Job 24:19-25

19 As heat and drought snatch away the melted snow, so the grave snatches away those who have sinned.
20 The womb forgets them, the worm feasts on them; the wicked are no longer remembered but are broken like a tree.
21 They prey on the barren and childless woman, and to the widow they show no kindness.
22 But God drags away the mighty by his power; though they become established, they have no assurance of life.
23 He may let them rest in a feeling of security, but his eyes are on their ways.
24 For a little while they are exalted, and then they are gone; they are brought low and gathered up like all others; they are cut off like heads of grain.
25 “If this is not so, who can prove me false and reduce my words to nothing?”

Job 24:19-25 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JOB 24

This chapter contains the second part of Job's answer to the last discourse of Eliphaz, in which he shows that wicked men, those of the worst characters, prosper in the world, and go through it with impunity; he lays down this as a certain truth, that though no time is hid from God, yet they that are most familiar with him, and know most of him, do not see, and cannot observe, any days of his for judging and punishing wicked men in, this life, Job 24:1; and instances in men guilty of injustice, violence, oppression, cruelty, and inhumanity, to their neighbours, and yet God lays not folly to them, or charges them with sin, and punishes them for it, Job 24:2-12; and in persons that commit the most atrocious crimes in secret, such as murderers, adulterers, and thieves, Job 24:13-17; he allows that there is a curse upon their portion, and that the grave shall consume them, and they shall be remembered no more, Job 24:18-20; and because of their ill treatment of others, though they may be in safety and prosperity, and be exalted for a while, they shall be brought low and cut off by death, but generally speaking are not punished in this life, Job 24:21-24; and concludes with the greatest assurance of being in the right, and having truth on his side, Job 24:25.

Cross References 17

  • 1. Job 6:17
  • 2. S Job 21:13
  • 3. S Job 7:5
  • 4. S Job 21:26
  • 5. S Job 18:17; Proverbs 10:7
  • 6. S Job 14:7; Psalms 31:12; Daniel 4:14
  • 7. S Job 22:9
  • 8. S Job 9:4
  • 9. S Job 12:19
  • 10. Deuteronomy 28:66; Matthew 6:27; James 4:14
  • 11. S Job 9:24; Amos 6:1; Job 12:6
  • 12. S 2 Chronicles 16:9
  • 13. S Job 10:4; Job 11:11
  • 14. S 2 Kings 19:35; S Job 4:20; Job 14:21; Psalms 37:10; Psalms 83:13; Isaiah 5:24; Isaiah 17:13; Isaiah 40:24; Isaiah 41:2,15
  • 15. S Job 3:19
  • 16. Isaiah 17:5
  • 17. S Job 6:28; S Job 16:17; Job 27:4
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