Job 18:9-19

9 His foot shall be holden with a snare; and thirst shall burn out against him.

10 The foot-trap of him is hid in the earth, and his snare is laid on the path. (A foot-trap is hid on the ground for him, and a snare is laid on the path for him.)

11 Dreads shall make him afeared on every side, and shall bewrap his feet. (Terror shall make him afraid on every side, and shall enwrap, or shall bind, his feet.)

12 His strength [shall] be made feeble by hunger; and poverty (shall) assail his ribs.

13 Devour it the fairness of his skin; the first engendered (of) death waste his arms. (Disease shall devour the beauty of his skin; and Death's first-born shall destroy, or shall eat up, his arms and his legs.)

14 His trust be taken away from his tabernacle; and perishing, as a king, above-tread on him. (He shall be torn away from the safety of his tent; and perishing, or destruction, shall tread all over him, like a king.)

15 The fellows of him that is not, that is, the fellows of a dead man, dwell in his tabernacle; and brimstone be sprinkled in his tabernacle. (The fellows, or friends, of him who is not, that is, the friends of he who is dead, shall live in his tent; and brimstone, or sulphur, shall be sprinkled all around it to ward off evil.)

16 The roots of him be made dry beneath; and be his ripe corn all-broken above. (His roots shall be made dry beneath; and all his branches shall wither above.)

17 His mind perish from the earth; and his name be not made solemn in streets. (His memory shall perish from the earth; and his name shall be forgotten in the streets.)

18 He shall put him out from light into darknesses; and he shall bear him over from the world. (He shall be put out from the light into the darkness; and he shall be carried over from this world into the next.)

19 Neither his seed, neither his kindred, shall be in his people, neither any remnants of them (shall be) left in his countries. (Neither his descendants, nor his kindred, shall be among his own people, nor shall any remnant of them be left in his land.)

Job 18:9-19 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.