Job 15:28

And he dwelleth in desolate cities,.... This is either a continuation of the account of the wicked man's prosperity, which makes him haughty; such is his might and power, that he destroys cities and

And he dwelleth in desolate cities, and in houses which no man inhabiteth, which are ready to become heaps.

He dwelleth in desolate cities: these words may note either, 1. His tyranny and cruelty, whereby he makes the places of his abode and dominion desolate by his frequent murders, spoils, and oppressions, wherewith he destroyeth great numbers of his people, and forceth others to flee out of his reach. Or, 2. His pride, and power, and wealth; which enabled and engaged him to build desolate houses and cities for his own glory, and safety, and conveniency; of which See Poole "". Or, 3. His punishment and misery; that for his impiety towards God, and oppression of men, he was driven out of his dominions and possessions, and forced to flee into desolate places for safety and a habitation. This seems best to agree with the Hebrew words, which run thus, But (for so the particle and is commonly used, as hath been oft said) he shall dwell, &c. And so this is fitly opposed to this last-mentioned prosperity, and is the beginning of the description of his misery, which is continued in the following verses. Which are ready to become heaps; which were ready to fall, and to be turned into a heap of stones.

Job 15:28 And he dwelleth in desolate cities, [and] in houses which no man inhabiteth, which are ready to become heaps.Ver. 28. And he dwelleth in desolate cities] Such as had been before desolated, but are now by him edified again, to get him a name and a renown amongst men, and to make himself formidable, as those do who build themselves strongholds upon high rocks, as if they would wage war against heaven, Ad numinis contemptum et hominum terrorem (Merlin). Peradventure, saith Diodati here, he meaneth those kings of violent empires, who repaired or built great cities after the deluge, as Nimrod, Ashur, and others, Genesis 10:8 Job 3:14 Isaiah 23:13, and raised themselves upon other men’ s ruins. Eliphaz’ s scope is to show that a man that hath great power amongst men begins to think himself strong enough for God also. And in houses where no man inhabiteth] For he hath driven away the inhabitants through his oppressions. This is that crying sin of depopulators, who build themselves desolate places, Job 3:14; and enclosers, who betray towns, as Rome did Carthage, with a distinction, We will save the city, but destroy the town. This hath been noted as a great fault in our nation, and therefore Goropius thinks the English were called Angli, because they were good anglers, and had skill to lay various baits when they fished for other men’ s livings. But that is his mistake, though perhaps wilful, for we were so called from the old Angli who came in with the Saxons, and were subdued by the Normans, whose duke, William the Conqueror, paid dearly for his depopulations at New Forest, wherein six and thirty parish churches had been demolished, and the inhabitants removed, to make room for beasts’ or dogs’ game. Various of his sons and nephews came there to untimely ends, so dangerous it is for men to prove Abaddons or destroyers. Which are ready to become heaps] Heaps of stones: the strongest structures in the world are subject to ruin. Make sure of heaven, which the philosopher fondly dreamed to be made of stone (arch-work), and would one day come to ruin. But whatever becometh of the visible heavens, which shall be purified by the fire of the last day, upon the invisible we may well write, as Hippocrates telleth us it was engraven on the gates of a certain city, Intacta manet, it remaineth untouched. And as the Venetians boast of their city, that she is still a virgin, because from the first founding thereof (which Isaiah 1200 years since or near upon) it never came into the hands of a foreign enemy.

(28) Which are ready to become heaps.—This completes the description of the haughty tyrant. He dwelt in cities that are to be desolate, or that are desolate, which are ready to become heaps. This may point either to what they were in his intention, or to what he had made them, or to what, in the opinion of the speaker, they were likely to become, notwithstanding his having fortified and dwelt in them.

Verse 28. He dwelleth in desolate cities] It is sometimes the fate of a tyrant to be obliged to take up his habitation in some of those cities which have been ruined by his wars, and in a house so ruinous as to be ready to fall into heaps. Ancient and modern history afford abundance of examples to illustrate this.

28. and he dwelleth] and he dwelt. which no man inhabiteth] which should not be inhabited. are ready to become] which were destined to be heaps. The idea seems to be that the wicked man settled in and rebuilt places that were under the curse of God, and destined by Him for perpetual desolation. Such places in the East are those on which God’s judgment has fallen because of some great wickedness perpetrated there. To settle in and rebuild such ruins indicates the extreme of impiety, cf. Deuteronomy 13:13 seq.; Joshua 6:26; 1 Kings 16:34.

And he dwelleth - Or rather, “therefore he shall dwell.” As a consequence of his opposing God, and devoting himself to a life of sensuality and ease, he shall dwell in a desolate place.

28. No man inhabiteth — Literally, which they should not inhabit for themselves. This “wicked man’s” defiance of God is manifested, as some think, by his preferring to dwell in cities that God has cursed.