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Job 21:31
Verse
Summary
Commentary
- Adam Clarke
- Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
- John Gill
Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
Who shall declare his way to his face? - But while the wicked is in power, who shall dare to tell him to his face what his true character is? or, who shall dare to repay him the evil he has done? As such a person cannot have his punishment in this life, he must have it in another; and for this the day of wrath - the day of judgment, is prepared.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
That is, who dares to charge him openly with his bad ways? namely, in this present life. He shall, I grant (Job 21:30), be "repaid" hereafter.
John Gill Bible Commentary
Yet shall he be brought to the grave,.... Or "and", "or yea he shall be brought", &c. (a); for the meaning is not, that though he is great in life he shall be brought low enough at death; for Job is still describing the grand figure wicked men make, even at death, as well as in life; for he is not only brought to the grave, as all men are, it being the house appointed for all living, and every man's long home; but the wicked rich man is brought thither in great funeral pomp, in great state, as the rich sinner was buried, Ecc 8:10; or "to the graves" (b), the place where many graves are, the place of the sepulchres of his ancestors; and in the chiefest and choicest of them he is interred, and has an honourable burial; not cast into a ditch, or buried with the burial of an ass, as Jehoiakim was, being cast forth beyond the gates of the city, Jer 22:19; and shall remain in the tomb; quiet and undisturbed, when it has been the lot of others to have their bones taken out of their grave, and spread before the sun, see Jer 8:1; and even some good men, who have had their graves dug up, their bones taken out and burnt, and their ashes scattered about, as was the case of that eminent man, John Wickliff, here in England. The word for "tomb" signifies an "heap" (c), and is sometimes used for an heap of the fruits of the earth; which has led some to think of the place of this man's interment being in the midst of a corn field; but the reason why a grave or tomb is so called is, because a grave, through a body or bodies being laid in it, rises up higher than the common ground; and if it has a tomb erected over it, that is no other than an heap of stones artificially put together; or it may be so called from the heaps of bodies one upon another in a grave, or vault, over which the tomb is, or where every part of the body is gathered and heaped (d); from this sense of the word some have given this interpretation of the passage, that the wicked man shall be brought to his grave, and abide there, after he has heaped up a great deal of wealth and riches in this world; which, though a truth, seems not to be intended here, any more than others taken from the different signification of the word translated "remain". It is observed by some to signify to "hasten" (e), from whence the almond tree, which hastens to put forth its bloom, has its name, Jer 1:10; and so give this as the sense, that such a man, being of full age, is ripe for death, and, comes to his grave, or heap, like a shock of corn in its season. Others observe, that it signifies to "watch"; and so in the margin of our Bibles the clause is put, "he shall watch in the heap" (f), which is differently interpreted; by some, that he early and carefully provides himself a tomb, as Absalom in his lifetime set up a sepulchral pillar for himself, Sa2 18:18; and Shebna the scribe, and Joseph of Arimathea, hewed themselves sepulchres out of the rock, Isa 22:15; and others think the allusion is either to statues upon tombs, as are still in use in our days, where they are placed as if they were watching over the tombs; or to bodies embalmed, according to the custom of the eastern countries, especially the Egyptians, which were set up erect in their vaults, and seemed as if they were alive, and there set to watch the places they were in, rather than as if buried there; or, according to others, "he shall be watched", or "the keeper shall watch at", or "over the tomb" (g), that the body is not disturbed or taken away; but the sense our version gives is best, and most agrees with the context, and the scope of it, and with what follows. (a) "et ipse", Pagninus, Montanus, &c. (b) "ad sepulchra", V. L. Montamus, Vatablus, Drusius, Beza, Mercerus, Michaelis, Schultens; "in sepulchra", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator. (c) "super acervo", Montanus, Codurcus; so Bolducius, Mercerus. (d) Vid. David de Pomis Lexic. fol. 14. 3. (e) "festinabit", Pagninus; so some in Vatablus, and Ben Melech. (f) "Vigilabit", V. L. Tigurine version, Montanus; "vigilat", Michaelis, Schultens; "erit tanquam vigil", Bolducius. (g) "Vigilabitur", Beza; "vigilatur", Cocceius; so Calovius.
