Job 24:13-23

13 "There are those who rebel against the light; They do not know its ways Nor abide in its paths.

14 The murderer rises with the light; He kills the poor and needy; And in the night he is like a thief.

15 The eye of the adulterer waits for the twilight, Saying, 'No eye will see me'; And he disguises his face.

16 In the dark they break into houses Which they marked for themselves in the daytime; They do not know the light.

17 For the morning is the same to them as the shadow of death; If someone recognizes them, They are in the terrors of the shadow of death.

18 "They should be swift on the face of the waters, Their portion should be cursed in the earth, So that no one would turn into the way of their vineyards.

19 As drought and heat consume the snow waters, So the grave consumes those who have sinned.

20 The womb should forget him, The worm should feed sweetly on him; He should be remembered no more, And wickedness should be broken like a tree.

21 For he preys on the barren who do not bear, And does no good for the widow.

22 "But God draws the mighty away with His power; He rises up, but no man is sure of life.

23 He gives them security, and they rely on it; Yet His eyes are on their ways.

Job 24:13-23 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JOB 24

This chapter contains the second part of Job's answer to the last discourse of Eliphaz, in which he shows that wicked men, those of the worst characters, prosper in the world, and go through it with impunity; he lays down this as a certain truth, that though no time is hid from God, yet they that are most familiar with him, and know most of him, do not see, and cannot observe, any days of his for judging and punishing wicked men in, this life, Job 24:1; and instances in men guilty of injustice, violence, oppression, cruelty, and inhumanity, to their neighbours, and yet God lays not folly to them, or charges them with sin, and punishes them for it, Job 24:2-12; and in persons that commit the most atrocious crimes in secret, such as murderers, adulterers, and thieves, Job 24:13-17; he allows that there is a curse upon their portion, and that the grave shall consume them, and they shall be remembered no more, Job 24:18-20; and because of their ill treatment of others, though they may be in safety and prosperity, and be exalted for a while, they shall be brought low and cut off by death, but generally speaking are not punished in this life, Job 24:21-24; and concludes with the greatest assurance of being in the right, and having truth on his side, Job 24:25.

Footnotes

• [a]. Or Sheol