Job 18:5-21

5 Indeed, the lamp of the wicked is extinguished; the flame of his fire does not glow.

6 The light in his tent grows dark, and the lamp beside him goes out.

7 His vigorous stride is shortened, and his own schemes trip him up.

8 For his own feet lead him into a net, and he wanders into its mesh.

9 A trap seizes his heel; a snare grips him.

10 A noose is hidden in the ground, and a trap lies in his path.

11 Terrors frighten him on every side and harass his every step.

12 His strength is depleted, and calamity is ready at his side.

13 It devours patches of his skin; the firstborn of death devours his limbs.

14 He is torn from the shelter of his tent and is marched off to the king of terrors.

15 Fire resides in his tent; burning sulfur rains down on his dwelling.

16 The roots beneath him dry up, and the branches above him wither away.

17 The memory of him perishes from the earth, and he has no name in the land.

18 He is driven from light into darkness and is chased from the inhabited world.

19 He has no offspring or posterity among his people, no survivor where he once lived.

20 Those in the west are appalled at his fate, while those in the east tremble in horror.

21 Surely such is the dwelling of the wicked and the place of one who does not know God.”

Job 18:5-21 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JOB 18

In this chapter is Bildad's second reply to Job, in which he falls with great fury upon him, very sharply inveighs against him, and very highly charges him; the charges he brings against him are talkativeness and inattention to what was said to him, Job 18:1,2; contempt of his friends, impatience under his affliction, and pride and arrogance, as if the whole world, the course of nature and providence, and God himself all must give way to him, Job 18:3,4; nevertheless, he is assured of the miserable state of a wicked man, sooner or later, which is described by the extinction of his light of prosperity, Job 18:5,6; by the defeat of his counsels, being ensnared in a net laid for him, Job 18:7-10; by the terrible judgments of the sword, famine, and pestilence, by one or the other of which he is brought to death, the king of terrors, Job 18:11-14; by the destruction of his habitation and of his posterity, so that he has none to hear his name, or perpetuate his memory, Job 18:15-17; by his being driven out of the world, leaving no issue behind him, to the astonishment of all that knew him, Job 18:18-20; and the chapter is closed with this observation, that this is the common case of wicked and irreligious persons, Job 18:21.