–25 1. This verse reads,
1. This verse reads,
Why are not times appointed by the Almighty?
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And why do they that know him not see his days?
By “times” and “days” Job means diets of assize for sitting in judgment and dispensing right among men. The speaker complains that such times and days are not appointed by the ruler and judge of the world; He fails to exercise a righteous rule; they that know Him (the godly) and look for the manifestation of His righteousness are disappointed. The A. V. why, seeing times are not hidden, &c., appears to mean, Why, seeing God has appointed judgment-days known to Himself, are the godly not permitted to perceive them? The complaint in this case does not touch the Divine rectitude itself, but only laments that it does not manifest itself to men. But the distinction is one not drawn by Job. When he complains that God does not make visible His righteous rule, his meaning is that God does not exercise such a rule. This is the thought about God that alarms him, and makes his heart soft (ch. Job_22:16).
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 vv1, 2, 3, 6, 10, 12, 13, 14, 16, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23, 25 (1) Why, seeing times are not hidden.—Job, in this…
XXIV.
(1) Why, seeing times are not hidden.—Job, in this chapter, gives utterance to this perplexity, as it arises, not from his own case only, but from a survey of God’s dealings with the world generally. “Why is it,” he asks, “since times and events are not hidden from the Almighty, that they who know Him—that is, believe in and love Him—do not see His days?”—that is, His days of retribution and judgment. Even those who love and serve God are as perplexed about His principles of government as those who know Him not. It is to be observed that the position of the second negative in the Authorised Version of this verse renders it highly ambiguous to the majority of readers. This ambiguity would entirely disappear if we read see not instead of “not see.”
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 vv1–25 The general subject of this chapter is the prosperity…
The general subject of this chapter is the prosperity of the wicked, whose proceedings and their results are traced out in detail (vers. 2-24). A single note of perplexity (ver. 1) forms a sufficient introduction; and a single note of challenge a sufficient epilogue (ver. 25).
Why, seeing times are not hidden from the almighty. By "times" seem to be meant God"s special periods of exhibiting himself in action as the moral Governor of the world, vindicating the righteous, and taking vengeance upon sinners. Such "times" are frequently spoken of in the prophetical Scriptures as "days of the Lord". (see Isa_2:12 Isa_3:18 Isa_4:1 Isa_13:6, 9 Joe_1:15 Joe_2:1, 11 Oba_1:15 Zep_1:7, Zep_1:14) They are, of course, "not hidden" from him, seeing that it is he who determines on them beforehand, and, when their fixed date is come, makes them special "days," or "times," different from all others. Do they who know him not see his days? i.e. why are even they, who know and serve God, kept in the dark as to these "times," so that they do not foresee them or know when they are coming? This is to Job a great perplexity.
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Vers. 1-12. Job to Eliphaz: 4. An answer wanted to a great question
I AS IMPORTANT PROPOSITION STATED. That the Almighty does not call wicked men before his tribunal on earth. "Why are not times," i.e. of reckoning or punishment, "reserved," or kept in store, "by the Almighty, and why do they who know him see not his days?" i.e. his doomsdays, or days of judicial visitation on the wicked (ver. 1).
1. A caution. The language does not imply either that there should not be, or that there do not exist, such times of reckoning with the ungodly, and indeed with all men. On the contrary, it tacitly assumes that God both ought to have, and in point of fact does have, days of retribution which are appropriately described as "his." That men ought to be judged for their characters and lives, the moral instincts of humanity proclaim; that men will be arraigned before Shaddai"s impartial tribunal, is explicitly asserted in Scripture. (Job_21:30 Job_34:11 Ecc_12:14 Psa_98:9 Dan_7:10 Mat_25:32 2Co_5:10 2Ti_4:1 Heb_9:27)
2. An explanation. What the language asserts is that such court-days are not kept by the Almighty on earth, or at least that his people do not see them; in other words, that the godlessness of men is permitted to stalk forth on earth unchallenged and unavenged, without let or hindrance, pretty much as if there were no such tribunal in existence. And this fact, which Job so strenuously affirms, in addition to having been observed by Asaph, (Psa_73:5) David, (Ps 1) the Preacher, (Ecc_8:11) Jer_12:1,hab Jer_1:15, Jer_1:16, and others, is likewise recognized in Scripture generally as correct.
II A CONVINCING DEMONSTRATION OFFERED. That the Almighty does not hold a regular assize on earth established by two patent facts.
1. The most execrable wickedness is suffered to rage without either punishment or restraint. The special form of ungodliness depicted is that of ruthless oppression of the helpless and defenceless, exemplified in such crimes as:
(1) Secret fraud. "They," i.e. the tyrannical oppressors of the aborigines of the soil, "remove the landmarks," shift the stones or stakes which mark the boundary-line between the poor man"s plot and the rich man"s farm, so as to diminish the one and increase the other an act of impiety denounced in the Law of Moses as worthy of, and certain to be punished by, the curse of God, (Deu_19:14 Deu_27:17) a crime practised in the days of Solomon (Pro_22:28 Pro_23:10) and of Hos_5:10, a form of wickedness not unknown to modern society. Every attempt by covert fraudulence to augment one"s own estate at the expense of a neighbour"s, whether that neighbour be poor or rich, is equivalent to a removing of the landmark between meum and tuum, and as such incurs the Divine displeasure. If one thing is more saddening than the prevalence of indirect and minute spoliation amongst all ranks and classes, it is that good men should not be able to sea that theft is still theft, although practised in infinitesimal proportions and by underhand contrivances, and that even wicked men should not be deterred from such nefarious actions by a recollection of God"s anathemas against the thief.
(2) Barefaced robbery. "They violently take away flocks and feed them" (ver. 2), not taking the trouble to dispose of the stolen sheep by slaughter or sale, but openly and coolly retaining them amongst their own, as the Sabeans had done with Job"s oxen (Job_1:14) an aggravation of their crime that they were so shameless and audacious in its commission; but they who could brave God"s curse in order to remove a landmark would not likely shrink from enduring man"s scorn in order to steal a flock. Sin inevitably tends to sear the conscience and to petrify the feelings.
(3) Pitiless exaction. "They drive away the ass of the fatherless, they take the widow"s ox for a pledge" (ver. 3). Besides being out of all proportion, and therefore unjust, to carry off an ass or an ox in payment of a trifling loan or debt, it was unspeakably heartless to proceed to such extremity against those whose friendless condition should have drawn forth sympathy and succour. It was also a clear violation of the Divine Law to appropriate what was so indispensable to the subsistence of an orphan as the one ass wherewith he laboured, or so needful for the widow as the ox which ploughed her plot of ground. For similar reasons the Mosaic Law forbade the taking in pledge of a widow"s raiment, (Deu_24:17) and much more, it may be argued, of a widow"s yoke ox, or of an orphan"s ass. (Exo_22:22) The nether or the upper millstone also, for a like cause, was an illegal pledge. (Deu_24:6)
(4) Violent oppression. "They turn the needy out of the way" (ver. 4), thrusting them out of their accustomed paths and pursuits, compelling them through fear to abandon the highways and travel through trackless regions, ejecting them by force from their wonted habitations and ancient possessions. (cf. Job_22:8, homiletics)
(5) Merciless subjugation. "They pluck the fatherless from the breast, and take a pledge of the poor" (ver. 9). So pitiless are these inhuman monsters, that they distain not the widow"s ox merely, but her infant child as well, plucking it from her bosom, and carrying it off to be reared in miserable servitude; yea, if the second clause may be added to the first, after robbing the broken-hearted mother of her babe, stripping her of her raiment, and turning her forth naked and trembling to find food and clothing as best she may. It is doubtful if any American Legree or modern slave-driver ever eclipsed these ancient child-stealers in relentless barbarity.
