The Book of Job
Job 24
Chapter XXIV · Vol. II, pp. 966–967
1 Wickedness goeth often unpunished. 17 There is a secret judgment for the wicked.
1 Why, seeing atimes are not hidden from the Almighty,1 do bthey that know him not see his days?2
1 The diseased state of public morals and events periodically attaining a crisis, in which they strikingly resemble diseases of the human body.—C.
b Ps.36.10;107.42,43. Is.2.12. Am.3.7.
2 God's appointed days of judgment, as in the times of Noah, Lot, and the latter days of Jerusalem, Ge.6.5;7.13;18.17,20; 19.15,22. Lu.19.42.—C.
3 They ddrive away the ass of the fatherless; they take the widow's ox for a pledge;
d De.24.6-17. ch.22.6. Ex.22.26,27. 1 Sa.12.3,4.
5 Behold, as fwild asses in the desert, go they forth to their work, rising gbetimes for a prey; the wilderness yieldeth food for them and for their children.
6 They reap every one his corn5 in the 6field; and they gather the vintage of the wicked:7
A.M. cir. 2484. B.C. cir. 1520.
5 Heb. mingled corn, or dredge.
6 Yet are their own fields sown and reaped, so that they are under no temptation to rob because of want; nay, in their wickedness (see marginal reading) they gather the vintage, ver. 11, and enjoy all that luxury could desire.—C.
7 Heb. the wicked gather the vintage.
7 They hcause the naked to lodge without clothing, that they have no covering in the cold:
h ch.22.6. Ge.31.40. ver.10.
9 They kpluck the fatherless from the breast, and take a pledge of the poor:
k 2 Ki.4.1. Ex.22.26,27. ch.22.6.
11 Which make oil within their walls, and tread their wine-presses, and suffer thirst.8
8 Between their walls they make them toil at noon-day; they make them tread their wine-vats, yet suffer thirst (M. Good). They compel them to toil between their walls, the reflection from which would render the heat almost insupportable.—C.
12 Menm groan from out of the city, and the soul of the wounded crieth out; yet God nlayeth not folly9 to them.
13 They are of those that orebel against the light; they know not the ways thereof, nor abide in the paths thereof.
14 Thep murderer, rising with the light, killeth the poor and needy, and in the night is as a thief.
p Ps.10.8-11. Mi.2.1. Pr.4.16. Ep.5.7,11. Ro.3.15.
15 Theq eye also of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, saying, No eye shall see me; and rdisguiseth his face.
16 Ins the dark they dig through 1houses, which they had marked for themselves in the day-time:2 they tknow not the light.
s Ex.22.2. Mat.24.43,44.
1 The walls of many eastern houses being composed of sun-burned brick or mud.—C.
A.M. cir. 2484. B.C. cir. 1520.
2 In the daytime, they seal themselves up—conceal themselves.—M. Good.
17 For the morning is to them even uas the shadow of death: if one know them, they are in the terrors of the shadow of death.
u Ge.38.23. ch.3.5.
18 He is xswift as the waters;3 their portion is cursed in the earth: he ybeholdeth not the way of the vineyards.4
x Is.23.10. Ps.73.18-20. De.28.16-19. Pr.3.33.
3 He disappears like evaporated waters. Compare ver. 19.—C.
4 He lives in deserts, and avoids through fear the cultivated districts of the vineyards.—C.
20 The womb shall forget him;6 the worm shall afeed sweetly on him; he bshall be no more remembered; and wickedness shall cbe broken as a tree.
21 He devil-entreateth the barren that beareth not: and doeth enot good to the widow.
d 1 Sa.1.6,7. Ob.12.
e ver.3; ch.29.13.
23 Though git be given him to be in safety, whereon he resteth; yet hhis eyes8 are upon their ways.
h God's, He.4.13. Am.9.8;8.7. Ps.10.13,14. Pr.5.21-23.
