29. Rather, he shall not increase his riches; he has reached his highest point; his prosperity shall not continue.
perfection--rather, "His acquired wealth--what he possesses--shall not be extended," &c.
30. depart--that is, escape ([Job 15:22], ).
branches--namely, his offspring ([Job 1:18], ; [Psa 37:35]).
dry up--The "flame" is the sultry wind in the East by which plants most full of sap are suddenly shrivelled.
his mouth--that is, God's wrath ([Is 11:4]).
31. Rather, "let him not trust in vanity or he will be deceived," &c.
vanity--that which is unsubstantial. Sin is its own punishment ([Pr 1:31]; [Jr 2:19]).
32. Literally, "it (the tree to which he is compared, [Job 15:30], or else his life) shall not be filled up in its time"; that is, "he shall be ended before his time."
shall not be green--image from a withered tree; the childless extinction of the wicked.
33. Images of incompleteness. The loss of the unripe grapes is poetically made the vine tree's own act, in order to express more pointedly that the sinner's ruin is the fruit of his own conduct ([Is 3:11]; [Jr 6:19]).
34. Rather, The binding together of the hypocrites (wicked) shall be fruitless [Umbreit].
tabernacles of bribery--namely, dwellings of unjust judges, often reprobated in the Old Testament ([Is 1:23]). The "fire of God" that consumed Job's possessions ([Job 1:16]) Eliphaz insinuates may have been on account of Job's bribery as an Arab sheik or emir.
35. Bitter irony, illustrating the "unfruitfulness" ([Job 15:34]) of the wicked. Their conceptions and birthgivings consist solely in mischief, &c. ([Is 33:11]).
prepareth--hatcheth.
Chapter 16
SECOND SERIES.
Job 16:1-22. Job's Reply
2. ([Job 13:4]).
3. "Words of wind," Hebrew. He retorts upon Eliphaz his reproach ([Job 15:2]).
emboldeneth--literally, "What wearies you so that ye contradict?" that is, What have I said to provoke you? &c. [Schuttens]. Or, as better accords with the first clause, "Wherefore do ye weary yourselves contradicting?" [Umbreit].
4. heap up--rather, "marshal together (an army of) words against you."
shake ... head--in mockery; it means nodding, rather than shaking; nodding is not with us, as in the East, a gesture of scorn ([Is 37:22]; [Jr 18:16]; [Mt 27:39]).
5. strengthen ... with ... mouth--bitter irony. In allusion to Eliphaz' boasted "consolations" ([Job 15:11]). Opposed to strengthening with the heart, that is, with real consolation. Translate, "I also (like you) could strengthen with the mouth," that is, with heartless talk: "And the moving of my lips (mere lip comfort) could console (in the same fashion as you do)" [Umbreit]. "Hearty counsel" ([Pr 27:9]) is the opposite.
6. eased--literally, "What (portion of my sufferings) goes from me?"
7. But now--rather, "ah!"
he--God.
company--rather, "band of witnesses," namely, those who could attest his innocence (his children, servants, &c.). So the same Hebrew is translated in [Job 16:8]. Umbreit makes his "band of witnesses," himself, for, alas! he had no other witness for him. But this is too recondite.
8. filled ... with wrinkles--Rather (as also the same Hebrew word in [Job 22:16]; English Version, "cut down"), "thou hast fettered me, thy witness" (besides cutting off my "band of witnesses," [Job 16:7]), that is, hast disabled me by pains from properly attesting my innocence. But another "witness" arises against him, namely, his "leanness" or wretched state of body, construed by his friends into a proof of his guilt. The radical meaning of the Hebrew is "to draw together," whence flow the double meaning "to bind" or "fetter," and in Syriac, "to wrinkle."
leanness--meaning also "lie"; implying it was a "false witness."
9. Image from a wild beast. So God is represented ([Job 10:16]).
who hateth me--rather, "and pursues me hard." Job would not ascribe "hatred" to God ([Psa 50:22]).
mine enemy--rather, "he sharpens, &c., as an enemy" ([Psa 7:12]). Darts wrathful glances at me, like a foe ([Job 13:24]).
10. gaped--not in order to devour, but to mock him. To fill his cup of misery, the mockery of his friends ([Job 16:10]) is added to the hostile treatment from God ([Job 16:9]).
smitten ... cheek--figurative for contemptuous abuse ([La 3:30]; [Mt 5:39]).
gathered themselves--"conspired unanimously" [Schuttens].
11. the ungodly--namely, his professed friends, who persecuted him with unkind speeches.
turned me over--literally, "cast me headlong into the hands of the wicked."
12. I was at ease--in past times ([Job 1:1-3]).
by my neck--as an animal does its prey (so [Job 10:16]).
shaken--violently; in contrast to his former "ease" ([Psa 102:10]). Set me up (again).
mark--([Job 7:20]; [La 3:12]). God lets me always recover strength, so as to torment me ceaselessly.
13. his archers--The image of [Job 16:12] is continued. God, in making me His "mark," is accompanied by the three friends, whose words wound like sharp arrows.
gall--put for a vital part; so the liver ([La 2:11]).
14. The image is from storming a fortress by making breaches in the walls ([2Ki 14:13]).