2. The most extreme misery is allowed to go unnoticed and unrelieved. In three affecting pictures, according to one view of the poet"s meaning, he sketches the calamitous fate of the unhappy victims of those remorseless destroyers. The first (vers. 5-8) depicts the melancholy fortunes of the poor of the land (perhaps the aboriginal inhabitants), who being cast forth from their ancient possessions are obliged to "hide themselves together" (ver. 4), or to slink away out of sight, disappearing, as inferior races have since done, because unable to stand before the violence of their invaders.
(1) Leading a gregarious and wandering life, like wild asses in the desert, like the vagrant gipsies of modern times, rising up early and going forth in search of food with an appetite as keen as if they were hunting prey, with infinite labour extracting a scanty subsistence for themselves and children from the innutritious roots and herbs of the inhospitable steppe.
(2) Enraging in the lowest forms of menial service, being obliged to hire themselves out as day labourers, and the only work available for them being the cutting of fodder for the rich man"s cattle not the better sorts of grain, lest they should be tempted to pluck and eat; or the gleaning of the late ripening grapes of the rich man"s vineyard not the earliest and best, for fear they should seek to quench their thirst by devouring the luscious fruit.
(3) Reduced to the saddest state of destitution, being without clothes, so that they must pass the night in a stripped and naked condition, exposed to the "frequent and continuous storms that visit the mountains," and without homes, so that "they embrace the rock for want of a shelter." The second picture (vers. 10, 11) is, if possible, more excruciatingly painful in the aspect of wretchedness it presents. It recites the evil hap of those widows" children who have been taken for their mothers" debt, or of the poorer section of the conquering clan themselves who in turn have become victims of the haughty tyrants, and have been reduced to a condition little short of abject slavery.
(1) Utter penury. In consequence of the oppressive exactions of their masters, they are compelled to part with the last stitch of clothing, and to slink away in almost entire nudity like a gang of slaves driven to the market or the cotton-field.
(2) Unrequited toil. Hungry, they must not pluck a handful of ears from their overseer"s cornfield, a privilege not denied to the brute beasts beside them. (Deu_25:4) Thirsty, they dare not moisten their parched tongues with the must running from the presses as they squeeze but the oil and tread down the grapes. The abominable wickedness of exacting labour without remuneration (and that also adequate), as is done in slavery, is severely reprehended in Scripture. (Lev_19:13 Deu_24:14, 15 Jer_22:13 Jam_5:4) The third picture (ver. 12) alludes to the miseries of a densely populated city, where
(1) oppression reigns as fierce and intolerable as exists in the country, causing men to groan in anguish a description not exclusively applicable to an ancient Arabian town suddenly invaded by hordes of freebooters, but finding also too faithful realization in the great cities and large centres of population belonging to the nineteenth Christian century, in which the same spectacle is still seen, of the strong trampling on the weak, the rich on the poor, the lordly and tyrannical on the plebeian and servile; and where
(2) strife rages, leading not unfrequently to bloodshed and murder, in which the soul of the wounded mourns a state of things as often seen today as it was some five or six thousand years ago, nothing being so characteristic of the present times as just the internecine warfare existing between the various classes of society, and leading as a natural result to a prolific development of crimes against the person and estate. And all this sweltering abomination, this moral putridity, social disorder, and civil corruption which infests both town and country, the Almighty appears to be as indifferent to as he was in the days of Job. (Ps 1)
III AN URGENT QUESTION ASKED. Why does not God call wicked men to account?
1. Not for want of power. Otherwise he would not be Shaddai, the Almighty, the all-powerful and all-sufficient Deity, whose ability to perform his counsel Job has just commented on. (Job_23:13)
2. Not for lack of knowledge. Job"s atheistical contemporaries supposed that mundane affairs were concealed from the gaze of him who walked upon the circuit of the heavens, and whose feet were wrapped about with clouds; (Job_22:13) but Job and his friends alike admitted that times, i.e. at any rate the main events and circumstances of terrestrial history, were not hidden from Shaddai"s omniscient glance (ver. 1, Authorized Version).
1. Not for want of right. Both parties in the present controversy recognize that such appalling wickedness should not be suffered to go for ever unchallenged and unpunished, that such detestable criminals as above described ought to be arrested and brought before the tribunal of Heaven. Nay, on the theory of the friends, these workers of iniquity ought at once to be called to account. Yet notoriously, says Job, they are not. Hence it can only be:
2. For lack of will. It is not God"s intention to hold a circuit court here on earth, and try men for their misdeeds. In other words, the Divine government is not, so far as this world is concerned, as the friends contended, strictly retributive.
Learn:
1. The impunity of sinners on earth is no proof that they shall enjoy like impunity hereafter.
2. That God"s people do not now discern his judgment throne is no argument that such a throne does not exist.
3. Little faults are as really sins, and as certain to be punished, as great offences.
4. Criminals who start with stealthy and minute acts of transgression are in danger of proceeding to large as well as open works of wickedness.
5. "Man"s inhumanity to man makes countless thousands mourn.
6. Mighty despots may deprive the poor of their estates by either fair means or foul; but God regards the deed as spoliation and robbery.
7. It is a wiser policy to prevent pauperism from being developed in a state than to provide for it after it has been developed.
8. Town and country are much the same in their moral characteristics.
9. It is a mistake to infer from God"s silence that he neither sees nor cares for the wickedness and misery of man.
HOMILIES BY E. JOHNSON Vers. 1-12. Examples of God"s incomprehensible dealings.
I DEEDS OF VIOLENCE AND FRAUD. (Vers. 1-4) "Why are not times laid up," i.e. reserved, determined by the Almighty, "and why do those who know him (i.e. his friends) not see his days? the days when he arises to judgment, days of revelation, days of the Son of man. (Eze_30:3 Luk_17:22) Then comes a series of acts of violence, oppression, persecution, permitted by God the removal of landmarks; (Deu_19:14 Deu_27:17 Pro_22:28 Pro_23:10) the plunder of herds; (Job_20:19) the taking of the property of the helpless in pledge; (Exo_22:26 Deu_24:6) the thrusting of the poor from the way into pathless spots, so that the miserable of the land are compelled to hide themselves from the intolerable oppression.
