Job 18:18

18 They are driven from light into darkness. They are thrown out of the world.

Job 18:18 Meaning and Commentary

Job 18:18

He shall be driven from light into darkness
Either from the light of outward prosperity, formerly enjoyed by him, into the darkness of adversity; or rather from the light of the living, the light of the present life, to the darkness of death, and the grave, the land of darkness, and of the shadow of death, ( Job 10:21 Job 10:22 ) ; and even into utter darkness, blackness of darkness, the darkness of hell, eternal darkness; opposed to the light of the divine Presence, and the inheritance of the saints in light, possessed by them to all eternity; which the wicked man is deprived of, and will have no share in, but shall be driven from the presence of God, and by him; for so the words may be rendered, "they shall drive him" F14, God, Father, Son, and Spirit; God by the east wind and storm of his wrath shall carry him away, and hurl him out of his place, and shall cast the fury of his wrath on him, and not spare, nor shall he flee out of his hands, though he fain would, ( Job 27:21 Job 27:22 ) ; or the angels, good or bad, shall drive him into endless torments, or shall, by the divine order, take him and cast him into outward darkness, where are weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth; thus are the wicked driven against their will, and must go whether they will or not, and, like beasts to the slaughter, are driven in their wickedness, in order to suffer the punishment due unto it, when the righteous hath hope in his death, ( Proverbs 14:32 ) ;

and chased out of the world;
or cast out of it, as an unclean or excommunicated person, of which the word here is sometimes used F15; and not only chased out of his own place, out of his own house, and out of his own country, but even out of the world, so as to have no place any more in it, see ( Job 20:8 Job 20:9 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F14 (hwpdhy) "expellent eum", Pagninus, Montanus; so Tigurine version, Vatablus, Mercerus, Drusius, Schultens, Cocceius, Schmidt.
F15 (whdny) "excommunicabunt cum", Schmidt, Michaelis; so Codurcus.

Job 18:18 In-Context

16 Their roots dry up under them. Their branches dry up above them.
17 No one on earth remembers them. Their names are forgotten in the land.
18 They are driven from light into darkness. They are thrown out of the world.
19 Their family dies out among their people. No one is left where they used to live.
20 What has happened to them shocks the people in the west. It terrifies the people in the east.
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