They cause the naked to lodge without clothing - Or rather, They spend the night naked, without clothing; and without a covering from the cold: another characteristic of the wandering Arabs. They are ill-fed, ill-clothed. and often miserable off, even for tents. They can have little household stuff: as they are plunderers, they are often obliged to fly for their lives, and cannot encumber themselves with what is not absolutely needful. read more
They are wet with the showers of the mountains - Mr. Good thinks that torrents, not showers, is the proper translation of the original זרם zerem ; but I think showers of the mountain strictly proper. I have seen many of these in mountainous countries, where the tails of water-spouts have been intercepted and broken, and the outpouring of them would be incredible to those who have never witnessed similar phenomena. The rain fell in torrents, and produced torrents on the land, carrying... read more
They pluck the fatherless from the breast - They forcibly take young children in order that they may bring them up in a state of slavery. This verse is the commencement of a new paragraph, and points out the arbitrary dealings of oppressors, under despotic governors. Take a pledge of the poor - Oppressive landlords who let out their grounds at an exorbitant rent, which the poor laborers, though using the utmost diligence, are unable at all times to pay; and then the unfeeling wretch... read more
They cause him to go naked - These cruel, hard-hearted oppressors seize the cloth made for the family wear, or the wool and flax out of which such clothes should be made. And they take away the sheaf - Seize the grain as soon as it is reaped, that they may pay themselves the exorbitant rent at which they have leased out their land: and thus the sheaf - the thraves and ricks, by which they should have been supported, are taken away from the hungry. read more
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 (verse 1). 1 . A caution. The language does not imply either that there should not be, or that... read more
Examples of God's incomprehensible dealings. I. DEEDS OF VIOLENCE AND FRAUD . ( Job 24:1-4 .) "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 ( Ezekiel 30:3 ; Luke 17:22 ). Then comes a series of acts of violence, oppression, persecution, permitted by God the removal of landmarks ( Deuteronomy 19:14 ... read more
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,... read more
They turn the needy out of the way . Either "they force poor men to turn out of the road when they are using it, and wait till they have passed" (compare the recent practice of the Japanese daimios), or "they make the highways so dangerous with their violence that they compel the poor and needy to seek byways for safety" ( 5:6 ). The second hemistich favours the latter interpretation. The poor of the earth (or, the meek of the earth ) hide themselves together . In the East there... read more
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Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 24:6
They reap every one his corn in the field - This is perfectly characteristic. These wandering hordes often make sudden irruptions, and carry off the harvest of grain, olives, vines, etc., and plunge with it into the wilderness, where none can follow them. The Chaldee gives the same sense: "They reap in a field that is not their own, and cut off the vineyard of the wicked." read more