Job 21:31
Job: God Will Punish the Wicked
30Indeed, the evil man is spared from the day of calamity, delivered from the day of wrath. 31Who denounces his behavior to his face? Who repays him for what he has done? 32He is carried to the grave, and watch is kept over his tomb.
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- Adam Clarke
- Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
- John Gill
Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
Who shall declare his way to his face? - But while the wicked is in power, who shall dare to tell him to his face what his true character is? or, who shall dare to repay him the evil he has done? As such a person cannot have his punishment in this life, he must have it in another; and for this the day of wrath - the day of judgment, is prepared.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
That is, who dares to charge him openly with his bad ways? namely, in this present life. He shall, I grant (Job 21:30), be "repaid" hereafter.
John Gill Bible Commentary
Yet shall he be brought to the grave,.... Or "and", "or yea he shall be brought", &c. (a); for the meaning is not, that though he is great in life he shall be brought low enough at death; for Job is still describing the grand figure wicked men make, even at death, as well as in life; for he is not only brought to the grave, as all men are, it being the house appointed for all living, and every man's long home; but the wicked rich man is brought thither in great funeral pomp, in great state, as the rich sinner was buried, Ecc 8:10; or "to the graves" (b), the place where many graves are, the place of the sepulchres of his ancestors; and in the chiefest and choicest of them he is interred, and has an honourable burial; not cast into a ditch, or buried with the burial of an ass, as Jehoiakim was, being cast forth beyond the gates of the city, Jer 22:19; and shall remain in the tomb; quiet and undisturbed, when it has been the lot of others to have their bones taken out of their grave, and spread before the sun, see Jer 8:1; and even some good men, who have had their graves dug up, their bones taken out and burnt, and their ashes scattered about, as was the case of that eminent man, John Wickliff, here in England. The word for "tomb" signifies an "heap" (c), and is sometimes used for an heap of the fruits of the earth; which has led some to think of the place of this man's interment being in the midst of a corn field; but the reason why a grave or tomb is so called is, because a grave, through a body or bodies being laid in it, rises up higher than the common ground; and if it has a tomb erected over it, that is no other than an heap of stones artificially put together; or it may be so called from the heaps of bodies one upon another in a grave, or vault, over which the tomb is, or where every part of the body is gathered and heaped (d); from this sense of the word some have given this interpretation of the passage, that the wicked man shall be brought to his grave, and abide there, after he has heaped up a great deal of wealth and riches in this world; which, though a truth, seems not to be intended here, any more than others taken from the different signification of the word translated "remain". It is observed by some to signify to "hasten" (e), from whence the almond tree, which hastens to put forth its bloom, has its name, Jer 1:10; and so give this as the sense, that such a man, being of full age, is ripe for death, and, comes to his grave, or heap, like a shock of corn in its season. Others observe, that it signifies to "watch"; and so in the margin of our Bibles the clause is put, "he shall watch in the heap" (f), which is differently interpreted; by some, that he early and carefully provides himself a tomb, as Absalom in his lifetime set up a sepulchral pillar for himself, Sa2 18:18; and Shebna the scribe, and Joseph of Arimathea, hewed themselves sepulchres out of the rock, Isa 22:15; and others think the allusion is either to statues upon tombs, as are still in use in our days, where they are placed as if they were watching over the tombs; or to bodies embalmed, according to the custom of the eastern countries, especially the Egyptians, which were set up erect in their vaults, and seemed as if they were alive, and there set to watch the places they were in, rather than as if buried there; or, according to others, "he shall be watched", or "the keeper shall watch at", or "over the tomb" (g), that the body is not disturbed or taken away; but the sense our version gives is best, and most agrees with the context, and the scope of it, and with what follows. (a) "et ipse", Pagninus, Montanus, &c. (b) "ad sepulchra", V. L. Montamus, Vatablus, Drusius, Beza, Mercerus, Michaelis, Schultens; "in sepulchra", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator. (c) "super acervo", Montanus, Codurcus; so Bolducius, Mercerus. (d) Vid. David de Pomis Lexic. fol. 14. 3. (e) "festinabit", Pagninus; so some in Vatablus, and Ben Melech. (f) "Vigilabit", V. L. Tigurine version, Montanus; "vigilat", Michaelis, Schultens; "erit tanquam vigil", Bolducius. (g) "Vigilabitur", Beza; "vigilatur", Cocceius; so Calovius.