Job 15:22

22 He despairs of escaping the realm of darkness; he is marked for the sword.

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Job 15:22 in Other Translations

KJV

22 He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness, and he is waited for of the sword.

ESV

22 He does not believe that he will return out of darkness, and he is marked for the sword.

NLT

22 They dare not go out into the darkness for fear they will be murdered.

MSG

22 They despair of things ever getting better - they're on the list of people for whom things always turn out for the worst.

CSB

22 He doesn't believe he will return from darkness; he is destined for the sword.

Job 15:22 Meaning and Commentary

Job 15:22

He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness
When he lies down at night he despairs of ever seeing the light of the morning, through fear of an enemy, a robber, a murderer, or of one disaster or another, ( Deuteronomy 28:66 Deuteronomy 28:67 ) ; or when he is in any affliction and calamity, which is often signified by darkness, he cannot persuade himself that he shall ever be delivered out of it, and restored to his former condition again: and here Eliphaz seems to glance at Job, who had no hope of his being brought into such a state of prosperity he had been in; whereas good men, when in darkness, believe they shall be brought again to the light, as the church in ( Micah 7:8 Micah 7:9 ) ; or the infidel, who knows he must be laid in the dark and silent grave; the Heathen man, such as were many of the neighbours of Eliphaz, the Idumeans, among whom he dwelt, who were without the hope of a glorious resurrection; and which is an article of pure revelation, and which the idolatrous Heathen were strangers to, and so believed it not, or any deliverance from the grave; or this may respect the blackness of darkness, the outer darkness, the darkness of hell, which when once a wicked man is cast into, and enveloped with, he despairs, as he well may, of ever being delivered out of it:

and he is waited for of the sword;
or by them that kill with the sword, as the Targum, who lie in wait for him, to rob him, and kill him; or in his own apprehension he seems to have nothing but drawn swords about him, or a sword hanging over his head, or the judgments of God ready to fall upon him for his sins; for he, having killed others with the sword, must expect to be killed with it himself.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Job 15:22 In-Context

20 All his days the wicked man suffers torment, the ruthless man through all the years stored up for him.

21 Terrifying sounds fill his ears; when all seems well, marauders attack him.

22 He despairs of escaping the realm of darkness; he is marked for the sword.

23 He wanders about for food like a vulture; he knows the day of darkness is at hand.

24 Distress and anguish fill him with terror; troubles overwhelm him, like a king poised to attack,

Cross References 2

1. ver 23; S Job 5:14; Job 24:17; Job 38:15; Psalms 91:5; Song of Songs 3:8
2. Job 16:13; Job 18:19; Job 19:29; Job 20:24; Job 27:14; Job 33:18; Job 36:12; Proverbs 7:23; Isaiah 1:20; Jeremiah 44:27; Hosea 9:13; Amos 5:19