Job 18:15

It shall dwell in his tabernacle,.... What shall dwell in it is not said; there are various conjectures about it, and different supplements are made; the Targum is, "his wife shall dwell in a

It shall dwell in his tabernacle, because it is none of his: brimstone shall be scattered upon his habitation.

It, i.e. destruction, expressed , and designed by this particle it, , shall not come upon him and his for a season, for then there might be some hopes of recovery; but it shall fix his abode with him. It is none of his: this may be added, either, 1. By way of correction, Did I say his tabernacle? I must retract the expression; for in truth, it is none of his, it is become another man’ s. Or, 2. As a reason of the ruin of his tabernacle, because it is none of his own, but got from others by deceit or violence. But these words are and may be joined with the former, and both thus rendered, A stranger (Heb. one that is not his, that is not descended from him, and hath no relation to him) shall dwell in his tabernacle, i.e. shall possess his house and goods. Brimstone shall be scattered upon his habitation; it shall be utterly and prodigiously destroyed, as it were by fire and brimstone. He seems to allude both to the destruction of Sodom, upon which God did scatter brimstone and fire, which happened not long before these times, and could not be unknown to them, who lived near that place, and were diligent observers of God’ s works; and to the judgment which befell Job, : when the stranger hath taken and rifled his dwelling, he shall forsake it as an accursed place, and shall burn it with fire and brimstone, that there may be no monument of so vile a person left upon the earth.

Job 18:15 It shall dwell in his tabernacle, because [it is] none of his: brimstone shall be scattered upon his habitation.Ver. 15. It shall dwell in his tabernacles, because it is none of his] Heb. Not his; Why? the king of terrors hath turned him out of it, and taken it up for a habitation for himself. Some render it thus, nothing, or have nothing (that is, want) shall dwell in his tabernacle, his house shall be replenished with emptiness, scarcity shall be the furniture of his habitation. Brimstone shall be scattered upon his habitation] As is also threatened, Psalms 11:6. And as was executed upon Sodom and her sisters; as also upon Dioclesian, the tyrant, who, giving over his empire, decreed to lead the rest of his life quietly. But he escaped not so, for after that his house was wholly consumed with lightning, and a flame of fire that fell from heaven, not without a sulphurous smell, he hiding himself for fear of the lightning, died a short time later. (Euseb. de Vita Const. lib. v.)

(15) It shall dwell in his tabernacle.—Or, “There shall dwell in his tent they that are none of his,” or “which is no longer his”: i.e., terrors shall dwell, or, “which is none of his” may hint that it had been violently taken from some one else. “Brimstone shall be scattered on his dwelling” is probably an allusion to the cities of the plain (Genesis 19).

Verse 15. It shall dwell in his tabernacle] Desolation is here personified, and it is said that it shall be the inhabitant, its former owner being destroyed. Brimstone shall be scattered upon his habitation, so that, like Sodom and Gomorrah, it may be an everlasting monument of the Divine displeasure. In the Persian poet Saady, we find a couplet which contains a similar sentiment: - [Persic] Purdeh daree meekund dar keesri Keesar ankeboot Boomee Noobat meezund ber kumbed Afraseeab. "The spider holds the veil in the palace of Caesar; The owl stands sentinel on the watchtower of Afrasiab." The palaces of those mighty kings are so desolate that the spider is the only chamberlain, and the owl the only sentinel. The web of the former is all that remains as a substitute for the costly veil furnished by the chamberlain in the palace of the Roman monarch; and the hooting of the latter is the only remaining substitute for the sound of drums and trumpets by which the guards were accustomed to be relieved at the watchtower of the Persian king. The word [Persic] Keesur, the same as καισαρ or Caesar, is the term which the Asiatics always use when they designate the Roman emperor. Afrasiab was an ancient king who invaded and conquered Persia about seven hundred years before the Christian era. After having reigned twelve years, he was defeated and slain by Zalzer and his son, the famous Rustem. The present reigning family of Constantinople claim descent from this ancient monarch. Brimstone shall be scattered upon his habitation.] This may either refer to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, as has already been intimated, or to an ancient custom of fumigating houses with brimstone, in order to purify them from defilement. PLINY says, Hist. Nat., lib. xxxv., c. 15, speaking of the uses of sulphur, Habet et in religionibus locum ad expiandas suffitu domos; which Dr. Holland paraphrases thus: "Moreover brimstone is employed ceremoniously in hallowing of houses; for many are of opinion that the perfume and burning thereof will keep out all enchantments; yea, and drive away foul fiends and evil sprites that do haunt a place." OVID refers to the same, De Arte. Am., lib. ii. ver. 329. Et veniat, quae lustret anus lectumque locumque: Praeferat et tremula sulphur et ova manu. This alludes to the ceremony of purifying the bed or place in which a sick person was confined; an old woman or nurse was the operator, and eggs and sulphur were the instruments of purification. On this and other methods of purgation see an excellent note in Servius on these words of Virgil, AEn. vi., ver. 740. _______________Aliae panduntur inanes Suspensae ad ventos: aliis sub gurgite vasto Infectum eluitur scelus, aut exuritur igni. "For this are various penances subjoin'd; And some are hung to bleach upon the wind; Some plunged in waters, others, plunged in fires." Unde etiam, says Servius, in sacris Liberi omnibus tres sunt istae purgationes: nam aut taeda purgantur et sulphure, aut aqua abluuntur, aut aere ventilantur.

5–21. The disastrous end of the wicked, in the moral order of the world, is certain The last verse naturally led over to this idea, which is the theme of the speech. The idea is set out in a great variety of graphic figures, and the speech is studded with sententious and proverbial sayings in the manner of the speaker’s first discourse (ch. 8). The history of the wicked man’s downfall is followed through all its stages:— Job 18:5-7. The principle—the sinner’s light goes out. Job 18:8-11. The progress of his downfall. Job 18:12-14. The final scenes. Job 18:15-17. The extinction of his race and name. Job 18:18-21. Men’s horror of his fate and memory. –7. The principle—the sinner’s light goes out. The word yea means “notwithstanding”—in spite of Job’s struggling against the law, the law remains and verifies itself universally. The bright beacon light on the sinner’s tent goes out, and the cheerful flame on his hearth shines no more. His home is desolate. The word “light” lends itself in all languages for such general use, as the Arab proverb says, Fate has put out my light—extinguished my prosperity. The picture here however is scarcely to be so generalized.

It shall dwell in his tabernacle - It is uncertain what is to be understood as referred to here.

15. His tabernacle — After he has been snatched from it, there shall dwell in his tent that which is not his, to wit: wild beasts, (Isaiah 13:21,) or weeds and thorns, (Hosea 9:6, Dillmann,) or