Job 15:28

28 And he has made his resting-place in the towns which have been pulled down, in houses where no man had a right to be, whose fate was to become masses of broken walls.

Job 15:28 Meaning and Commentary

Job 15:28

And he dwelleth in desolate cities
This is either a continuation of the account of the wicked man's prosperity, which makes him haughty; such is his might and power, that he destroys cities and palaces, built and enjoyed by others, and then out of the ruins of them builds greater cities and more noble palaces, to perpetuate his name to posterity; which sense agrees with ( Job 3:14 ) ; and with the Targum,

``and he makes tabernacles in desert cities, that he may dwelt in houses which were not inhabited;''

and so Ben Gersom: and hence because of his success among men, and the grandeur he lives in, his heart is lifted up, and his hand is stretched out against God; or else this may express the sinful course of life such a man lives, who chooses to dwell in desolate places, and deserts, to do harm to others, to seize upon travellers as they pass by, and rob and plunder them of their substance, sitting and waiting for them in such places, as the Arabians in the wilderness, ( Jeremiah 3:2 ) ; which is the sense of some, as Aben Ezra observes; or rather this points at the punishment of the wicked man, who though for the present may be in great prosperity, possessed of large cities and stately palaces, "yet" or "but" ^F1, for so the particle may be rendered, "he dwelleth in desolate cities"; in such as shall become desolate, being destroyed by a superior enemy, that shall come upon him; or through his subjects forsaking him, not being able to bear his tyranny and cruelty; or he shall be driven from his dominions by them, and be obliged to fly, and dwell in desert places; or he shall choose to dwell there, through the horrors of a guilty conscience; or, best of all, he shall be reduced to such distress and poverty, that he shall not have a house fit to dwell in; but "shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land, and not inhabited", ( Jeremiah 17:6 ) ; as follows:

[and] in houses which no man inhabiteth, which are ready to become
heaps;
such as have been deserted by their former inhabitants, because come to decay, and ready to fall down upon them, and become heaps of stones and rubbish.

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FOOTNOTES:

F1 So the Annotator of the Assembly of Divines.

Job 15:28 In-Context

26 Running against him like a man of war, covered by his thick breastplate; even like a king ready for the fight,

27 Because his face is covered with fat, and his body has become thick;

28 And he has made his resting-place in the towns which have been pulled down, in houses where no man had a right to be, whose fate was to become masses of broken walls.

29 He does not get wealth for himself, and is unable to keep what he has got; the heads of his grain are not bent down to the earth.

30 He does not come out of the dark; his branches are burned by the flame, and the wind takes away his bud.