Job 15:23-17:14

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Job 15:17-35

Eliphaz, having reproved Job for his answers, here comes to maintain his own thesis, upon which he built his censure of Job. His opinion is that those who are wicked are certainly miserable, whence he would infer that those who are miserable are certainly wicked, and that therefore Job was so. Observe, I. His solemn preface to this discourse, in which he bespeaks Job's attention, which he had little reason to expect, he having given so little heed to and put so little value upon what Job had... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 15:23

He wandereth abroad for bread ,.... Either as a plunderer and robber, he roves about to increase his worldly power and substance; or rather, being reduced to poverty, wanders about from place to place, from door to door, to beg his bread; which is a curse imprecated on the posterity of wicked men, Psalm 109:10 ; saying , where is it ? where is bread to be had? where shall I go for it? where lives a liberal man that will give it freely and generously? by this question it seems as if... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 15:23

He wandereth abroad for bread - He is reduced to a state of the utmost indigence, he who was once in affluence requires a morsel of bread, and can scarcely by begging procure enough to sustain life. Is ready at his hand - Is בידו beyado , in his hand - in his possession. As he cannot get bread, he must soon meet death. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 15:1-35

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 15:17-35

Eliphaz to Job: 2. More wisdom from the ancients. I. THE EXCELLENCE OF THIS WISDOM . 1 . Old ; i.e. derived from a remote antiquity. The traditionary lore about to he cited by Eliphaz had been manufactured by primeval sages, from whom it had been carefully transmittal to the "wise men" who had told it to Eliphaz. The "fathers," "unto whom alone the earth was given," and "among whom no stranger passed," were either patriarchal descendants of Noah prior to the time of Peleg,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 15:20-30

The consequences of evil-doing. It is impossible that wrong-doing should go wholly unpunished, for were there no positive penal inflictions, the mere natural consequences of wrong-doing would bring inevitable penalties. The words in these verses refer to the present natural consequences of wrong-doing, not to the final penal inflictions which must follow. The evils which the practice of wickedness tends to bring upon the head of the evil-doer, though many may escape, are thus stated. I. ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 15:20-35

Schultens calls this "a magnificently elaborate oration, crowded with illustrations and metaphors, in which it is shown that the wicked cannot possibly escape being miserable, but that the punishment which they have so richly deserved assuredly awaits them, and is to be inflicted on them, as an example and terror to others, by a holy and just God, because, just as he loves virtue, so he pursues vice with a fierce and deadly hatred". read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 15:20-35

Warnings from the wisdom of experience. I. THE TERRIBLE TORMENTS OF THE WICKED . ( Job 15:20-24 .) 1 . Lifelong pain. Notwithstanding all appearances of ease and prosperity, the bad man only suffers. The sword seems ever suspended above the tyrant's head. The serpent is ever busy with the tooth of remorse at his heart. 2 . Dread fancies throng through every sound into his imagination; he is ever in terror of some sudden doom. He sees a darkness coming upon him from... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 15:23

He wandereth abroad for bread, saying, Where is it? This, again, might appropriately have been said of Cain, who was "a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth" ( Genesis 4:14 ), and may at times have had difficulty in procuring his daily bread. At any rate, it is the frequent experience of the wicked who lose their ill-gotten gains, and are brought down to abject poverty, and actual want of the necessaries of life. "He wanders abroad to be the food of vultures " is a translation of the... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Job 15:23

He wandereth abroad for bread - The Septuagint renders this, “he is destined to be food for vultures” - κατατέτακται δὲ εἰς σῖτα γυψίν katatetaktai de eis sitos gupsin. The meaning of the Hebrew is, simply, that he will be reduced to poverty, and will not know where to obtain a supply for his returning needs.He knoweth that the day of darkness is ready at his hand - He is assured that the period of calamity is not far remote. It must come. He has no security that it will not come... read more

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