24:1 Why, seeing times a are not hidden from the Almighty, do
they that know him not see his b days?
(a) Thus Job speaks in his passions, and after the
judgment of the flesh: that is, that he does not see
the things that are done at times, nor yet has a
peculiar care over all, because he does not punish the
wicked or avenge the godly.
(b) When he punishes the wicked and rewards the good.
24:4 They turn the needy out of the way: the poor of the earth
hide themselves c together.
(c) And for cruelty and oppression dare not show their
faces.
24:5 Behold, [as] wild asses in the desert, go they forth to
their work; d rising betimes for a prey: the wilderness
e [yieldeth] food for them [and] for [their] children.
(d) That is, spares diligence.
(e) He and his live by robbing and murdering.
24:6 They reap [every one] f his corn in the field: and they
gather the g vintage of the wicked.
(f) Meaning the poor man's.
(g) Signifying that one wicked man will not spoil another,
but for necessity.
24:8 They are wet with the showers of the mountains, h and
embrace the rock for want of a shelter.
(h) The poor are driven by the wicked into the rock and
holes where they cannot lie dry for the rain.
24:9 They pluck the fatherless i from the breast, and take a
pledge of k the poor.
(i) That is, they so pillage and plunder the poor widow
that she cannot sustain herself that she may be able to
nurse her baby.
24:11 [Which] make oil l within their walls, [and] tread
[their] winepresses, and suffer thirst.
(l) In such places which are appointed for that purpose;
meaning, that those who labour for the wicked, are
pined for hunger.
24:12 Men m groan from out of the city, and the soul of the
wounded crieth out: yet God n layeth not folly [to
them].
(m) For the great oppression and extortion.
(n) Cry out and call for vengeance.
24:13 They are of those that rebel against the p light; they
know not the ways thereof, nor abide in the paths thereof.
(p) That is, God's word, because they are reproved by it.
24:15 The eye also of the q adulterer waiteth for the
twilight, saying, No eye shall see me: and disguiseth
[his] face.
(q) By these particular vices and the licence of it, he
would prove that God did not punish the wicked and
reward the just.
24:18 He [is] swift as the r waters; their s portion is
cursed in the earth: he beholdeth not the way of the
vineyards.
(r) He flees to the waters for his succour.
(s) They think that all the world is bent against them and
dare not go by the highway.
24:19 Drought and heat consume the snow waters: [so doth] the
grave [those which] t have sinned.
(t) As the dry ground is never full with waters, so will
they never cease sinning till they come to the grave.
24:20u The womb shall forget him; the worm shall feed sweetly
on him; he shall be no more remembered; and wickedness
shall be broken as a tree.
(u) Though God tolerates the wicked for a time, yet their
end will be vile destruction, and in this point Job
commits to himself and shows his confidence.
24:21 He x evil entreateth the barren [that] beareth not: and
doeth not good to the widow.
(x) He shows why the wicked will not be lamented, because
he did not pity others.
24:22 He draweth also the y mighty with his power: he riseth
up, and no [man] is sure of life.
(y) He declares that after the wicked have destroyed the
weakest, they will do the same to the stranger, and
therefore are justly punished by God's judgments.
24:25 And if [it be] not z [so] now, who will make me a liar,
and make my speech nothing worth?
(z) That is, contrary to your reasoning no man can give
perfect reasons for God's judgments, let me be
reproved.
