Therefore he knoweth their works
Being God omniscient, or rather takes notice of them, weighs and considers them, and gives to man according to them; or rather makes them known, for of his omniscience Elihu had spoken before; he makes them known to themselves, fastens convictions of their evil ways and works on their consciences, and obliges them to confess them, as the instances of Cain, Pharaoh, and others, show; and he makes them known to others by the judgment he executes, as on the old world, Sodom and Gomorrah; and the works of all will be made manifest at the day of judgment;
and he overturneth [them] in the night;
literally taken, as the firstborn of the Egyptians were slain in the night, ( Exodus 12:30 ) ; and Pharaoh and his host were drowned in the Red sea in the night, ( Exodus 15:4 ) ; and the Assyrian army were destroyed by an angel in one night, ( 2 Kings 19:35 ) ; and Belshazzar was killed in the night, and the Babylonian empire translated to the Medes and Persians at the same time, ( Daniel 5:30 Daniel 5:31 ) : or figuratively, that is, suddenly, at unawares, and by surprise, and as quickly and easily as the night is turned into day; and such a revolution is made, as when he turns the night into day, and discovers and makes known all their secret actions committed in the dark; or he turns the night of calamity upon them, and puts an end to their light of temporal happiness and prosperity; or turns the night of death and everlasting wrath and justice on them, the blackness of darkness upon them:
so that they are destroyed;
both in a temporal sense, on every side, with an utter destruction; and in a spiritual sense, with an everlasting one.
The Brenton translation of the Septuagint is in the public domain.