8 The eyes of him by whom it is given; and as it is the Lord who giveth, his eyes mean the Lord's eyes.—C.
Notes
But if God always punishes the wicked in this world, as you pretend, why are not particular seasons of it fixed by him? And why do not those who are best acquainted with him observe those days of judgment of his enemies? 2. Certain it is that in this world some are notoriously covetous and unjust, and even open robbers. 3. They cruelly oppress widows and fatherless children. 4. They harass, terrify, or even imprison the meek, poor, and afflicted. 5. In the most unconcerned manner they carry on their oppressions, and by rapine and violence maintain themselves and families in the desert. 6. They reap fields and gather vintages not their own. 7, 8. They force from the poor whatever they have, till they reduce them to absolute misery, in a state similar to that of wild beasts. 9-11. While they inhumanly deprive infants of their provision, that the enslaved mothers may work, and deprive their poor underlings of the meanest necessaries of life, they force them to labour in the hardest services. 12. Those whom they have oppressed, wounded, or unjustly condemned, mightily cry to God for judgment against them; yet he punishes them not, even in the slightest manner. 13. They sin impudently in the face of the sun, and against the light of nature, conscience, and revelation: they do not approve, delight in, or observe God's laws; and if at any time they stumble on a good action they quickly give it over, however easy and reasonable. 14-17. Hating the light, robbers and unclean persons, in defiance of an all-seeing God, earnestly carry on their murder and whoredom in the night season. 18. Lighter than froth, they rush on every opportunity of uncleanness or bloodshed; their inheritance is spent in the most accursed manner; and they quite disregard the management of the vineyards or other most profitable business. 19. After all the grave, in a quick and easy manner, consumes these notorious sinners. 20. Their very mothers easily forget their death, it is apparently so pleasant. Rottenness shall be sweet to them. They do not become infamous in the world, but their crimes are quickly and altogether forgotten. 21, 22. They abuse barren women, injure widows, and with great activity, craft, and cruelty oppress everybody around. 23. And though men give them presents, that they may have their protection and friendship, they still watch for opportunities to injure these dependants. 24. After being exalted a while they come to their graves as seasonably in appearance, and as easily, as their neighbours. 25. But if you will insist that the wicked are always fearfully punished in this life, I dare challenge the whole world to find me the person who can disprove the facts which I have now stated.
N.B. Ver. 18-20, 23, 24, may be interpreted as a representation of the miserable state of wicked men after all their prosperity.
Ver. 5. [The wild ass—intractable, untamable, rejoicing in its freedom—is an emblem of the nomad Ishmaelite of the Arabian desert. Such too as are poor, who are driven from settled habitations by oppression, seek a refuge in the wide and free desert. It is often the case in the present day that those who are ground down by the tyranny and avarice of Turkish rulers, desert their homes in the agricultural districts of eastern Syria, and escape to the wilderness. P.——Go they forth. Who? Not the poor (ver. 4), but the unjust oppressors described in ver. 2, 3, &c., whose work becomes the robbery of the caravans in the wilderness, as it has continued downwards through all their generations. C.]
Ver. 18. [The general idea here is the quickness with which the wicked man passes away. True he may live to an old age; yet at length he must return to dust. There is no hope for him. P.]
Reflections.—There is no doubt but that all sin will be punished; and none can know either love or hatred by all that is before him in his outward lot. While the saints and poor, who are in the mind of God, are remarkably afflicted, the most daring sinners are often remarkably prosperous in this world. But the Lord has not forsaken the earth: he takes notice of every injury done to his children. And however long his patience may bear with the presumptuous insult of sinners to his character and government, he will resent their wickedness at last. Even when they are most secure they are least safe. Though their success promise them impunity a while, and though their crimes should be concealed on earth, they will be openly discovered at last and punished for ever. Amidst the perpetration of crimes terror often seizes them; but how much more in sharing the certain, the fearful, the eternal punishment of them!