II THE MISERY OF THE PERSECUTED. (Vers. 5-8) Ver. 5 is an apt description of the beggarly vagabond way of life of these Troglodytes, the types of the present Hottentots or Bushmen in South Africa: "As wild asses in the desert they go forth in their daily work, looking out for booty; the steppe gives them food for their children. On the field they reap the fodder of the cattle, and glean the vineyard of the wicked," thievishly not labouring in his service. Naked, cold, shelterless, exposed to the rain amidst the mountains, they cower for shelter among the rocks (vers. 7, 8).
III FURTHER DESCRIPTIONS OF TYRANNY. (Vers. 9-12) The orphan is torn from the mother"s breast by cruel creditors, who intend to repay themselves by bringing up the child as a slave. The property of the poor is seized in pledge. (comp. Amo_2:8 Mic_2:9) Then follows another picture of the victims of oppression, not now as wanderers of the steppe, but as the wretched denizens of inhabited cities (vers. 10-12). In nakedness and hunger, they carry sheaves for the supply of the rich man"s table, while they themselves are starving. And thus the cry of those whose wages have been kept back by fraud goes up to Heaven. (Deu_25:4 1Ti_5:18 Jam_5:4) We have a picture of ancient labour in the olive- and vine-growing East. While they press the olive or tread the wine-press they suffer cruelly from thirst. The groans of dying men fill the air, "and yet God never speaks a word!" "He heeds not the folly" with which these impious tyrants disregard and trample upon the moral order. J.
HOMILIES BY R. GREEN Vers. 1-22. Apparent anomalies in the Divine judgment.
Job again points to the anomalous conditions of human life goodness, which has its approval in every breast, and on which, by universal consent of belief, a Divine blessing rests, is nevertheless often overcast with the shadow of calamity; and, on the other hand, evil-doing, which merits only judgment, affliction, and correction, is often found to prosper. To it outward events seem to be favourable. Men sin without let or hindrance. Apparently, "God layeth not folly to them." This aspect of human affairs is much dwelt upon in the Book of Job; it seems to be one of the central themes of the book. It finds its exemplification in the case of Job himself. The principal idea of the book is the unravelling of this mysterious confusion. Punishment may follow evil-doing, but it does not always immediately accompany it. Therefore some explanation is needed. It is evident
I THAT A TRUE ESTIMATE OF THE DIVINE JUDGMENT MUST NOT BE BASED ON MERE INCIDENTS. Incidents do not always explain themselves. There are hidden springs of events. We know but little of every incident. We cannot trace its rise or its end. Other considerations must be taken into view besides the mere events on which judgment is to be passed.
II THE ESTIMATE OF THE DIVINE JUDGMENT MUST NOT BE BASED ON A PARTIAL VIEW. All the materials needed to enable one to form a just estimate of God"s dealings in any single instance are not always immediately to hand. Much is hidden. Many purposes are to be served as much by the Divine inaction as by the Divine work. Men expect judgment upon an evil work to be presently executed. The Divine hand is withheld for many purposes which are not apparent. All judgment, to be true, must take all things into account. A wide range of vision needed for this. Few have opportunity of making it; therefore judgment must be suspended.
III THE ESTIMATE OF THE DIVINE JUDGMENT CAN ONLY BE TRULY FORMED WHEN THE WHOLE PURPOSES OF GOD ARE MADE KNOWN. The one purpose most vital to S correct estimate may be withheld. It may be beyond the power of the human mind to grasp all. Certainly it is not possible to see all the bearings of the conduct of men. God alone can see the end from the beginning. In patience then must men wait for the end. A final judgment is needed to clear up the apparent anomalies of the present. Judgment upon the wicked is mercifully suspended that men may repent; chastisement falls upon the righteous for the perfecting of character. In due time the chastened, sorrowful, but good man shall receive an ample reward. These latter truths are especially illustrated in the history of Job. R.G.
HOMILIES BY W.F. ADENEY Ver. 1. God"s special days.
Job thinks that if it may not be always possible to see God, there may at least be certain times when he can be found. If he cannot be always giving an audience to his people, can he not be like a judge on circuit, allowing a day for those who would seek his aid at each part of his dominions?
I THERE ARE TIMES OF SPECIAL DIVINE MANIFESTATION. God does give, in some manner, what Job is asking for. There is the" day of the Lord," when he breaks through the settled order of the world, and sets his court as the Judge of all men. Such a day was often spoken of by. the Hebrew prophets. It came in Nebuchadnezzar"s destruction of Jerusalem, and again in the later overthrow of the city by Titus and the Roman legions.. It is predicted in the great final judgment of the world. So also there is a "day of the Lord" for individual men, when God breaks up the normal condition of life, and in the upheaval and confusion a Divine coming to judgment may be recognized. But God also has gracious seasons of visitation, "times of refreshing from the Lord." Then the soul perceives his nearness, and enters into the joy and light of his presence.
II GOD IS PRESENT WHEN HE DOES NOT MANIFEST HIMSELF. Although when thus simply stated this is a truism, it is certainly not commonly recognized in the world. Nobody denies it; yet many ignore it. God"s presence being invisible, and not generally evidenced by startling signs, men come to pass it by in their full absorption in secular pursuits. The practical question then arises How may the constant unseen presence of God come to be more fully recognized? It is absolutely necessary that we should learn to withdraw ourselves more from the things that are seen and temporal. If the pressure of worldly pursuits is allowed to crowd the thought of God out of the soul, the result must be a perfect deadness in regard to his presence a practical atheism, a living as though there were no God. When the desolation and dreariness of this life is perceived, we may well start back in horror from such a condition of spiritual decay.
III IT IS FOOLISH TO WAIT FOR A NEW MANIFESTATION OF GOD. Job seemed to need this because his position was peculiar, and he was set to work out new problems of providence. But we have, what he had not, the fuller revelation of God in Christ. What we now need is not a fresh revelation, but eyes to read and hearts to perceive the Christian revelation. External, visible manifestations of God are not to be looked for now. Miracles were useful in the childhood of the race and in the infancy of the Church, but we have no right to expect miracles to make God better known to us. With us the need is of an interior illumination. So long as our spiritual sympathies are blind to God, no external manifestation will satisfy our needs. At the same time, we may well pray for God"s hand to be stretched forth in action. There are huge wrongs in the world and sorrowful miseries. The Church cries out for the fuller coming of Christ in his kingdom. W.F.A.
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 vv1, 12, 13, 17, 23 Why, seeing times are not hidden from the Almighty.
Job_24:1-25
Why, seeing times are not hidden from the Almighty.
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Great crimes not always followed by great punishment in this life
I. Great crimes have prevailed on the earth from the earliest times. Amongst the crimes specified in this chapter there is--
1. Theft. There were those who stole from others their lands and flocks, and robbed the widow and orphan of their food and clothing (Job_24:2-8). There is--
2. Cruelty. They plucked the fatherless from the breast, made men groan out of the city. There is--
3. Murder. The murderer, rising with the light, killeth the poor and needy. There is--
4. Adultery. The eye also of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, etc.
The fact that these crimes prevailed in Jobs land and times implies--
1. That in those distant scenes and times the same standard of morals existed that we have. They esteemed theft, cruelty, murder, and adultery wrong; so do we.
