[When] he is about to fill his belly
Either in a literal sense, when he is about to take an ordinary
meal to satisfy nature; or in a figurative sense, when he is
seeking to increase his worldly riches, and his barns and
coffers, and endeavouring to get satisfaction therein:
[God] shall cast the fury of his wrath upon
him;
or "send it out on him" F3; out of the treasures of it, which
are laid up with him, ( Deuteronomy
32:34 Deuteronomy
32:35 ) ; into his conscience, and fill him with a dreadful
sense and apprehension of it, and that with great force and
violence, and cast it, and pour it on him like fire, or any
scalding liquor, which is very terrible and intolerable. This
intends the indignation of God against sin, and his just
punishment of it, according to the rigour of his justice;
sometimes it is only a little wrath and displeasure he shows, he
does not stir up all his wrath; but here it is threatened he will
cast it, and pour it in great plenty, even "the fury" of it, in
the most awful and terrible manner:
and shall rain it upon him while he is eating;
signifying, that the wrath of God shall be revealed from heaven
against him, from whence rain comes; that it shall fall on him
from above, unseen, suddenly, and at an unawares, and come with a
force and violence not to be resisted, and in great abundance and
profusion. The allusion seems to be to the raining of fire and
brimstone on Sodom and Gomorrah, the inhabitants of which were
indulging themselves in gratifying the flesh, when that judgment
came upon them, ( Luke 17:28 Luke 17:29 ) ; and so it
was with the Israelites, when they sinned against God in the
wilderness, ( Psalms 78:30
Psalms
78:31 ) ; perhaps Zophar may glance at Job's children being
slain while they were eating and drinking in their elder
brother's house, ( Job 1:18 Job 1:19 ) . Some render
it, "upon his food" F4; his meat, a curse going along with
it, while he is eating it, his table becoming a snare unto him;
or upon his wealth and riches, he is endeavouring to fill his
belly or satisfy himself with; and others, "upon his flesh", as
the Targum; or "into his flesh"; as Broughton, and so many of the
Jewish commentators F5 meaning his body, filling it with
diseases, so that there is no soundness in it, but is in pain,
and wasting, and consuming; and Job's case may be referred to,
his body being full of boils and ulcers.