Job 15:29

Job 15:29 He shall not be rich, neither shall his substance continue, neither shall he prolong the perfection thereof upon the earth.

Ver. 29. He shall not be rich, neither shall his substance, &c.] If he be rich, it is for a mischief, neither is it likely long to continue with him, for God will blow upon and blast his substance, which is the fort and strength, Isa 10:14. He resolves he will be rich, 1Ti 6:9, and is set upon it. God, to cross him, saith here, He shall not be rich, but I will make a poor fool of him, according to that Jer 17:11, "As the partridge sitteth on eggs and hatcheth them not; so he that getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a fool." There is a curse upon unlawful practices, though men be industrious, as in Jehoiakim, Jer 22:19 It is God that giveth power to get wealth, Deu 8:18. Our care can no more add a penny to our estate than it can a cubit to our stature, Mat 6:27.

He shall not prolong the perfection thereof] Vulgate, He shall not send forth his root in the earth. "A man shall not be established by wickedness," saith Solomon: "but the root of the righteous shall continue," Pro 12:3; {See Trapp on "Pro 12:3"}

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.

Meaning, that his sumptuous buildings should never come to perfection.

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

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.

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 29. He shall not be rich] The whole of what follows, to the end of the chapter, seems to be directed against Job himself, whom Eliphaz indirectly accuses of having been a tyrant and oppressor. The threatened evils are,

1. He shall not be rich, though he labours greatly to acquire riches.

2. His substance shall not continue - God will blast it, and deprive him of power to preserve it.

3. Neither shall he prolong the perfection thereof - all his works shall perish, for God will blot out his remembrance from under heaven.

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

(29) He shall not be rich.—Now comes the destiny which awaits him in the judgment of the speaker. “Neither shall he prolong the perfection thereof upon the earth.” The word rendered “perfection thereof” occurs nowhere else, so that it is very doubtful what it means. Some render, “Neither shall their produce (that of the wicked) bend (luxuriantly) to the earth;” or, “their possessions or their achievements extend on the earth.”

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

29. neither shall he prolong the perfection] Perhaps, neither shall their produce bend down to the ground; the figure being that of heavy grain, or branches thickly laden with fruit, bending down to the earth. The word rendered produce or gain is not found again and is of somewhat uncertain meaning.

29–35. The disastrous end of the wicked man.

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.

He shall not depart out of darkness,.... Out of the darkness of poverty, calamity, and distress he comes into, and, indeed, he despairs of it himself, as in Job 15:22; and in a spiritual sense he departs not out of the darkness of sin, out of the dark state of unregeneracy; nor will he depart out of the blackness and darkness reserved for him hereafter, when he is once come into it:

the flame shall dry up his branches; alluding either to a violent drought and heat, which dries up pastures, herbs, and trees, and the branches of them; or to a wind, as the Septuagint, a burning wind, in the eastern countries, which consumed all green things; or to a flash of lightning, which shatters, strips, and destroys branches of trees: here it may signify the wrath of God, like a flame of fire consuming the wealth and substance, and families, of wicked men; whose children particularly may be compared to branches, and so respect may be had to Job's children, who were suddenly destroyed by a violent wind, which threw down the house in which they were:

and by the breath of his mouth shall he go away; out of the world, a phrase expressive of death; either because of the breath of his own mouth, as some in Jarchi, because of his blasphemies against God and his people, because of his cursing and swearing his mouth is full of, and the many vain, foolish, and idle words which come out of it, and for which he will be condemned; or rather

"by the breath of the mouth of God,''

as the Targum; either according to his purpose and decree, and by his order, and the word that goes out of his mouth; the wicked man shall be obliged to depart out of the world at once, being struck dead by him, as Ananias and Sapphira were; or by his powerful wrath and vengeance, whose breath is as a stream of brimstone, and with which he will slay the wicked of the earth, and particularly will consume the wicked one, antichrist, even with the spirit of his mouth, and with the brightness of his coming, Isa 11:4.

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

He shall not be rich - That is, he shall not continue rich; or he shall not again become rich. He shall be permanently poor.

Neither shall his substance continue - His property.