2. That in those distant scenes and times men had the same sinful propensities as they have now.
II. That although the great God is cognisant of those crimes He does not always visit them with punishment in this life. Job begins with the question, Why, seeing times are not hidden from the Almighty, do they that know Him not see His days? The meaning is, Why, since crimes are not hidden from the Almighty, do not His friends see His judgments? He shows that these great criminals fare as well here, both in life and death, as others. Why is this? Not because the Almighty is ignorant of their crimes, or because their crimes are not abhorrent to His nature. Whatever the cause, the fact is undeniable; and this fact Job brings out here to refute the doctrine of his friends, namely, that great suffering implies great crime. (Homilist.)
Consideration for others
I would rather be a year or two longer in effecting my purposes than reach them by trampling on mens hearts and hearths. (J. Ruskin.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v1 Prosecutes his own view of the Divine government. Enlarges…
CONTINUATION OF JOB’S REPLY TO ELIPHAZ
Prosecutes his own view of the Divine government. Enlarges on the crimes of one part of men and the sufferings of another as the consequences of them, to shew that judgment is not executed on the ungodly in this world, and that men often suffer without anything in their own conduct to deserve it. The ungodly, however, not left unpunished; and their prosperity and power only for a time.
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I. Proposes a question for solution in reference to the Divine government (Job_24:1). “Why, seeing times are not hidden from the Almighty, do they that know him not sec his days?” Or, “Why are not [stated] times [of judgment] laid up (or kept) by the Almighty, and [why do] they that know Him not see His days” [of inflicting punishment on the ungodly?] The question takes the fact for granted and asks the reason of it. The fact supposed—
1. That stated times of judgment, or Divine court-days, for trying men’s actions are manifestly not held. Men not brought before a Divine tribunal in this life. The great assizes yet to come. Such a day appointed (Act_17:31; Act_10:42; Rom_2:16; Rom_14:10; Rev_20:12). Men only registered now for judgment and public trial on that day. Sins in this life apparently winked at by God (Psa_50:21). Sentence against an evil work not speedily executed. The fact sometimes staggering to the godly, especially in earlier times. Remains as a trial for faith and patience. Abused by the ungodly to impenitence and licentiousness.
2. Times for the visible infliction of punishment on the wicked not seen by the godly in this life. For the most part sin suffered by God to pass with impunity as to this world. The fact noted by Job (ch. Job_21:7); by Asaph (Psa_73:5); by David (Psa_50:21); by Solomon (Ecc_8:11); by Jeremiah (Jer_12:1); by Habakkuk, (Hab_1:15-16). Visible judgments rare. Such examples—the deluge; destruction of Sodom, &c.; Herod’s death (Act_12:23). According to the views of Eliphaz and his two friends, such cases should have been of frequent occurrence.
From the text observe—
1. Times, in the sense of events, not hidden from the Almighty. All actions, bad and good, naked and open before Him. Sin, though not punished, not the less perceived. “Thou God seest me,” a truth both for the godly and the ungodly.
2. Times for the accomplishment of future events not hidden from God. The future as truly as the present under His perfect inspection. The times and seasons reserved in His own power (Act_1:15). Though unknown to us, not the less certain to Him (Act_15:18.)
3. Sufficient to describe the godly as “those that know God.” Such knowledge one of—
(1) Certainty (1Jn_4:16);
(2) Divine communication (Joh_17:2-3); (Mat_11:27);
(3) Experience (1Pe_2:3);
(4) Regard and love, as Psa_1:6;
(5) Acquaintance and fellowship (Job_22:21; Gen_5:24; Gen_6:9). As the result of such knowledge the righteous trust in God as a Father (Psa_9:10). Not to know God the characteristic of the ungodly (1Th_4:5; 2Th_1:8). Godly men the friends of God. Abraham’s title of nobility shared by each of them. (Compare Jas_2:3; Isa_41:8, with Luk_12:4; Joh_15:14-15).
4. God’s friends made acquainted with His purposes and procedure in the world (Gen_17:17; Psa_25:4; Amo_3:7; Joh_15:15). The characteristic of the ungodly, that they “regard not the works of the Lord nor consider the operation of His hands” (Psa_28:5; Isa_5:12). Wisdom given to the children of God to discern and know the times (Luk_12:56; 1Th_5:1-4; Rom_13:11). Times and seasons, however, while still future, reserved in the Lord’s own knowledge, except in so far as He is pleased to communicate them (Act_1:7; Mat_24:36; Rev_1:1).
II. Describes the conduct of various classes of men in relation to their fellows, with its consequences (Job_24:2-8).
First: Their conduct (Job_24:2-4).
1. Fraud, theft, and violence (Job_24:2). Exhibited in—
(1.) Removing “landmarks.” Placing farther back the stones erected to distinguish their own fields from their neighbour’s,—common in Eastern and other countries where hedges are not frequent; and doing this for the purposes of fraudulently enlarging their own estate at the expense of their neighbour’s. Expressly forbidden in the law of Moses (Deu_19:14). Persons guilty of it pronounced accursed (Deu_27:14). Found in the days of Hosea (Hos_5:10).
(2.) Stealing sheep and feeding them as if their own (Job_24:2). “They violently take away (or steal) flocks and feed thereof (margin, ‘feed them’).” Job’s own experience in reference to his oxen, asses, and camels (ch. Job_1:14-15; Job_1:17). Pasturing the stolen sheep an aggravation of the crime. Indicated boldness and perseverance in sin. The practice common among the Bedouins. Marks an uncivilized state of society. Practised even in Scotland in the last century in regard to larger cattle. Observe—(i.) The character of sin to sear and deaden the conscience; (ii.) The ungodly often apparently permitted to enjoy the fruit of their sin.
2. Cruelty and hardheartedness (Job_24:3).
(1.) In reference to the fatherless. “They drive away the ass of the fatherless” (in order to appropriate it to themselves, probably on some pretended claim, perhaps, as in the next clause, as a pledge or pawn for some loan or debt). The one ass of the fatherless his means of subsistence. The fatherless not only poor, but without any to defend them from such oppression. An ass still the means of subsistence to fatherless and poor children in the East, being used both for riding and carrying burdens.
(2) In reference to the widow. “Take the widow’s ox for a pledge,”—taking it in pawn for the loan of a trifling sum, and keeping it in their possession. An aggravated cruelty, the ox being the only means of her subsistence by ploughing her little plot of ground and yielding her milk. The widow herself an object of sympathy, her poverty having necessitated her to ask a loan or incur a debt with her hard-hearted neighbour. The sin expressly forbidden by the law (Exo_22:26-27; Deu_24:6; Deu_24:10. “No flesh in man’s obdurate heart.”
