Job 15:24

Job 15:24 Trouble and anguish shall make him afraid; they shall prevail against him, as a king ready to the battle.

Ver. 24. Trouble and anguish shall make him afraid] Or scare him, not only out of his comforts, but out of his wits and senses too, as it did Charles the Great, Cardinal of Lorrain (Meutis inops moritur). See Deu 28:34. Tullus Hostilius, the third king of Romans, deriding the religion of his predecessor Numa, as that which did emasculate men’s minds, was afterwards so terrified, that he set up and worshipped two new gods, viz. Pavorem et Pallorem, trouble and anguish, which he had perpetually present with him, as Lactantius reporteth. What a pitiful agony Vitellius the emperor was in when Vespasian’s army marched toward Rome, is notably set forth by Dio in his Life (Eμπλεκτως ανω και κατω εφερετο ωσπερ εν κλυδωνι). Not long after that, at the sack of Jerusalem, some Jews killed themselves, lest they should fall into the hands of Vespasian’s soldiers.

Hic rogo; non furor est, ne moriare, mori?

They shall prevail against him] Or, begirt him, as a king is surrounded, in peace by his guard, in war by his army. Or, they shall destroy him, as a king ready to the battle doth his enemies’ forces, which he routeth and ruineth. Fear hath a deadly force upon feeble spirits; neither is it any wonder that they ring their bells backward when things begin once to be on fire.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Job 15:24. Trouble and anguish shall make him afraid — When trouble comes, instead of trusting and hoping, and comforting himself in God, as good men do in such cases, 1Sa 30:6, he is full of torment, dreading the issue of it, and concluding it will end in his utter ruin, as he has great reason to do. They shall prevail against him — Though he would fain shake off his fears, and uses many expedients to free himself from them, he is not able; they overpower him, as a king ready to the battle — With forces too strong to be resisted. He that would keep his peace must keep a good conscience.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He showeth what weapons God useth against the wicked, which lift up themselves against him, to wit, terror of conscience, and outward afflictions.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

prevail--break upon him suddenly and terribly, as a king, &c. (Pro 6:11).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 24. Trouble and anguish shall make him afraid] He shall be in continual fear of death; being now brought down by adversity, and stripped of all the goods which he had got by oppression, his life is a mark for the meanest assassin.

As a king ready to the battle.] The acts of his wickedness and oppression are as numerous as the troops he commands; and when he comes to meet his enemy in the field, he is not only deserted but slain by his troops. How true are the words of the poet: -

Ad generum Cereris sine caede et vulnere pauci

Descendunt reges, et sicca morte tyranni.

Juv. Sat., ver. 112.

"For few usurpers to the shades descend

By a dry death, or with a quiet end."

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(24) As a king ready to the battle.—Or, They prevail against him like a king: he is destined to be like a ball (comp. Isa_22:18), the tennis-ball of calamity.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

24. shall make him afraid] Rather, make him afraid.

ready to the battle] Fully prepared and therefore irresistible.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For he stretched out his hand against God,.... Being an hater of him, an enemy to him, yea, enmity itself against him; an enemy in his mind, which appears by his wicked works, which are so many acts of hostility against God; all sins are against God, his nature, his will, his law, and all his remonstrances, exhortations, cautions, and instructions; but some are more daring and impudent than others, or are committed in a more open, bold, and audacious manner, as were those committed by the inhabitants of Sodom, and those who are similar to them; especially such as strike at the being of God and his perfections, his providence and government of the world; and such as deny these may most truly be said to stretch out their hands against God, and strike at him: and this may regard not only sins committed against the light of nature and the law of God, but against the evangelic revelation, the doctrines of the Gospel, and the ordinances of it; for such who deny the one, and reject the other, openly oppose themselves to God, and expose themselves to his wrath and vengeance; for of how much sorer punishment shall such be thought worthy, who trample Christ and his blood under foot, despise and disobey his Gospel:

and strengtheneth himself against the Almighty; by hardening his heart against him as Pharaoh did; by putting on a bold and brazen countenance, by setting his mouth against God in heaven, and suffering, his tongue to walk through the earth, fearing neither God nor man; by entering into a friendship with the world, and making alliances with the enemies of God, even by making a covenant with death, and an agreement with hell; all which is egregious folly and madness: for a sinful man to oppose himself to God is to set briers and thorns to a consuming fire; for a weak feeble creature to set himself against the Almighty, who can crush him in a moment, and send him down to hell, is the height of folly; let the potsherds strive with the potsherds of the earth, but not man with his Maker; who ever strengthened or hardened himself against him, and prospered?

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

As a king ready to the battle - Fully prepared for a battle; whom it would be vain to attempt to resist. So mighty would be the combined forces of trouble and anguish against him, that it would be vain to attempt to oppose them.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

i.e. When trouble comes, instead of trusting, and hoping, and comforting himself in God, as good men do in such cases, as 1Sa 30:6, he is full of torment and dread of the issue of it, and concludes it will end in his utter ruin, as he hath great reason to do.

Ready to the battle; or, prepared or furnished; or, disposed with his army round about him, as this word seems to signify.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

24. Trouble and anguish — These are personified as leaders of a formidable force of troubles. They loom forth, kings armed for the battle.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Trouble and anguish shall make him afraid; they shall prevail against him, as a king ready to the battle. Eliphaz seems covertly to allude to Job"s misfortunes, which came against him with such force, and crushed him as a mighty king crushes his foes in battle.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

it overpowers him The anguish is stronger than him and it will prevail over him.

like a king destined for the inferno Heb. לכידור. I have not found anything similar to it, but it may be interpreted by means of the interchangeable letters, “resh” with “dalet,” like (Gen. 10:3), “Ashkenaz and Riphath” in the Torah, and in Chronicles (I, 1:6): “Ashkenaz and Diphath;” and similarly (Gen. 10: 4). “Kittim and Dodanim” Here too, לַכִּידוֹר is equivalent to לַכִּידוֹד, to the king who is destined to burn (ליקוד) in the fire of Gehinnom; i.e., Sennacherib, about whom the prophet prophesied (Isa. 30: 33): “For Tophteh has been set up from yesterday, that too has been prepared for the king,” to burn his legions; (Isa. 10:16), “a burning shall burn.” Similar to this (below 41:11), “sparks of (כידודי) fire go forth”; either brands or flames.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.