Job 18:16-17

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Job 18:11-21

Bildad here describes the destruction itself which wicked people are reserved for in the other world, and which, in some degree, often seizes them in this world. Come, and see what a miserable condition the sinner is in when his day comes to fall. I. See him disheartened and weakened by continual terrors arising from the sense of his own guilt and the dread of God's wrath (Job 18:11, 12): Terror shall make him afraid on every side. The terrors of his own conscience shall haunt him, so that he... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 18:16

His roots shall be dried up beneath ,.... Wicked men are sometimes compared to trees; to trees of the wood, barren, and unfruitful; to trees without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; and sometimes to green bay trees, very flourishing for a while, and which on a sudden perish, and come to nothing, see Song of Solomon 2:3 , Judges 1:12 ; and such a simile is here used; and by his roots may be meant his family, from whence he sprung, which now should be extinct with him, see ... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 18:17

His remembrance shall perish from the earth ,.... Not only are the wicked forgotten of God in heaven, and are as the slain he remembers no more, unless it be to pour out his wrath upon them, and punish them for their sins, for which great Babylon will come up in remembrance before him; but of men on earth, and in the very places where they were born, and lived all their days, Ecclesiastes 8:10 ; yea, those places, houses and palaces, towns and cities, which they have built to perpetuate... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 18:16

His roots shall be dried up - his branch be cut off - He shall be as utterly destroyed, both in himself, his posterity, and his property, as a tree is whose branches are all lopped off, and whose every root is cut away. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 18:17

His remembrance shall perish - He shall have none to survive him, to continue his name among men. No name in the street - He shall never be a man of reputation; after his demise, none shall talk of his fame. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 18:1-21

Bildad's second speech is no improvement upon his first ( Job 8:1-22 .). He has evidently been exceedingly nettled by Job's contemptuous words concerning his "comforters" ( Job 16:2 , Job 16:11 ; Job 17:10 ); and aims at nothing but venting his anger, and terrifying Job by a series of denunciations and threats. Job has become to him "the wicked man" (verses 5, 21), an embodiment of all that is evil, and one "that knoweth not God." No punishment is too severe for him. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 18:1-21

Bildad to Job: an Arabian orator's discourse. I. THE FAULTY INTRODUCTION . Bildad possessed at least three qualifications indispensable to successful speaking—fervid imagination, glowing eloquence, and vehement passion. He was characterized also by three fatal defects—want of calmness, or self-containment, want of prudence, and want of sympathetic tenderness. Being destitute of these, he blundered like an inexperienced amateur, starting out on his oration in a hurricane of passion and... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 18:1-21

Renewed rebukes and warnings. Bildad again replies, mentioning that the passionate outbreaks of Job are useless. He holds fast to his original principle, that, according to the Law of God, the hardened sinner will suddenly meet his doom. And some secret sin, he persists, must be the cause of the present suffering. I. INTRODUCTION : DENUNCIATION OF JOB AS A FOOLISH AND VIOLENT SPEAKER . (Verses 1-4.) He is one who "hunts after words." Let him be truly sensible and... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 18:5-21

Bildad, from this point, turns wholly to denunciation. He strings together a long series of menaces—probably ancient saws, drawn from "the wisdom of the Beni Kedem" ( 1 Kings 4:30 ), and descriptive of the wretched fate of the wicked man, with whom he identifies Job. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 18:16

His roots shall be dried up beneath . He shall be like a tree whose roots no moisture reaches, and which, therefore, withers and dries up (comp. Job 14:8 , Job 14:9 ; Job 29:19 ). And above shall his branch be cut off ; or, be withered (comp. Job 14:2 , where the same verb is used). read more

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