3. Insolence and oppression of the poor (Job_24:4). “They turn the needy out of the way,”—acting towards them with overbearing violence; compelling them by their cruelty and oppression to abandon the highways and frequented parts of the country, and thus preventing them from following their ordinary pursuits; perhaps removing them in order to take possession of their little fields; or forbidding them the highway for their ox or their ass. The “clearances” of modern times. A sin not to aid the poor; still more to expel them from the neighbourhood as burdens and nuisances. The poor never to cease out of the land (Deu_15:11). Left as objects for the exercise of kindness and benevolence (Mat_26:11. To oppress the poor is to reproach their Maker.
Second: The consequence of this oppression (Job_24:4). “The poor of the earth (or land) hide themselves together;” disappearing as unable to endure the oppression or resist their oppressors. “When the wicked rise [in power], men hide themselves” (Pro_28:20). Forced by oppression into solitudes where they congregate and enjoy comparative safety. The godly under persecution thus often made to wander in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth (Heb_11:38). The case of Elijah and other servants of God in the days of Ahab and Jezebel (1Ki_17:3; 1Ki_18:13). The pilgrim fathers of England and the Huguenots of France. Bedouins and others in the East often obliged to seek refuge in the desert from the oppressions of tyrannical governors. Their life in such circumstances made one of privation and suffering (Job_24:5). “Behold, as wild asses in the desert [instead of their own fields as formerly], go they forth to their work, rising betimes [before the excessive heat] for a prey (or to obtain food); the wilderness yieldeth food [a scanty and miserable subsistence] for them and for their children” (whole families being thus driven forth from their homes and from society). The wild ass a “solitary, timorous animal, whose only defence is its heels.” The reference here rather to their solitude and fear than to savage wildness. A barbarous and uncivilized state, however, the likely consequence of the treatment they receive (Gen_16:12; Gen_21:20).—(Job_24:6). They reap every one [by himself] his corn (margin, “mingled corn or dredge,” a mixture of grain ordinarily used as fodder for cattle, and so generally translated, as in Isa_30:24, in the field (or perhaps, ‘they reap [as hired or forced labourers] every one in a field which is not his own’); and they gather the vintage of the wicked (to obtain as hirelings a subsistence for their families; the proprietors of the vineyards characterized as wicked from their cruelty and oppression of the poor, but in time of vintage, glad to obtain their aid in gathering the grapes; or possibly obliged to render forced labour so common in the east). They cause the naked (the poor and poorly clad) to lodge (or ‘pass the night’) without clothing [having taken to pledge their upper garment, usually serving also as a covering by night] (Deu_24:13), that they have no covering in the cold (the nights in eastern countries being often as cold as the days are hot) (Gen_31:40). They are wet (or drenched) with the showers (or heavy driving rains) of the mountains (where, as travellers often experience, such storms of wind and rain are common), and embrace the rock (clinging to some cave or hollow in its side) for want of a shelter.”
The picture presented in the eighth verse suggests—
The True Rock and its Shelter
1. As sinners men are by nature in the condition of the persons here referred to,—exposed to a storm. That storm God’s righteous anger on account of sin. The wrath of God revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men (Rom_1:18; Col_3:6). “Wrath to come” awaiting the unsaved sinner. The day of judgment the great day of Divine wrath—the wrath of the Lamb (Rev_6:16-17). That wrath compared to a storm. “On the wicked God shall rain snares (Margin, ‘burning coals’), fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest” (Psa_11:6). No storm on earth ever equal to it. (i.) Other storms affect only the body, this the soul; (ii.) Others endure but for a short time, this for ever; (iii.) Others may have peace within; this fills with anguish and despair. Felt at times in the sinner’s conscience even in this life. Even then intolerable. Escape from it in this life possible. Hereafter rocks and mountains invoked in vain for shelter. Exposure to the storm wherever sin is still unpardoned. Though now unfelt, yet even ready to burst upon the Christless soul. The case of men universally. Men by nature children of wrath, even as others (Eph_2:3.).
2. Men in themselves are without a shelter. Have no means of averting or screening themselves from deserved wrath. Wealth unable to purchase a shelter from it. Power unable to command one. Science unable to contrive one. Good works unable to merit one. Our own works like Adam and Eve’s fig-leaved aprons. Monarch and mendicant equally powerless to screen themselves from this storm. No shelter without satisfaction to the demands of a righteous law. The required shelter to be strong enough to resist the brunt of the storm. Able to stand between the sinner and the storm that must otherwise beat on his defenceless head.
3. Such a shelter provided in Christ. Christ, given by God the Father for that purpose, came into the world to save sinners from the storm. Promised as an hiding-place from the wind and a covert from the tempest (Isa_32:2). Fitted to be such a shelter. God and man in one person. God manifest in the flesh. As man, Christ has done and suffered in our stead what the law of God demands in the way of obedience and penalty. As God in our nature, He is able to stand as a substitute for us, and to give infinite value to His obedience and suffering in our stead. Provided for us in pure love on the part of God (Joh_3:16). God’s will that all should flee to and find shelter in this rock. Christ as a rock—
(1.) Affords perfect safety to the soul that trusts in Him. A rock is strong, firm, impenetrable. None ever trusted in Him and perished;
(2) Never changes. A rock the most abiding and unchanging object in nature. Christ the Rock of Ages—the everlasting Rock. The same yesterday, to-day, and for ever.
(3) Is sufficient to, receive and shelter all who betake themselves to Him. Rocky caverns in Judæa, as the cave of Adullam, large enough to contain thousands of men. Room in Christ for millions at once. Millions sheltered in this Rock already, and yet there is room.
(4) Is comfortable and well replenished. Caverns sometimes found already furnished with necessary articles left there by previous occupants; the contrary, however, being generally the case. In Christ, all things provided needful for comfort and well-being, both here and hereafter. Christ made of God to those who are in Him, both wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption (1Co_1:30). The world, life, death, all things, ours when we are Christ’s. All fulness in Him, out of which we may receive even grace upon grace. All our needs supplied. In the world tribulation, but in Him peace. Grace found in Him sufficient for daily duty, daily temptation, daily trial.
(5) Is accessible to all. Stands open and free. Its entrance obstructed by no formidable barrier. No steep and rugged height to climb in order to reach it. Accessible even to a child. Entered not by toil or merit, but by faith,—believing God’s testimony true concerning it, and so trusting in it. Over its portal stand the words: Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.
(6) All are welcome to its shelter. Entrance without money and without price. No qualification required but sense of need, desire for shelter, and belief in its sufficiency. “A guilty, helpless sinner desiring shelter,” a sufficient passport. All classes without distinction invited to enter and be safe.
4. This Rock is to be “embraced.” A rock of no use for shelter but as it is fled to, entered, and clung to. Christ is for personal acceptance, appropriation, and trust. The ark, when made, to be entered by Noah and his family. Not enough to hear of the rock, look at it, understand about it, or be near it. Must be entered and “embraced.” “Found in Christ” gives safety, not found near Him. No time to be lost in entering this Rock. Too late when the storm descends. “Behold, now is the accepted time! behold now is the day of salvation!”
