Job 15:26

26 They stubbornly charge at God with thick, strong shields.

Job 15:26 Meaning and Commentary

Job 15:26

He runneth upon him, [even] on [his] neck
As a fierce and furious enemy runs upon another with great wrath and fury; as the he goat in Daniel's vision ran upon the ram, in the fury of his power, that is, Alexander upon Darius; which instance Bar Tzemach refers to; and as an adversary, who throws down his weapons, and goes in to closer quarters, and takes his antagonist by the throat, or round the neck, in order to throw him down to the ground; in such a bold and insolent manner does the wicked man encounter with God; he makes up to him, and flies in his face, and most audaciously attacks him: or he runs upon him "with [his] neck" F25; with a stretched out neck, in the most haughty manner, with a neck like an iron sinew, and with a brow like brass:

upon the thick bosses of his bucklers;
alluding to shields, embossed in the middle, where they are thicker than in the other parts, and used to have a spike of iron set in the middle; so that it was daring and dangerous to run upon them: these may design the perfections of God, denied by the wicked man; or his providential dispensations, despised by him; or his purposes and decrees ridiculed, replied unto, and disputed; or the flaming sword of justice, and the curses of a righteous law, in defiance of which wicked men go on in sin: or "with the bosses of his bucklers" F26; with all his family, as Schmidt; or employing all his wealth and riches, his power and authority, against God, and the interest of religion in the world. Some understand this of God, meeting the wicked man, stretching out his hand, and strengthening himself against him, as if he, God, ran upon the wicked man, and upon his neck, and took him by it, and shook him; as in ( Job 16:12 ) ; and upon the thick bosses of his buckler, his bones and nerves, as Mr. Broughton; or on his power and wealth, which are not able to secure him from the vengeance of the Almighty; but the former sense seems best.


FOOTNOTES:

F25 (rawub) "erecto collo", V. L. Piscator; "duro collo", Drusius, Michaelis; "cum cervice", Cocceius, Schmidt, Schultens.
F26 (wyngm ybg ybeb) "cum erassitie umbonum clypeorum suorum", Cocceius; so Schmidt, Michaelis, Schultens.

Job 15:26 In-Context

24 Worry and suffering terrify them; they overwhelm them, like a king ready to attack,
25 because they shake their fists at God and try to get their own way against the Almighty.
26 They stubbornly charge at God with thick, strong shields.
27 "Although the faces of the wicked are thick with fat, and their bellies are fat with flesh,
28 they will live in towns that are ruined, in houses where no one lives, which are crumbling into ruins.
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.