Job 15:32

32 Paid in full before the due date. Some investment!

Job 15:32 Meaning and Commentary

Job 15:32

It shall be accomplished before his time,
Either the recompence or reward of his trusting vanity, in vain persons or things, the punishment of such a trust, the sorrows and troubles following upon it; these shall come upon the wicked man "before his day" F6, as it may be rendered; before the day of his death, even before his old age; before the evil days come in a course of nature, and those years in which he has no pleasure: or his life, and the days of his life, "shall be filled up" F7; or be at an end before his time; not before the time fixed in the decree and purpose of God, ( Job 14:5 ) ; but before his own time, that he and his friends thought he might have lived, and as his healthful constitution promised; or before the then common term of human life; and so the phrase is expressive or an immature death:

and his branch shall not be green;
but dried up and wither away; his wealth and riches, his children and family, be utterly extinct; instead of being like a branch, green and flourishing, shall be like a dry stick, useless and unprofitable, only fit for burning; see ( Job 15:30 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F6 (wmwy alb) "ante diem suam", Vatablus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.
F7 (almt) "complebitur", Montanus; "implebitur", Schultens.

Job 15:32 In-Context

30 And then death - don't think they'll escape that! They'll end up shriveled weeds, brought down by a puff of God's breath.
31 There's a lesson here: Whoever invests in lies, gets lies for interest,
32 Paid in full before the due date. Some investment!
33 They'll be like fruit frost-killed before it ripens, like buds sheared off before they bloom.
34 The godless are fruitless - a barren crew; a life built on bribes goes up in smoke.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.