Important question. Where am I? In the Rock? or still exposed to the storm? If the former, then “let the inhabitant of the Rock sing,” and praise aloud the God of his salvation (Isa_42:11). If the latter is still the case, the call is, Come in now. The door still open. Still room. Delay not. Why remain outside exposed to the storm? Death hastens. The door will soon be shut. Entrance may within another hour be impossible. Then no shelter from the storm for evermore. “To-day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your heart.”
III. Proceeds further to describe the cruelty and oppression of the ungodly rich, and their apparent impunity (Job_24:9). “They pluck the fatherless from the breast (infants whose fathers are already dead, and whom these men snatch from the widowed mother’s breast to make their own, as pledges or in payment of some real or pretended debt), and take a pledge of the poor (either the poor man himself to be their bondslave till the debt is paid, as Lev_25:39; Mat_18:25; or his garment, as ch. Job_22:6). They cause him (the poor whose garment they have taken in pawn) to go naked, without clothing, and they take away the sheaf from the hungry (the handful of corn they have plucked to satisfy their hunger, or the gleanings of the harvest field, which were usually regarded, and were afterwards by the law of Moses expressly appointed, as the perquisite of the poor, Lev_19:9); which make oil within their walls (for the benefit of these rich oppressors; or ‘who toil at noontide in their vineyards’ as hired, or rather as forced, labourers), and tread their wine-presses and suffer thirst” (not being permitted to allay their thirst with the juice of the grapes they were laboriously expressing.)
“Slaves in the midst of nature’s bounty curst,
And in the loaden vineyard suffer thirst.”
Addison’s Letters from Italy.
Cruelty and oppression not confined to the country (Job_24:12). “Men (or ‘the dying’) groan [under injuries and oppressions] from the city [where justice is wont to be exercised, and where fear might be supposed to restrain evil-doers), and the soul of the wounded—[not only having their spirits but their very life crushed out of them by oppression] crieth out [to God and men for help, or to God for vengeance]: yet God layeth not folly to them”—(apparently lays it not to their charge, or appears to give no heed to it; or, “does nothing absurd” or unbecoming His Divine character in permitting such things; or, according to another way of reading the word here rendered “folly,” “pays no attention to their prayer,” viz, that of these suffering and oppressed ones). The frequent complaint in the Psalms that the wicked oppress the godly poor with impunity, while God appears to take no notice either of the crimes of the one party or the sufferings of the other (Psa_10:1-14; Psa_35:17; Psa_42:9; Psa_44:23-24). Observe—
1. Crimes committed and cruelty perpetrated while God keeps silence (Psa_50:21). Sentence against an evil work not often speedily executed (Ecc_8:11). Yet forbearance no acquitance.
2. The effect of sin to harden the heart and deaden the feelings of humanity.
3. Love of power or gain stops at no crime or cruelty to attain its object.
4. Sin assimilates men to Satan, the “murderer from the beginning.”
5. Great sufferings often superinduced by other men’s sins (Job_24:12).
6. The cry of oppressed ones terrible for the oppressor (Jas_5:4).
7. City as well as country the theatre of the oppressions of some and the sufferings of others (Job_24:12). Solemn warning in this verse for such cities as London. Eternity alone will reveal how many lives have been crushed out of men and women by oppressive labour and scanty remuneration.
IV. Describes other classes of wicked men,—those who practise sin in secrecy and under the cover of darkness (Job_24:13). “They (or ‘these,’ as distinguished from the former) are of those that rebel against the light (hating and shunning it as unfavourable to their wicked deeds, Joh_3:19-20); they know not the ways thereof, nor abide in the paths thereof” (prefer darkness to light, and night to day, for the perpetration of their crimes). The first of these classes, the Murderer (Job_24:14). “The murderer rising with the light (at earliest dawn) killeth the poor and needy [as unable to resist him and his demands], and in the night is as a thief” (or, “acts the thief”). In the East, murders are committed at early dawn, the most favourable part of the day both for travelling and work, while thieves or housebreakers practise their crimes during the night.—The second class, the Adulterer (Job_24:15). “The eye also of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight (the evening or night, as more favourable for his purpose, Pro_7:9, saying, No eye shall see me, and disguiseth (muffles up or puts a mask on) his face. In the dark they (the two classes already mentioned, or perhaps a third, Burglars or Housebreakers) dig through houses (insinuating themselves, like the adulterer, or literally, digging an entrance for themselves, like the housebreaker, through the mud walls of the houses) which they had marked for themselves (or ‘having shut themselves up’) in the daytime; they know not the light (—hate and shun it). For the morning is to them even as the shadow of death (as hateful and as feared, as discovering and detecting their evil deeds (Eph_5:13); or, the shadow of death is to them as morning,—darkness is as desirable and delightful to them as morning is to others); if one know them (or discover them, or ‘when one can recognize, people,’ i.e., in the light of the morning), they are in the terrors of the shadows of death” (or, “it is the terrors of, &c., to them”; or, “the terrors, &c., are upon them.”) Observe—
1. The character of sin, that loves the darkness for its commission. A reptile that loves the darkness of caves and dungeons. A work of darkness, to be practised only out of observation, and in the ignorance of God and truth. A testimony to the value and excellence of godliness, that it does not fear the light (Joh_3:21).
2. Sin opposed to the light of truth as well as to the light of day. Hence hatred to the truth, which both exposes and opposes sin. The great condemnation, to have the light and yet hate and avoid it (Joh_3:20). The sin of Christless persons in a Christian land, neighbourhood, or family.
3. A sovereign authority in light to keep men from evil deeds.
4. The present in many places a time of light; hence corresponding responsibility.
5. Murder a common crime where not restrained by fear (Job_24:14). “Feet swift to shed blood,” part of the inspired description of fallen humanity (Rom_3:15).
6. Sin aggravated when committed with purpose and deliberation (Job_24:15).
7. The ungodly, when not committing iniquity, often plotting it.
8. Sin committed in forgetfulness of God. “No eye seeth me.”
9. The wicked often tortured between lust and fear. Raging lust before commission; deadly fear of detection in and after it.
10. Pleasures of sin dearly bought. The terrors of the shadow of death sooner or later the consequence of it. The ways of transgressors hard.
V. Describes the experience of the wicked (Job_24:18). “He is swift as the waters (or, ‘light on the face of the waters;’ carried away by Divine vengeance as the foam or other light substance on the surface of the stream; or, gradually and quietly, though swiftly, borne along to the grave where he finally disappears); their portion (or estate) is cursed (—ultimately abandoned to desolation) in the earth (or land): he beholdeth not the way of the vineyards (—is cut off ultimately from his former haunts, pleasures, and pursuits, ‘from the cheerful ways of men’). Drought and heat [in summer] consume the snow waters (—gradually dry up the torrents and mountain streams formed by the melted snow (ch. Job_6:15; Job_6:18); so doth the grave (—death and the invisible world, which sooner or later swallow up and cause to disappear from the earth) those that have sinned [in the gross and open way already, and yet to be, described]. The womb (even the mother that bare him) shall forget him (so worthless his character, and utterly abandoned by, and cut off from, friends and relatives): the worm shall feed sweetly upon him (or ‘shall be sweet to him,’ his only companion now, ch. Job_21:33); he shall be no more remembered [having done nothing to cause his memory to be cherished, but the contrary (Pro_10:7)]: and wickedness (or the wicked man) shall be broken as a tree” [useless and already decayed]. Observe—
1. The character of the selfish and ungodly, however rich, a worthless one. The sinner in his best and most prosperous state light as foam on the surface of the stream.
