Job 15:32

32 It will be paid in full before his time, and his branch will not be 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 he will not escape from darkness; the flame will dry up his shoots, and his blossom will be swept away by the wind.
31 Let him not trust in emptiness, deceiving himself; for emptiness will be his recompense.
32 It will be paid in full before his time, and his branch will not be green.
33 He will shake off his unripe grape, like the vine, and cast off his blossom, like the olive tree.
34 For the company of the godless is barren, and fire consumes the tents of bribery.
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.