Neither shall he prolong the perfection thereof - Noyes renders this, “And his possessions shall not be extended upon the earth.” Wemyss, “Nor shall he be master of his own desires.” Good, “Nor their success spread abroad in the land.” Luther, Und sein Gluck wird sich nicht ausbreiten im Lande - “ And his fortune shall not spread itself abroad in the land.” Vulgate, “Neither shall he send his root in the earth “ - nec mittet in terra radicem suam. The Septuagint, οὐ μὴ βάλῃ ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν σκιὰν ou mē balē epi tēn gōn skian - “and shall not cast a shadow upon the earth.” The word rendered “perfection” (מנלם mı̂nlām) is commonly supposed to be from מנלה mı̂nleh, from נלה nâlâh to finish, to procure, and hence, the noun may be applied to that which is procured - and thus may denote possessions. According to this the correct rendering is, “and he does not extend their possessions abroad in the land;” that is, his possessions do not extend abroad. Gesenius supposes, however, that the word is a corruption for מבלם - “their flocks.” I see no objection, however, to its being regarded as meaning possessions - and then the sense is, that he would fail in that which is so much the object of ambition with every avaricious man - that his possessions should extend through the land; compare the notes at Isa 5:8.

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

He shall not be rich, i. e not abide rich, but shall become poor.

Neither shall his substance continue; what he had gotten shall be taken from him.

The perfection thereof, i.e. the perfection of his substance, or that complete estate and glory which he hath attained, shall not be continued to him and to his posterity. Or, neither shall their perfection (i.e. that prosperity, and wealth, and power wherein they placed their perfection or happiness) spread itself, or be propagated or spread abroad, but shall be diminished and taken away. It is a metaphor from a tree. Compare Job 8:16.

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

29. Neither shall he prolong the perfection, etc. — Their substance (riches — Furst) bendeth not to the ground. (Hirtzel, Stickel. etc.) The image is drawn from a tree whose branches bend with their weight of fruit.

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

He shall not be rich; i.e. he shall not increase, or maintain, his riches. Neither shall his substance continue, His riches shall make themselves wings, and take their departure. Neither shall he prolong the perfection thereof upon the earth; rather, neither shall their possessions be extended upon the earth. (So Rosenmuller, Professor Lee, and Renan.) The transition from the singular to the plural is not unusual, when it is a class, and not an individual, that is really spoken of.

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

Substance - What he had gotten shall be taken from him.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

He will not be rich; his wealth will not last

These two litotes express that he will be the opposite of rich, that he will be poor. AT: "he will be poor; all his money will disappear" (See: Litotes)

out of darkness

Darkness here represents death. AT: "out of the darkness of death" (See: Metonymy)

a flame will dry up his stalks

Here the flame represents God's judgment and the drying up of his stalks represents either the fact that his possessions disappear, or that he will die. AT: "God will take everything he owns away, like a fire dries out the moist branches of a tree" (See: Metaphor)

the breath of God's mouth

Here God's "breath" represents his judgement. AT: "God's breath" or "God's judgment" (See: Metonymy)

he will go away

This refers to him dying. AT: "he will die" (See: Euphemism)

translationWords

darkness

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

and his possessions will not remain They will not be preserved for long.

neither will...bend Heb. יטה, [like] ינטה, like (I Sam. 8:3), “and they turned (ויטו) after gain.” They themselves turned (וינטו). It means that they did not bend from heaven to earth. the gratification of their desire Heb. מנלם, the granting of their desire and the fulfillment of their plans. It is like two words, מן להם.

מן means their preparation, like (Dan. 1:5), “And the king prepared (וימן) for them.” Similar to it is (I Sam. 13:21), “a file (הפצירה פים),” in two words. [The analogy is obscure.] (Isa. 33:7), “Behold I will appear to them (אראלם),” which Jonathan renders: I will appear to them. So it appears to me, and Menachem supports me. Another explanation: מִנְלָם is an expression of (Isa. 33:1), “when you finish (כנלתך) dealing treacherously,” in which the “nun” is a radical that sometimes is omitted, an expression of completion. It will not bend to the ground to be freed from a decree of destruction.

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.