2. All the sinner’s earthly enjoyments speedily brought to an end. Slowly or suddenly, the grave terminates his pleasures and pursuits (Job_24:19). The pleasures of sin but for a season.
3. The grave only formidable to those who have led a sinful life, and die without renewal of heart and removal of guilt.
4. Humbling contrast between the grace and its wormy inhabitants, and the sinful indulgences and worldly pomp of a godless and prosperous life. The rich man in the Gospel lifts up his eyes in hell, and craves, not for deliverance, but a drop of water to cool his burning tongue.
5. Sin soon covers men’s names with oblivion, and makes even their nearest relations to forget them (Job_24:20). “The righteous is held in everlasting remembrance, but the memory of the wicked shall rot” (Pro_10:7).
VI. Returns to the character and ways of the ungodly as meriting the punishment already mentioned (Job_24:21-24). “He evil entreateth the barren that beareth not (thus adding affliction to the afflicted, barrenness being held a reproach and at the same time leaving the widow without natural defenders), and doeth not good to the widow (not only withholding the sympathy and succour which her circumstances claim, but acting towards her in a way the very reverse). He draweth also the mighty with his power (attaching him to his interests for the purpose of oppressing others); he riseth up (for the purpose of completing his wicked designs; or, he rises to power), and no man is sure of life (so formidable his power and so regardless of right). Though it be given him to be in safety (by God himself, who bears long with him instead of punishing him at once in the midst of his wickedness), whereon he resteth (living at case and in security in consequence of this forbearance); yet his (viz., God’s) eyes are upon their ways (though now keeping silence and apparently winking at his evil deeds). They are exalted for a little while but are gone (Heb. and Marg. ‘and are not,’ are no more, but disappear from the stage), and (are) brought low (by death which terminates at once their power and their pride); they are taken out of the way as all others (even the meanest whom they have oppressed), and cut off as the tops of the ears of corn.” Observe—
1. Injury done to a fellow creature a sin marked by God; that Sin aggravated when the injury is done to one already in any way afflicted (Job_24:21). The afflicted, destitute and reproached, have already claims on our sympathy and succour.
2. A sin in the sight of God, not only to injure the afflicted and destitute, but even to withhold our sympathy and aid. Not to do the good in our power, a sin as well as to do evil (Pro_3:27; Pro_24:11-12). Neglect of the fifth commandment a sin as truly as the transgression of the sixth. Sins of omission discover the character and bring condemnation as truly as those of commission. The sins produced at last day for judgment, especially the latter (Mat_25:42-45.) Pure and undefiled religion before God, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction (Jas_1:27).
3. A high aggraration of sin when we not only do wrong ourselves, but endeacour by our influence to draw others into the same practice (Job_24:22). Ahab specially branded in the Bible as not only having sinned himself, but also “made Israel to sin.” The character of the ungodly not only to sin themselves but to draw others into participation in their sin (Pro_1:10-14).
4. An aggravated sin to abuse God’s goodness and forbearance to the practice of coil (Job_24:23). God’s goodness intended, on the contrary, to lead to repentance (Rom_2:4). Sin persevered in on the calculation that “to-morrow shall be as this day and much more abundant” (Isa_56:12).
5. Sin, though passed over for the present, yet marked for future visitation, if not prevented by timely repentance (Job_24:23). Sentence against an evil work not speedily executed. The sinner allowed to do evil a hundred times (Exo_8:11-12). Yet God’s eyes are upon men’s ways.
6. The power and pride of the ungodly but of short continuance (Job_24:24).
7. Sinners often cut off when their prosperity has reached its highest pitch, like the “tops of the cars of corn.”
8. Men spared to ripen either for mercy or judgment.
VII. Challenges contradiction or refutation (Job_24:25). “If it be not so now [that the case is as I represented it], who will make me a liar (or prove me in error), and make my speech nothing worth?” Job’s position that of Asaph (Psalms 73), that the ungodly often live long and prosper in this world, and are without any “bands in their death,” though ultimately brought to judgment. His position assailed by his friends as derogatory to God’s righteousness as the Governor of the world, and as savouring of infidelity. In Job’s view, his position unaffected by their speeches and arguments. Observe:—
1. Our duty to see that the views we hold in regard to God and His moral government rest on solid grounds.
2. Our duty in regard to subjects upon which there is room for doubt, to be open to conviction and argument on the opposite side.
3. Our views on all religious subjects to be brought to the touchstone of reason and Scripture. Truth able to bear testing.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain On v1 Job's Seventh Speech (concluded)
Job's Seventh Speech (concluded)
1-25. Job continues to express his perplexity at the ways of Providence in the ordering of the world. The poor and the weak suffer; violence and wrong go unpunished.
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1. Render, 'Why are times not laid up' (i.e. set apart for doing justice) 'by the Almighty, and why do not those who know Him see His days?' The last clause means, Why do not the godly see signs of divine retribution?
2-12. Those who commit open violent crimes are left unpunished.
2. Remove the landmarks] cp. Deu_19:14; Deu_27:17. Feed thereof] RV 'feed them': as if they were their own.
3. Pledge] i.e. security for debt: cp. Job_22:6; 1Sa_12:3.
5-12. This passage depicts the misery of the homeless outcasts from society, driven into the rocks and mountains, unsheltered from the pitiless storms and hard put to it to save themselves and their children from starvation. The outcasts, lean with hunger like the wild ass in the desert, have to search diligently for the poor bits of food on which they keep body and soul together.
5c. Render, 'The Arabah' (the plain W. of Edom near Job's home) 'gives food to their young men.'
6. Merx reads, 'They reap by night in the field.' They are driven to theft to get food. 'Wicked' should perhaps be 'rich.'
7. RV 'They lie all night naked without clothing, and have no covering in the cold.'
9a. RV 'There are that pluck the fatherless from the breast.' The v. appears to introduce a new description. Since, however, Job_24:10-11 seem to continue Job_24:8, this v. is apparently out of place.
9b. Perhaps we should read, 'And take the suckling of the poor in pledge.'
10. EV 'So that they go about naked without clothing, And being an-hungered they carry the sheaves.' Probably the outcasts are described as stealing the corn, and making oil and wine at the expense of the farmer.
12. Layeth not folly to them] render, 'regardeth not the wrong.'
13-17. Criminals who work at night. They hate (rebel against) the light of day, preferring darkness for their crimes.
13. They are of those] EV 'These are of them.'
14. With the light] i.e. while it is still twilight. But with a very slight emendation we might read, 'when there is no light.'
16. Dig through houses] Walls of Eastern houses are often made of clay or sun-burnt bricks, which crumble easily: cp. Mat_6:20; RM. The robbers do not break in by the door since the threshold is sacred.
