Job 15:32

32 It shall be complete before his day, and his branch shall 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 shall not depart out of darkness; the flame shall dry up his branches; and by the breath of his mouth shall he go away.
31 Let him not trust in vanity: he is deceived, for vanity shall be his recompense;
32 It shall be complete before his day, and his branch shall not be green.
33 He shall shake off his unripe grapes as a vine, and shall cast his flower as an olive.
34 For the family of the ungodly shall be barren, and fire shall consume the tents of bribery.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. That is, 'the day of his death.'
The Darby Translation is in the public domain.