Job 15:32

32 Their branches will dry up before they finish growing and will never turn green.

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 They will not escape the darkness. A flame will dry up their branches; God's breath will carry the wicked away.
31 The wicked should not fool themselves by trusting what is useless. If they do, they will get nothing in return.
32 Their branches will dry up before they finish growing and will never turn green.
33 They will be like a vine whose grapes are pulled off before they are ripe, like an olive tree that loses its blossoms.
34 People without God can produce nothing. Fire will destroy the tents of those who take money to do evil,
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.