17. If one know, etc.] RV 'For they know (are familiar with) the terrors.' The shadow of death] i.e. midnight. Light they shrink from, but midnight is their day.
18-21. These vv. cannot express the sentiments of Job, and we must either, with RM, prefix 'ye say,' to indicate that Job is giving the views of the friends, or remove it from this speech either as an insertion or as part of a speech by one of the friends which has been displaced, or possibly as an interruption by one of them. RV renders Job_24:18, 'He is swift upon the face of the waters; Their portion is cursed in the earth: He turneth not by the way of the vineyards.' The meaning is apparently that the doom of the wicked comes rapidly; there is a curse upon his property; he goes no more to gaze upon its prosperity. Job_24:19-20 then describe the complete destruction of sinners. Job_24:21 render, 'Even he that evil entreated,' etc.
22-24. In these vv. we have Job's own view, viz. that (22) God continues the wicked in power, (23) His eyes watch over their welfare, and (24) when they die, it is in the maturity of old age like ripe ears of corn.
24. Tops of the ears of corn] Egyptian wall-paintings show that the ripe corn was cut just below the ears instead of near the ground as with us. The straw was ploughed in.
25. 'Who can dispute my contention?'
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v19 Heb. "Sheol," (See Scofield "Hab 2:5")
grave
Heb. "Sheol," (See Scofield "Hab 2:5")
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On vv1, 18 The Hidden Ways of God with Regard to the…
The Hidden Ways of God with Regard to the Wicked
v. 1. Why, seeing times are not hidden from the Almighty, judicial terms, at which He might condemn the wicked as they deserve, do they that know Him not see His days? Why do His friends not see such days of judgment, have evidence that God does punish the ungodly? The underlying thought is that there is no just retribution for the wicked, that God does not seem to care how men sin or suffer. Job now mentions some such hideous transgressions which apparently go unpunished.
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v. 2. Some remove the landmarks, change the boundaries in their own favor; they violently take away flocks and feed thereof, becoming guilty of plunder and robbery, brazenly pasturing the stolen flocks.
v. 3. They drive away the ass of the fatherless, they take the widow’s ox for a pledge, in either case taking the most valued possession of the defenseless, the animal upon which their livelihood depended.
v. 4. They turn the needy out of the way, disdainfully thrusting them out of the way into roadless regions; the poor of the earth hide themselves together, being obliged to hide before the insolence of their oppressors.
v. 5. Behold, as wild asses in the desert, in untamed fierceness and absolute disregard of other people’s rights, go they forth to their work; rising betimes for a prey, eager for plunder; the wilderness yieldeth food for them and for their children, "the steppe, with its scant supply of roots and herbs, is to him food for the children" (Delitzsch), and what the desert does not furnish him he obtains by a life of robbery and plunder. The wild asses of the waste regions, untractable in their love of freedom, are represented as a type of gregarious vagrants, of freebooters, who live by plunder.
v. 6. They reap every one his corn in the field, they are always lucky in getting enough fodder for their cattle; and they gather the vintage of the wicked, gleaning the late-ripe fruit, boldly stealing it whenever it suits their purpose.
v. 7. They cause the naked to lodge without clothing, the poor, oppressed by the wicked robbers, are deprived even of their one garment which served for their covering by night, that they have no covering in the cold.
v. 8. They are wet with the showers of the mountains, where the poor try to find refuge, and embrace the rock for want of a shelter, clinging closely to it, crouching beneath it in the vain attempt to find a covering. The description of the tyrants themselves is now resumed.
v. 9. They pluck the fatherless from the breast, snatching orphans from the arms of their mothers in order to bring them up as slaves, and take a pledge of the poor, what little is left to the miserable one they appropriate with a show of right.
v. 10. They cause him to go naked without clothing, literally, "Naked they [the poor] slink about, without clothing," and they take away the sheaf from the hungry, rather, "and hungry they [the poor] bear the sheaves," namely, for the rich, who press them into their service without even giving them sufficient food for their needs,
v. 11. which make oil within their walls, under strict supervision they are obliged to press out the oil from the olives, and tread their wine-presses, stamping out the grapes in the wine-vats, and suffer thirst, not even permitted to quench their thirst while engaged in working for the rich oppressors.
v. 12. Men groan from out of the city, strong men moan with the torture to which they are put, which threatens their very lives, and the soul of the wounded crieth out, as the wicked attack them with weapons of blood; yet God layeth not folly to them, He does not seem to regard the violence of the godless while they are engaged in this manner. It is a source of great surprise to Job, he cannot understand it, that God should not heed this mockery of the divine order.
v. 13. They are of those that rebel against the light, enemies of the light, of that which is good and noble, children of darkness and night, Rom 13:12; 1Th 5:8; they know not the ways thereof nor abide in the paths thereof, they will not know the ways of the light, where their deeds may be seen by all men, Joh 3:20-21.
v. 14. The murderer rising with the light, at the dawn, before it is yet broad daylight, killeth the poor and needy, slaying tile defenseless to satisfy his bloodthirstiness, and in the night is as a thief, when there are no unsuspecting wanderers to strike down, he plies his trade as burglar.
v. 15. The eye also of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, the approach of the evening when he can follow his unclean craft, saying, No eye shall see me; and disguiseth his face, putting on not only a heavy veil, but apparently assuming the garments of a woman, in order to remain unknown.
v. 16. In the dark they dig through houses, the walls of the poorer houses being constructed of dried mud, through which the thief could force his way, which they had marked for themselves in the daytime; they know not the light, literally, "they shut up themselves during the day and want to know nothing of its light. " A fine description of criminals.
v. 17. For the morning is to them even as the shadow of death; the darkest night is like morning to them, for then they start out on their nefarious pursuits. If one know them, they are in the terrors of the shadow of death; they are as familiar with the terrors of the darkest night as honest men are with the open day and therefore do not shun them. The description tallies exactly with that of criminals of all times.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 2, 5, 8, 11, 13, 15, 18, 20, 22, 24 Connecting Statement:
Connecting Statement:
Job continues speaking.
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Why are times for judging wicked people not set by the Almighty?
Job uses this question to express his frustration that God has not judged evil. This can be stated in active form. AT: "I do not understand why God does not set a time when he will judge wicked people." or "The Almighty should set a time when he will judge wicked people." (See: Rhetorical Question and Active or Passive)
Why do not those who are faithful to God see his days of judgment come?
Job uses this question to express his frustration that the righteous have not seen God judge evil. AT: "It seems that those who obey him never get to see him judge the wicked." or "God should show the day he will judge the wicked to those who know him." (See: Rhetorical Question)
translationWords
judge
evil
Almighty
faithful
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 vv1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 9, 11, 12, 18 24:1 bring . . . to judgment (literally set…
24:1 bring . . . to judgment (literally set times): The times for God’s judgment are set (Eccl 3:17; 8:6; Dan 2:21; Luke 21:22-24), but they are not known to us (Acts 1:7). They will be revealed at the proper moment (1 Thes 5:1-28; 1 Tim 6:15).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.